So now we read confirmation the the EU wants us to accept freedom of movement for under 30 s.
They want to grab more of our fish for longer, demanding an extended and generous access for their trawlers and super trawlers to our waters.
They want to impose more of their Ā laws on us. They are offering no new and improved access to their market.
None of this makes any sense for the U.K.Still the U.K. government fails to ask for anything that we might need to make our lives better.
Although the U.K. establishment did its best to wreck Brexit and avoid taking advantage of the freedoms, we are saving Ā£12 bn a year and putting that into the NHS, We have avoided a large Share of Euro 800 bn of extra EU borrowing they agreed as soon as we left, and do not have to impose hundreds of costly and unhelpful laws they have imposed since we left.
December 14, 2024
And we have established that we are an independent nation state. We can do as we please once we change the professional political class and find people with a backbone attached to a brain.
This is a suicide note from the Labour Party – Rachel Reeves, confused by the result of her actions ābelievesā that the EU will bail her out.
December 14, 2024
Agreed. The EU needs bailing out as much as, if even not more than, the UK. All the EU wants from the UK is cash, directly or indirectly. Starmer, Reeves and co seem determined to surrender it with nothing of substance in return.
The best thing the UK has done in recent years is Brexit. The worst thing is not make the most of the opportunities afforded by Brexit because of the actions of the Starmers of this world.
December 14, 2024
“not make the most of the opportunities afforded by Brexit because of the actions of the Starmers of this world”. More the Cameron, May, Boris and Sunak’s of this World. Starmer has not even got going yet. Labour now less popular than both Reform and the Tories (even after their 14 years of appalling serial betrayals)
December 14, 2024
Sam Bidwell in the Telegraph today is spot on.
Rule by lawyers is holding Britain back from prosperity
London has become the centre not of economic dynamism, but of regulatory and judicial overreach.
Suella Braverman on this is clearly wrong she was a child and is clearly a problem – but she is clearly British should never have been stripped of this and is our problem. She will doubtless end up back in the UK eventually.
For the sake of British values, Shamima Begum must never be allowed back
Her story is a cautionary tale and a stark reminder of the perils of radicalisation. But it is also a line in the sand.
What sort of “radicalisation” might that be Suella you do not say – why not?
December 14, 2024
Suella is usually fairly sound, Ben Habib is nearly always sound. Alas not on Shamima Begum. British values and the law say she is British and this should never have been withdrawn by Home Secretary Javid (and all subsequent ones) nor upheld by our rather dire two tier courts.
How is the (clearly unsafe) judgement against Lucy Letby going? Has she even been allowed to make a first appeal yet or are they too worried about this? Or is she to be kept in jail so as to keep relatives of the alleged victims happy as the not so Hon Wes Streeting suggests. He also says people should shup up on this with is surely miscarriage of justice.
Wes is one of the brighter Ministers too, he even says the odd thing that is quite sensible occasionally.
December 14, 2024
Brexit was done by the British Sovereigns (The People), everything else is enacted by our incompetent functionaries. They are unworthy of us and need to be sacked.
There is a Political Black Hole in Britain. Starmer himself is evidence thereof.
December 14, 2024
I think we need to change more that just the political class. According to, Dominic Cummings the Senior CS runs the show, ‘completely’ and politicians are just actors in a very badly ‘scripted’ show. And he really means ‘scripted’.
December 14, 2024
Mark B i’ve heard some of his talk, and it makes so much, make sense!
I had heard elsewhere about cabinet meetings being scripted.
December 14, 2024
Indeed seems so.
December 14, 2024
We need politicians with their own script. See Thatcher, Redwood, Powell, Shore, Castle, etc etc etc.
December 14, 2024
Well, you have had almost five years of “freedom” from the EU, under four different Prime Ministers from two different parties. I would love to hear stories of how happy it has made you, but every post I read from a Brexiter howls with anger about terrible it is. Might you one day consider that Brexit itself was a terrible idea? A majority of British voters now think so
Reply Brexit is a good idea. Letās get on with it.
December 14, 2024
“A majority of British voters now think so”
Where have you read that, The Guardian?
I’ve never met a Brexiter who thought it was a bad idea but I’ve met many that think our political class betrayed us.
I have spoken to many people from other European countries and all bar none think their countries are going to the dogs with high levels of immigration and declining services.
