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as a reluctant adopter, if not an outright refusenik, of much of the political aspects of the EU
One of the ironies of history is that of course it was the Tories (signed by Hurd and Maude) that put their names to the Maastricht treaty that launched that process.
One of the ironies of history is that of course it was the Tories (signed by Hurd and Maude) that put their names to the Maastricht treaty that launched that process.
Yup. I also think, that a generation down the line, it’ll be a reformed Tory party that’ll take the UK back in.
I don't think it'll be the Tories.
The economic case for being inside (the outside band of) the EU will be completely accepted by all the main parties in the not so distant future... then what needs to happen is that the social case will need to be made... and I don't think that'll come from those requiring the votes of the socially conservative and nativist "England First" small town and rural voters... so it won't be the Tory party, and it won't be this current version of Labour. In the future, Labour have the broader base needed to be able to help move the country (back) towards a more open, cooperative and international outlook... I can't see the Conservative party being able to make that shift ever again.
A Brexit benefit?
“Apple has already said European users won’t be getting integrated AI on its devices this year because the company isn’t sure it can do so without breaching Digital Markets Act rules in the European Union. There is one exception to that: it will be accessible in the UK, which is of course no longer in the EU, come December.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/10/techscape-iphone-16-cost-features
Sounds like i'll be reaping the Brexit Benefits there, what with being inside the EU and not in the UK.
Another git who doesn't have to put up with the negatives of Brexit has popped his clogs.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9lk4jpr12o
kingmakers
Powerfull words, kingmakers of who, the new head of the conservative party? lol!
It's a pretty low bar.
Have we covered this yet? Apparently Tim Tams are now available in Tesco. Never tried one and it looks like a Penguin to me. But is this a direct result of our special deal with Australia that we could only achieve outside the EU?
I think I found an actual benefit. Maybe. Apple are not releasing their AI goodies in the EU due to competition law or some such. But I *think* they will be releasing then in Blighty-land.
Or something approximately like that.
But is this a direct result of our special deal with Australia that we could only achieve outside the EU?
They’ve been available in the Netherlands for decades. And you used to be able to buy them direct from the importer there… but that stopped a while back… for some reason…
But is this a direct result of our special deal with Australia that we could only achieve outside the EU?
More like a marketing thing for the supermarket,first time I heard of Timtams was when BJ was waving a packet.
If they were a ‘thing ‘ then someone would have exported/imported them years ago like Australian wine and anything else you could make coin on 🙂
Interestingly if you hop onto our companion site you’ll find a thread about how they were in Tesco previously in 2003 🙂
More of something, finally.
More residual pesticide on our food.
And we don't even have to pay extra for it.
I suppose another benefit is that behind the scenes it keeps people in work who have to sort out the messy bits that were never finished.
Oops Spanish airforce have caused a bit of a kufuffle last week.
New chapter of diplomatic tension between Spain and the United Kingdom on behalf of Gibraltar when talks are held at the highest level to try to reach an agreement that allows the British colony to fit into the European Union and the Schengen area after Brexit.
On this occasion the complaint comes from the United Kingdom and it is not because of an alleged incursion of the Civil Guard into what it considers British territorial waters but that Spain does not recognise taking advantage of the Treaty of Utrecht. According to Gibraltar's public radio and television, GBC, it is the alleged "incursion" of a Spanish military plane, events that, according to complaints, took place on Friday afternoon, when the military aircraft flew over the Peñón airport, in the hands of the British Ministry of Defence.
Can anyone summarise the actual factual benefits that this 27 page thread has come up with?
I'm lazy. Sorry.
Can anyone summarise the actual factual benefits that this 27 page thread has come up with
No significant ones.
Blue passports still leads the way on the tangible ones.
Many significant economic problems and negative impacts.
Can anyone summarise the actual factual benefits that this 27 page thread has come up with?
A load of Grifters got to make lots of cash, but overall the UK spunked hundreds of billions for less control and a poorer economic outlook.
