The Business Secretary should reassure Toyota and others there are no plans for new delays at our ports once we have left the EU. The UK should want to continue to offer every help to get imported parts in to meet production schedules.
120 Comments
Comments are closed.
September 29, 2018
As a leave campaigner you promised to ‘take back control’ of our borders. And here you are now saying lorries should be waved through. Why will you not deliver on what was promised to the British people?
Reply I am saying no new checks for customs/goods inspection. We have checks for illegal travellers and will still need such checks
September 29, 2018
The word is waived not waved. Let’s not put Andy in charge
September 29, 2018
Andy gets worse by the day. Perhaps retirement in Spain might suit him?
September 29, 2018
Yeah – I meant waved. But thanks for the English lesson.
I have no desire to retire to Spain. Too many of the (wrong sort) of Britons there. (Brexit voters).
I would have loved to retire to Italy or maybe the Dordogne but you lot have voted to take that right away from me.
September 30, 2018
Not correct andy.
Family members (and friends of my family) retired to France well before the EU was in existance.
France Italy and other EU countries have people living there that came from outside the EU.
Did you not know?
September 30, 2018
Andy
My son and his wife have just bought a house in France and intend to move there permanently ( they are in their 30’s and both voted to leave )
Do you not know its possible to live most places in the world?
September 30, 2018
Andy
“I would have loved to retire to Italy or maybe the Dordogne but you lot have voted to take that right away from me.”
Aha!
There we have it at last, the self interest of a remoaner.
Firstly you don’t have a automatic right to retire anywhere outside the UK, they are not your countries, and you would still have to apply for citizenship.
Secondly why don’t you put your country first for a change , instead of your own interests.
That way no one might think you’d be the kind of person who would deny the entire nation it’s right to democratic vote, just so you could get what you want.
Brexit is not about you and your wants, it’s about our nation fighting to keep it’s sovereignty. Far, far more important than you and your stupid retirement wants.
September 30, 2018
Andy
Heres a thing , as you are incapable of running a UK business why not move to Portugal, anyone from inside or out of the EU can have Portuguese Citizenship if they open a business employing at least 10 people. Or alternatively for 100 euros and a copy of your fingerprints you can have e residency of Estonia
September 29, 2018
Much as I agree with your Brexit sentiments, Duncan, I feel you are unfair to Andy in that “waved through”, as he has expressed it, is quite right. There is no allusion to any waiver of rights etc, but simply the concept of border officials waving traffic through customs.
September 29, 2018
Well that depends perhaps they are just waving them through. As in ‘this way mate’!
September 29, 2018
Andy
How many more times do you need to be told facts?
Go and Google TIR & stop posting your kiddie fibs
September 29, 2018
Libertarian,
Andy needs to slow down and you really need to moderate yourself
September 29, 2018
Yes do as you are told libertarian
hans has perfect manners so just copy him
September 30, 2018
hans
Cheers mate, I am moderating myself.
Hans you need to post stuff of interest or content rather than just tell everyone off like some kind of geriatric schoolteacher
September 29, 2018
Nobody promised that if we left the EU then every single truck entering the UK would be stopped and its entire contents disgorged to permit a thorough search and examination of every item. Once again I point you towards the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, even though I know you won’t bother to look at it:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tradfa_e/tradfa_e.htm
And in particular Article 7 in the Agreement:
https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/tfa-nov14_e.htm#art7
and most especially Article 7.4:
“4 Risk Management
4.1 Each Member shall, to the extent possible, adopt or maintain a risk management system for customs control.
4.2 Each Member shall design and apply risk management in a manner as to avoid arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised restriction on international trade.
4.3 Each Member shall concentrate customs control and, to the extent possible other relevant border controls, on high-risk consignments and expedite the release of low-risk consignments. A Member also may select, on a random basis, consignments for such controls as part of its risk management.
4.4 Each Member shall base risk management on an assessment of risk through appropriate selectivity criteria. Such selectivity criteria may include, inter alia, the Harmonized System code, nature and description of the goods, country of origin, country from which the goods were shipped, value of the goods, compliance record of traders, and type of means of transport.”
Surely it would be a simple matter to arrange with car manufacturers that their supply trucks would be equipped with a remote electronic identification system, some kind of beacon which would expedite passage through the planned port of entry, but of course on their responsibility as trusted importers.
September 29, 2018
A similar sort of tag is used for regular users of the M6Toll. A manifest of goods carried could be associated with the tag.
September 29, 2018
Don’t be silly, Andy. We’ll be complying with the terms laid out in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement which calls for inspections to be limited to identified high risk consignments.
