Brexit discussion thread XIII (Please read OP before posting)

ltd440

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Amazon seemingly are letting customers know that things won't suit them as much come January...

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1336339735350939651

Amazon de has an English language version not ideal for everything but an alternative all the same

Brussels Sprout

Amazon are going to have their own depot in Ireland in the near future

Seth Brundle

I don't want to derail the thread to discuss Amazon but amazon.de doesn't seem to hold my purchase history including Kindle content.
They'd want to sort that out pretty pronto or there'll be a lot of anoyed Irish customers.

Shelga

What did the likes of Canada and Japan agree to, regarding a level playing field? I see Japan has zero tariffs on fish with the EU, which could be more than the UK gets at this point!

Capt'n Midnight

Seth Brundle wrote: »

The German government confirm they would like a deal but not at any price. Wonder when their car makers will have a word with them

The writing was on the wall back in January 2017, two months before Article 50 was triggered.

"Merkel may force us to walk away from UK profits for the sake of preventing further EU fragmentation," said a senior executive at a German luxury carmaker.

...
German carmakers see "Europe as more important than the UK market", SMMT chief Mike Hawes told a parliamentary committee in January. "They will align with what is best for Germany."

ErnieG

forgottenhills wrote: »

Does anyone know if the NI Protocol will fix country of origin rules for mixed ROI/NI sourced products or will agreement in this area rest with the wider EU/UK trade talks? (I must have a good read of the NI Protocol implementation agreement when details are published).

The EU has made free-trade agreements with countries such as Vietnam and Canada whereby some exports from the EU to those countries are exempt from tariffs on the condition that, inter alia, a certain % of the materials used originated in the EU or (hence the term "rules of origin").

The EU and UK can make all the deals they like, but they will not change the fact that Northern Ireland is no longer in the EU and therefore Vietnam, Canada, etc. are entitled, under the terms of their agreement with the EU, to start applying tariffs any time they like now to those products that previously only qualified for tariff exemption because of UK (inc. NI) content counting as EU origin.

The EU asked all the countries with which is has FTAs to treat UK products and input materials as EU materials during the Transition Period, and I don't know of any instance where this was not accepted. However, there is general consensus that this is unsustainable after 1/1/21.

New, future, agreements could address some of these issues, but not in time for 1/1/21, nor soon afterwards, nor possibly ever.

Professor Moriarty

This article today sums Brexit up in nutshell:

Vocal Brexiter Sir Jim Ratcliffe vowed to make new Grenadier 4x4 in Bridgend but has now bought car plant at Hambach:

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has chosen to build the “British” successor to the Land Rover Defender 4x4 in France, rather than Bridgend in Wales. Ratcliffe, a vocal Brexit supporter who recently left the UK for tax-free Monaco, said Hambach had presented the company with “a unique opportunity that we simply could not ignore”.

Ratcliffe last year announced plans to build a factory in Bridgend and employ 500 British people building the new vehicle. “We have looked long and hard at possible manufacturing locations for Grenadier across the world with lots of good options to choose from,” he said in September 2019. “The decision to build in the UK is a significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing, which has always been at the heart of what Ineos stands for.” When Ratcliffe announced plans for the Grenadier – which is named after the pub near Buckingham Palace where he first conceived of the idea – the billionaire said: “Our preference is to build it in the UK."

“We’d like to retain the Britishness and have a bit of passion about UK manufacturing,” he told Sun readers at the time. “We believe that Britain can produce something as reliable as Germany or Japan if we do it well.”

However on Tuesday, Ratcliffe announced that Ineos had bought the Hambach factory from Mercedes-Benz and would start building the 4x4 there in late 2021.

serfboard

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

This article today sums Brexit up in nutshell:

Thanks for posting that.

The Guardian wrote:

Ratcliffe, a vocal Brexit supporter ... recently left the UK for tax-free Monaco
...
“When I’m on safari in Africa I always prefer to be in a Land Rover,” he said.
...
According the latest Sunday Times rich list, Ratcliffe is worth just over £12bn, making him the fifth richest person in the UK.

Good God - yet another tax exile Brexiteer gives the two figures to the country he's just screwed over.

What's amazing to me is how astonishingly brazen the oligarchs are - and how easy it was for them to produce their Very British Coup.

listermint

correct horse battery staple wrote: »

Brexit-backing billionaire moves production of 4x4s from UK to France

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/brexitbacking-billionaire-moves-production-of-4-x-4-s-from-uk-to-france-161813861.html

Back in 2019 brexiters made big deal out of this new car line to be manufactured in Wales. Except now (a few million pounds in incentives later) it's not.

