Rumour has it, some remainers are a little glum.....

[Carolinesbeanies]

So in the spirit of sharing our deluded brexiteer cheerfulness, heres a round up of some of this weeks good news.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-5040279/UK-exports-booming-outside-Europe.html

http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/london-news/big-boost-world-bank-ranks-uk-seventh-in-its-doing-business-report/18554.article

https://global.handelsblatt.com/politics/world-trade-makes-a-comeback-845798/amp

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-volkswagen/vw-explores-uk-banking-licence-ahead-of-brexit-idUKKBN1D22KR

The government have 'found' £60billion to put is a slush fund for brexit.

https://amp.ft.com/content/f3271ac7-7439-319f-ba90-9252f59aafee

And in the week that saw the interest rate rise, the Bank of England said gloomily "as migration tightens, we will see wage growth". Note the 'we will'.

Excellent. All this whilst the media obsess over impotent politicians as Britain works.

Just to keep the cheery theme going, according to this article half the productivity puzzle is a measurement issue and a further quarter is down to UK plc choosing lifestyle over money.

Other interesting comment is that low productivity growth is in the flashy sectors - not quite the narrative being spun - and zombie companies supported by low interest rates don't explain it.

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/11/changing-lifestyles-not-zombie-companies-are-the-reason-for-low-productivity/

@CardinalSin

What's even more puzzling:

• when the banks pass stress tests organised by the BOE no one questions the BOE's credibility

• when the BOE opines that Brexit could be extremely negative for the UK economy they are doomsayers who should not be taken seriously

I guess consistency is not part of the Brexit tribe toolkit huh?

Well balanced piece (headline aside) on the latest OECD forecasts. The 2018 forecast has been revised up 0.2%, they are now predicting Brexit Deal rather than No Deal, and are optimistic that the out turn could exceed the forecast with a Good Deal and sensible Government interventions.

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/brexit-oecd-economic-forecast-paris-gdp-eu-european-union-a8079586.html

Olivia personally I am not a fan of stress tests. The old style capital adequacy rules are a much blunter tool but they do at least give a degree of transparency to the exercise. Robert Peston is quite good on this subject.

What, "Economy won't be quite so bad if the government make some effort sort out this shit show shock"?

Broadly speaking yes Cardinal, but then it is the OECD talking n'est ce pas?

UK plc choosing lifestyle over money.

Weird, because countries that work fewer hours than the UK have a way higher GDP per hour worked Norway, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands etc.

Anyone that’s worked with Norwegians, for instance, will know that lifestyle ranks very highly - don’t try getting anything done after 4pm, they’ve all gone home.

UK workers like lifestyle jobs apparently - interesting article but I think there is a wider debate around monetising all aspects of life to be had.

I think the UK could learn from the Nordic countries - I’ve seen male senior execs managing the childcare to enable their partners to do lesser paid jobs with unsociable hours that they loved doing.

Work on reconnecting Oxford and Cambridge by rail starts next summer.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42157853

Some bits of it are already open to passenger trains - Oxford to Bicester Village and Bletchley to Bedford for instance. Other bits will be a bit more tricky - a radio telescope currently occupies a 3 mike stretch near Cambridge for instance.

Why are we talking about a train link in the UK on a Brexit thread?

Did someone say "look, squirrel!"?

Indeed, someone did. A Brexit supporter to change the subject.

Absolutely true. A few trains down south will be running again. It's like sunshine indoors.
We're having to pay HOW MUCH (?) thanks to brexiteers' wizard wheeze. Shhhh don't mention the payout.

Olivia the thread last week was discussing the relocation of the EMA and its impact on the pharmaceuticals industry in the UK. This led on to the Government's new Industrial Strategy and the Merck announcement. We ended up bemoaning the inadequacy of the Oxford - Cambridge transport infrastructure in the context of the "Golden Triangle". Hence the significance of the Government announcing plans to address this today.