Gearboxes or whatever for Toyotas which have been transported for a decade or more by recognised trusted traders would not be considered high risk.
September 29, 2018
Any news on UK’s proposed tariff schedule?
Reply No – good question – they have promised it but no sign yet
September 29, 2018
Caterpillar
Had the Government set out our chosen WTO tariffs before we started so called Negotiations 2 years ago, we would have all known in advance what the fall back position would have been, Businesses would have no longer been in limbo.
No 0ne could then have said, no deal, crashing out, cliff edges, uncertainty, etc etc, and there would have been absolutely no pressure on our UK side to worry about negotiation timescales, that would have been a problem for the EU if they did not want tariffs.
What a catastrophic error by our clueless Prime Minister.
Not much more to say really.
September 29, 2018
But not just May. It was Cameron who didn’t allow the civil service to prepare for a Leave vote.
September 30, 2018
Indeed Cameron’s failure to prepare at all for the rather likely leave vote was an appalling & gross dereliction of duty by him and his civil servants. A general making such an error would surely have been put before a Court Martial and probably executed in times past.
Indeed as Alan Jutson says yet another “catastrophic error by our clueless Prime Minister May”.
September 29, 2018
Very telling isn’t it…..
zorro
September 29, 2018
Heres a suggestion:-
0% on everything
September 29, 2018
John and other pro-UK supporters are surely now cognisant of the lengths this PM will go to to demonise Brexit and those who support it. May will deliberately damage the economic interests of the UK to prevent Brexit
It is May who is anti-UK. It is May who is the threat to the UK, its people and their interests.
And the EU is absolutely petrified that the UK could become a Taiwan on its doorstep. Free, flexible, innovative, low tax and dynamic. That must petrify the sclerotic, socialist goons in the EU
September 29, 2018
Duncan
“May will deliberately damage the economic interests of the UK to prevent Brexit”
etc ed
Although I hope Theresa May has seen the light after Salzburg.
“And the EU is absolutely petrified that the UK could become a Taiwan on its doorstep. ”
That’s exactly what our aim should be. I don’t believe we should be negotiating with the EU, I think we should be destroying it. That way, we and the independent nations of Europe can get along just fine with individual trade agreements as was once the case.
September 29, 2018
I agree with you Duncan, and the scope for the EU to damage the UK, economically and socially should we remain tied to them through Chequers is limitless.
September 29, 2018
There is fear in the EU. Fear for the collateral damage of this pitiful shambles to other EU economies.
The Port of Rotterdam is currently scrambling around to recruit and train Customs Officers, Vets and the like to control the 1644 Heavy Goods Containers that are exported or imported between the two countries on a daily basis.
The Dutch fear they are nowhere near ready. Yet their PM recently remarked, with some amazement, that the Netherlands seems better prepared for a no-deal Brexit than the UK itself. The overwhelming sentiment is “damage limitation”. There is little doubt where the damage will be greatest.
September 30, 2018
Matthew MacKenzie
Why exactly would Rotterdam need extra customs officers and vets to deal with Heavy Goods containers ?
September 29, 2018
Duncan, you state rightly in my view that “May will deliberately damage the economic interests of the UK to prevent Brexit”. That is exactly what Trudeau and Chrystia Freedland are apparently prepared to do to Canada’s economy in order to 1. keep the globalists’ model (multinationals, mass immigration and movement of labour, removal of borders and destruction of nation state), and to
2. attempt to divert the blame to President Trump for their failed/destructive policies.
They will not succeed, and I think May will fail also. The globalist model which entirely benefits multnationals/corporate business, banking giants and an arrogant political elite is now being challenged very effectively. People are no longer prepared to sacrifice their countries and their people and their societal structure in order to enrich an unaccountable elite and greedy multinationals. The writing is on the wall for the globalists/deep state but they will fight hard and dirty. As long as we have President Trump, and his huge number of fervent supporters (don’t believe the media stating otherwise) then we can have hope.
September 29, 2018
DUNCAN
“And the EU is absolutely petrified that the UK could become a Taiwan on its doorstep”
==
From what I hear they are terrified of having another Venezuela so close by.
During the three day week of the seventies and all the shortages we suffered, friends in Europe offered to send us food parcels, so bad was the situation seen there.
Many of my European friends fear a return to those desperate times.
September 29, 2018
Well dont vote for Chairman Corbyn margaret and you will avoid another Labour economic disaster
September 29, 2018
@margaret howard
I’m not surprised based on your hyperbolic tendencies.
There were power disruptions and the rubbish wasn’t collected, but I don’t remember food shortages, mainly because food distribution wasn’t run by the government, thankfully.