December 14, 2024
statista.com 11/12/2024 āIn hindsight, do you think that Britain was right or wrong to vote to leave the European Union?ā
December 14, 2024
will that be one of those accurate polls like the ones preceding the referendum or the ones that said Labour would get 40% in the general election or the ones that showed Theresa May 15% ahead of Corbyn?
December 14, 2024
Remainers have deliberately sabotaged the democratic result of the referendum.
The uni party will never be forgiven for their arrogant we know best attitude.
Assisted by the worst Speaker of the House of Commons in all history.
December 14, 2024
Who did they ask? Not the majority Hefner. Suck it up, we voted to Leave 5 times!
You should know that the MSM is a critical arm of the ānudge unitā. Ignore it, they have everything wrong.
December 15, 2024
It becomes pleasanter and pleasanter when people are so deep in the rabbit hole that they are left to question the polling organisation.
Well, statista.com is only collating polls from various polling companies.
The original poll was conducted by YouGov/DataPraxis with 2,125 Brits part of the study (YouGov in the UK, DataPraxis for other countries in the EU, see comment lower down for Germany, ā¦ France.)
Overall 68% of these 2,125 would accept full free movement. 54% of those who voted for Leave in 2016 would now accept full free movement of people to travel, live and work across EU borders in return for access to the EUās single market.
Among those 59% of āred wallā voters would back this trade-off as well as 81% of people who voted Labour in 2024.
Only Reform voters in the 2024 elections narrowly oppose this trade-off by 45% to 44% (and those represented only 14.3% of the voters at the GE.)
Reply Polling based on the General election is very different to opinions now.
December 14, 2024
No we haven’t had freedom. Significant policy areas are still controlled by the EU.
December 14, 2024
āSignificantā is a worthless qualificative as your comment is written.
What are the UK policy areas still controlled by the EU, please?
December 14, 2024
VAT in Northern Ireland and therefore the rest of the UK
“UK-EU Divergence Tracker Q4 2023
This edition of UK in a Changing Europeās UK-EU Regulatory Divergence Tracker, covers developments from October 2023 to January 2024.
The Regulatory Divergence Trackers provide an overview of where and how the UK has used its regulatory freedoms to diverge from EU regulation. It identifies and analyses the most significant cases of divergence between the UK and EU which have taken place since Brexit. It explains what the changes are, what impact they are having, and likely further consequences.
In the Q4 2023 edition, the tracker finds nine cases of active divergence (where the UK, or some part of it, changes its rules); ten of passive divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK, or some part of it, does not follow); two of procedural divergence (where policy does not diverge but the processes for managing it do); and four of active alignment (where the UK takes steps to align more closely with EU rules, systems or programmes).”
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/uk-eu-divergence-tracker-q4-2023/
December 14, 2024
Because the Remainers still dominate the loathed political class. They are specifically selected for that purpose. Substandard in every respect.
We need to sack the party machines and SELECT our own candidates.
December 14, 2024
It’s really bad energy to keep complaining about Brexit.
I voted against it as I didn’t think we were ready (like trying to plan DDay for 1942 and without the Americans instead of DDay in 1944 with the Americans). I still stand to that view.
However, Brexit won. Remainers have to accept that (in fact, they should have from Day 1 of the win). And get on with making Brexit work – and work well. Which it CAN (even though its beginnings were fairly shambolic / daft but we CAN move on from that – and make it a real success).
So please stop complaining about Brexit – and get behind it.
And at end of day, patriotism is a great thing – and that includes being a completely sovereign nation (but with healthy ties with Europe in terms of trade, culture and security without being tied down to each other by legally-binding agreements – but rather in good will – a bit like the relationship between the UK and Ireland over the last 70 years and between the Scandinavian countries – something like that).
December 14, 2024
I would have got behind Brexit the day after the vote – if I knew what it meant. But never once did the Brexiters explain how theyād prevent Northern Ireland being split from GB, how we held all the cards, how weād pay for all the new barriers to free trade, how weād staff our care homes, hospitals and farms etc etc. whoās to blame for Brexitās failure? The no-plan Brexiters
December 14, 2024
We did all that for 800 years. Why do you need more proof?
Understand that we were defeated without a war. We were obliterated for nearly 50 years. There were no British citizens and even the Queen became a Suzereign.
The cowardly and limited political class are afraid that they canāt govern. They are correct. They are hardly fit for the Complaints Department.
They agreed our āTreaty of Versaillesā – the price we pay for recovering the core of our country. We are stripped of all else.
