To feel relieved that it’s not a no-deal outcome!

[Xnon]

Whether you’re Remain or Leave the fact is that Brexit is going ahead. I was genuinely scared of a no-deal outcome especially after the weird 2020 we have had.

I don’t know the full details of the deal but I’m just glad that there is a deal rather than no-deal at all. Anyone else feel the same?

Brexit: Boris Johnson hails free trade deal with EU

At least that’s something. I was worried about trading under WTO rules.

Thoughts?

Brexit shows that the whole thing is insanity.

TBF, that’s a pretty good argument

@AllWashedOut

Your relief was manufactured by the powers that be. The whole last-minute saving-things-from-the-tiger's-jaws was all theatre. It was necessary to push the electorate (not just of the UK) into thinking this was a hard won, final deal of all deals.

Tonight I'm in a stink. Boris gets to stand on his platform and gloat about the newly independent country we now live in thanks to him. And people will believe his lies.

This exactly. And still I wait to see the benefits that we are meant to reap?

A deal or sorts is better than no deal, but it seems to be a bad one.

I am particularly concerned at the loss of the European Arrest Warrant and the slower sharing of data about criminals. I do not want a repeat of what was seen in the 70s and 80s when criminals fled to Spain to avoid justice.

I'm sure the EU will have screwed us.

Yep, that's what happens when you send lightweights as your negotiators.

Thank fuck, I know we made a lot of concessions but frankly we would always have had to do that! (I said so back in 2016). And I know people are saying its a sad day for the UK, but frankly we were never going to wake up and find out the referendum was all a bad dream - so this is a best case outcome in my opinion.

Scotland are welcome to crack on. No room for hypocrisy if you voted for Brexit. If they want to go it alone that is fine. Good luck to them. As a net beneficiary from the UK it will be interesting to see how they fund it. Different to the UK leaving the EU as net contributors. Not sure the EU would have them from an economic standpoint. Scotland would need to be net beneficiaries at least initially. I don’t think the EU wants another mouth to feed.

@nosswith

A deal or sorts is better than no deal, but it seems to be a bad one.

I am particularly concerned at the loss of the European Arrest Warrant and the slower sharing of data about criminals. I do not want a repeat of what was seen in the 70s and 80s when criminals fled to Spain to avoid justice.

Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either.

At the time of the EU referendum, I recall that the EU said they wouldn't welcome Scotland as a separate entity from the UK, so that suggests that the option wasn't available then. And it's hard to imagine that the position will have changed since then.

Britain is the world's fifth-largest economy again after overtaking India despite being in the grip of deep recession during coronavirus pandemic

Apologies it’s a DM link but it was an article that offered hope.

@TerryHearn

We didn't before, so that is a non-argument.

[quote PigletJohn]@TerryHearn

We didn't before, so that is a non-argument.[/quote]
Our entire prison population is about 80,000. Over 10% are foreign nationals. Of all foreign nationals in UK prisons what percentage are EU nationals? 45% or 4,144 at the last record. Mainly Polish, Romanian, Irish and Lithuanian. I’m not including the 1000 Albanians as they aren’t EU nationals.

Brits in EU prisons? About 750.

Our entire prison population is about 80,000. Over 10% are foreign nationals

What percentage of our population is 'foreign'?

About 12%

So really 'foreigners' are unrepresented in our population compared to the general UK population.

Still - what good are facts without context

• I mean unrepresented in our prisons.

12% of our population is made up of foreigners.
10% of our prison is made up of foreigners.

So UK born people are more likely to go to jail

@TerryHearn

Your claim was untrue.

As you know.

Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either.

4,144 at the last record. Mainly Polish, Romanian, Irish and Lithuanian

By your reckoning then there’s only 4,144 European criminals in EU jails?

Somehow I think your maths is a bit fucked.

@chomalungma

* I mean unrepresented in our prisons.

12% of our population is made up of foreigners.
10% of our prison is made up of foreigners.

