I think Eire will play a very important role in this. The position of the EU that they want this discussed first allows us to address all the issues we want to address on trade and freedom of movement right now, not when we have agreed what needs to be paid.
If we find a frictionless solution for the border with Eire why would we not copy it over to the rest of the EU in due course, possibly with the smallest of tweaks? The Customs Paper should form the basis for those discussions about Eire which everyone can pretend are not really about everyone else as well.
Yes, Eire is absolutely crucial. They seem to be well ahead of the other EU27 governments in understanding the issues and dangers. Of course, they've got more to lose than anyone else.
I've heard second hand that Ireland have come to the negotiations incredibly prepared. They've wargamed every eventuality and have a clear plan of what they want and need from Brexit more than any other EU nation and as a result they are a ket driver of the talks.
I've heard second hand that Ireland have come to the negotiations incredibly prepared. They've wargamed every eventuality and have a clear plan of what they want and need from Brexit more than any other EU nation and as a result they are a ket driver of the talks.
Interesting. I can well believe it, just judging by their public pronouncements.
The election was back for May and the Tories. We get it.
Time for the PB editorial narrative to move on perhaps?
Not really, it's one of the few active betting markets, Mrs May's crapness and when she goes.
Oddly none of the Tories complained when Mike and myself did regular threads on Ed's crapness or Mike did lots of threads on Gordon Brown's crapness.
Please can we have Gordon Brown's crapness compared to today's crapness?
I begin a stint as editor of PB in three weeks time, you'll be delighted to know that my stint coincides with the tenth anniversary of Siôn Simon's 'Shortly there will be an election, in which Labour will increase its majority' piece.
So yes, there will be a few comparison's with Gordon Brown coming up, meanwhile here's a piece comparing Gordon Brown and Theresa May I wrote last month.
The election was back for May and the Tories. We get it.
Time for the PB editorial narrative to move on perhaps?
Not really, it's one of the few active betting markets, Mrs May's crapness and when she goes.
Oddly none of the Tories complained when Mike and myself did regular threads on Ed's crapness or Mike did lots of threads on Gordon Brown's crapness.
You surely remember the febrile atmosphere on here during the Cash For Honours scandal? The markets were alive with punters betting on just exactly when Blair would go. Guido was leading the charge, as I recall.
Nobody complained, least of all me. I laid every single date and it proved one of my most successful political markets ever.
I do remember, when Blair was questioned by the rozzers was fun, or rather it had been announced Blair had been questioned by the rozzers.
I've heard second hand that Ireland have come to the negotiations incredibly prepared. They've wargamed every eventuality and have a clear plan of what they want and need from Brexit more than any other EU nation and as a result they are a ket driver of the talks.
Interesting. I can well believe it, just judging by their public pronouncements.
Ireland is the Brexiteers' biggest nightmare. Osborne was absolutely right to say that they now have the upper hand in negotiations with the UK.
OK. So we will be in a customs union with the EU with everything that implies. Why not say so?
A Customs Union but not the Customs Union. It is a critical difference. One is a bilateral arrangement between 2 parties of equal standing if not size that can be reviewed, changed and even terminated at the instance of either party. The other is a key element of the Single Market binding its participants into an entire legal system and regulation by the Court of one of the parties.
It's a distinction that is designed to confuse than to inform. Membership of the EU comes with free internal trade and a common external customs tariff and set of trade agreements with third parties. There is no standalone Customs Union as part of the membership. Those arrangements lapse automatically on loss of membership. Any replacement will as you say will necessarily be a bilateral agreement between the EU and the UK. While the agreement will stay the same until it is periodically amended, the actual tariffs applied and the product regulation etc will under any plausible agreement be decided by the EU unilaterally and will constantly change. The agreement will also be enforced by EU law if not, probably, by an EU court.
That's the deal. It's now up to the UK to push for the best arrangement it can get. If you pretend it's something it's not because you are fightened of acquainting part of your electorate with reality, and try to muddy the waters through "constructive ambiguity", you will get a mush of a negotiation.
PS I meant to say A Customs Union but not THE Customs Union makes a distinction between the arrangement we had before, that lapses with our membership of the EU, and ANY customs union that we might have afterwards, which will always be a formal bilateral arrangement. It isn't helpful to say something is different before and then imply the same distinction for options that exist afterwards.
And PPS our trade deals with third countries under an EU customs union will be shaped by the existing arrangements between the EU and those third countries. We have enough clout to get attention but our trade arrangements will typically be inferior to our existing ones through the EU for several reasons, some of which are quite technical.
A Conservative MP will go on trial in May next year on charges over his 2015 general election expenses.
The wheels seem to be grinding extremely slowly - it will be ancient history by then.
Without wishing to prejudice the trial or cast aspersions on his innocence, if he is found guilty, the subsequent by election won't be ancient history, a 2018 Q3 by election will be in the background of the Brexit deal close to being fully fleshed out.
A couple of weeks ago, my parents' high-tech neighbour was locked out of his house for about an hour during a power cut. He had set up a UPS for his router and other equipment, but had neglected to do so for his electronic door lock. The door had no manual override either.
Without wishing to prejudice the trial or cast aspersions on his innocence, if he is found guilty, the subsequent by election won't be ancient history, a 2018 Q3 by election will be in the background of the Brexit deal close to being fully fleshed out.
The election was back for May and the Tories. We get it.
Time for the PB editorial narrative to move on perhaps?
Not really, it's one of the few active betting markets, Mrs May's crapness and when she goes.
Oddly none of the Tories complained when Mike and myself did regular threads on Ed's crapness or Mike did lots of threads on Gordon Brown's crapness.
Please can we have Gordon Brown's crapness compared to today's crapness?
I begin a stint as editor of PB in three weeks time, you'll be delighted to know that my stint coincides with the tenth anniversary of Siôn Simon's 'Shortly there will be an election, in which Labour will increase its majority' piece.
