Brexit

2021-12-09

Bob Lyddon writing for Brexit Watch lifts the lid on some of the EU's financial aspects that many would prefer to keep under wraps. The problem is that such aspects have a tendency to burst through their wraps at times of stress, and it's clear that current times do indeed involve more stress than usual - indeed, so much stress that most people prefer not to notice it any more, because there is little that they can individually do about it.

Still, the stresses are not yet abating, and we would be wise to think about these issues - the UK is still on the hook for some not insignificant liabilities, courtesy of Theresa's Withdrawal Agreement, even as subsequently amended by Boris, so yes, this involves us.

Mind you, I'm not sure that supervision by any "global financial regulator" is the answer - would they not be just as likely to try to bury the offending issues under yet more layers of impenetrable financial-speak

2021-11-20

Facts4EU has the story!

"In a major announcement overnight, the Government has declared the UK’s first post-Brexit Freeport officially open as of today.

"Teesside Freeport has begun operations this morning (19 Nov 2021) putting the region at the forefront of manufacturing and innovation, green energy, and boosting jobs, trade and investment"

More please!

2021-11-12

England fast-tracking GMO food?

"Ministers say that the next step is introducing legislation that would allow gene-edited food from crops and livestock that could have been created naturally, or through traditional breeding, to be sold without having to go through GM regulations and safety tests"

GMWatch has some comments:

"we do not agree with ... [the] definition of gene editing as 'speeding up a process that might happen naturally'. This is GMO industry framing that is based on zero evidence; on the contrary, there is plenty of evidence that gene editing causes intended and unintended changes that could not happen naturally or are extremely

2021-11-11

The Brexit Watch team deliver a slew of articles on the NI protocol situation. This has been rumbling on for so long that one comes to the conclusion that it suits both sides to keep it going, either as a distraction from other matters or to provoke mistakes by their opponents. Either way, good faith is called into question.

I take the view that with Brexit formally done (if still not much implemented in terms of cutting the red tape) this will be resolved sooner or later along with much else that afflicts the EU (migrants in all directions, populations becoming more restless by the week, and Covid nonsense escalating once again as winter arrives).

Still, it's useful to remind ourselves from time to time that Brexit is still demonstrating how little our governments actually care to respond to their peoples, whilst the global jet-setters still push their UN agendas to stifle normal

2021-10-11

Since we left the EU we also left the CAP. Since then the government and its civil servants have been occupied in devising what might unkindly be thought of as a composite policy of subsidy laced with a good measure of "green" objectives that I have never properly understood.

Being of what some might consider advancing years I still remember the pre-CAP days before we joined the "Common Market". We had cheap imported meat from our erstwhile colonies (primarily New Zealand, Australia) and subsidies to British farmers so that they could cover the gap between their expenses of production and market meat prices. It seemed to me (being not at all farming oriented) that it worked well enough. All that changed when we joined the one-size-fits-all CAP and meat prices in the shops rocketed whilst New Zealand and Australia scrambled to find new markets for their produce.

So I was interested to see

2021-10-09

Facts4EU brings us the story - Poland's Constitutional Court has ruled that Polish law has primacy over EU law!

Naturally the EU hasn't taken that at face value.

It appears that this dispute centres around the EU's insistence that Poland changes the way that it appoints its judges.

Worse, it appears that the German Constitutional Court made a similar ruling last year. Did the EU manage to bring Germany to heel? Did it even attempt that feat?

Does this latest move presage more unrest within the EU, or will it all be fudged over with liberal application of ambiguous and self contradictory reassurances?

Read the story.

2021-09-14

Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič has been touring Northern Ireland and commenting upon the NI Protocol, which continues to be a source of friction and dissent in the province.

So who is his excellency? Read his responsibilities here and form your own conclusions.

His official title bestowed by Ms von der Leyen is "Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight" (I'm reminded of Jim Hacker being the minister for the Department of Administrative Affairs, but I'm sure the vice-president has far greater responsibilities. Let us hope that he doesn't have the monopoly on foresight). There is more of course, but I'll let those interested follow up the link.

Facts4EU present their analysis of his remarks to Queen's University Belfast in the context of Northern Ireland history and present day

2021-09-12

This is definitely irresistible news from Briefings for Britain!

M. Barnier, in his new bid to assume the presidency of la Belle France once the present largely unwanted incumbent is voted out, has some stirring things to say about French independence - who would have thought it?

Onward Michel, onward and upward!

2021-08-31

It seems an aeon since we voted to leave the EU.

It took three years of obfuscation that threatened the collapse of Parliament before we finally voted (for a least the third time) for us to leave, even on Boris' compromised Withdrawal Agreement that it seems nobody fully understood.

