RayC

London - Delhi and Istanbul - Bangkok are both 9+ hour flights.

Boris Johnson, July '22?

Yes, the migrant issue is difficult and yes, 27 individual EU member states have different ideas of how it should be managed. Why should that be a surprise? How would Germany leaving the EU solve its' current economic problems? https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/26/why-has-germany-gone-into-recession#:~:text=The country's trading partners imported,to the DIHK economic institute. How has leaving the EU benefitted the UK economically?

I posted this in another thread but it is also relevant here ------- The suggestion that nothing is being done to prevent illegal migration is nonsense. Whether the measures are effective and the money is being as well-spent as it might be are different questions. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/irregular-migration-and-return_en https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/07/04/money-spent-by-eu-on-migration-policy-becoming-complex-to-track-expert

"Hoist the drawbridge!"

The suggestion that nothing is being done to prevent illegal migration is nonsense. Whether the measures are effective and the money is being as well-spent as it might be are different questions. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/irregular-migration-and-return_en https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/07/04/money-spent-by-eu-on-migration-policy-becoming-complex-to-track-expert

A bit stupid spending all this time, money and effort trying to prevent illegal migration if that is the case.

Presumably you felt the same way when the allegations about Saville, Glitter, Epstein, Weinstein, etc came out? If the UK/ US authorities had adopted your view, two of those named above would be free and, in all probability, committing more crimes today. I agree and pre-internet that was pretty much the case, however, difficult to see how it might be achieved nowadays. No doubt some have. Harvey Proctor springs to mind recently. A lot? There are already avenues open to the CPS and individuals in the UK to bring cases against individuals making false accusations. Traditionally in the UK, the CPS are reluctant to prosecute alleged rape cases because it is difficult to secure a conviction. Therefore, if a not guilty is reached, it is likely that there was a case to be answered. Imo no reason to go further. Imo there is more false information to be found on the wider internet than there is in newspapers such as 'The Times'.

She'll be changing her name to TINA next.

Trans, Didn't think that I would ever respond to one of your posts in this way but, spot on. Wrt to other posters' concerns about those falsely accused, yes it is an issue. Imo it should be pretty simple - through legal channels - to financially compensate such individuals for loss of earnings, etc. Compensating them for the effects on their mental well-being, family, etc is a whole lot more difficult (impossible?). No easy answers but, as Trans infers, I guess that the question that we all have to answer for ourselves is along the lines of: "Is it better for some to be falsely accused if it means that the likes of Saville are stopped in their tracks and punished?"

Which is why I used the word 'allegations'. So you don't think that a celebrity accused of being a rapist is newsworthy? The fact that these allegedly assaults happened 5+ years ago is irrelevant, unless you believe that the allegations should not be investigated. Brand doesn't have to prove that he is innocent. The accusers have to be prove that he is guilty. Presumably, Channel 4 and The Times believe that there is substance to these allegations, otherwise they are leaving themselves open to libel claims. It's noticeable that Brand hasn't threatened libel action. I'm sure that his mate, Elon Musk could underwrite any writ if he was that confident. Rather than immediately shout 'Woke' and 'Misogyny' at the earliest opportunity, maybe you should look at the evidence firstly.

You and your rational argument and conclusion. Whatever next ....????????

Bottom line is that the bloke was a <deleted> before these allegations were made and he remains a <deleted> today. Of course, that's only an opinion but there's plenty of evidence to support my view.

I was under the impression that a major criticism of Remainers was that we can't know what the future will bring. Now we're being asked for predictions????

I assume that is a joke?

That's fair enough and imo unsurprisingly. I would probably go further and add that for those Brits who live in the UK, work for companies with little overseas exposure and visit the continent occasionally, the only things that they are likely to notice about Brexit is a delay to immigration and customs procedures at the ports plus, perhaps, an increase in the cost of some EU produce. However, for those Brits who lived/ live and/or do business in EU countries, it's a different story. Most things for these groups are a lot more difficult post-Brexit and for what benefit?

The Fijians changed the ball/ used the same ball throughout; had the sun at their backs/ didn't have the sun at their backs; (add to list of excuses as necessary), otherwise the Aussies would have won by 20 points.

The very same article also contains the following: that the ONS had previously revised 2020 GDP down by 1.7 percentage points in changes last year. So effectively no change to the estimates published at the beginning of 2022. Moreover, this revision was not due to an increase in consumer demand, but to companies not running down stock levels as much as previously thought.

Your opinion. My opinion is that is utter nonsense. How? What's the template? ASEAN? If so, any semblance of quality control, product integrity, etc goes by the wayside. Alternatively, bi-lateral agreements? So each of the current EU member states' enters into individual agreements with each other (+/-350 agreements in total). Not so simple. I would have thought that the difficulties experienced since the referendum result would serve as enough of a reminder. If more evidence of the foolishness of the 2016 decision is needed you could start with the above and add plenty more.

Then I'd return that crystal ball if I were you as it's clearly faulty. (I assume that you are not into self-harm and supported Brexit in the mistaken belief that it would be beneficial for the UK). Rarely. Occasional posts about Thailand and sport. I prefer to stick to subjects where I can tell fact from wishful thinking????

I think you are confused, Trans. The UK did not vote to leave the Federal Republic of Germany for the simple reason that it has never been a member. The UK electorate voted to leave the EU in a referendum in 2016. (Sarcasm alert) Since that decision was made, relations with our biggest trading partner have gone swimmingly and the sunlight uplands, which we were promised, have been permanently lit.

In terms of 'pay out', I think that the UK pension scheme lags many (most?) other European schemes. However - as you infer - the big advantage for ex-pat Brits is the ability to make voluntary payments at what are ridiculously low rates in order to preserve their pension entitlements. I'm not aware of any other state backed pension scheme where this provision is open to all expats.

There's little doubt that EU enlargement - especially eastwards - will present some challenges. However, in her speech yesterday V.d. Leyden pulled back from the 2030 target which Michel has proposed.

Some examples of Sweet FA are shown in the attached article. It's from 2016 and some of the predictions made about Brexit were undeniably overly pessimistic, however, what is interesting is how many have proved correct. https://theconversation.com/what-has-the-eu-ever-done-for-us-57248 Replace 'member states' with 'the public' and it's a complaint probably heard in every country. In any event, what restrictive laws has the UK abandoned since we left the EU? What tangible benefits have they given to the UK public? The common market was an inferior version of the current EU single market. A good example of the difference is illustrated in this thread. Under the common market, you would have very little idea - and a very difficult job in finding out - whether the fruit and veg you brought which originated in, say, Spain was treated with pesticides outlawed in the UK. Under the single market, you would have a lot less to worry about due to common standards (Actually, this was a bad example: I imagine that Spanish agricultural standards are higher than the UK nowadays). I note that you are unable to answer my original question: How will leaving the Single Market and Customs Union improve the German economy?

Imo it probably means that there will be difficult discussions during forthcoming EU budget negotiations among the member states. Now explain how dissolving the Single Market and Customs Union is going to help in this context?