ITS WORTH IT! The Ulster-men must come home to England. They are mostly Anglo-Irish anyway. We need them. I had to come home from the Dominions.
December 14, 2024
Brexit (the planning of or lack of – NOT the concept of sovereignty) was a shambles / daft.
But Brexit won.
And sovereignty is way more important than the EU.
And far more challenging things have been accomplished than making something such as Brexit work.
Just need to get on with it!
December 14, 2024
Each day that elapsed we were weakened. We became less and less āreadyā. That was the plan.
December 14, 2024
Not suzereign, vassal.
December 14, 2024
Lemming
Brexit ( I do detest that stupid name , typically dreamāt up by some EU lowlife) was the best move but we have been punished by the globalists as it hindered their first step to world governance
December 14, 2024
Brexit, word said to have been invented in 2012 by Peter Wilding, the chairman of āBritish Influenceā.
December 15, 2024
A lot of hot-air Tory think-tank nonsense.
Keep things simple. Yes to low taxers etc. But first we have to TRY and sort out the cultural problem in this country (which is 90% the real problem – not politics or economic policy)
– Lots of people with children by different ‘partners’
– But native population still not procreating enough
– Collapse of the family
– People turning for help from the state instead of family
– Decline in work ethic and productivity
– Low grade depression (as opposed to clinical depression) amongst millions of people because of their lifestyles
– The stress of family life or lack of and other stresses leading millions of people to hospital and NHS costing tax payer zillions
And that’s just the start of it. The arguments politicians have aren’t going to make a huge difference. The real battle is to be find sympathy for traditional Conservative values in the Arts, Media, Education, Churches etc – so that we can reverse the crazy cultural mindset that is destroying our country and the Western World.
December 15, 2024
I see. So Brexit gave us back our independence. But it turned out we don’t have independence because of “globalists”. It would have been nice if you’d realised that before you voted to weaken our country by voting for Brexit. You were warned we were stronger inside the EU
Reply We were a rule taker having to pay large sums to them
December 14, 2024
Iām MUCH happier than I was when we were European Citizens. Does not mean I donāt despise our current political elitists – but WE are the SOVEREIGNS and can SACK THEM.
What bit donāt you like?
December 14, 2024
“Backbone attached to a Brain” – very succinct Lynn š
December 14, 2024
I very much agree with this blog
December 14, 2024
Do you? Even though it is untrue to claim the EU wants us to accept freedom of movement for under 30 s (the proposal is not about freedom of movement at all, only about far more limited short-term access)? Even though the EU has not the slightest interest in imposing more of their laws on us (they can’t, that is entirerly a decision for the UK, didn’t you notice Brexit happened already)? Even though the U.K. establishment did nothing to wreck Brexit (the Brexiters did that all by themsleves by having no plan, most of all no plan to stop Northern Ireland being taken out of the UK – as has happened thanks to Brexit)? Even though we have not avoided a large Share of Euro 800 bn of extra EU borrowing (because we had an opt out that protected us from that)?
December 14, 2024
I think you have a point. It’s not so much the EU wants to impose on the UK, but the europhiles in our government want to force the EU onto us.
December 14, 2024
There is and always was free access for the young. My husband, 76, went to Germany and lectured in Mainz University after graduating. It is a lie to claim that only the EU allowed free access for scholars and young people.
December 14, 2024
2TK is a rabid europhile. He’s not interested in what’s good for the UK as long as he can strut about on the world stage.
Government including the tories have put us in a position 100% reliant on imported electricity to which france will use to blackmail us. Already the EU are talking of restricting access to the energy market, the biggest exportter being EDF belonging to the French government.
The clowns in Westminster are discussing another 32 undersea cables for power even after what happened to the 2 Internet cables in the Baltic.
It’s not been particularly cold and we have been running the electricity grid on a wing and a prayer. Power cuts can’t come soon enough.
December 14, 2024
The original version of what has become the EU was the Coal and Steel Pact – later extended to include agriculture. ie to ensure that the essential materials necessary to wage war were controlled by the EEC/EU.
Think of the electricity connectors in that context: they’re intended to ensure that the power supply is interdependent and effectively controlled by the EU. We are no longer IN the EU (just semi-attached) but they still need to maintain their control of the UK via the energy supply in order to control a great deal else.
December 14, 2024
energy-uk.org.uk 24/10/2024 āEnergy UK explains: The cost of the UK-EU relationship for energyā.