The Express isn't spinning it very well - surely it's "UK stands firm against EU transport plan to make illegal immigration easier"
I think I found an actual benefit. Maybe. Apple are not releasing their AI goodies in the EU due to competition law or some such. But I *think* they will be releasing then in Blighty-land.
Or something approximately like that.
I’ve got all the AI facilities currently available in iOS 18.2, not that I use most of them, it’s just because I can, and the smart AI photo editing has actually been useful.
That Trans-European transport network thing - most British roads carry European road numbers, the M4 has an ‘E’ designation on the road signs.
I thought one benefit would've been not having to put up with those annoying retainer rings on disposable plastic bottle tops that are probably there to protect baby turtles, but make actually drinking from said bottles quite difficult. However, it seems when I returned to the UK for a visit recently, EVEN this EU mandate, inevetiably driven by unelected bureaucrats and so-called experts, has invaded our precious Sceptered Isles!
Ironically, one of the first things I did when finding out the referendum result was Google, "how to live in New Zealand" (like apparently many other people did that morning). Which is now where I live. We have no unelected EU bureaucracy ruling our lives here, but we do get to eat frozen berries imported from China that become occasionally contaminated with hepititis from raw human sewage used on Chinese berry farms, so you can't win them all.
Even by Express standards that's astonishing. What part of 'leave' don't they understand?
Fishing, farming, etc…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-brexit-eu-farms-food-b2657424.html
“New requirements for physical, documentary and ID checks have complicated food trade between the UK and Europe, leading to a 16.3 per cent drop each year in food exports to the EU, the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP) found.”
Even by Express standards that’s astonishing. What part of ‘leave’ don’t they understand?
The real world part - which is 99.9%+ detrimental to the UK.
They're very keen on the fantasy version, though. The one where Blighty stands tall. The one where any argument can be won by singing "There'll Always Be An England" very loudly in the face of the other person.
I found one!
It's quite niche and incredibly minor and possibly not really a benefit. In the EU, due to sanctions there has to be extra paperwork around "No re-export to Russia" when shipping from the EU to non-EU or non-"partner" countries.
In the UK, we don't have to abide by that, apparently we're going off vibes...
I thought one benefit would’ve been not having to put up with those annoying retainer rings on disposable plastic bottle tops
TBH I thought they were actually useful as they stop you dropping the tops onto the floor, which is usually dirty/dusty.
TBH I thought they were actually useful as they stop you dropping the tops onto the floor, which is usually dirty/dusty.
This. I always put my top down somewhere and lose it. No more! Thank you, EU.
It almost makes up for the fact that whenever I go to drink out the bottle I get the cap pushed up my nose, or when I go to pour into a glass the drink pours into the cap first and then everywhere BUT the glass.
This just popped up in my Facebook history. A post I wrote in 2018.
So last night I went to a pub quiz and got a taxi home. The driver was a bloke of Asian descent, presumably ****stani, as is common for minicab drivers in East Lancashire. Maybe in his 40s or 50s, I wasn't paying that much attention.
Halfway home he spontaneously sparked up a conversation about Brexit, I'd had a beer or six so I don't remember exactly how it started now but it quickly descended into the usual tripe about the EU making our laws and all that jazz. My beer-fuelled brain went "right then, I'm having you" and launched.
"Well, that's just not true, is it," I said, and explained about how all of the laws coming from the EU were endorsed by us and in many cases we actually proposed them. And of course, there's the ever-reliable "what rules do you object to, name one?" He then went on a couple of other typical leaver flights of fancy which I roundly, if slurringly, rebutted. I expect it wasn't the direction he expected the conversation to go and sadly probably not at all how he's used to his fares responding.
And that's when it all went a bit... weird.
After he'd run out of semi-coherent arguments, he started going on about how the EU was really run by aliens, they were planning an invasion and we had to leave the EU to protect ourselves. The only way we were going to survive would be to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world in some sort of bubble or something. There was more, full-on David Icke conspiracy theory stuff, I forget it all now. Before I had time to say anything in reply he was pulling up outside home so I paid, left, and then burst out laughing so hard that I had to hold on to a garden wall to stay upright and the neighbours shouted out of their bedroom window to tell me off.
