Forum Topic

Brexit is like moving house!

According to Gove that is. Talk about led by donkeys!

Craig David Mcdowell ● 2200d47 Comments

It hasn’t been implemented yet. Other than new WTO red tape and Brits losing  EU rights on 31Dec20. No-one knows what it means. Future U.K.-EU arrangements still in the slow cooker. Useful sites https://www.gov.uk/transitionhttps://www.iexpats.com/british-expats-unbankable-as-brexit-passports-set-to-end/

Jerome O ● 2200d

Do we get to see the surveyor’s report first?  We wouldn’t want to end up with dodgy cladding.

Alastair Banton ● 2200d

CDM > "According to Gove that is."A lot of businesses agree and are moving... ... their operations and economic activity out of the UK into an EU member state.

John Whitworth ● 2200d

Bit like downsizing. And losing your neighbours for the last 40 years.

Ken Munn ● 2200d

Isn't moving house one of the most traumatic things you can do?

Vanessa Smith ● 2200d

like most estate agents Boris has lied about the house with a leaking basement, rotten foundations, and a leaking roof,as a great long term investment, but worry not he knows a man who can fix all this in no time, Commings & Grovel developers! Thought 2021 been bad, not looking forward to 2022, gawd help us all.

James Smith-Jones ● 2200d

'Isn't moving house one of the most traumatic things you can do?And the most expensive.

Ken Munn ● 2200d

It's getting so bad it might be time to leave the UK and move to another country, Scotland perhaps?

Craig David Mcdowell ● 2200d

Finally something that everyone on CW4 can agree on.

Simon Pedley ● 2200d

The comparison to moving house (oh, isn't it a bother but it's also moving somewhere nicer) is simply one more malicious lie. As accurate as 'oven ready'. As pernicious as 'they need us more than we need them'. Exiting the EU will not be like moving house. For one thing, we stay put exactly where we are. For another, it is not going to be about achieving somewhere nicer or better. If you are determined to have a domestic comparison then it's more like building an ugly great 15 foot fence all round your house, spoiling your view, costing you tons of money and making exiting the drive tricky and time consuming - just because you don't like the neighbours' kids occasionally coming into your garden to pick up a mis-kicked football. And as a consequence making the whole street think you are really, really dumb.

Alan Clark ● 2200d

Excellent analogy!

Steve Taylor ● 2200d

Ta. But there must be better ones. Surely the amassed wit and wisdom of W4 can conjure up an even more accurate and incisive comparison. Ideally some from fans of Brexit. Please.

Alan Clark ● 2200d

Now, now. Without Brexit there wouldn't be loadsa new job opportunities for lorry park attendants. Why, even ballerinas could retrain.

Ken Munn ● 2200d

I can't see that there will be any need for lorry park attendants on this side of the channel. I am aware that the UK is short of 50,000 additional Customs Entry Clerks to clear goods into the country but the lorries won't be allowed into the UK until the goods have been cleared. It's going to be fun in Calais whilst they wait weeks for UK Customs clearances.  Yep, I guess some ballerinas could retrain!

Steve Taylor ● 2199d

You surely haven't missed that 'The Garden Of England' is being bulldozed into a truck park? Kent's Brexit voters are getting a little hot under the collar.

Ken Munn ● 2199d

"You surely haven't missed that 'The Garden Of England' is being bulldozed into a truck park?"Nope, I didn't miss it - I simply think that the government is wrong to spend all that money on the lorry parks when trade will be slowed down to a trickle.  Surely this is just another Chris Grayling blunder / dream / fantasy which is being progressed by the current dullards.  The government wants to be seen to be doing something so they throw money in all directions when it isn't needed. They are a government in chaos.

Steve Taylor ● 2199d

And this morning on Radio 4 the Brexitard Minister Barclay was pummelled by Nick Robinson because the Governments failed he Test & Trace procedures.If we weren't now the outcasts of Europe we could be begging our EU friends to teach us how to get it right.  All Barclay could say is 'we are working on it'. Same old, same old - for 6 months?  Germany got it right in 6 weeks!   

Steve Taylor ● 2198d

"Germany got it right in 6 weeks!"Perhaps they should teach their EU friends in France and Spain how to do it then ?

Richard Greenhough ● 2198d

Before joining the 'common market' we were known as the UK was known as the sick man of Europe. Now they refer to us as the thick man of Europe.

Ken Munn ● 2198d

"Now they refer to us as the thick man of Europe."Spot on!