September 30, 2018
margaret howard
More fact free posts from you I see
There weren’t food shortages in the 1970’s , the 3 day week lasted exactly 8 weeks. We had power shortages ( nationalised industry ) and rubbish wasn’t collected ( government service) . Food on the other hand is not and never has been nationalised or government controlled.
We aren’t going to return to those times as the NUM is no more and we are no longer a member of the EEC as we were then.
You do post the most extraordinary nonsense
September 29, 2018
My proposal is that the (Post-Brexit) Freeport/Enterprise Zones, planned for the North of England, be extended to include Northern Ireland. That may encourage the EU and Mr Varadkar to stop playing silly games over the supposed border issues.
September 30, 2018
A free trade zone with offices for companies trading in the EU and UK and for internet traders to work worldwide Vat free would make a fortune. Shame all the Os can do is whinge.
September 30, 2018
As in O Reilly.
September 29, 2018
So many ”shoulds” again, Dr Redwood. It seems that until there are people like you, with your values, in the driving seat, these ”shoulds” won’t be turned into ”wills”.
Reply On this issue I think my should will take place. I have not heard the government state they intend to delay matters at the ports with new barriers.
September 29, 2018
Reply to reply – Why not say that clearly and stop giving ammunition to the opposition
zorro
September 29, 2018
@Mr Redwood
The business Secretary Remainer Greg Clarke gave no such assurance on the Radio 4 Toady program this morning, as it was in full swing on the catastrophic effect that Brexit would have on JIT deliveries to Toyota.
I suspect that Toyota’s carefully timed clarion call to support Remain (aka Chequers) is being choreographed by the May/Hammond/Robbins govt.
September 29, 2018
A simple search shows that there is no shortage of warehouse units to rent around Burnaston, from £3.57 per sq ft(+vat). There would be plenty of time for Toyota to stockpile components. Perhaps they might consider some ‘Just in case’ supply lines.
September 29, 2018
Gregory Martin, JIT is not just about stock levels – though holding, locating, and distributing stock is appallingly expensive. The whole Lean manufacturing system works on a “pull” basis, relying on suppliers to react quickly, reliably, and above all, flexibly. Toyota (and other car assemblers) react on an hourly basis to customers demands. Their suppliers must too. So they don’t “know” what parts to stock in advance.
September 29, 2018
JR reply
You are now guessing and really have no clue, so why? state it.
September 29, 2018
Hans, Why be so rude? You must know that JR is not in government so has no control over it. And why are you so persistently hostile to the UK? – most of the world is not in the EU but you don’t spend your time denigrating them and their politicians.
September 30, 2018
hans
You really ought to moderate yourself old boy
September 29, 2018
There is a lot the government could do to reassure and dispel the never ending fear stories put out by remainers yet they choose not to . . . . . . . . . WHY?
All we hear from remainers is doom and gloom, all we hear from the government is SILENCE!
September 29, 2018
@Gary C
Since the govt is the source of said fear stories so why would they try to dispel them?
September 29, 2018
Reality is starting to bite now, isn’t it
September 29, 2018
Often, disregarding extreme claims is more effective than attaching false importance to them with defensive explanations.
Imagine a crazy drunk bursting into a room, shouting at the first person he saw, claiming he had eaten his pet cat. Should the accused reply ‘I did not, & I have never ever eaten anybody’s pet. It’s absolutely true & I can prove it’?
Ignorance is sometimes simply sensible.
September 30, 2018
In this case, it isn’t some crazy drunk who has come in. It’s the pub landlord who’s accusing the customer.
September 29, 2018
We all know why. As one of the regular contributors Duncan says, there is a concerted effort to reverse the democratic vote in 2016. An interesting article in the DT by David Campbell Bannerman sums it all up rather nicely:
“The reality is that it is UK ‘business’ interests who have caused this chaos, the villains being the Remain Treasury, the Business department and the appallingly contemptuous enemies of democracy and the people, the CBI. They argued strongly for Remain in the Referendum and are doing everything possible now to undermine the result – regardless of the price for democracy. They have conspired with the EU to shamelessly exploit, exaggerate and twist the Irish border issue for their own selfish purposes, seeking to keep the UK entrapped within the Eurosphere of red tape and cosy corporate laws.
It is a giveaway when major corporate business concerns claim to be fighting like saints for trade worth less than £2 billion a year. ….”
September 29, 2018
Oxiana321
Yes it’s an informative read isn’t it.
You can only wonder that if they get their way and keep us in the EU, what would the public reaction be ?