So yes, there will be a few comparison's with Gordon Brown coming up, meanwhile here's a piece comparing Gordon Brown and Theresa May I wrote last month.
The main reason T May lost her majority was the manifesto and the appalling presentation thereof. The care side of things and the removal of the Winter fuel Allowance sealed her fate. Crass in the extreme. Just claimed my allowance for the first time!. Thank Nick Timothy et al!!!.
It could have been worse, SR.
If you look at the chart of polls in the weeks leading up to the Election, Labour was advancing fast and showed no sign of stopping. I know loyalists like yourself on here kept telling us that they had peaked, but there was no evidence of it. I reckon another week and Labour would have taken the lead, Corbyn would have been PM.
Btw, do you know what happened to Black Rook? He posted regularly and at great length before the election but I haven't noticed him since. I hope he's ok, but fear he lost a lot of money and has done a Stuart Truth as a result.
Any news of him would be appreciated.
I do not recall saying Labour had peaked. I thought like many that they were going to get stuffed.... but I wasn't doing anything on the ground. If I had perhaps I would have had a better idea,.
No news of Black Rook then?
Shame. He was an articulate poster. I do hope he didn't lose his shirt.
I will bow to your superior knowledge on the GCML.
However, I flatly disagree with your final sentence. Substantial growth in traffic with the right management could and should have been foreseen, simply by looking at demographic trends and the rapid growth of dormer towns in the 1950s. Admittedly, increased freight is a different matter and I don't think rail freight has increased overall anyway although I haven't checked the figures.
The problem with Beeching was that he was unable to grasp what could be done, settling instead for what he thought might be profitable. With the net result that what could be done was not done, and what had been profitable ceased to be so.
I'm getting to the limit of my immediate knowledge on this, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Twenty years ago - bracketing privatisation - I knew several BR managers. One spoke freely about how their mindset was about managing a shrinking network. BR did a brilliant job (yes, really) of getting bang for their buck, but that involved things like 'rationalisation': reducing duplicate lines (e.g. the March to Spalding line) and singling routes. In some cases, these decisions are being reversed.
There are big arguments about why traffic has more than doubled in the twenty years since privatisation. The truth probably lies in a combination of all of the usual answers: increased travel in all modes, a different management mindset, competition, government investment and governmental reduction in support for road traffic.
I doubt the traffic would have increased as much as it has without the latter two factors from central government. The 1955 modernisation plan was a disaster. The vaguely unplanned investments since the late 1990s have been much more successful, even if some of the large projects such as the WCML upgrade and the GWML electrifications were/are disasters.
The governments in the 1960s and 1970s were unwilling to give such support, and therefore Beeching was necessary. In fact, the railways were probably not ready for it then, either.
I travelled on Crossrail yesterday, Newcastle to Leeds. What a horrible experience. Only 5 carriages for a train traveling from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Crowded, dirty and no buffet service, just trollies. I was considering doing the whole journey after I retire but not now.
That is pretty amazing feat by Macron, given all the positive soft soaping he got from the world media and he hasn't even really got started on the stuff that will cause the French to take up their national sport of strikes / riots.
A couple of weeks ago, my parents' high-tech neighbour was locked out of his house for about an hour during a power cut. He had set up a UPS for his router and other equipment, but had neglected to do so for his electronic door lock. The door had no manual override either.
Whoops! If rule number 1 is to test upgrades before deploying them, rule number 2 is to make sure that everything on the critical path has a battery backup for power. Something as critical as a door lock should always have a manual override, even if it's keeping a spare key to the back door in the car.
A couple of weeks ago, my parents' high-tech neighbour was locked out of his house for about an hour during a power cut. He had set up a UPS for his router and other equipment, but had neglected to do so for his electronic door lock. The door had no manual override either.
Engineers at company X devised their own security system and door locks. This worked well until some engineers were working on a Saturday during a power cut. The controlling computer did not reboot afterwards, meaning that all the internal and external doors were locked secure. If there'd been a fire, they'd have been locked in.
In the end they removed the glass from a door to get into the server room and reboot the computer. The system was switched off soon afterwards and replaced with a bought-in system that had safety-first rather than security-first at its heart ...
(The system also logged how long you spent in the toilets. Needless to say, this 'logging' of logs was soon removed).
OK. So we will be in a customs union with the EU with everything that implies. Why not say so?
A Customs Union but not the Customs Union. It is a critical difference. One is a bilateral arrangement between 2 parties of equal standing if not size that can be reviewed, changed and even terminated at the instance of either party. The other is a key element of the Single Market binding its participants into an entire legal system and regulation by the Court of one of the parties.
It's a distinction that is designed to confuse than to inform. Membership of the EU comes with free internal trade and a common external customs tariff and set of trade agreements with third parties. There is no standalone Customs Union as part of the membership. Those arrangements lapse automatically on loss of membership. Any replacement will as you say will necessarily be a bilateral agreement between the EU and the UK. While the agreement will stay the same until it is periodically amended, the actual tariffs applied and the product regulation etc will under any plausible agreement be decided by the EU unilaterally and will constantly change. The agreement will also be enforced by EU law if not, probably, by an EU court.
That's the deal. It's now up to the UK to push for the best arrangement it can get. If you pretend it's something it's not because you are fightened of acquainting part of your electorate with reality, and try to muddy the waters through "constructive ambiguity", you will get a mush of a negotiation.
I'm glad that you are not on our negotiating team.
I travelled on Crossrail yesterday, Newcastle to Leeds. What a horrible experience. Only 5 carriages for a train traveling from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Crowded, dirty and no buffet service, just trollies. I was considering doing the whole journey after I retire but not now.
Sorry to hear about that. But surely it was Cross Country and not Crossrail ?