Please download the .pdf (4 pages) for more details.
Also reports.electricinsights.co.uk āQ2 2024: Britain imports one fifth of its electricityā.
There is also a .pdf to explore.
And just for the like of Donna, it is not the EU as such that sells or buys electricity via the interconnectors, but the individual countries depending on their needs.
But it is clear that trying to make some people understand what is going on now is like the French say āpi** in a violinā and expect Mozartās concerto n.1 in B flat K.207.
December 14, 2024
But the biggest supplier is EDF which is wholly owned by the French government and us being used to blackmail us.
December 14, 2024
The EU controls energy supply policy for the member states and effectively the UK since we are not allowed to compete with “our friends” in the EU.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/68/energy-policy-general-principles
December 14, 2024
And they are buying HUGE quantities from Russia – they admit it. š
December 14, 2024
āThe EU controls energy supply policy for the member statesā, wrong, each member is still able to build whatever energy supply they want. Thatās why France has been trying (for ten years) to start the Flamanville EPR and otherwise depends for a large part on nuclear-produced electricity, Germany still depends on fossil fuels (a large part Russian gas and their own coal) but has a sizeable renewable electricity sector, the Netherlands on their gas, Italy from imports from France and Switzerland, Denmark on North Sea oil and gas, Sweden on nuclear and gas, etc ā¦
If the āEUā controls the energy supply policy it is doing a very bad job.
As for your āeffectively the UK is not able to competeā, the UK has to import and export its energy at market prices as since Brexit (01/01/2021) the UK has left the SDAC (Single Day-Ahead Coupling) mechanism.
statista.com 06/08/2024 āenergy imports into the UK – Statistics and factsā.
entsoe.eu 20/11/2024 āSingle day-ahead coupling (SDAC)ā.
December 14, 2024
hefner:
The NESO report āClean Power 2030ā shows a bar chart in āAnnex 4 : Cost and Benefit Analysisā P23 Figure 9 that we will be importing electricity at positive prices and exporting at negative prices.
On P22 NESO write:
āAs Great Britain transitions to a clean power system, it is anticipated to become a net exporter of electricity (Figure 9). However, exports will be highest during periods of high renewable energy output, which typically coincide with relatively lower prices under current arrangements (Figure 8). While exporting can help recover some costs compared to curtailing excess generation, significant net exports at low prices still incur some overall costs to the British system.ā
In fact even with 35 GW of unabated gas generators on hand the grid will need additional power of up to 7 GW to prevent grid collapse. This will be either through DSR, aka rolling blackouts, and/or through imports at very high prices. It will be interesting to see which option the government selects as it will be a political decision.
December 14, 2024
I want to see what labour remainers are proposing debated line by line in the Commons, so that it can be shreaded.
I want it made clear to the EU that an incoming Reform government will reverse this and all the other unexploded devices left behind, such as the Windsor Framework.
Another item that we can add to Starmers Sins, when the time comes. A truely traiterous PM representing only 20% of those who voted last July.
December 14, 2024
A truely traiterous PM representing only 20% of those who voted last July
How very true and the only people to blame is ourselves for letting this bunch of clowns in, and to think we have another over 4 years for these idiots to totally destroy this country
December 14, 2024
EU demands are totally unacceptable
December 14, 2024
Not unacceptable to two tier Kier I suspect.
December 14, 2024
Sir John,
I am sure you mean their laws in para 2.
What worries me, is that if we accept freedom of movement for the under thirties, will that include the majority of their asylum seekers, given that most appear to be young males? Is this another sneaky move by a dishonest, shabby government?
December 14, 2024
That’s my worry too.
December 14, 2024
+1
December 14, 2024
C W – I would say you are spot on. Just why have the EU heads been so very pushy on this for quite a while now. They really have & there’s a reason for that. For it to work it needs a good mechanism for effective control and limitations and the UK is rather bad at that. I also read some while back that the EU’s proposal for those coming to study here was for students not to have to pay our international rate but our domestic study fee. Whether that’s still the case, not sure.
Just noted that on 12 Dec & 13 Dec, just 2 days, we have received from the EU via the Channel, 907 individuals in 14 boats.
December 14, 2024
to answer your last question ..yes it does!
December 14, 2024
+1
December 14, 2024
A nation loses its qualities when anyone is free to enter its citizensā territory without control.
