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!