The country appears to be an economic wasteland and I’m not even sure I can see a clear recovery anymore. At one stage I still reserved a modicum of optimism.
Again, I urge all readers under the age of 45 to emigrate.
You left the UK to go and live in a country which has recently come close to a coup, which is indicting its last president (suggesting more civil strife to come), which has cities imploding in an epidemic of homelessness and drug abuse, which has cities experiencing murder rates only otherwise experienced in places like Mexico which are roiled in drug wars, where mass shootings - often in schools - occur on an almost daily basis, which is riven by bitter racial discord now infecting every area of life, where the next election will be between a 80 year old dangerous lunatic and an 82 year old in senescent decline, and where life expectancy has brutally plunged to 76 (and is still falling, fast) unlike any other western nation) and where that same life expectancy is now lower than Thailand, Cuba or Panama, and will soon be overtaken by Vietnam
Oh, and you have by far the worst rate of traffic fatalities anywhere in the rich world - actually worse than Egypt, Uzbekistan and Jamaica
Oh absolutely. I accept all that. Plus you haven’t mentioned the terrible food and the crassness of the culture, and the cost of education and healthcare.
I am currently writing from a drab hotel in the suburbs of Dallas which is kind of the epitome of banality.
But I still like it. I like the infinity of it. I like being in a country that is 80% “yes”. The UK, and it grieves me, seems to be in a kind of damp, isolationist death spiral.
It really isn't, that just your confirmation bias talking.
I'd find more serious things to worry about in any of France, Sweden, Italy or the USA.
Although the USA is amazing if given a choice of where to actually live rather than visit the first 3 win hands down.
Casino Royale is confused. I’d suggest that the “general”* quality of life is better in France, Sweden and indeed the USA than Britain. Italy maybe not.
*General is doing a lot of work here, but I can’t be arsed to show my working.
The country appears to be an economic wasteland and I’m not even sure I can see a clear recovery anymore. At one stage I still reserved a modicum of optimism.
Again, I urge all readers under the age of 45 to emigrate.
You left the UK to go and live in a country which has recently come close to a coup, which is indicting its last president (suggesting more civil strife to come), which has cities imploding in an epidemic of homelessness and drug abuse, which has cities experiencing murder rates only otherwise experienced in places like Mexico which are roiled in drug wars, where mass shootings - often in schools - occur on an almost daily basis, which is riven by bitter racial discord now infecting every area of life, where the next election will be between a 80 year old dangerous lunatic and an 82 year old in senescent decline, and where life expectancy has brutally plunged to 76 (and is still falling, fast) unlike any other western nation) and where that same life expectancy is now lower than Thailand, Cuba or Panama, and will soon be overtaken by Vietnam
Oh, and you have by far the worst rate of traffic fatalities anywhere in the rich world - actually worse than Egypt, Uzbekistan and Jamaica
Another day another business dies, collapses, or moves offshore.
So they got caught cheating.
Let's check back in a year to see if this company has:
a) gone bust; or b) worked out a payment plan with HMRC and suddenly learned how to dye lace themselves, thus expanding their expertise and reducing their costs.
This is a bit more complicated than that, because it's all about Rules of Origin and the percentage of value involved in the manufacture.
If you export a product, work on it abroad, and then reimport it, then there work involved in calculation whether it meets Rules of Origin and is granted tax free status.
If the increase in the value of the product is less than 100% (and I don't know the specific MID codes or specifics of the textiles tariffs so I am working off general principles), then it should have been covered by the existing Free Trade Agreement we have with the EU.
Presumably, the internal accounting of the firm was that the value uplift was (say) 80%, and therefore it was fine. HMRC has come in and said, no the value uplift was such x%, and therefore you don't get the RoO tax free benefit.
Hopefully over time there will be an increasing amount of case law that enables business and their advisors to make sensible decisions. But I think your presumption of fraud is simply incorrect.
If you have a massive internal market you can find the optimal production chain, deliver at the best price and gain market share. Or you can cut yourself off and wonder why your firms get tied up in red tape and can't compete. This is why Brexit is an economic catastrophe for this country, leaving our firms uncompetitive and leaving consumers paying more for worse products. EU and US firms gain from a huge internal market, while UK firms go out of business. But enjoy your blue fucking passports.
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*General is doing a lot of work here, but I can’t be arsed to show my working.
But enjoy your blue fucking passports.