I travelled on Crossrail yesterday, Newcastle to Leeds. What a horrible experience. Only 5 carriages for a train traveling from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Crowded, dirty and no buffet service, just trollies. I was considering doing the whole journey after I retire but not now.
Sorry to hear about that. But surely it was Cross Country and not Crossrail ?
Great. As was @RochdalePioneers. His/her assessment of could he/would he/might he on Jezza was fantastic (written last week of May).
Here it is (yes I kept it):
"What recent elections have shown us is that the public mood is fickle and can swing significantly as the campaign reaches the closing stages. In 2015 I was convinced Labour would win going off what we were hearing on the doors. Right up until the final week when "Milliband will be the SNP puppet" resonated hard. Tory voters came flooding back and surprised everyone including the Tories.
With the referendum it was a remain win on paper despite hearing a lot of leave voters on the doors. The late surge of leave caught the pollsters and bookies with their pants down.
And now we have 2017. The CORBYN CAN'T WIN election. He can't win. He won't win. Until he wins. Because if you set aside the can't win won't win mantra, it's clear that he is winning: 1. Labour manifesto offering a positive vision for the future. A hope manifesto with free puppies for all. 2. Tory manifesto offers no vision other than mean-minded snatching of homes and the slow death of public services and civic society. 3. Two million people added themselves to the electoral register by the deadline. They aren't Tory voters 4. Tory campaign was Strong and Stable. And unwilling to speak to people. Has now become Incoherent and Running Scared. And unable to talk to people. A campaign that only works when Jezza can't win and won't win. But what if he can...?
I entered this campaign expecting one of two results : a Tory majority of 50 or a Tory majority of 150. But I can't deny what I can see and touch - a Labour surge that grows exponentially each day and a Tory cataclysm of a campaign that makes voting for them look increasingly like an act of self harm.
Despite all that, common sense still suggests a Tory win. But what if common sense isn't what the silent majority who delivered a Tory win against expectations are wanting now? After a decade of crippling austerity the promise of worse to come doesn't look as attractive as free puppies with Corbyn"
OK. So we will be in a customs union with the EU with everything that implies. Why not say so?
A Customs Union but not the Customs Union. It is a critical difference. One is a bilateral arrangement between 2 parties of equal standing if not size that can be reviewed, changed and even terminated at the instance of either party. The other is a key element of the Single Market binding its participants into an entire legal system and regulation by the Court of one of the parties.
It's a distinction that is designed to confuse than to inform. Membership of the EU comes with free internal trade and a common external customs tariff and set of trade agreements with third parties. There is no standalone Customs Union as part of the membership. Those arrangements lapse automatically on loss of membership. Any replacement will as you say will necessarily be a bilateral agreement between the EU and the UK. While the agreement will stay the same until it is periodically amended, the actual tariffs applied and the product regulation etc will under any plausible agreement be decided by the EU unilaterally and will constantly change. The agreement will also be enforced by EU law if not, probably, by an EU court.
That's the deal. It's now up to the UK to push for the best arrangement it can get. If you pretend it's something it's not because you are fightened of acquainting part of your electorate with reality, and try to muddy the waters through "constructive ambiguity", you will get a mush of a negotiation.
I'm glad that you are not on our negotiating team.
The choice is essentially between piggy-backing off the EU system or going it alone and doing without existing arrangements with both the EU and third countries. Under the first we are somewhat worse off; under the second a lot worse off. Seems a no brainer to me. Just needs a bit of clarity about where we are.
I travelled on Crossrail yesterday, Newcastle to Leeds. What a horrible experience. Only 5 carriages for a train traveling from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Crowded, dirty and no buffet service, just trollies. I was considering doing the whole journey after I retire but not now.
Sorry to hear about that. But surely it was Cross Country and not Crossrail ?
Wouldn't you have been cross?
If Newcastle to Leeds had taken me via Crossrail in London, yes.
What an excellent post. One has to wish her well for that, and all the other thoughtful contributions.
She was of course in good company in calling the election wrong. (Ahem.) She did at least only have to suffer mild embarrassment. I had to cough up 500 quid for a friend, having refused to put 50 on a Hung Parliament at 10/1 for them.
I travelled on Crossrail yesterday, Newcastle to Leeds. What a horrible experience. Only 5 carriages for a train traveling from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Crowded, dirty and no buffet service, just trollies. I was considering doing the whole journey after I retire but not now.
Sorry to hear about that. But surely it was Cross Country and not Crossrail ?
A couple of weeks ago, my parents' high-tech neighbour was locked out of his house for about an hour during a power cut. He had set up a UPS for his router and other equipment, but had neglected to do so for his electronic door lock. The door had no manual override either.
Whoops! If rule number 1 is to test upgrades before deploying them, rule number 2 is to make sure that everything on the critical path has a battery backup for power. Something as critical as a door lock should always have a manual override, even if it's keeping a spare key to the back door in the car.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
Great. As was @RochdalePioneers. His/her assessment of could he/would he/might he on Jezza was fantastic (written last week of May).
Here it is (yes I kept it):
"What recent elections have shown us is that the public mood is fickle and can swing significantly as the campaign reaches the closing stages. In 2015 I was convinced Labour would win going off what we were hearing on the doors. Right up until the final week when "Milliband will be the SNP puppet" resonated hard. Tory voters came flooding back and surprised everyone including the Tories.
With the referendum it was a remain win on paper despite hearing a lot of leave voters on the doors. The late surge of leave caught the pollsters and bookies with their pants down.
And now we have 2017. The CORBYN CAN'T WIN election. He can't win. He won't win. Until he wins. Because if you set aside the can't win won't win mantra, it's clear that he is winning: 1. Labour manifesto offering a positive vision for the future. A hope manifesto with free puppies for all. 2. Tory manifesto offers no vision other than mean-minded snatching of homes and the slow death of public services and civic society. 3. Two million people added themselves to the electoral register by the deadline. They aren't Tory voters 4. Tory campaign was Strong and Stable. And unwilling to speak to people. Has now become Incoherent and Running Scared. And unable to talk to people. A campaign that only works when Jezza can't win and won't win. But what if he can...?