Places like that become nowhere lands. Under 30s would be a thin end of a sharp edge.
December 14, 2024
Good morning.
Two things here. A saving of Ā£12bn for the NHS equals just 24 days of spending for said NHS. And I am of the opinion reading, ian wraggs contributions regarding charges for energy that we are paying the EU via ‘other means’. The other thing is regarding the borrowing. Yes, we may not be liable for new borrowing, but I believe that we are still liable for old borrowing.
I thought Leave meant Leave ?
December 14, 2024
Well you surely did not trust “leave means leave” Theresa Net Zero May did you? Now off to the Lords for her services to gross serial incompetence and blatant dishonesty against the people.
December 14, 2024
No, it was āBrexit means Brexitā which to T May meant āpretend to leave but stayā.
She is a Narcissist. Lying is the natural default to that personality type.
December 14, 2024
Dear Agricola, fabulous wishes!
If we’ve learned anything since 2TK took over, it’s that he tries to hide all his sins, obfuscates, refuses to answer questions and has no interest really in the accountability required by Parliament, preferring the unaccountable style of the ‘Davos elite’ and the WEF. We have allowed into power a true, undemocratic socialist; and that’s why he fits in so well in Berlaymont, where, if we went back into the EU, he thinks he could govern without question. Starmer wants back in and will do ANYTHING he can to achieve it, good or bad for us doesn’t come into the calculation, the UK is just a bargaining chip.
Who gave us such a poor Brexit deal. Yes the ‘establishment’ (AKA the Whitehall Civil Service) but also May, Johnson and Sunak. The lot of them didn’t want the responsibility of running a nation; too hard and stops you getting invited to glamourous EU parties. We have to ‘hope’ (sorry Germany) that Germany runs into real economic problems and stops funding the EU. We know the rest of them can’t and that we be th end of that experiment.
December 14, 2024
+1 Peter Wood.
Germany is in turmoil, with the attempts by the establishment to destroy opposition by means of attacking freedom of speech in general and the AfD in particular.
Part of the establishment (Greens) is ideologically committed to de-industrialisation, but another part is now having second thoughts as voters are slowly waking up. It remains to be seen how much damage the Greens will be allowed to do in the establishment’s absolute determination to deny the AfD power.
After the collapse of the current coalition, Federal elections are set for 23rd February. It will be some time after that when we’ll see what coalition emerges and have more clarity on whether Germany is going to put a brake on its self-inflicted decline. I hope they remain foolish long enough to bankrupt the EU, but I think self-interest may prevail. Who knows?
December 14, 2024
I have a number of friends in Germany, one in particular. She reports that it’s getting pretty grim there. Redundancies; regular ethnic minority violence; the AfD surging, particularly in the former East Germany which scares her in view of the country’s history. She is a Civil Servant and this week said she is glad she has a secure job because 3 friends in the private sector have been made redundant in the past couple of weeks ….(suffering from the delusion that public sector jobs are safe when the private sector which pays for them is collapsing).
December 14, 2024
Peter,
Don’t forget the Benn Bill which tied the hands of the negotiators to NOT leave without a “deal”, not surprising that the EU got the better deal.
December 14, 2024
So it’s ok for the UK to have a youth mobility visa scheme with Japan, South Korea, Australia and Canada (as already exists), but not France or Germany?
Interesting attitude.
December 14, 2024
They don’t want to steal our fish.
Do you understand the meaning of quid pro quo?
December 14, 2024
Sir Joe S. That’s “squid Pro quo”.
December 14, 2024
Perhaps it’s squid pro quo?
December 14, 2024
They donāt want to steal our country and destroy our nation.
December 14, 2024
We’re not allowed to agree one for France or Germany. That might be worth having (debatable).
We would have to have one for the whole of the EU, which potentially means millions of unemployed EU under 30s moving here – including the under 30 criminal element from certain eastern European countries.
December 14, 2024
It’s never that simple with the EU.
December 14, 2024
We have agreements with thirteen other countries, all of which are a considerable (e.g. costly air travel) distance away and all of which have reasonable control of their own borders & citizens. I don’t see folk from Japan, Australia or Canada trying to flee here….
In theory the EU looks to be the same deal but I’m afraid that travel from the EU is very much easier (and cheaper) by boat, car and train from an area that has clearly lost control of it’s borders and citizenship. How does the UK Government control the volume of “under 30’s” (and does it even want to)?