Edit: professor beat me to it

I remember watching this fella on YouTube. One of the UK car shows can't remember which. Big deal made of Britishness in the vehicle.

Wonder what this fella actually thinks or says now.

dogbert27

A bit like Brexiteer Dyson who now lives here:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/james-dyson-singapore-penthouse-wallich-residence-11709030

Nitrogan

forgottenhills wrote: »

I have and you would not believe the gambits that other sides pull when the stakes are high, both legal and bordering on the illegal or downright immoral. All is fair in love, war and deal negotiations.

Would your negotiations have passed scrutiny in public?

ancapailldorcha

serfboard wrote: »

Thanks for posting that.

Good God - yet another tax exile Brexiteer gives the two figures to the country he's just screwed over.

What's amazing to me is how astonishingly brazen the oligarchs are - and how easy it was for them to produce their Very British Coup.

They can be brazen because all that's required is that you embrace Brexit as the panacea for all of the UK's ills. That's it. You can be Nigel Farage who went to 1 out of 43 fisheries meetings or Ian Botham who said something pro-Brexit once and is now a member of the House of Lords.

It's like they've taken out a loan and keep forestalling on repayment. Every so often they try and delay payment by trying to open a new culture war front oblivious of the fact that the final notice is due on the 31 December.

It was never about jobs, trade, or even immigration really. It was about flogging the British public a fantasy so that some financiers and oligarchs could avoid the EU's latest tax directive and some inept Tories who fancied an easy ride to power without doing any graft. Or too much depending on how you interpret that word.

The problem is that they did the one thing that's destroyed empires, civilisations, companies and careers. They got cocky and overreached. For some bizarre reason, they thought they could just ride this thing out, pretending to negotiate with an entity whose bread and butter is negotiation while calling them names like the bullying public schoolboys that they probably were.

They opened Pandora's Pithos. I don't think the British public are anywhere near as enthusiastic about Brext as they were in 2016. For most, I'd say they want it done hence the 2019 result. It's dragged on for too long and many see it as a bad idea. It's too late for remain of course but that's not what I'm getting at. I don't think, as many at the top seem to that come the supply shortages, the weakening of their currency and the mass of lorries and sh*t (literally, by all accounts) England's garden is about to enjoy that they're just going to pliantly lap up whatever nonsense the Express trots out. Many will of course but I just don't see any such zeal from the public at large.

Again, it's too late and I think they need no deal for cultural reasons. They can't make the best of their place in the world if they think of it as something out of an old WW2 film. The UK's future was as a bridge between the EU and the US and a global freetrader with vast reserves of soft power. Instead, well, time will tell.

If there's one redeeming feature of all of this, it's that the conservative party will be seen for what it is, the corrupt and inept enemy of the British public. They've bungled the pandemic, lied, secured handouts for their friends and burned all of the nation's soft power, arguably the biggest reserve in the world. They've isolated the country diplomatically while sadistically tormenting the poorest people in British society. They need to go, kicking and screaming.

The others aren't perfect but they couldn't be worse.

Infini

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Amazon seemingly are letting customers know that things won't suit them as much come January...

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1336339735350939651

I still don't understand why they haven't just launched an Amazon.ie at this point and seperated their Irish customers from the UK rump. Couldnt kill them to do this.

looksee

If you google 'Amazon ie' it offers you a load of books about Ireland. (Well, my algorithm does, because I am usually looking for books.) I suppose we are off topic here, but buying kindle books is going to be one of the minor irritating consequences of Brexit.

AdrianG08

Jamie Bryson seems proper p*ssed.

Dymo

looksee wrote: »

If you google 'Amazon ie' it offers you a load of books about Ireland. (Well, my algorithm does, because I am usually looking for books.) I suppose we are off topic here, but buying kindle books is going to be one of the minor irritating consequences of Brexit.

9% on digital books, physical books zero vat, not sure about audible books.

Nitrogan

Ireland needs to be the ones to call the British bluff.

Bojo the clown in Brussels agreeing terms over our heads is not acceptable.

AdrianG08

Have we not got exactly what we wanted in terms of Northern Ireland?

Akabusi

AdrianG08 wrote: »

Have we not got exactly what we wanted in terms of Northern Ireland?

Apparently we have, however it will be no use if there is no deal.

Strazdas

AdrianG08 wrote: »

Have we not got exactly what we wanted in terms of Northern Ireland?

Irish Protocol + No Deal would make a united Ireland almost certain in my book. GB totally isolating itself and NI firmly in the EU's orbit.

Hurrache

Nitrogan wrote: »

Bojo the clown in Brussels agreeing terms over our heads is not acceptable.

It's not how it works either.

Imreoir2

Nitrogan wrote: »

Ireland needs to be the ones to call the British bluff.