I entered this campaign expecting one of two results : a Tory majority of 50 or a Tory majority of 150. But I can't deny what I can see and touch - a Labour surge that grows exponentially each day and a Tory cataclysm of a campaign that makes voting for them look increasingly like an act of self harm.
Despite all that, common sense still suggests a Tory win. But what if common sense isn't what the silent majority who delivered a Tory win against expectations are wanting now? After a decade of crippling austerity the promise of worse to come doesn't look as attractive as free puppies with Corbyn"
That is a really excellent post. Well done to you for keeping it.
Impressive. Although I bet the ten students who didn't get to uni out of 200 are a bit pissed off.
It is impressive, but I doubt the 5% who didn't get to uni are unhappy not to have the debt... Hard to say without the wider context but no way should we aim to get 95% to uni.
My neice started at uni last September, hated it after 2 days, cam home, avoided the fees, and now has an Accountancy apprenticeship with a local firm... Bay far the right choice for her imho.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris.
I don't suppose Domino's deliver much in Bishop's Stortford or King's Lynn.
Good for him. But do we really want 95 per cent of kids going to university - Newham needs tradesmen to build housing not swathes of graduates for whom there aren't enough career opportunities.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
Great. As was @RochdalePioneers. His/her assessment of could he/would he/might he on Jezza was fantastic (written last week of May).
Here it is (yes I kept it):
"What recent elections have shown us is that the public mood is fickle and can swing significantly as the campaign reaches the closing stages. In 2015 I was convinced Labour would win going off what we were hearing on the doors. Right up until the final week when "Milliband will be the SNP puppet" resonated hard. Tory voters came flooding back and surprised everyone including the Tories.
With the referendum it was a remain win on paper despite hearing a lot of leave voters on the doors. The late surge of leave caught the pollsters and bookies with their pants down.
And now we have 2017. The CORBYN CAN'T WIN election. He can't win. He won't win. Until he wins. Because if you set aside the can't win won't win mantra, it's clear that he is winning: 1. Labour manifesto offering a positive vision for the future. A hope manifesto with free puppies for all. 2. Tory manifesto offers no vision other than mean-minded snatching of homes and the slow death of public services and civic society. 3. Two million people added themselves to the electoral register by the deadline. They aren't Tory voters 4. Tory campaign was Strong and Stable. And unwilling to speak to people. Has now become Incoherent and Running Scared. And unable to talk to people. A campaign that only works when Jezza can't win and won't win. But what if he can...?
I entered this campaign expecting one of two results : a Tory majority of 50 or a Tory majority of 150. But I can't deny what I can see and touch - a Labour surge that grows exponentially each day and a Tory cataclysm of a campaign that makes voting for them look increasingly like an act of self harm.
Despite all that, common sense still suggests a Tory win. But what if common sense isn't what the silent majority who delivered a Tory win against expectations are wanting now? After a decade of crippling austerity the promise of worse to come doesn't look as attractive as free puppies with Corbyn"
That is a really excellent post. Well done to you for keeping it.
But in the end, the Tories did win and Corbyn didn't.
The election was back for May and the Tories. We get it.
Time for the PB editorial narrative to move on perhaps?
Not really, it's one of the few active betting markets, Mrs May's crapness and when she goes.
Oddly none of the Tories complained when Mike and myself did regular threads on Ed's crapness or Mike did lots of threads on Gordon Brown's crapness.
Neither of those ever won a general election.
But like those two, she oversaw a net seat loss at their only general election.
But all Cameron's successes were just part of the build-up to his massive failures, and his twin enduring legacies of Brexit and TMay. In pleading his electoral gains in his favour, you are like someone who has pleaded guilty to murdering and dismembering his girlfriend and who now pleads in mitigation that yebbut I took her to some really expensive restaurants. The crapper TMay, the more blame for Cameron.
What an excellent post. One has to wish her well for that, and all the other thoughtful contributions.
She was of course in good company in calling the election wrong. (Ahem.) She did at least only have to suffer mild embarrassment. I had to cough up 500 quid for a friend, having refused to put 50 on a Hung Parliament at 10/1 for them.
Some of us never learn.
She was indeed great, but what's the evidence that she was a she?
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
The election was back for May and the Tories. We get it.
Time for the PB editorial narrative to move on perhaps?
Not really, it's one of the few active betting markets, Mrs May's crapness and when she goes.
Oddly none of the Tories complained when Mike and myself did regular threads on Ed's crapness or Mike did lots of threads on Gordon Brown's crapness.
Neither of those ever won a general election.
But like those two, she oversaw a net seat loss at their only general election.
But all Cameron's successes were just part of the build-up to his massive failures, and his twin enduring legacies of Brexit and TMay. In pleading his electoral gains in his favour, you are like someone who has pleaded guilty to murdering and dismembering his girlfriend and who now pleads in mitigation that yebbut I took her to some really expensive restaurants. The crapper TMay, the more blame for Cameron.
If you like paradoxes, Ish, politics is full of them.
I thought Cameron was a good PM, but his reputation will be forever tarnished by Brexit/May. Blair likewise was a talented PM, but looks like Iraq has scuppered his reputation for ever.
And what about Gordon Brown? He was a terrible PM, yet he rescued our economy and quite likely many others too from complete financial meltdown during the worst of the Banking crisis.
So where do all three rank in terms of infamy? Not easy......
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
When people ask me where I eat in Paris I tell them I know a simple and unpretentious place just off the Boul' Mich', much frequented by the locals - always a good sign - and with excellent coffee. I do not tell them about the twin golden arches with which it welcomes its patrons.