Steve Taylor ● 2198d

I was traveling between UK and France about 3 years ago. Next to me on the flight was a chap (about 60) who was a uni lecturer. He told me how he was so pleased with the Brexit referendum result. He told me how he had (in what he confessed was average French) explained the referendum result to his French gardener. And how his gardener had said “les Anglais; vous etes brave!”  And he took that as an endorsement. It was not. It was specifically a French tongue in cheek observation of a foolish act.

Alan Clark ● 2198d

I read that the suspicion is that Johnson is waiting for the US election to decide whether to opt for a no deal Brexit or not. Sounds plausible; a Biden win would certainly strengthen the pressure to retain an open border in Ireland. A no deal Brexit would make that border necessary or require an Irish Sea border. Plus Biden would not rush to a trade agreement with the UK. Thus it seems our acclaimed efforts to win sovereignty now means we depend on the elections of another country before we decide the UKs course of actions. Well that’s what we all understood that this sovereignty thing would entail. Makes one proud.

Alan Clark ● 2196d

If you take Trump out of the equation as an aberration hopefully never to be repeated, it’s worth noting that John McCain a republican was way more committed to the Good Friday Agreement than Obama.For the most part support for the agreement cuts across the republican-democrat divide, The USA appointed a special envoy back in 1995 much to the consternation of the then UK government.It’s obvious to anyone most US politicians other than the great wrecker Trump would not tolerate anything that messes with the GFA.It’s questionable just how valuable any trade deal with the US will be for the UK but you can be assured that in the great scheme of things in $$$ terms it won’t mean much at all to the US.They are much more interested in the EU, Germany and France now sit at the epicentre with our self- inflicted decision to side line ourselves. Genius! Planning and strategic thinking on an epic scale form this government and the Brexit fan club.Can you imagine Nigel Farage’s welcome in the US from a Biden administration?I can well believe Johnson, Cummings and co are holding off committing to a no deal, any deal with the US will be on their terms, their demands and if it remotely jeopardises the Irish situation you can forget it there won’t be one.That we ploughed ahead with the most damaging economic decision in modern history to the astonishment of almost any independent observer on the basis of a great new deal with the US and a wonderful deal with our great friends in China, shows the brainless direction we are following.On a related note I read with amusement how surprised and concerned our government is with the surge in support for independence in Scotland.Who’d have thought dragging them out of the EU against their will ignoring their explicit desire to remain could lead to such an outcome?Who could have seen that coming?

Craig David Mcdowell ● 2196d

I’m sure M Barnier will be relieved that there is, after all, a cunning plan behind all the posturing and delay to negotiations he is trying to hold in good faith with our great leaders.

Vivienne Cox ● 2196d

AC > "... a no deal Brexit or not."It turns out that the slogan 'no deal is better than a bad deal' actually defined our choice: horrific or terrible.

John Whitworth ● 2196d

I've never understood that phrase and it seems to have been allowed to go unchecked for years now "no deal is better than a bad deal". Surely this is self-evidently wrong. A deal that has been agreed (and deals need to be agreed) might not provide every ideal wish but would be there to enable the continuation of trade with less cost and disruption than no deal. So the very worst thing is a no deal exit. There is nothing more harmful than that. It is patently a false statement. There should be more effort to dismiss such false and misleading slogans. People might actually believe in them.

Alan Clark ● 2196d

AC > "I've never understood that phrase and it seems to have been allowed to go unchecked for years now..."The English language has been abused throughout this process.Apparently one of the 'new opportunities' of Brexit will be the requirement for hauliers to obtain a permit to enter the county of Kent. Non-compliance will be punished by a fine.Truly thrilling.

John Whitworth ● 2196d

This gets better with each day. So 'no deal is better than a bad deal'. But everyone knows that a no-deal exit is really, really quite bad. Even Johnson knows that everyone knows it will be bad. He himself does not care about no-deal exit or the consequences but is just about aware enough to realise that such an exit is viewed negatively. So what has he done? He's gone about calling such an exit an Austrlian style deal. Because it sounds like a deal and everyone likes sunny Australia. Shame most also know that Australia has no trade deal with the EU.So whilst 'no deal is better than a bad deal' is obviously the primary party line, it is also necessary to brand a no-deal exit as a pretend deal. Which means it is better than no deal. Clear?

Alan Clark ● 2196d

No.

Brian Coyle ● 2196d

Appears there are many Chiswick W4 curmudgeons on this topic who disparage Brexit? It's not as if we aren't european no more now we have exited the EU. Me? So looking forward to getting pretty rubber-stamps in my new blue Brittanic Majesty's passport like we used to have in them olden days of yore. Otherwise, what are all those empty passport pages for? Cheer Up Chums! It'll be a breeze when all the remoaning finally settles down and we realise it's a case of "Que Sera, Sera" all over again like it was in the 1960s when, in any case, the French originally didn't want the UK to join the EU :-)

Bobbie Carnegie ● 2196d

Finally a clear statement of the benefit of leaving the EU: you get more stamps on your passport. Fantastic. A tangible and meaningful benefit. (Let's ignore that some of us, like me, have filled many a passport with stamps and actually prefer stamp free travel within Europe.)Any other benefits?

