Brexit

[carrie]

Well what a shambles, May loses the vote again. Seems that the politicians can't agree on anything whilst from conversations I have had with friends and family in the UK all they say is "we voted out 2 years ago" like the decision or not but now get on with it. Leave.
Maybe someone will explain what is the Backstop?

[FarleyFlavors]

Maybe someone will explain what is the Backstop?

In a nutshell - nobody wants customs checks at the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The "backstop" avoids this by temporarily keeping the UK in a customs union with the EU post-Brexit until a solution can be found.

[John Landon]

You can checkout any time you like, BUT you can never leave....
Ireland and Greece can testify to that..

It is a sad time for democracy, even if the vote was only 52 % in favour, but that is how democracy works..

Seems the Politico got us into something they seem incapable of getting us out of, and god forbid the EU gravy train pulls in at the last stop..

Remember Ireland was forced to vote again 18 months after they voted to leave, and magically they decided to stay in the EU.
Which was very handy for the irish banks that needed an EU bailout just a short while after the Yes vote...


All I will say is that this aint over yet, and something major is going to happen as a result of our democratic vote back in 2016.

[Horus]

The reason that many people are distrustful of the ‘Backstop’ Carrie is that it could technically keep the UK inside the EU forever as it says that we all remain inside the EU until a solution is found to the Irish Border problem. So even if everyone believed that it was just a temporary measure and not likely to happen, the fear by many is that because the UK does not have any UNILATERAL right to say “that’s it we are now leaving” even if after the next two years of negotiation we were still getting nowhere then the UK could not do so after signing up to the deal on offer regards the backstop. It would therefore be possible for the EU to just keep rejecting any solution that the UK proposed as being unsuitable and in theory that could go on add infinitum, (there is no time limit) thus keeping the UK within the EU and UK having to take all the rules during that period but having no right to EU decision making.

The main sticking point is that MPs wanted some sort of time limit after which if no solution was arrived at then we could just decide to leave, basically no one trusts the EU not to try and keep us in by some devious means, or to keep us in but with no input in the decision making, the fact that the backstop is open ended is the main problem. There have been some ‘add ons’ to this by the EU that seem to make it something that could be legally challenged by the UK if they (the EU) could be proven not to be acting in good faith and our right to unilaterally leave could be upheld. A lot of it seems to revolve around legal technicalities within this backstop withdrawal agreement and a complete lack of trust all round.

[FarleyFlavors]

basically no one trusts the EU not to try and keep us in by some devious means

Plenty of people trust the EU. It's mainly hardline Brexiteers who don't.

[Horus]

basically no one trusts the EU not to try and keep us in by some devious means

Plenty of people trust the EU. It's mainly hardline Brexiteers who don't.

Well of course that is your opinion, however plenty of people would beg differ and if that really were the case then surely all the MP's in the house should have voted for the deal and it would haved passed.

[Dusak]

It was relatively easy to join the EU, very easy to retain the good old British pound, the carrot of advantage dangling in front of folks as to why it would be a good thing to join was a hypnotic one. But to leave and return to factory settings literally overnight, no easy thing to do, no matter who is in power. The vote was cast, the leavers won, so the Irish boarder should be reinstated, end of.

[crewmeal]

I remember when President De Gaulle wouldn't let us in this exclusive club back in the 60's. Did he do us a favour I often wonder?

[Who2]

And just what exactly is The Island of Ireland ? it's a bloody Island the clue is in the name.
Give the North back to the South that would bugger up the EU....

[newcastle]

Matt Chorley in todays Times (Red Box): 'Theresa May has a unique skill of being able to reach deep into the jaws of defeat, over the tongue of confusion, down the oesophagus of farce, past the lungs of hubris, through the stomach of incompetence and on into the large intestine of humiliation and the colon of chaos, where she can catch hold of whatever faecal matter she can before dragging it all the way back through the body politic and holding it aloft like a trophy and declaring: “And this is why you should all vote for my deal.”
Thank goodness someone knows what's going on!

[John Landon]

Hitler has had enough too !
There is much truth in all of this...

phpBB [video]

("Dont cry, we are not a democracy" )

Sadly, Bruno Ganz who did this epic performance died last week..

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004486/

[Horus]

[HEPZIBAH]

Brexit - My expert opinion is that I haven't got a clue what's going on. Indeed, I'm probably only a step behind the politicians in this.

[crewmeal]

No one has a clue what's going on not even the PM. She's got more chance of searching for new beads than sorting out the country.

[HEPZIBAH]

No one has a clue what's going on not even the PM. She's got more chance of searching for new beads than sorting out the country.

I wish she would search for sone new beads. Just like MPs...the old ones aren't working for her and distract from the main issues.

[carrie]

Well I have given up trying to understand what is going on, never had a lot of respect for politicians and they are ALL proving I was right.

[John Landon]

If only the News was more like this.

phpBB [video]

[A-Four]

During the summer of last year, it was reported that a very important all knowing person at a dinner party asked a gathering of the most highly influential people in the U.K., for anyone there to give THREE good reasons to remain part of the E.U.,.........no one could give an answer.

I was wondering if any of the so called intellectuals on this form may have greater knowledge ?

[newcastle]

As we stumble towards exiting on May’s deal - described as anything from poor to disastrous even by those who voted for it (terrified of losing Brexit altogether) - perhaps you’re asking the wrong question .

Or, if the DUP dig their heels in, there’s still the possibility of another year of navel gazing or a no-deal exit for the truly masochistic.

[John Landon]

Where was it NOT Obvious to anyone that the UK never planned to stay in the EU anyway. ? Once we go, who picks up the financial slack ?

Odd that every county given the vote has decided to leave, and I wonder how many other countries would do the same given the opportunity ?
If the UK does eventually leave, Perhaps that opportunity will come sooner rather than later.