What an excellent post. One has to wish her well for that, and all the other thoughtful contributions.
She was of course in good company in calling the election wrong. (Ahem.) She did at least only have to suffer mild embarrassment. I had to cough up 500 quid for a friend, having refused to put 50 on a Hung Parliament at 10/1 for them.
Some of us never learn.
She was indeed great, but what's the evidence that she was a she?
Refers to a husband in her post. Not conclusive, obviously, but odds on.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris.
I don't suppose Domino's deliver much in Bishop's Stortford or King's Lynn.
I have an anecdote about Domino's. Last week I was forced to spend half an hour in a local supermarket whilst they found a staff member who had a clue. In the meantime, I chatted to a young assistant. She told me that she had an older brother in his early twenties who did very little and spent all his money on phones, his moped and ... pizza. She and their mum cleaned out his room, and two weeks later they found a pile of eighteen Domino's boxes in it.
That's eighteen boxes in two weeks.
I asked where he got his money from, and she just shrugged.
It's hardly a depressed area, and there are lots of opportunities. She also said that she was the only one in her extended family that worked, and her job supported her partner.
What an excellent post. One has to wish her well for that, and all the other thoughtful contributions.
She was of course in good company in calling the election wrong. (Ahem.) She did at least only have to suffer mild embarrassment. I had to cough up 500 quid for a friend, having refused to put 50 on a Hung Parliament at 10/1 for them.
Some of us never learn.
She was indeed great, but what's the evidence that she was a she?
Refers to a husband in her post. Not conclusive, obviously, but odds on.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
Since when was that an apostrophe above the e? That's an e-acute accent not an apostrophe.
The one in the de l' perhaps?
The sameday courier company I use at work has a database which can't cope with apostrophes in the Royal Mail PAF, they end up as ' + String.fromCharCode(39) + ' .
Talking of crap technology, after I linked to bbc crap iPlayer there is going to be even more pissed. They have working on something similar to this for a while but their attempted solution is nowhere near as good as this.
What an excellent post. One has to wish her well for that, and all the other thoughtful contributions.
She was of course in good company in calling the election wrong. (Ahem.) She did at least only have to suffer mild embarrassment. I had to cough up 500 quid for a friend, having refused to put 50 on a Hung Parliament at 10/1 for them.
Some of us never learn.
She was indeed great, but what's the evidence that she was a she?
Refers to a husband in her post. Not conclusive, obviously, but odds on.
Not that it matters.
No of course not, just curious.
I didn't realise myself until today, in which case it's a double loss. We have too few female posters as it is.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris.
I don't suppose Domino's deliver much in Bishop's Stortford or King's Lynn.
I have an anecdote about Domino's. Last week I was forced to spend half an hour in a local supermarket whilst they found a staff member who had a clue. In the meantime, I chatted to a young assistant. She told me that she had an older brother in his early twenties who did very little and spent all his money on phones, his moped and ... pizza. She and their mum cleaned out his room, and two weeks later they found a pile of eighteen Domino's boxes in it.
That's eighteen boxes in two weeks.
I asked where he got his money from, and she just shrugged.
It's hardly a depressed area, and there are lots of opportunities. She also said that she was the only one in her extended family that worked, and her job supported her partner.
What wasted lives (except for her, of course).
I never understand the attraction of domino's, ridiculously overpriced and pretty crappy pizza.
The election was back for May and the Tories. We get it.
Time for the PB editorial narrative to move on perhaps?
Not really, it's one of the few active betting markets, Mrs May's crapness and when she goes.
Oddly none of the Tories complained when Mike and myself did regular threads on Ed's crapness or Mike did lots of threads on Gordon Brown's crapness.
Please can we have Gordon Brown's crapness compared to today's crapness?
I begin a stint as editor of PB in three weeks time, you'll be delighted to know that my stint coincides with the tenth anniversary of Siôn Simon's 'Shortly there will be an election, in which Labour will increase its majority' piece.
So yes, there will be a few comparison's with Gordon Brown coming up, meanwhile here's a piece comparing Gordon Brown and Theresa May I wrote last month.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
Since when was that an apostrophe above the e? That's an e-acute accent not an apostrophe.
The one in the de l' perhaps?
The sameday courier company I use at work has a database which can't cope with apostrophes in the Royal Mail PAF, they end up as ' + String.fromCharCode(39) + ' .
Possible but I assumed it was the é in Rue de l’Université that it was struggling with.
Though May still won 318 seats in her first general election as leader to Cameron's 306
Blair won 419 in his first election - the Devil can quote the scriptures to make a point and anyone can use figures and statistics to tell the story they want told.
If you and other Conservative activists and members seriously want me to believe Theresa May called the election in the expectation of coming out of it having to go cap in hand to Arlene Foster to remain in Downing Street, then you are as deluded as I believe you to be.
She called an election expecting to win and win big. I can only assume her advisers, the Conservative Party and a host of others all told her the same thing - Corbyn was hated, she was popular, the polling evidence showed all of this. Focus the campaign on the strongest asset - you - and a landslide will ensue.
Her initial speech/comment outside No.10 on the Friday morning was without doubt one of the worst statements I have ever heard from any politician (and I'm a Lib Dem so I've heard some right clangers in my time). Her total inability to empathise with people, her lack of public warmth and her failure to recognise or even comprehend what had happened served only to confirm her complete unsuitability for the job in stark contrast to John Major whose departing speech was a tour de force in comparison (and he'd lost by 160).
Though May still won 318 seats in her first general election as leader to Cameron's 306
Blair won 419 in his first election - the Devil can quote the scriptures to make a point and anyone can use figures and statistics to tell the story they want told.
If you and other Conservative activists and members seriously want me to believe Theresa May called the election in the expectation of coming out of it having to go cap in hand to Arlene Foster to remain in Downing Street, then you are as deluded as I believe you to be.