As a result the EU has been leveraging that verbiage to keep Northern Ireland within the EU, no doubt with the support of the Irish government who would like to end up with a united Ireland under their control. I suspect that they should be careful what they wish for - a united Ireland might not be the panacea that brings an end to the "troubles".

For a review of roughly where these negotiations now stand and whither they might be (still painfully slowly) moving, the Express published a piece by Jayne Adye of Get Britain Out.

2021-08-13

The latest paper from Migration Watch "Immigration and population change in the UK's towns and cities" contains a great deal of detail and paints a picture of immigration being encouraged in practice by our government even as its words pretend that they are determined to get it under control.

There is plainly much to get one's head around but the message is unambiguous - most our present population explosion and the associated demand for housing is driven by immigration.

I note that the UK (at around 280 heads per sq kilometre) is already one of the most densely populated countries in Europe - if we exclude the minor nations then England (407 heads/km²) carries the lion's share of that population, and of the main

2021-07-31

Migration was a key issue of the Brexit debate, and now that Brexit is, if not finalized, at least acknowledged by the world's governments, our government is now responsible for the control of immigration.

As the increasing flow of would-be immigrants in inflatable boats crossing the Channel, kindly shepherded by the French Navy and British Border Force, attests, they don't seem to be making a very good job of it.

Of course the cross-channel flow of illegal immigrants is simply the most visible manifestation of the problem and many suspect that government incompetence may not be the only factor at work here.

Migration Watch has made it their business to crunch the numbers and come to some conclusions.

...

2021-07-26

Briefings for Britain report that Lord Frost is going to give the protocol pot a good stirring.

Apparently this momentous news has made little impact, even though it creates radical simplification of the customs border down the Irish Sea.

Will the EU nod it through?

Or is everybody of note on holiday and haven't yet assimilated the proposals?

We await developments.

2021-07-08

Yanis Varoufakis is a formidable economist, author, and politician, who when Greek Finance Minister took on the EU on behalf of his Greek demos - and was defeated - appropriately one might think for all matters EU - by being let down (to be polite) by his own Prime Minister.

Douglas Murray probably needs no introduction, is a champion of British independence and freedom of the individual, and also author of considerable renown.

These are both hugely knowledgable and articulate guest and we are certain to learn something of interest from them no matter how well-informed we believe ourselves to be.

Like / Dislike this video here.

2021-07-01

Yesterday's regular Brexit Watch Tea Time email briefing highlights the news that Ben Habib, Baroness Hoey Jim Allister and others had their application for judicial review of the Northern Ireland Protocol rejected by the Belfast High Court.

"In a momentous constitutional ruling, Mr Justice Colton found that the protocol – which creates the Irish Sea border – conflicts with the 1800 Act of Union, but that legislation enacting the protocol in Parliament has repealed part of the Act of Union"

The plaintiffs had argued that the constitutional Act of Union of 1800 and the Good Friday Agreement were both breached by imposition of the Protocol, since constitutional change normally requires explicit amendment of constitutional legislation.

2021-06-22

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, rather it has a collection of miscellaneous agreements which cover the way in which it relates to the EU. This collection of agreements was always regarded by the EU as a stepping-stone towards full membership, and the EU has been making it clear recently that progress towards full membership should continue - the Swiss population however is not enthusiastic, and due to the powers invested in the Swiss cantons to decide important issues by referendum, the population's views are both known and respected.

So "Swexit" as a concept is a non-starter because as they are not members they cannot leave, but either party may decide to start dismantling the collection of agreements if it feels that the Swiss-EU relationship isn't going anywhere productive. Pressures are being applied.

Professor

2021-06-05

Migration Watch draws attention to the larger numbers of illegal migrants crossing the channel now that the weather is more clement.

You would think that illegal migrants would take steps to avoid the Border Force and disappear quietly into our green and pleasant land of promise . . .   the reality is very different. Not for the first time, the French navy reportedly assist:

"BBC reporter Simon Jones described seeing a small boat with 12 people on board being followed by a French vessel until it reached UK waters"

where obligingly "the Border Force arrived about an hour later".

If this isn't a taxi service I

2021-05-25

The EAW is dead - long live the European Extradition Request!

When does leaving the EU mean not leaving the EU?

When does leaving the jurisdiction of the ECJ mean not leaving its jurisdiction?

Answer - when our Courts push through EU extradition requests on the nod.

This in effect allows the EU to extradite any of us at any time to face their version of justice.

"Torquil Dick-Erikson explains how the case of Alexander Adamescu shows the cavalier manner in which UK courts deal with extradition requests to EU