Government already demonstrating some strategic thinking, not just in the South. No mention of EU structural funds or access to EIB loans in any of this - last I checked there had been no new disbursements to any regions in the UK since the Brexit vote despite still being fully paid up members of the EU and the EIB. In the case of the EIB we have in excess of 10 bn in investment capital to set against the "divorce bill".

@howabout

No mention of EU structural funds or access to EIB loans in any of this - last I checked there had been no new disbursements to any regions in the UK since the Brexit vote despite still being fully paid up members of the EU and the EIB. In the case of the EIB we have in excess of 10 bn in investment capital to set against the "divorce bill".

You sound disappointed and surprised. Like the City of Culture row.

A consequence of leaving. You voted for it. Own it. Please.

Reopening of the Oxford - Cambridge line has been ongoing since the early 2000s though - it’s not really a new announcement.

Not surprised in the least, but as with the EMA, EBA and City of Culture announcements it does seem rather short sighted on the part of the EU. Not the best signals for encouraging continuing relationships.

Re structural funding it makes much more sense to me for the UK to be assessing its own needs and allocating funding accordingly, rather than giving funds to the EU and then bidding for them back. This was one of my reasons for voting Leave. Further planned Devolution should strengthen the locality and effectiveness of decision making.

The Oxford-Cambridge railway project was part of a much bigger announcement restructuring the ownership and management of the rail network (see BBC article posted). The Scottish Government already has similar plans in place. (I am somewhat wondering if any SNP supporters are currently pondering the cost to Scotland of UKexit in light of Brexit negotiations. If it makes them think harder this works for me).

Can hardly wait for the "Agreed Truth" joint presentation.

I really hope you're not a Russian troll ...
She's Scottish, but I think you already know that.

And if we're playing that game, I really hope you're not who I think you are...

@MichaelFabricantsHair

I don't know she's Scottish, but she sure spouts out nonsense, though I do admit it is not constant. At times, she (or he) does say things that seem sensible.

Sorry for being paranoid but my experience on twitter is that those who do spout a lot of nonsense end up being bots.

So it's not outside the realm of possibility.

I hope I'm not who I think I am either.

Hi michael. How is it all looking from your perspective?

The Oxford-Cambridge railway project was part of a much bigger announcement

Funding for it was announced in the budget, but the consortium pushing to get an East - West rail link has been pushing for this for the last 20 years.

www.eastwestrail.org.uk/theconsortium/

Hey howabout and a Tunnocks tea cake for you

I'm hoping that the recent reports about settling the divorce bill are true; the "go whistle" and "just walk away" cries were cringeworthy and worried me that TM and her merry band of eejits were heading for a No Deal nightmare.
But being a fan of unicorns and all, I'm still holding out for an EEA/EFTA scenario. That would make me truly happy

In other shocking news, my love affair with the Labour party is showing signs of waning. I'm disappointed with how they are performing as opposition, the treatment of Bex Bailey upset me greatly and Lily Madigan's appointment as Women's Officer in Rochester and Strood has pissed me right off.

British politics are such an embarrassing mess, our politicians couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery!

Some bits of it are already open to passenger trains - Oxford to Bicester Village and Bletchley to Bedford for instance. Other bits will be a bit more tricky - a radio telescope currently occupies a 3 mike stretch near Cambridge for instance.

My understanding is that Bicester Village itself stumped up some of the cash for this. Correct me if I am wrong. Incidentally, the line run by Chiltern Railways is owned by DB. Yep, you read that right, German State owned railways. It is possible to have nationalised railways in the EU, it's only our own Government which thinks that privatised railways which have to be bailed out are the way forward.

Re structural funding it makes much more sense to me for the UK to be assessing its own needs

I don't know how many years they have been taking about re-opening this railway line, so what stopped the Tories making plans in 2010? I gather that there is a short stretch which has been built on which is one of the stumbling blocks.I didn't know about the radio telescope, I thought it was housing now in the way of the old line.