She called an election expecting to win and win big. I can only assume her advisers, the Conservative Party and a host of others all told her the same thing - Corbyn was hated, she was popular, the polling evidence showed all of this. Focus the campaign on the strongest asset - you - and a landslide will ensue.
Her initial speech/comment outside No.10 on the Friday morning was without doubt one of the worst statements I have ever heard from any politician (and I'm a Lib Dem so I've heard some right clangers in my time). Her total inability to empathise with people, her lack of public warmth and her failure to recognise or even comprehend what had happened served only to confirm her complete unsuitability for the job in stark contrast to John Major whose departing speech was a tour de force in comparison (and he'd lost by 160).
Yes, of course you're right, "She called an election expecting to win and win big" and thereby 'Crush the Saboteurs'.
The border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is the UK’s only land border. We must avoid a return to a hard border, and trade and everyday movements across the land border must be protected as part of the UK-EU deal. The Government welcomes the clear commitment made in the European Council’s negotiating guidelines and the European Commission’s directives to work with us on “ exible and imaginative” solutions to achieve this. Ahead of those discussions, this paper includes proposals that are rst steps to meet our objective of trade across that land border being as seamless and frictionless as possible, but further steps will be necessary.
"...without any further facilitations or agreements, the UK would treat trade with the EU as it currently treats trade with non-EU countries. Customs duty and import VAT would be due on EU imports. Traders would need to be registered. Traders exporting to the EU would have to submit an export declaration, and certain goods may require an export licence. The EU would also apply the customs rules and VAT to imports from the UK that it applies to non-EU countries. The Government is actively considering ways in which to mitigate the impacts of such a scenario."
This seems to be a rather arbitrary measure to condemn Theresa May. The core of the matter is that she was facing a Labour Leader who is far more willing to tell left wing voters they can have their cake and eat it than either Gordon Brown or Ed Miliband was. As a result, he scooped up a much larger share of left wing voters. The problem for Corbyn is he will be given actual scrutiny five years and the ridiculousness of his positions will reveal themselves. As long as the Conservatives keep their head down and govern effectively, we can maintain our 42% and win another majority.
The Government welcomes the clear commitment made in the European Council’s negotiating guidelines and the European Commission’s directives to work with us on “ exible and imaginative” solutions to achieve this.
Flexible, but not that flexible:
The Government has made clear that the answer to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland cannot be to impose a new customs border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
This in a paper that spends most of its time suggesting that the EU-UK boundary can easily be seamless. If they believe their own rhetoric, putting that boundary in the Irish sea will not do anyone any harm.
No, that was your interpretation and spin of a document.
I'd prefer to read the proposal for myself and come to my own conclusion. Your analysis, in all fairness, was reasonable in terms of expectation but I'd simply like to make up my own mind if that's okay.
Though May still won 318 seats in her first general election as leader to Cameron's 306
Blair won 419 in his first election - the Devil can quote the scriptures to make a point and anyone can use figures and statistics to tell the story they want told.
If you and other Conservative activists and members seriously want me to believe Theresa May called the election in the expectation of coming out of it having to go cap in hand to Arlene Foster to remain in Downing Street, then you are as deluded as I believe you to be.
She called an election expecting to win and win big. I can only assume her advisers, the Conservative Party and a host of others all told her the same thing - Corbyn was hated, she was popular, the polling evidence showed all of this. Focus the campaign on the strongest asset - you - and a landslide will ensue.
Her initial speech/comment outside No.10 on the Friday morning was without doubt one of the worst statements I have ever heard from any politician (and I'm a Lib Dem so I've heard some right clangers in my time). Her total inability to empathise with people, her lack of public warmth and her failure to recognise or even comprehend what had happened served only to confirm her complete unsuitability for the job in stark contrast to John Major whose departing speech was a tour de force in comparison (and he'd lost by 160).
She completely recognised what had happened. She came first, but only by a slim margin rather than the big margin that we were all hoping. She recognised the mistakes of the campaigns, admitted responsibility to the party and made changes to both her top team and her leadership style acknowledging that. Since then she has been very effective, had a great G8 and after allowing a period of debate, is now bringing her cabinet together again. The joint article by Liam Fox and Phil Hammond is testament to that.
There are some people that will always castigate every politician supportive of enacting the will of the people on Brexit, but that is what it is. The important thing is to do the right thing and concentrate on the persuadable.
"...without any further facilitations or agreements, the UK would treat trade with the EU as it currently treats trade with non-EU countries. Customs duty and import VAT would be due on EU imports. Traders would need to be registered. Traders exporting to the EU would have to submit an export declaration, and certain goods may require an export licence. The EU would also apply the customs rules and VAT to imports from the UK that it applies to non-EU countries. The Government is actively considering ways in which to mitigate the impacts of such a scenario."
You missed a bit:
Other EU Member States will also need to make contingency preparations to mitigate the risk of delays resulting from their own customs processes.
But the same principle applies to Labour. Although the Labour vote went up to 40%, Labour won only a few more seats than Gordon Brown in 2010 on 29%. The Tories were simply better at distributing their vote across marginal seats, and Labour piled up votes uselessly in seats it already held.
The Evening Standard has become a rather embarrassing tool of being a mouthpiece for Osborne's political career. Last night had a laughable defence of the garden bridge, trying to claim that cancelling the project wouldn't save any money.
I would have more time for discussion with someone that hasn't been implacably opposed to the Conservatives ever since the referendum result.
I am not implacably opposed to conservatives, or even the Conservatives.
I am implacably opposed to the Brexiteers, whatever badge they hide behind.
Theresa May supported Remain. But she accepted the voice of the people and that makes you implacably opposed. There is simply no point in trying to reconcile the Remainer die-hards. You won't be happy with anything except resubmitting to Brussels so you will twist every event to damn those who won't do that.