So UK born people are more likely to go to jail

What’s the relevance of your quoting of percentages of foreign nationals in prison vs our population? I simply quoted it to show that of all foreign nationals in our prisons, 44% are from the EU. We won’t need to house EU nationals in our prisons any longer. What is you don’t understand about that?

pigletJohn - for example coffee. Green coffee imported into the EU is duty exempt, roasted coffee has a basic 7.5% duty attached.
This prevents poorer countries who grow coffee developing added value roasting industries to allow them to grow, retaining these in the EU, the the cost of EU consumers, who pay more for the coffee.
This is just one example that the UK can change and trade to the genuine advantage of both parties, not just exploit poor countries for things we cannot do and block them developing value added industries.

@TerryHearn "Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either."

Your smear is untrue.

This isn't Trumpland. False allegations like yours are not acceptable.

@SabrinaThwaite

Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either.

4,144 at the last record. Mainly Polish, Romanian, Irish and Lithuanian

By your reckoning then there’s only 4,144 European criminals in EU jails?

Somehow I think your maths is a bit fucked.

750 Brits in EU prisons as a WHOLE. And yet we have as follows:

835 Polish
806 Romanian
721 Irish
414 Lithuanian

We have far more EU criminals in UK prisons than Britain has in EU prisons. So my argument is that we have more to gain than to lose in terms of crime and policing. Perhaps London and the rest of the UK may become safer again without the dregs of other countries pitching up in good old Blighty.

@Walkintal

So when you said "genuine trade" you meant "charitable donations to the needy."

Membership of the EU did not prevent us from being generous.

Your claim is false.

[quote PigletJohn]@TerryHearn "Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either."

Your smear is untrue.

This isn't Trumpland. False allegations like yours are not acceptable.[/quote]
If we literally had half of Europe’s prisoners in the UK then we really would have a problem. People like you don’t like the truth. Britain has been a soft touch for crime for too long. Free movement has downsides. You don’t like to hear them being aired. When we control our own borders we decide who goes and comes. We can accept 99.9999% of honest Europeans. The dregs can stay where they are.

Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either

Uk could of course have deported these crims but didn't.

UK allows 6month visa free stays to the UK, so eu criminal turns up at UK border, presents passport, border official has no access to EU databases and lets in EUPervert, who has a string of convictions but we don't know, so he is now allowed in, rapes a child, gets X years in UK jail.
How much better if he was stopped at the border as he should be now.

Now we can send back failed asylum seekers (who have come via europe) to EU, v. soon we will not be able too.

@TerryHearn "If we literally had half of Europe’s prisoners in the UK then we really would have a problem."

We don't. But that's what you said. Your false claim is not acceptable. All this flanneling and squirming from you does not make it true.

@jasjas1973

Yet we won’t have half of Europe’s criminals residing in our prisons anymore either

Uk could of course have deported these crims but didn't.

UK allows 6month visa free stays to the UK, so eu criminal turns up at UK border, presents passport, border official has no access to EU databases and lets in EUPervert, who has a string of convictions but we don't know, so he is now allowed in, rapes a child, gets X years in UK jail.
How much better if he was stopped at the border as he should be now.

Now we can send back failed asylum seekers (who have come via europe) to EU, v. soon we will not be able too.

It’s obviously worked well whilst in the EU. See numbers of EU nationals in UK prisons above. ^^ We are obviously stopping them at the border due to the EU’s faultless Europol and associated screening systems. In fact I’m stunned that the rest of the world hasn’t adopted it. It is amazing!

I can actually recall a case of a Lithuanian MURDERER who murdered a school girl in the UK and buried her body in a river bed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36706548

Another cracking example of “EU co-operation”.

There are other cases I can assure you.

[quote PigletJohn]@TerryHearn "If we literally had half of Europe’s prisoners in the UK then we really would have a problem."

We don't. But that's what you said. Your false claim is not acceptable. All this flanneling and squirming from you does not make it true.[/quote]
I think you need to move off the spectrum you are on. Term of phrase “half of”. Never heard it? “Half of Britain has gone on holiday to the South Coast this year due to Covid....”Would you literally think someone is arguing that 30 million plus people have travelled to the South of England for their hollibobs? No. Grow up.