I’ve said before that if the collective of remainers succeed in dismissing the people’s vote, then things are going to get really serious.
We’ve never faced this kind of situation before where effectively the British government has fallen victim to a coup perpetrated by foreign powers and their quislings.
The government will be brought down, along with the potential for mass civil unrest, tax disobedience on a grand scale.
If that happens, I think serious questions will be asked as to the purpose of the Monarchy who appear unwilling to draw their sword when our sovereignty is threatened.
After all, it is officially ‘Her Majesty’s’ government.
If you own a dog, and it bites people, you are responsible for that dog.
Oh don’t remind me, ‘one doesn’t get involved with politics’ or; ‘when it goes wrong it’s nothing to do with me even though it’s got my name on it.
All hell is going to break loose if brexit doesn’t happen and in the meaning of our vote to leave.
The establishment is playing with fire if they think we’ll just say oh well never mind. They’ll be fatally underestimating what makes us who we are, and how Britons will not accept our Island being subject of foreign rule.
Adolf Hitler installed many quisling governments, all of which ended up running for their lives.
Go ahead Government – sell us out if you dare.
September 29, 2018
Reply
The DT?
In the immortal words of Dorothy Parker: “They would, wouldn’t they.”
September 29, 2018
Margaret Howard
The CBI?
In the immortal words of Dorothy Parker: “They would, wouldn’t they.”
September 29, 2018
Gary C – I’m surprised the remainers haven’t yet issued a warning stating that British participation in any future Ryder Cup contest will be jeopardised after Brexit.
September 29, 2018
It may be the other way around. It was originally a USA v GB competition with Northern Ireland included in 1947 and Eire joining in 1953 ‘Europe’ was added in 1979, to give the USA more of a challenge. Predictably, the blue and gold monstrosity has been draped over the competition, in the EU’s typical style.
September 29, 2018
You do not hear just doom and gloom from me. I am very positive about Brexit. I am positive it will be far far worse than even I thought and that it will, as a result, be really rather swiftly undone. Chin up!
September 29, 2018
Gleeful again, Andy? ”The UK’s going to suffer! Oh goody!”
Most unattractive. And juvenile.
But you seem to be losing your thread – no mention of ‘old people’. Perhaps you could try to weave some ageism into your next post, then we’ll know you’re still our Andy.
September 29, 2018
Andy
“You do not hear just doom and gloom from me.”
Partially true, but it would be informative and honest of you to explain exactly why you wish to see this country a vassal state of the EU.
Have you a pension interest in Europe, got a time share or villa there, or is it that you like to do the Beaujolais run. Or maybe it’s fags ?
Please do explain why you put yourself above patriotic duty ?
What is the selfish personal interest ? Remainers tend to have at least one.
September 29, 2018
Steve – spot on.
How many times have we asked Andy to tell us why, exactly, he is so excited at the idea of the UK failing. Why can’t he tell us what it is about the EU that convinces him that our country would be better off shackled to a foreign ‘power’?
Why does he keep banging on about Brexiteers being ”old”?
He makes little sense yet perseveres with a lot of ill-informed tripe.
Why?
September 29, 2018
I’ve never hidden the fact that I have a property in France. It’s not selfish. It’s an investment in my family’s future – and not a financial investment either. My family were all born in Britain but we consider ourselves Europeans. You lot voted to take our European identity away from us – against our will. Mrs May called us citizens of nowhere. So be it. We are certainly not citizens of Tory Brexit Little Britain.
I bought the property after the referendum – after you lot had collapsed the pound 1 so it was not a good financial investment. But it gives my family’s the foothold in Europe that we want. It gives us somewhere outside this increasingly pathetic little island that is ours, and it puts us among decent forward thinking people who are not obsessed with foreigners.
Reply If you were born here and live here it sounds as if you a UK citizen with a UK passport. So why do you hate your country and the majority of your fellow citizens so much? I thought EU values included respect for others and acceptance of democracy.
September 30, 2018
It is the EU we are leaving not Europe.
September 30, 2018
Andy, Your lot made us subject to unelected Commissioners for decades – you lot took away our democracy and independence. You’ve had your turn – and it didn’t work out too well, did it?
October 1, 2018
If you think that the French are not obsessed by foreigners you haven’t lived there. A lot of us have had houses there for 30 years or more. You will never win a court case against a French national or a favour from the Mairie. Also, we have to pay a special social charge despite getting nothing social and an extra tax when we sell from next year. When you move your business there to get protection from cheaper internet competition, make sure you have a French majority owner.
September 29, 2018
Don’t bother Andy is yawn inducing and cries wolf at every opportunity.