Alan Clark ● 2196d

Also.Disparage Brexit? Sorry Bobby, we do not need to do any disparaging. All we need to do is note the disparaging that Brexit does for itself. It will not be a breeze. If you are convinced it will be a breeze then please provide some justification for this breeziness. Let me guess: "they need us more than we need them"; "great far flung trade deals are just around the corner". Or surprise us.

Alan Clark ● 2196d

You just don't get irony, do you ?

Richard Greenhough ● 2196d

Hmmm. Please do explain the irony. All I see is error. Set out the irony along side the benefits of Brexit. Ta.

Alan Clark ● 2196d

First it was 'Norway'Then 'Switzerland'Then 'Canada'Now 'Australia'First it was remaining in the single marketThen, remaining in the customs unionThen, a soft Brexit.Then a hard brexitNext, a seige and a winter of eating turnips while we throw our dead into the Channel?

Ken Munn ● 2196d

Gotcha

Julian Pavey ● 2196d

Hint - Bobbie's post ended with a ":-)"

Richard Greenhough ● 2195d

Errr.....and just who will they get to pick the turnips? Prisoners, Benefits claimants, out of work Chefs and Hotel Managers?

Steve Taylor ● 2195d

ST > "Errr.....and just who will they get to pick the turnips?"Children.They can pick 'em and eat 'em. Thus no need to extend the free school meals provision. It's a win-win result.

John Whitworth ● 2195d

Where have all the Brexiteers gone on this forum?  No more "Project Fear"?No more uninformed BS about "trade on WTO rules"?I've been very busy: - mainly helping European banks close their London branches, move assets out of the UK, and making their employees here redundant. And a bit of helping UK banks close their (profitable) European offices because they will lose their "branch passport" under EU Directives.Many of those employees know that it is unlikely that they will ever find another job in the same sector. These are not your "mega rich bankers" - just ordinary people in reasonably paid jobs.This is real.  And it makes me sick.I hate saying "I told you so". But - I told you so.

T P Howell ● 2195d

I wonder what will happen to the re-insurance sector. That's right, without a deal this will move out of the UK. Shame as all those large Swiss companies had moved to London when their European work was not possible from Switzerland. Which sectors exactly will be benefitting? I would like to know.Plus its such a great time to be knobling UK business. Still I guess that without Covid the Brexit camp would have to blame themselves for the damage being done. And we could not have that, could we? That would be like acknowledging that they bought the lies, the false claims  and the jingoism of the Leave campaign.

Alan Clark ● 2195d

"Children.They can pick 'em and eat 'em."If only the childrens'  mum's had been taught how to cook a turnip or a carrot or some broccoli, the children wouldn't have to eat them raw!

Steve Taylor ● 2195d

Just came across another of your Mystic Meg predictions, in October 2019. "Fortunately though, Brexit will not happen. Get over it". Ask Mystic Meg for a refund.

Brian Coyle ● 2191d

You are right to highlight inaccurate predictions. Back a couple of years ago I also saw the possibility of Brexit not being able to be completed - it was so difficult to square the issues. I also thought the claims that a no deal Brexit would be acceptable to the UK as empty bluster. If no deal was not going to happen and if would be impossible to find a way to make so many conflicting factors align then the Brexit game looked over.What I, and others, failed to recognise was the possibility that even someone as cavalier as Johnson (and I did expect him to become a PM after May) would be willing to make such crazy sacrifices. And I certainly did not believe the British people would, in the majority, callous and unthinking enough to allow them to happen. So there is a lesson here - always under-estimate both politicians and voters.Having said all that, such optimistic predictions about brexit not happening are more than balanced by optimistic predictions that "they need us more than we need them so a great deal will be easy" and similar. There has been many a foolish set of guess work from the leave camp. So I'd recommend not gloating over the failed predictions of others.

Alan Clark ● 2191d

Don't jump to conclusions. No gloating at all - simply stating a fact, which I thought was mildly amusing, hence the post. You obviously beg to differ - fair enough.

Brian Coyle ● 2191d

Mildly amusing? Yes, we are all laughing like drains now that a no deal exit seems the most likely outcome. Ha ha. It is so funny.

Alan Clark ● 2190d

Julian Pavey ● 2190d