That's the key problem. Also, with the possible exception of David Davis, none of the prominent Leavers are investing in Brexit and trying to make it work.
That's because they don't want their fingerprints on the inevitable fuck up. Classic Boris.
The Evening Standard has become a rather embarrassing tool of being a mouthpiece for Osborne's political career. Last night had a laughable defence of the garden bridge, trying to claim that cancelling the project wouldn't save any money.
I don't really get the Garden Bridge thing... London has loads of tourists, hard to believe a garden bridge would be a massive draw on top of that already.
Blatantly the taxpayer would have been on the hook for even more money than was planned when donations didn't arrive, and I can't see why we should prioritise this over something actually useful.
That's the key problem. Also, with the possible exception of David Davis, none of the prominent Leavers are investing in Brexit and trying to make it work.
That's because they don't want their fingerprints on the inevitable fuck up. Classic Boris.
Many of the prominent Leavers have been excluded from Government roles in this.
The Government welcomes the clear commitment made in the European Council’s negotiating guidelines and the European Commission’s directives to work with us on “ exible and imaginative” solutions to achieve this.
Flexible, but not that flexible:
The Government has made clear that the answer to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland cannot be to impose a new customs border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
This in a paper that spends most of its time suggesting that the EU-UK boundary can easily be seamless. If they believe their own rhetoric, putting that boundary in the Irish sea will not do anyone any harm.
Except that the UK is a single country. That would be like putting the boundary between Liverpool and Manchester, albeit that is something some might suggest is a good idea.
I would have more time for discussion with someone that hasn't been implacably opposed to the Conservatives ever since the referendum result.
I am not implacably opposed to conservatives, or even the Conservatives.
I am implacably opposed to the Brexiteers, whatever badge they hide behind.
Theresa May supported Remain. But she accepted the voice of the people and that makes you implacably opposed. There is simply no point in trying to reconcile the Remainer die-hards. You won't be happy with anything except resubmitting to Brussels so you will twist every event to damn those who won't do that.
Remainer die-hards. The new group of people where we can "hear the sound of flapping white coats"?
No, that was your interpretation and spin of a document.
I'd prefer to read the proposal for myself and come to my own conclusion. Your analysis, in all fairness, was reasonable in terms of expectation but I'd simply like to make up my own mind if that's okay.
You can download the proposal here. It's a bit more interesting than I expected. If we can assume the "new customs partnership with the EU" is a makeweight and won't go anywhere, that just leaves "a highly streamlined customs arrangement", which is a set of platitudes and doesn't address the issue of not having tariff free trade. On the other hand, the document (carefully, I presume) doesn't exclude the possibility of "establishing an independent international trade policy" from within a customs union with the EU. Put together I think we will probably go for a customs union arrangement. The government just isn't admitting yet, including possibly to themselves.
... which therefore would mean the government's position on customs is that we will give into the EU, but not just yet.
This bit from the government's paper looks very good (para 35):
we would look to reduce the time and costs of complying with customs administrative requirements through exploring the viability of unilateral measures, primarily in respect of imports, for example:
- simplifications for business, such as self-assessment to allow traders to calculate their own customs duties and aggregate their customs declarations;
Comments
So yes, there will be a few comparison's with Gordon Brown coming up, meanwhile here's a piece comparing Gordon Brown and Theresa May I wrote last month.
http://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2017/07/13/if-or-when-theresa-may-is-replaced-her-successor-shouldnt-hold-a-snap-election/
https://twitter.com/Morning_Joe/status/897401974232166400
And PPS our trade deals with third countries under an EU customs union will be shaped by the existing arrangements between the EU and those third countries. We have enough clout to get attention but our trade arrangements will typically be inferior to our existing ones through the EU for several reasons, some of which are quite technical.
Shame. He was an articulate poster. I do hope he didn't lose his shirt.
There are big arguments about why traffic has more than doubled in the twenty years since privatisation. The truth probably lies in a combination of all of the usual answers: increased travel in all modes, a different management mindset, competition, government investment and governmental reduction in support for road traffic.
I doubt the traffic would have increased as much as it has without the latter two factors from central government. The 1955 modernisation plan was a disaster. The vaguely unplanned investments since the late 1990s have been much more successful, even if some of the large projects such as the WCML upgrade and the GWML electrifications were/are disasters.
The governments in the 1960s and 1970s were unwilling to give such support, and therefore Beeching was necessary. In fact, the railways were probably not ready for it then, either.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/emmanuel-macron-poll-100-days-unpopular-hollande-approval-rating-worse-a7892366.html
I travelled on Crossrail yesterday, Newcastle to Leeds. What a horrible experience. Only 5 carriages for a train traveling from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Crowded, dirty and no buffet service, just trollies. I was considering doing the whole journey after I retire but not now.
His valedictory post was here:
http://politicalbetting.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/1635345#Comment_1635345
In the end they removed the glass from a door to get into the server room and reboot the computer. The system was switched off soon afterwards and replaced with a bought-in system that had safety-first rather than security-first at its heart ...
(The system also logged how long you spent in the toilets. Needless to say, this 'logging' of logs was soon removed).
Here it is (yes I kept it):
"What recent elections have shown us is that the public mood is fickle and can swing significantly as the campaign reaches the closing stages. In 2015 I was convinced Labour would win going off what we were hearing on the doors. Right up until the final week when "Milliband will be the SNP puppet" resonated hard. Tory voters came flooding back and surprised everyone including the Tories.
With the referendum it was a remain win on paper despite hearing a lot of leave voters on the doors. The late surge of leave caught the pollsters and bookies with their pants down.
And now we have 2017. The CORBYN CAN'T WIN election. He can't win. He won't win. Until he wins. Because if you set aside the can't win won't win mantra, it's clear that he is winning:
1. Labour manifesto offering a positive vision for the future. A hope manifesto with free puppies for all.
2. Tory manifesto offers no vision other than mean-minded snatching of homes and the slow death of public services and civic society.