September 29, 2018
Andy, You persistently fail to explain why Brexit will be “far far worse than even [you] thought” when the majority of the planet is not in the EU. Why is the UK so unique among the nations of the world? Note that proximity is not a reason to be ruled by another state, for obvious reasons.
September 29, 2018
Its exports, not imports, that are the problem. You really dont get how international trade works.
September 29, 2018
Well, tell that to Toyota et al who are concerned about imports of components.
September 29, 2018
Philip,
I am not sure you do either?
September 29, 2018
No, the government will not confirm that, any more than it will rebut the repeated tripe about having to slap £9.3 billion of EU tariffs on food:
http://www.cityam.com/263848/no-deal-brexit-would-slap-tariffs-93billion-eu-food-imports
You can see my comment there, referring to Martin Howe QC debunking this in October 2016 and still having to debunk it in August 2018 because the damn government will not debunk it or any of the other anti-Brexit myths, and in fact it prefers to spread lies itself in the hope of turning public opinion against Brexit.
September 29, 2018
JR
More importantly do we know what the French might do regarding our exports going in their direction ?
After all when the French don’t get their own way they’re known to attack British lorries, livestock, and indeed British Pensioners and tourists alike. All while the Gendarmerie stand watching with their arms folded.
Fortunately some of us are old enough to remember these things.
If they again resort to that kind kind of rattle out of the pram behaviour, what steps will the government take to retaliate, if at all ?
September 29, 2018
Unfortunately for you, Steve, not the Brits retired all over France, like a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and some others having even been able to be elected majors of some (small) villages in the Dordogne. Mind you they are old enough to remember some other things.
September 29, 2018
The thing I find extraordinary is that this question even needs asking at such a late stage in the process, but we certainly need confirmation of the answer.
September 29, 2018
John, dont stoop the their level, its more project fear, there will only be problems if the parts of our ruling classes and EU ruling classes that want to make a show of it make it so. I have no doubt they will try to rub our noses in it, we should barge on regardless as we have lots of levers to pull too.
Cheers
September 29, 2018
The story coming out of Toyota this morning and given prime billing by the BBC is, in my opinion, yet another of a stream of negative stories, probably emanating from the Cabinet office and/or Downing Street. This was confirmed in my mind when I heard Greg Clarke on radio using it unashamedly to promote the utterly discredited Chequers betrayal.
The giveaway is that their is never any rebuttal of these stories or indeed anything positive said by the Prime Minister or member of her unfit for purpose Cabinet.
September 29, 2018
I am in the process of deciding which new car, made in UK, I shall be buying in the near future.
It seems I might need to strike Toyota off the list. Will I be alone? There are alternatives, after all.
September 29, 2018
L Jones
“I am in the process of deciding which new car, made in UK, I shall be buying in the near future.”
Unfortunately all UK cars nowadays are not true British cars, modular components such as gearboxes etc are sourced from abroad. You might think you’re buying British, but you’re not.
That’s why a no deal brexit will hurt the likes of BMW, Getrag and ZF far more than it hurts the UK, if the EU tries to punish us.
One car these days is pretty much the same as any other in it’s class, unless like me you own a classic Jaguar, for example.
Back to your question, personally I wouldn’t strike Toyota off my list, they’re damn good cars.
I’m sure what you have heard in the news is just one side of a very pro-EU manipulated story, peddled by project fear propagandists who have no right to interfere with your choice.
Nudge propaganda, is what it is.
September 29, 2018
Check the car first if it has a proper spare wheel, many now have “spacesavers” which are rated to max 50 mph and max distance 50m, enough to get you to a garage (try that on a Sunday). These vehicles do not have sufficient space where the space saver wheel is stored to carry your punctured wheel, so if you’re on your way to catch a flight with the family and all their luggage it’s unlikely you’ll have enough space for the damaged wheel. If fact, it’s unlikely that you’ll make the flight at all. On top of that, a car with a space saver fitted would not pass an MOT and in the event of a collision a space saver could be considered an aggravating factor.
September 30, 2018
I believe that there are some good British made ones coming out of Gaydon…but may be not the sort of car you are looking for 🙁
https://global.astonmartin.com/en-gb
September 29, 2018
BOF
Greg Clarke on radio using it unashamedly to promote the utterly discredited Chequers betrayal.
When has this man ever been positive about anything.
How he is still in the cabinet is just is incredible. Embarrassment or what?
September 29, 2018
JR
You are writing these diary posts at a phenomenal rate, I’m surprised you even have time to put the bins out.