It’s a potential Trojan Horse. A way of allowing further mass immigration, just under a different name. Quite possibly I’m being paranoid but we already have a serious problem with too many newcomers needing housing, healthcare and public services – so why add to it?
December 14, 2024
It’s not france and Germany It’s the whole EU. They want to export their youth unemployment to the UK.
December 14, 2024
IW : And how is that EU Enlargement project coming along. Who’s next. They’ll probably be making more ‘progress’ over the next few years …..
December 14, 2024
Due to the universality of the English language, there will be at least ten times as many EU young people coming to the UK than the other direction. And just think of the size of the EU population compared with the UK.
December 14, 2024
The Establishment and the puppeticians in Westminster refused to implement the result of the Referendum, including most of the MPs who were then in the Not-a-Conservative-Party.
The “Deal” and the Windsor Treachery were not intended to give us back the ability to govern our own country (which is what LEAVE meant), they were intended to ensure that we couldn’t do that and could, over time, be dragged back into the EU as an official Associate Member when a two-tier structure is constructed (Eurozone and non-Eurozone).
The EU is falling apart and appears to be getting closer to collapse. I suspect the Establishment’s priority is to try and prevent that from happening.
This Government is going to drag us back as much and as quickly as it can and in the process will wreck any chance of having a decent trade deal with Trump’s USA.
We will need a Reform Government in order to really LEAVE the EU and benefit from Trump (and in due course JD Vance’s) America.
December 14, 2024
Again we have to ask “where are our good negotiators?”. It’s not as though, as a nation, we have some stupid gene running through us. Yet we first put up Cameron to lose to Merkel then back the wrong side-through misjudgement rather than just stupidity. Then May, truly hopeless, Johnson, misguided by some marital machinations, Sunak, guided against our best interests by malevolent forces. Now Starmer, who seems ideologically to want to diss the country in any way possible and is a kind of May-lite negotiator to boot.
December 14, 2024
The British have a long standing tradition of losing every battle except the last, or, as some bright spark put it, the only way to make the British stand up is first to bring them to their knees. This is UK’s fate under the Starmer Gang.
December 14, 2024
The last battle is when the people are involved. Itās the People who win. But we now face massive problems in our cities and towns. The situation is very serious, we start as an occupied nation. The politicians are right to be terrified of the results of their own works.
December 14, 2024
https://www.briefingsforbritain.co.uk/newsletter-24-11-24/
“The government is reportedly scrapping the role of Chief Trade Negotiator in the Department of Business and Trade and will lose Crawford Falconer, who has overseen the UKās hugely successful post-Brexit trade negotiations. Meanwhile, the government is now advertising for a full time EU negotiator at Permanent Secretary level ā presumably part of its ongoing āresetā of UK-EU relations. Keir Starmer seems to have decided that the UK must focus on the stagnating economies of the past and turn its back on the flourishing global economies of the future.”
December 14, 2024
Makes sense from the EU point so what are you going to do about it except more whinge.
Labour was voted in and Labour is going to do as Labour does – for at least ten years more.
December 14, 2024
Glad you recognise that the five year convention is unlikely to be respected by Labour. I thought I was the only person who realised this. There really is nothing to force Starmer’s Gang to submit to the electorate after five, seven, ten or more years. It can stay in power as long as it chooses. UK is heading to towards becoming either a one-party state or a caliphate.
December 14, 2024
Mark my words – Starmer’s storm troopers choosing more than 5 years will start rebellion in the streets.
December 14, 2024
+1
December 14, 2024
Blazes. I hope you’re not correct about 10 years or more. I’m convinced the economy will be such a mess come the next election, they won’t pick up 20% of those voting.
The big issue is where the “anything but Labour” vote goes: will the Tories still be damaged goods, and will Reform look like a government-in-waiting?
December 14, 2024
Oh our Parliament sits for 10 years! I missed that changeā¦.
December 14, 2024
The answers to the EU’s three demands – No! No! No!
December 14, 2024
“A majority of British voters now think so”
Where have you read that, The Guardian?
I’ve never met a Brexiter who thought it was a bad idea but I’ve met many that think our political class betrayed us.
I have spoken to many people from other European countries and all bar none think their countries are going to the dogs with high levels of immigration and declining services.
December 14, 2024
A European survey of the UK, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy and France with the following categories:
a. The UK-EU relationship should become closer,
b. The current UK-EU relationship should continue,
c. The UK-EU relationship should become more distant,
d. Donāt know.
