The Brexit Thread

[Lang Spoon]

I can’t stand the wings types who attack him for not being a professional economist and using excel for graphs (the same twats lauding “Prof” Richard Murphy), but fuck sake Kev, stick to selling dog food.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Exemptions, latest.

Construction workers from the EU should have the right to "settled status" in the UK after Brexit, industry bodies have urged.
The construction sector, which employs around 3 million people, faces "cliff edge" skills shortages over access to EU workers, the seven bodies said.
The Home Office said there would be an "implementation period" for a new immigration system after Brexit.
And EU citizens would be able to apply for settled status, it added.

Sod this. I'm going to be staying in bed, until I get a telephone number salary offered for a day's labouring. That's what we were promised, wasn't it?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Dyson wheeled out again for a bit of Brexiter tech-chic. He's founding a "university".

It'll have 25 students. People from actual universities are less keen on Brexit.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Arch Remainer BBC has Kate Hoey on Any Questions tonight.

[Tubby Isaacs]

To be fair, she's against Fintan Toole and Sinn Fein. So it won't be too cosy.

[E10 Rifle]

Hope she gets verbally torn to pieces.

Talking of which, Question Time last night predictably featured a 20-minute Brexit discussion without a single mention of Ireland. As per.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This show looks like a "get Ireland out of the way in a special" sort of thing.

[Diable Rouge]

Intriguing "Tribes of Europe" test from Chatham House - personally, I'm a 94% Contented European, but six tribal options are available:

https://tribes.chathamhouse.org

[pebblethefish]

4.15 on a Friday afternoon - I'll take any personality test going to waste some time. Apparently I'm an Austerity Rebel, which makes me sound like a Luddite or something. Which is fair.

[Gerontophile]

I'm a Federalist.

[Gangster Octopus]

67% Contented Europeans

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Donald Tusk was in dublin today and said that talks will not progress to the next stage unless uk finds some way to guarantee no hard border.

[Gerontophile]

Just as a point of order here, but did anyone take the piss out of Donald Tusk's name at any point, and if not, why not?

[Gangster Octopus]

Don't say you don't love him.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Austerity Rebels are dissatisfied with politics and want a more democratic EU driven by solidarity, with powers returned to member states. They tend to think that richer states should support poorer ones, and that each state should accept its fair share of refugees.

[Nefertiti2]

Tusk says the EU will refuse the UK's demand for talks on a post-Brexit transition and future trade pact if Ireland is not satisfied with its offer on border arrangements with Northern Ireland.

Ireland has a veto on Britain's economic and political future.

[Diable Rouge]

A fine mix of Unionist cages being rattled - Paisley Jnr and Jamie Bryson, among others.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

How can you have a more democratic EU, while returning more power to the member states. The "undemocratic" arguments about the EU hinge on all the decisions being made by the individual govts in the council of europe, and in the commission, which is made up of people appointed by governments, rather than in the European parliament. Making the EU more democratic involves turning it into a proper federal superstate.

[Diable Rouge]

How can you have a more democratic EU, while returning more power to the member states. The "undemocratic" arguments about the EU hinge on all the decisions being made by the individual govts in the council of europe, and in the commission, which is made up of people appointed by governments, rather than in the European parliament. Making the EU more democratic involves turning it into a proper federal superstate.

Indeed - some form of US-style electoral college used in the election of a Commission President, formal pan-European parties such as Varoufakis's Diem25, but that needn't obviate checks and balances through the Council of Ministers and the involvement of national parliaments as European legislative supervisors.

[Wouter D]

100% federalist. Not really surprising to me.

[Fussbudget]

Ditto.

[Antepli Ejderha]

100% federalist. Not really surprising to me.

Me too. I'm a little surprised.

[DCI Harry Batt]

How can you have a more democratic EU, while returning more power to the member states. The "undemocratic" arguments about the EU hinge on all the decisions being made by the individual govts in the council of europe, and in the commission, which is made up of people appointed by governments, rather than in the European parliament. Making the EU more democratic involves turning it into a proper federal superstate.

Well I think that's a bit on the simplistic side, as it goes. But I didn't write it, and I agree it's not particularly coherent. I'm also pretty sure I never said nuffink about returning power to the member states in any of my answers.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

oh I know it's one of those questionnaire results, rather than the considered opinions and beliefs accumulated over a lifetime. but it's actually a position that you hear advanced in the UK. Often by politicians who are broadly in favour of the EU, but have to say something a bit negative because you know, the english media or some such.

[Tubby Isaacs]

An interesting thing in that Ivan Rogers article was that the increased power of the European Parliament was seen as a genuine problem for the UK. Quite a difference from the referendum where it was written off as a joke talking shop.