Reply Yes, my bins were emptied this week again and I do have to put them out
September 29, 2018
Steve, as bins are emptied infrequently it shouldn’t be a problem.
September 29, 2018
The BBC was disgracefully doing its usual hatchet job on Brexit this morning, giving the Toyota boss uncritical time to peddle his anti Brexit message . Instead of accepting his prejudicial language on Brexit of ‘crashing out’ , they should have pointed out that Toyota would be in the position of a trusted trader , so there would be no restrictions to their imports.
Not satisfied with giving the Toyota boss a free ride, they then sought to rubbish Digby Jones’s argument, that of Britain being a very important market for German car sales, later on countering it by saying the total German cars sales to the rest of the EU was twice that of sales to us. Well that still makes us a third of the market for their cars in Europe, and as a concentrated market , that is better than one spread over 27 nations, with all the costs that entails.
nothing good could be said about our country that the BBC wouldn’t find something negative to say about it.
September 29, 2018
Iain, those 27 nations are, and will continue to be a single market. A single market which currently delivers, as you say, double what the UK market does in terms of sales and, from a population perspective has far more than double the number of potential customers.
September 29, 2018
Peter Parsons, You seem to have missed Iain Moore’s point that one country, the UK, accounts for about a third of the European market for German cars on its own. That’s a pretty substantial amount of business concentrated in a small area.
September 30, 2018
Peter Parsons
Thats a single market in goods only, not services
Its odd how people with no experience of business seem to know how important a “single market” is without having any real idea of the actual practicality of it. I guess people buy into clever sounding ideas without really thinking it through
September 30, 2018
Probably, Clarke, May and Robbins promised Chequers to Toyota and others last year. It’s another KitKat job.
September 29, 2018
The latest scaremongering story is nuclear!! I was nearly expecting someone to say nuclear war!!
September 29, 2018
I’m bothered about checks on the EU side of the border and hold-ups they will cause.
I also expect and inward flood of Sangatte migrants in 2019.
Leave have lost control of Brexit.
September 29, 2018
Anon 9:10am, VoteLeave (the official Leave campaign) never had control of Leave. So how could they have “lost control of Brexit”?
September 29, 2018
Well that’s true, the Remainers seized control of Brexit from the day after the referendum, so it was obviously going to be a fudge, a fact that I predicted at the time of Mrs May’s coronation.
September 29, 2018
Utterly stupid idea, tantamount to walking off the field with the only usable bat, whatever idiocy the other side may get up to.
September 29, 2018
May and Hammond will do whatever is necessary to make Brexit into a disaster. She continues with her Chequers farce saying a deal is all but agreed.
Of course it is, she intends signing up to FoM, a Customs Union and the Single Market only they will all be renamed.
September 29, 2018
Off-topic, Dominic Raab has levelled an accusation against the EU in the Sun:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7374505/raab-interview-brexit-irish-border/
“EU WANT TO TEAR US APART”
“Brexit secretary Dominic Raab accuses EU chiefs of using Irish border dilemma as part of plot to break up the UK”
Well, there certainly is a long term EU plan to break up the larger member states, and even neighbouring countries, into more easily controlled regions, which plot has been discussed on this blog on many occasions over the years. For example, here:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2017/10/28/the-tragedy-of-spain/#comment-897203
“I find that the earliest items in my “Regionalisation” folder date back to 2002, fifteen long years ago now, and one of them is a reference to a comment made by Guy Verhofstadt in December 2001 when he was the Belgian Prime Minister:
“We must attempt at European level, to put regions on the same footing as states.”
So in a way he may now be getting his wish with the putative promotion of Catalonia from being just a region of Spain to an independent sovereign state …”
However I don’t think that is what is going on with the current largely fabricated problem of the Irish land border; that is much more to do with the EU agreeing to support the Irish government in its attempts to protect its economic interests by keeping the UK under the rules of both the EU Single Market and the EU Customs Union.
This is from November 26th 2017, ten months ago:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ireland-border-brexit-latest-theresa-may-customs-union-phil-hogan-northern-a8076271.html
“Remain in customs union and single market to solve border issue, Ireland’s European commissioner tells May”
“Theresa May is facing fresh pressure to change course over plans for the Northern Irish border after Brexit as Ireland’s EU commissioner stepped up threats to veto trade talks.
Rows over the prospect of a hard border on the island of Ireland are threatening to derail negotiations as the EU has said “sufficient progress” must be made before talks can begin on a UK-EU trade deal after Britain leaves the bloc.
Commissioner Phil Hogan called for the UK to remain in the customs union and single market – or allow Northern Ireland to do so – but the Prime Minister’s DUP allies have vowed they will not tolerate any attempts to keep Northern Ireland within the trade agreements.”