UK 55, 22, 10, 13%
Germany 45, 28, 9, 19%
Poland 44, 24, 5, 28%
Spain 41, 32, 11, 16 %
Italy 40, 26, 11, 24%
France 34, 28, 11, 27%.
YouGov/Datapraxis 11-24/11/2024
See also TheLocal.com 12/12/2024 āBrexit reset: why majority of EU citizens want closer ties with the UKā.
December 14, 2024
Is “closer” a real significant benefit for the UK hefner ?
Please itemise the actual benefits that will result.
Looking forward to your expert response.
December 14, 2024
Did you expect anything different? I imagine they all thought closer might mean UK paying a large share like before of the 800bn Budget! Plus I doubt they want to pay 2% of GDP on Defence when the Brits will cover them either!
December 14, 2024
Stop swallowing garbage. You know the rule – garbage in ā¦ garbage out.
December 14, 2024
Even EU supporter John Springford recognises that the kind of ‘reset’ being mooted would be worth very little:
https://www.itv.com/news/2024-12-09/new-economic-partnership-with-eu-will-do-little-to-offset-the-costs-of-brexit
However where he goes wrong is in greatly overestimating the economic value of rejoining the EU single market.
December 14, 2024
We really need a Make Britain Great Again movement in UK. Hardly anyone in Westminster and Whitehall is on the side of UK. The great attraction of the EU is that it is supra-national and is therefore a mechanism for bypassing democracy, the model for one-world government. Hence it appeals to all the wrong sort of people.
December 14, 2024
The UK economy shrinks 2 months in a row.
We’ll stop the boats.
Businesses are closing, unable to afford Ms Reeves taxation.
Farmers might choose to stop and sell up in the next year, why struggle on to get mugged by Labour.?
The UK does not have enough construction workers to build the 1.5 million homes the government has promised, industry leaders have warned. Tens of thousands of new recruits are needed for bricklaying, groundworks and carpentry to get anywhere near the target, they told the BBC.
The Home Builders Federation (HBF), along with the UK’s largest housebuilder Barratt Redrow said skills shortages, ageing workers and Brexit were some of the factors behind the shrinking workforce.
The government confirmed there was a “dire shortage” of construction workers but said it was “taking steps to rectify” the problem. Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer repeated the pledge he made soon after taking power to deliver 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029.
Glad tidings to you all.
December 14, 2024
Yes, ācheer up, things are getting worseā. Norris McWhirter always said this because things have to be bad before they crash and burn. Itās the salami slicing and addition of pain a bit at a time that kills you.
December 14, 2024
Perhaps His majesty’s official opposition could do some work (for once) and highlight Two-Tiers impending betrayal.
Or continue arguing about sandwiches …………………….
December 14, 2024
Rupert Lowe (Reform) does more by way of Opposition on his own than the entirety of the Not-a-Conservative-Official-Opposition.
December 14, 2024
+1
December 14, 2024
PP :
Are Germany and France the only EU countries? Do some EU countries sell their passports for less than an illegal Channel crossing? Are the 4 countries mentioned awash with illegal migrants?
The U.K. could have remained in the EU and there would have been no Ukraine war if the EU were not so greedy and/or destructive to want to expand all the way to the Urals as promoted by PM Cameron in his 2013 Kazakhstan speech.
December 14, 2024
The Ukraine war is about NATO expansion,not EU enlargement.
The Romanian presidential elections have been cancelled because the leading candidate is anti-NATO.In a short interview with Sky’s Adam Parsons last weekend he openly accused NATO of being an offensive,not defensive,organization.NATO is building a large base in Romania (why?) and he does not want his country dragged into war with Russia.
December 14, 2024
Mitchel :
It’s about both.
December 14, 2024
Like Blair, Labour will manipulate and con the country into re-joining the EU (and be ‘at the heart of the Europe’). The only way to stop this legerdemain is for the Conservative Party to readopt its Thatcherite positioning which will win the next election, propel Brexit and boost British exports all over the world.
Let’s not forget we are overwhelmingly a service-based economy and the transportation of services is electronic and instant so our proximity to our export destinations is mostly irrelevant. There are therefore hardly any advantages to being in the EU so Labour’s drift towards it is pure Socialist sentiment.