People, eh.
So there you go. Brexit benefit, safe from alien anal probes, or something.
Can anyone summarise the actual factual benefits that this 27 page thread has come up with
Tax free shopping. Don't get me wrong, it's pissy in comparison to the negatives, but a few hundred quid each holiday is better than nowt Shirley?
Hmmm dunno whipping over to France on a weekend to grab beer and fags probably saved a lot more.
Anyway another Brexit benefit is that I have just had to employee the services of another lawyer to attempt sort out my Spanish residency under the WA.
Once it’s finally sorted I’ll put a post up (tbh It’s not actually that interesting)
It’s interesting to be on the other side of the immigration fence thou.
At least were not getting dragged into trade deals like this I guess..
I thought one benefit would’ve been not having to put up with those annoying retainer rings on disposable plastic bottle tops that are probably there to protect baby turtles, but make actually drinking from said bottles quite difficult. However, it seems when I returned to the UK for a visit recently, EVEN this EU mandate, inevetiably driven by unelected bureaucrats and so-called experts, has invaded our precious Sceptered Isles!
I know, right? Why won't bottling companies re-tool their production lines, just for the UK! so selfish!
Greater safety for EU residents from today. (May affect some of the crafty people here 🙁 )
"The EU’s new General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) come into force on 13th December 2024, replacing older safety rules to ensure that all consumer products sold in the EU meet modern safety standards.
One important update is the requirement for all sellers to have a Responsible Person or representative based in the EU if you offer products for sale into the EU or Northern Ireland. If you’re a seller based in Northern Ireland that can be yourself – but if you’re a seller based outside the EU or Northern Ireland, you have to appoint an Authorised Representative located in the EU/NI to be that responsible person. This person acts as a compliance contact and ensures your products meet EU requirements.
The new regulations apply to all products placed or made available on the market whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned, with certain exceptions listed here. ‘Product’ means any item intended for consumers or likely to be used by consumers, whether in return for payment or free of charge. So even if you do not see yourself as a manufacturer making products, or you send something you have made for free to a customer based in the EU or Northern Ireland, these regulations still apply to you."
https://blog.folksy.com/2024/11/26/gpsr-guide-for-artists-and-makers-on-folksy
GPSR has just killed my wife's European business dead. She didn't sell enough to justify the hundreds if not, thousands of pounds it'll cost to appoint a "Responsible Person or representative based in the EU" plus all the repackaging that it'll require. There is so little actual information about this and there are so few individuals doing it that it's hideously expensive and simply not worth it for small businesses.
**** Brexit and all who promoted or voted for it.
Tax free shopping. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pissy in comparison to the negatives, but a few hundred quid each holiday is better than nowt Shirley?
Just how much do you drink & smoke to save a "few hundred quid each holiday"?
Presumably it's not just us impacted. It's everyone outside the EU, ie almost everyone. Much as I hate the term this does seem a bit of daft EU bureaucracy. Why on earth do you need a local representative in a country/region to meet local regulations.
Why on earth do you need a local representative in a country/region to meet local regulations.
Presumably so that they fall under your legal jurisdiction so they can be prosecuted if/when things go wrong.
make actually drinking from said bottles quite difficult
Not really, once you realise you can rotate the cap so it's out of the way. I didn't think this was a big problem to solve but apparently I over-estimated some people.
Can't remember if I posted on here about this but I am seeing a lot of small parts businesses and specialist bike shops suddenly withdraw shipping to EU because of all this.
Essentially the GPSR rules being talked about now already existed for CE class items like e-bikes or toys where you need to have product testing and EU representatives in place. Now that EU representative part has been extended to everything including e.g steel frames, or an EU rep and testing records for top caps or saddle bags which my not have come under any specific product class test standard before. It's a blow to small businesses.