Note that it is both the Single Market and the Customs Union, it needs both not just one or the other, and today the Irish Times has an article claiming that:
“The Spain-Gibraltar border shows what a customs-union divide looks like”.
Don’t expect any sensible response from the UK government.
September 29, 2018
The Spain-Gibraltar border does indeed show what a customs-union divide looks like, when a state is determined to make life as troublesome for its neighbour as possible.
Brussels could alter this, but is itself waging a Cold War against Gibraltar, as it makes the map untidy, and our friends in Brussels have a prissy mania for tidiness – Ireland is another case in point. They’ve read only the bits of Irish history they approve of, so they see Ireland in terms of German reunification.
The EU should abolish the clause from the Treaty that enjoins it to have friendly and cooperative relations with its neighbours – it is the friendly and cooperative attitude of the spider to the fly.
September 29, 2018
I see there is no mention of Defence at the forthcoming conference. Having Williams in charge and Hammond controlling the money we can see the military being further downgraded.
September 29, 2018
Reply to I W. Yes, fits in nicely with us signing up to the European Defence Policy, which of course means that we meet the requirements of EU defence, and not that of our own country. Make no mistake there are going to be more contractions in our armed forces and the Tory government have been utterly deceitful about this.
September 29, 2018
The Current Business Secretary is a ‘Remainer’. Perhaps that will explain why there has been no clear message from his office.
Why Mrs May, who is actually conducting a plan to leave the EU, would surround herself with those against our Leaving the Brussels cabal, is bewildering and must give rise to serious doubts over her true sincerity.
Is it not the time to hold a reshuffle to reassure the majority the the UK citizens who voted to withdraw from the confines of the European Union?
And given the release of FCO document 10/1048, today, such a move must now become essential to restore public trust in her leadership. The deliberate concealment of the true facts of the EU super-State during the 1970s, is nothing short of contemptible and a stain on the integrity of Parliament.
Are we the public not legally protected from such anti-democratic action?
September 29, 2018
Please provide a link to FCO document 10/1048.
September 29, 2018
Denis Cooper, I believe Den means FCO 30/1048 released in 2002, but periodically featuring in the Daily Express. It was in on both 28 and 29 of Sept 2018. And good for the Express too.
September 30, 2018
The whole document is available as a pdf. Just search for it on-line.
I am unable to upload it to this site.
September 29, 2018
John
It might be worth having a word with Boris Johnson. He seemed to flounder a bit on this very issue when questioned by Robert Peston.
September 29, 2018
There is no obligation to have controls on the import of anything at ports when we Leave the EU.
The fact that we are no longer bound by EU rules to let people and business buy things unmolested from the EU doesn’t mean that that we have to interfere with their freedom to do so. Why would we?
The advantage of leaving the EU is that we will be able to allow people and businesses to buy things from elsewhere as well and get the best value possible.
September 29, 2018
When we take back control we will have control over our own ports only but we will not have any say about EU ports and how they conduct their business?
As that old scottish guy in ‘dads army’ was wont to say Doomed Doomed! I say stupid stupid! The whole brexit thing is stupid
September 29, 2018
Backtoback, So you’re saying EU port operators will deliberately hold back the exports of EU manufacturers? And how is that going to work?
September 29, 2018
Stupid boy.
September 29, 2018
Can anyone honestly see the UK delaying the entry of car parts? Can you see the EU delaying the transit of part parts to the Uk – oh Yes
September 29, 2018
Bryan,
Can it be explained why 3 Japanese owned car plants, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Indian owned JLR , would wish to jeopordise their production by importing parts from EU when they could simply supply from their own production base in Japan, or the free world.
September 29, 2018
Poor old Theresa is the modern day equivalent of the ‘appeasing’ Neville Chamberlain…”Peace for Our Time”…she shouts…as she waves her Chequers document in the air! Meanwhile, the other side…laughs up its sleeve.
Different times require different personalities and skills. Imagine if Neville Chamberlain had been our leader, through World War 2.
The question is…who is the right person, with the right skills… for the difficult job ahead…who is the modern day ‘Winston Churchill’…to lead the Nation, from the front?
September 29, 2018
Nigel Farage, Gerard Batten, maybe even Boris Johnson, but whoever it is they would need to believe in Brexit otherwise they will be at odds with the expressed will of the people and we will be arguing amongst ourselves while M.Barnier sits back with a bowl of popcorn.
September 30, 2018
“Imagine if Neville Chamberlain had been our leader, through World War 2.”