December 14, 2024
On page 8 here:
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7851/CBP-7851.pdf
“The UK exported Ā£185 billion of goods and Ā£171 billion of services to the EU in 2023. The UK imported Ā£319 billion of goods from the EU and Ā£147 billion of services. Overall, the UK had a trade deficit of Ā£110 billion with the EU. A surplus of Ā£24 billion on trade in services was outweighed by a deficit of Ā£134 billion on trade in goods.”
But in the public debate the focus is almost entirely on just one of those four numbers – the “Ā£185 billion of goods”, which allegedly could be greatly increased by aligning our entire economy with EU rules.
Well, suppose that it was increased, by 10%, which would be Ā£18.5 billion. UK GDP was Ā£2.54 trillion in 2023, so divide the one by the other and the increase in goods exported to the EU would be equivalent to 0.7% of GDP.
That is only the start of it, but we can immediately see that with goods exports to the EU comprising about 7% of our national output the effect of any change to trading arrangements will be greatly diluted, by a factor of 14.
And we haven’t yet considered the effect of any reduction in imports and the potential for import substitution.
December 14, 2024
This is exactly what we foresaw that Starmer would do – creep us into and under the control of the EU, little by little, until we were totally shafted.
They couldn’t do it honestly or legitimately – they haven’t even asked for our support, knowing that they have no case to get us back into the EU.
Truly, this defines the morals of this labour government – their deceit and abuse of democracy will become legendary, for none of their actions are to the benefit of the UK.
Time to start recalling MPs who support these anti-Britain measures.
December 14, 2024
Do you know how the āRecall of MPs Act 2015Ā“ is triggered? No I guess not.
December 14, 2024
Nigel needs to keep reminding us what he is going to change come the next election.
December 14, 2024
This should make Powell, Blair, Starmer, Cameron and Osborne very happy. Not sure why John doesn’t aim both barrels at Labour and his own party rather than the EU? The enemy is within. Name names or don’t bother
December 14, 2024
If the Labour Party continues down this road of self destruction (for the country and its own party) then I see plenty of MPs walking accross the floor within the next couple of years.
The question is, where will they go?
December 14, 2024
Reprehensible though it has been that “… the U.K. establishment did its best to wreck Brexit and avoid taking advantage of the freedoms…” at least we are given to know who is our enemy.
December 14, 2024
But we don’t – name names please?
December 14, 2024
I fear that under the leadership of Kemi, the tories are in no position to oppose any labour venture into the EU
December 14, 2024
‘we are saving Ā£12 bn a year and putting that into the NHS’ – the world’s most depressingly dysfunctional money-pit. Can we really not find something better to do with it than sacrifice it on the altar of the national secular religion?
December 14, 2024
How about moving hundreds/thousands of CS into Immigration Controls / Border Force / Army camp hospitality enforcement?
December 14, 2024
and now I have a letter from the NHS doctor, that they are going totally digital and as I am not digitally educated I will have no GP!
December 14, 2024
Starmer should take a leaf straight out of the current Brussels playbook :
“if any agreement is to be reached between London and Brussels, it must include parallel negotiations on a binding agreement on services. There can be no agreement on fishing and the trade in goods, without one on services.
Negotiations will only be credible if they are based on an early understanding on this between the partiesā
It must also be made clear that the UK will not accept any oversight by the ECJ.
December 14, 2024
I would like to know what we might get in return.
Think positive.
December 14, 2024
š
We all know judging the results of all the other ānegotiationsā – you know, when Mrs May said alone in a room eating sandwiches while the EU drafted the āagreementā!
December 14, 2024
298 criminals arrived in the UK yesterday from the safe country of France ā¦just a few more for a free christmas dinner
December 14, 2024
I assume our homeless and evicted have all been found a hotel room, health checked, given pocket money and fed and watered?
December 14, 2024
Apparently over 1,000 in just 3 days ā¦All Border Force on Christmas leave
December 14, 2024
Hot of the press – Wokingham Conservatives dropped an appeal in our door for opinions on 3,900 new houses planned for Hall Farm. It would basically join Winnersh, Earley, Shinfield and Arborfield together.
The LibDems delayed a Local Plan to help them get elected, now they support this monster building proposal.
Removing countryside and farming, chopping down thousands of trees, risking even more flooding problems, increasing lack of support infrastructure, pressure on schools again, road congestion….
The call is for opinions to campaign against the plans.
December 14, 2024
But Starmer is buying 1,000 new homes for asylum seekers. Must be in Wokingham.