I have now given up thinking about what is the best thing to do about the political limbo we are now in with Brexit. It is obvious that our government should just bloody well get on with it so that investors in this country can get on and plan their investment, but I really don't think that signing up to the Chequers deal and giving the EU £39 billion for the privilege of allowing Spanish fishing fleets to ply our waters, and turning H.M. Customs and Excise into unpaid tax-collectors for 27 other countries is what was voted for.
I have to admit that I have not sat down and read the Chequers proposals in full, so I don't really know what I am talking about. I get fed snippets of it from about four opposing factions, each one highlighting whatever vexes them most. For instance, Tim Martin of Wetherspoon (cut-price chain of pubs) has his own advertising magazine which also doubles-up as a platform for the debate on Brexit. He is a very good businessman indeed.
In it he claims that Britain could easily import pretty much everything we now get from Europe from other countries. No more French wine. We either make our own or buy Australian or Californian. I would be very depressed if I could not buy French, Italian and Spanish wine any more. I would not miss German though. The tariffs imposed by the UK on these goods goes straight to Brussels anyway, he says.
He also says that we are not legally obliged to pay the EU £49 billion and we could just say No, Non, Nein and walk away. I don't know what revenge the EU would cook up in retaliation for this though, and he doesn't make a guess - why should he if he believes we need never import anything from Europe ever again?
I really don't think there is now any way back from the brink anymore than there is Trump being de-elected.
There was an American intellectual red-neck (they are called oxymorons) on the radio the other day and he said something very revealing. "Sure, we know Trump is a liar. He lies all the time, but we like his policies".
That beats all rational argument.
Even the journalists who had most to say on Brexit have now given up. It is a relief for them that Prince Philip had a car crash
ReplyDeleteIt was a relief to me as well.
DeleteHave no fear; the day after Brexit, we will still sell our stuff abroad, and the europeans will continue to sell their stuff to us. Foreign investment in the UK is at an all time high, so I would listen too much to the gloom-mongers.
ReplyDeleteYou will not want for French wine (without the import duties) so you have nothing to worry about - unless they send you back...
DeleteEmphasis on the "moron"...
ReplyDeleteI sympathize, Tom. Our government has been shut down for a month now. TSA agents are working unpaid (how's that for national security?) and our food supply is at risk because so many inspectors with the USDA are on furlough. They're setting up food banks for federal workers to feed their families, and on and on it goes. So we're in deep shit, too.
He has gone from saying that Mexicans are rapists and murderers to calling them all wonderful lovely beautiful people whose children must be protected at all cost - but HE MUST PROTECT THE BORDERS.
DeleteAren't old people supposed to say 'what is the world coming to?' So I can sit back and relax then c an't I?
ReplyDeleteYoung people say that these days. Maybe we can all sit back and relax. There doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it anyway. Having said that, we are now being blamed for air pollution by wood-burning and candles. If the power goes down, that's all we would be able to burn.
DeleteYes, you notice we're just waiting out Trump. Though Beto wandering in the wildness, waiting for a sign, better not rise to the surface. We wait and watch and plan for cleaning up the mess. Nothing he's done cannot be undone.
ReplyDeleteSo long as he does not push any buttons in the adult's room.
DeleteYes, one could import wines from AU & NZ, but why not from a near neighbor that makes a fine product? Ideally, we should be able to procure the best of what each country has to offer.
ReplyDeleteHeavy storms knocked out power here for a solid 3 hours the other night. I lit a few candles...
So. global disasters are caused by butterflies after all.
DeleteLet's just walk away, keep the £39 billion and get on with life.
ReplyDeleteAffordable French wine is dreadful, I cannot afford the good stuff so would not miss it. I might miss Irish Whiskey but could go back to scotch if I had to. Just go, keep the money, the EU will,plan revenge and it will be so inept we will not notice.
ReplyDeleteMore inept than us? Is that possible?
DeleteTry some South African wine.
ReplyDeleteI am romantic enough to be prejudiced about any wine not produced in Europe. If I was in South Africa, Australia or America, I would happily drink their wine. Turkey makes some good wine too. It also makes some very bad wine.
DeleteSouth African wine is very good in RSA. I do not think it travels well. I know that sounds like wine snobbery but up until retiring I used to travel to RSA about ten times a year. The wine is gorgeous and very good value for money. It never seems quite as nice here, although it is a lot better than the French stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe French used to offload their bad wine on us until we started to drink it more and recognised it for what it was. It all started with the terrible, acidic Chianti in the 1960s - bought more for the raffia covered bottles than the contents.
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