The outcome would be a quisling government in this country, same as what we have now.
September 29, 2018
Here’s a tip for a lucrative marketing opportunity after 29th March: print 10,000 T-shirts with “Don’t blame me, I voted remain!”, and another 10,000 emblazoned with ” We told you it would be brilliant – please thank the Leavers!”
To be honest, I don’t think either would be appropriate; there’ll be some disruption, some companies will have problems while others will cope and eventually prosper. In the meantime might it not be a nice gesture for Leavers to start a fund that could help SME’s that become disadvantaged during the leave process? If the money isn’t needed then it could be returned to investors with the accrued interest.
September 29, 2018
@David L
Would you per chance be the one who decides who gets what?
September 29, 2018
this wholly depends on the deal made with the EU so it is a bit of an illusion to state this up front but it has of course never made you make large up scaled statement in the past John
September 29, 2018
It’s high time that the EC and the UK agreed the tariffs and technology to take effect from 30th March 2019. Forget about the transitional period and backstop agreements. Hopefully it will be WTO rules, varied to include an agreed range of industrial goods such as cars and car parts, aircraft and aircraft parts. We can evolve to Canada plus plus by degrees, with no particular rush.
We should use that £39 billion bung as a bargaining chip. The EU won’t receive it unless they treat us nicely. To reiterate:
– If the EC imposes any non-tariff barriers, they will receive none of it
– If we are thrown off the Galileo project, we demand the return of our contributions to it plus interest
The Republic of Ireland is a pipsqueak nation of no consequence. The UK rule book will be a subset of the EU rule book, after we have removed much of the 25 years of dirigiste crap that EC Laws and Directives have imposed on us over 25 years. Irish exports to us that conform to the EU rule book will automatically conform to ours. Ensuring that our exports to the Irish Republic conform to the EU rule book is a matter for them. The Irish trade problem is a non-problem. And we shouldn’t worry about the Good Friday Agreement. We should simply acknowledge that Sinn Fein has killed it by failing to participate in the Stormont Government.
The trouble with this Government is that they are adopting a grovel position in negotiations, down on their knees – for no reason.
The source of this grovel is the resident of No 10. She is also a Socialist and a politically correct automaton in many other policy areas. She is a one woman disaster area. When are you going to get rid of her?
September 30, 2018
As a leaver I am very happy that Mr. Barnier/the EU are taking a hard stance on Galileo and saying we cannot be part of this project and thus forcing Mrs. May/our remainer government/Paliament into developing our own system.
I do not want the UK to be part of this project and hence the UK’s security to be in the hands of Mr. Juncker/Mr. Selmayr and 27 (soon to be 34+) other countries, many of whom I would consider to be a severe security risk.
Neither would I want our access to such an important piece of military hardware be capable of being denied by Mr. Juncker/Mr. Selmayr.
Our ultimate security rests in developing our own system, just as we had to develop our own nuclear weapons after WW2.
October 4, 2018
Fine, but let’s then demand the return of our contributions to Galileo. There’s other expenditure we should never have contributed to, such as the establishment of an EU permanent president and foreign minister (etc ed. Building a Federal European SuperState is not in our interest and never was.
What it comes down to is our negotiating strategy. If Barnier and Juncker can be bloody minded, so can we.
September 30, 2018
Lindsay
“The Republic of Ireland is a pipsqueak nation of no consequence”
==
That remark just about sums up a lot of Brexiteers. Total arrogance and disregard for the integrity of other nations.
Twas ever thus – it was people like you who got us the reputation of ‘Perfidious Albion” and no doubt reaffirms what many Europeans, not just De Gaulle, felt – that we should never have been allowed in.
Ironical that it was mostly the Germans who backed our membership application.
October 4, 2018
I want the Irish Republic to have total independence. That would mean that they can’t vote in our elections and will never again share our currency. It also suggests scrapping the Good Friday Agreement, which we only negotiated because of Republican terrorism. If a citizen of Northern Ireland is of the Republican persuasion, there is a simple response: “Go south, young man.”
And just for the record I like Enoch Powell’s form of Unionism: abolish Stormont and make do with a mixture of direct rule and strong local government.
September 29, 2018
Normally, it should be the Business Secretary’s business to assuage fears by addressing them. Mr Clark finds it more personally opportune to aggravate them.
And naturally the PM is again ‘too busy’ to intervene and correct him.
September 29, 2018
I think it’s delays, checks, inspections etc – trade sanctions effectively – on the EU side they are worried about. I am sure Toyota are aware the UK govt won’t be dumb enough to do this, even with Mrs May as PM.