Bojo the clown in Brussels agreeing terms over our heads is not acceptable.

Over our heads? Our head of government sits on the European Council with the leaders of the other EU member states. Our Taoiseach has exactly the same position within the EU as Merkle or Macron. Its not 'over our heads' its on our behalf as members of the EU, and it is entirely acceptable, why shouldent it be?

breezy1985

AdrianG08 wrote: »

Have we not got exactly what we wanted in terms of Northern Ireland?

A 32 county independent republic. About time : )

Mr.Nice Guy

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

This article today sums Brexit up in nutshell:

Vocal Brexiter Sir Jim Ratcliffe vowed to make new Grenadier 4x4 in Bridgend but has now bought car plant at Hambach:

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has chosen to build the “British” successor to the Land Rover Defender 4x4 in France, rather than Bridgend in Wales. Ratcliffe, a vocal Brexit supporter who recently left the UK for tax-free Monaco, said Hambach had presented the company with “a unique opportunity that we simply could not ignore”.

Ratcliffe last year announced plans to build a factory in Bridgend and employ 500 British people building the new vehicle. “We have looked long and hard at possible manufacturing locations for Grenadier across the world with lots of good options to choose from,” he said in September 2019. “The decision to build in the UK is a significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing, which has always been at the heart of what Ineos stands for.” When Ratcliffe announced plans for the Grenadier – which is named after the pub near Buckingham Palace where he first conceived of the idea – the billionaire said: “Our preference is to build it in the UK."

“We’d like to retain the Britishness and have a bit of passion about UK manufacturing,” he told Sun readers at the time. “We believe that Britain can produce something as reliable as Germany or Japan if we do it well.”

However on Tuesday, Ratcliffe announced that Ineos had bought the Hambach factory from Mercedes-Benz and would start building the 4x4 there in late 2021.

Ratcliffe also bought the French football club Nice last season. Amazes me how these wealthy fellows can create such lavish lifestyles for themselves on the continent, and feel absolutely no shame at helping deprive their young compatriots the chance to live and work there.

Larbre34

AdrianG08 wrote: »

Jamie Bryson seems proper p*ssed.

Ain't it cool.

Akrasia

dogbert27 wrote: »

A bit like Brexiteer Dyson who now lives here:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/james-dyson-singapore-penthouse-wallich-residence-11709030

True patriots, one and all

Enzokk

Gove has said this evening that NI has the best of both worlds, access to the single market and access to the UK market. He said it with a straight face as well.

https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1336409928894918661?s=20

breezy1985

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

This article today sums Brexit up in nutshell:

Vocal Brexiter Sir Jim Ratcliffe vowed to make new Grenadier 4x4 in Bridgend but has now bought car plant at Hambach:

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has chosen to build the “British” successor to the Land Rover Defender 4x4 in France, rather than Bridgend in Wales. Ratcliffe, a vocal Brexit supporter who recently left the UK for tax-free Monaco, said Hambach had presented the company with “a unique opportunity that we simply could not ignore”.

Ratcliffe last year announced plans to build a factory in Bridgend and employ 500 British people building the new vehicle. “We have looked long and hard at possible manufacturing locations for Grenadier across the world with lots of good options to choose from,” he said in September 2019. “The decision to build in the UK is a significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing, which has always been at the heart of what Ineos stands for.” When Ratcliffe announced plans for the Grenadier – which is named after the pub near Buckingham Palace where he first conceived of the idea – the billionaire said: “Our preference is to build it in the UK."

“We’d like to retain the Britishness and have a bit of passion about UK manufacturing,” he told Sun readers at the time. “We believe that Britain can produce something as reliable as Germany or Japan if we do it well.”

However on Tuesday, Ratcliffe announced that Ineos had bought the Hambach factory from Mercedes-Benz and would start building the 4x4 there in late 2021.

Best way to be as efficient as the Germans is to just get them to build it.
Thanks for this article BTW as I now have another reason to hate his cycling team

Akrasia

Enzokk wrote: »

Gove has said this evening that NI has the best of both worlds, access to the single market and access to the UK market. He said it with a straight face as well.

https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1336409928894918661?s=20

What NI certainly don’t have is sovereignty given that they’re being dragged out of the EU against their will into a halfway house full of uncertainty, orphaned from the two biggest neighboring economies

NI aren’t in both the UK single market and the EU, they’re in neither

Mr.Nice Guy

Sammy Wilson talking rot on Newsnight. Saying Coveney and the Irish government admitted to bluffing about the border, and denying his party had a role in scuppering May's efforts to solve the issue.

Sad thing is I suspect most of his constituents will lap it all up.