3. Two million people added themselves to the electoral register by the deadline. They aren't Tory voters
4. Tory campaign was Strong and Stable. And unwilling to speak to people. Has now become Incoherent and Running Scared. And unable to talk to people. A campaign that only works when Jezza can't win and won't win. But what if he can...?
I entered this campaign expecting one of two results : a Tory majority of 50 or a Tory majority of 150. But I can't deny what I can see and touch - a Labour surge that grows exponentially each day and a Tory cataclysm of a campaign that makes voting for them look increasingly like an act of self harm.
Despite all that, common sense still suggests a Tory win. But what if common sense isn't what the silent majority who delivered a Tory win against expectations are wanting now? After a decade of crippling austerity the promise of worse to come doesn't look as attractive as free puppies with Corbyn"
What an excellent post. One has to wish her well for that, and all the other thoughtful contributions.
She was of course in good company in calling the election wrong. (Ahem.) She did at least only have to suffer mild embarrassment. I had to cough up 500 quid for a friend, having refused to put 50 on a Hung Parliament at 10/1 for them.
Some of us never learn.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. thought its online delivery platform could be the pièce de résistance of a strategy to fire up sales in France.
Turns out, the system—used in English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand—had problems dealing with apostrophes, commonly found in French addresses and locations like the Rue de l’Université in Paris. It was also challenged by French slang, resulting in hungry diners being told delivery wasn’t available where they were.
Investors found the confusion hard to stomach on Tuesday when the Sydney-listed company, which licenses the brand from U.S.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc., DPZ 0.54% blamed sluggish performance in France for a lower-than-expected annual profit. Shares fell nearly 19% by late afternoon, wiping more than 800 million Australian dollars (US$628 million) off its market value.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/doh-dominos-pizza-delivery-struggles-with-apostrophes-in-france-1502780139?mod=e2fb
My neice started at uni last September, hated it after 2 days, cam home, avoided the fees, and now has an Accountancy apprenticeship with a local firm... Bay far the right choice for her imho.
https://www.xkcd.com/327/
You really put a shift in.
Unlike this guy...
https://twitter.com/aljwhite/status/897412606419496960
I thought Cameron was a good PM, but his reputation will be forever tarnished by Brexit/May. Blair likewise was a talented PM, but looks like Iraq has scuppered his reputation for ever.
And what about Gordon Brown? He was a terrible PM, yet he rescued our economy and quite likely many others too from complete financial meltdown during the worst of the Banking crisis.
So where do all three rank in terms of infamy? Not easy......
If so, you're doomed.
Not that it matters.
That's eighteen boxes in two weeks.
I asked where he got his money from, and she just shrugged.
It's hardly a depressed area, and there are lots of opportunities. She also said that she was the only one in her extended family that worked, and her job supported her partner.
What wasted lives (except for her, of course).
The sameday courier company I use at work has a database which can't cope with apostrophes in the Royal Mail PAF, they end up as ' + String.fromCharCode(39) + ' .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4791856/Snapchat-tests-Crowd-Surf-stitches-snaps.html
https://twitter.com/mikeholden42/status/897416000802574336
I'm sure JackW commends you for your own personal efforts in this regard too.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/confederate-statue-toppled-in-north-carolina-during-anti-racism-rally
If you and other Conservative activists and members seriously want me to believe Theresa May called the election in the expectation of coming out of it having to go cap in hand to Arlene Foster to remain in Downing Street, then you are as deluded as I believe you to be.
She called an election expecting to win and win big. I can only assume her advisers, the Conservative Party and a host of others all told her the same thing - Corbyn was hated, she was popular, the polling evidence showed all of this. Focus the campaign on the strongest asset - you - and a landslide will ensue.
Her initial speech/comment outside No.10 on the Friday morning was without doubt one of the worst statements I have ever heard from any politician (and I'm a Lib Dem so I've heard some right clangers in my time). Her total inability to empathise with people, her lack of public warmth and her failure to recognise or even comprehend what had happened served only to confirm her complete unsuitability for the job in stark contrast to John Major whose departing speech was a tour de force in comparison (and he'd lost by 160).
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-customs-proposals-laid-out-by-government-in-new-paper-on-future-relationship-with-the-eu
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/637748/Future_customs_arrangements_-_a_future_partnership_paper.pdf
I await the first time in history one of my fans gets that right...
The Government has made clear that the answer to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland cannot be to impose a new customs border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
This in a paper that spends most of its time suggesting that the EU-UK boundary can easily be seamless. If they believe their own rhetoric, putting that boundary in the Irish sea will not do anyone any harm.
I'd prefer to read the proposal for myself and come to my own conclusion. Your analysis, in all fairness, was reasonable in terms of expectation but I'd simply like to make up my own mind if that's okay.
There are some people that will always castigate every politician supportive of enacting the will of the people on Brexit, but that is what it is. The important thing is to do the right thing and concentrate on the persuadable.
Other EU Member States will also need to make contingency preparations to mitigate the risk of delays resulting from their own customs processes.
I am implacably opposed to the Brexiteers, whatever badge they hide behind.
Blatantly the taxpayer would have been on the hook for even more money than was planned when donations didn't arrive, and I can't see why we should prioritise this over something actually useful.
Instead it crushed her, just as Boris hitched himself to the same wagon for the same prize, and also came a cropper.
I am opposed to that sort of opportunism.
... which therefore would mean the government's position on customs is that we will give into the EU, but not just yet.
we would look to reduce the time and costs of complying with customs administrative
requirements through exploring the viability of unilateral measures, primarily in respect of
imports, for example:
- simplifications for business, such as self-assessment to allow traders to calculate their
own customs duties and aggregate their customs declarations;