Westministers: Operation Over The Cliff

[RedToothBrush]

Bit late and didn't realise the last thread was so close to the end... so this is a very quick OP

What do you think the secret continency plan name the government have in place for the No Deal?

Suggestions Please

I actually suspect that TM did make promises to Nissan. I suspect TM has promised everyone the moon on a stick, and hopes to hang on until unicorns materialise on the horizon.

I suspect in the case of Nissan she presented the 'as frictionless as possible' aspiration as (1) realistic, and (2) leaning towards SM/CU.

Now that a cliff edge and no deal seems far more likely, Nissan has pulled Plan B out of its sleeve and is brandishing it in hopes of influencing the Tory grassroots and the reasonable members of the Parliamentary Party, and (another forlorn hope) Labour.

I think the ship has sailed.

(Nissan are of course completely serious about packing up and heading to Poland, or wherever. It's not just a ploy.)

I actually suspect that TM did make promises to Nissan.

I just remember her scurrying to the Palace after the election (but before she had any idea if she could form a government) and promising her Maj that she could form a government. Something I suspect the Palace recall very clearly.

In other words, Theresa May has form for this sort of thing.

Now that a cliff edge and no deal seems far more likely, Nissan has pulled Plan B out of its sleeve and is brandishing it in hopes of influencing the Tory grassroots and the reasonable members of the Parliamentary Party, and (another forlorn hope) Labour.

I doubt Nissan bothered with a plan B ? Why would they ? As the UK should know - and is certainly getting to learn it the hard way - sentiment has no place in business. The Tory party might think that's how business is done in the real world simply because that's how the Tory party works. However, unlike the Tory party, Nissan has no hidden agenda beyond wanting to run a successful company.

What I would believe, is that Nissan acted as a canary for a lot of Japanese companies, and they're now seeing what the UK has to offer, and will draw their plans accordingly.

About the only thing she could have said would be that 'at the last minute we will U turn so hard and fast the rest of the UK (apart from any others I am trying to influence) will notice'. Shh, Mum's the word.

Another job advert specifically mentioning dual nationals has dropped in my inbox. (Maybe LinkedIn will offer that finally ?).

The problem might be quickly solved if HMRC announced that in order to pay for brexit, all those who voted leave would have their taxes doubled. Send out some forms, asking whether they still wanted to leave. What do you think the % remain might be?

Chortle - I always wish HMRC would do that with those tax-loving Labour voters!

As I said earlier, Nissan, BMW, JLR and Airbus are all (kind of) niche and not directly rivals to each other and no mass produced opposition. They can 'afford' to speak their intentions.
Not sure what stakes of Vauxhall are held in the UK. If they declared the same that is most of the vehicle manufacturing, although there is Ford.
JCB seemed to be saying they would stay in the UK although they are present around the world anyway.

I doubt if it was May herself;
more probably, Nissan Uk chiefs were invited to the DTI or they Skyped with UK & Japan
and a minister spouted the platitudes that the govt was committed to keeping frictionless trade with the EU.

Nissan may have (naively) believed that a UK govt wouldn't lie to a major corporation, because the govt (should) know Nissan would leave if trade is damaged.
They may not have realised that May is literally reacting to events from day to day, trying to survive to the next crisis.

Clever people can get fooled by stupid / desperate people, by assuming noone would act that stupidly.

Or Nissan just gave Brexit their best shot, because pulling out is expensive, but now they have to plan for losing the Single Market

The only truly British owned cars with mostly British components are expensive and / or niche models.

I can only think of Morgan atm, but they only produce some hundreds of cars per year, which are hand-assembled "prestige", i.e. expensive ones

Mass-produced vehicles - Ford, Vauxhhall, Nissan etc - have a significant % of E27 parts, but the cars are assembled in the UK.

Even iconic "British" cars are foreign-owned, because the original UK owners took the money & ran, or got into trouble
e.g. Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Landrover, Bentley, Aston Martin, Mini …

www.borro.com/uk/borro-blog/british-car-brands-owners

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

I was teaching this poem the day of the referendum and the following day. The T.A told me she though Farage was the only one who had come out of the whole business smelling of roses (her actual words) and predicted that some kind of emergency protocol would be put in place to allow him to become P.M.

I had to bite my tongue from saying 'oh I never realised you were such a thick cunt' ... would probably have got me into trouble.

Actually, as initially a basic tax rate payer (new graduate with ICI) and subsequently (more the majority of my career, in a variety of sectors and roles) as a higher rate tax payer, I didn't want Thatcher to reduce the basic tax rate, as I believed that we needed to be able to resource the NHS properly (amongst other welfare state requirements) and I most definitely didn't want the higher rate to come down.

But there again, I'm Scottish and in 1997, when we had the vote about whether we wanted devolution, we also voted in favour of tax varying powers of up to 3p in the pound - knowing full well it would only ever be used upwards and not downwards

The fact that the Labour led administration let those powers lapse is another story - but with the recent Scotland Act re-introducing the ability to vary tax rates (in a more flexible way) and SNP following through on its manifesto commitment to use them, when the increased rates (for higher rate tax payers) came in, the fact that the BBC had real difficulty finding people - even those "adversely" affected - to speak against it, speaks volumes

twitter.com/SoVeryBrexit
A little light relief...

.............
Clever people can get fooled by stupid / desperate people, by assuming noone would act that stupidly.

Or Nissan just gave Brexit their best shot, because pulling out is expensive, but now they have to plan for losing the Single Market.

I think that is the case, BigChoc, wrt Nissan and others.

MrsRRR re the Parish Council thing , how often would you need the room , would you be running the foodbank daily or weekly ? is there a smallish room that would suit your purposes, so that other activities could continue at the same time ? would you need storage space ? Is there any cost involved to the PC and if so how much ? Would the foodbank be organised as part of a larger institution , like the local church or a charity or is it something you are doing by yourself ? Good luck , the Parish council should be all about supporting local community endeavours

Regarding what the Government has been doing to "reassure" manufacturers in the north and ostensibly gain their support for Brexit, I have it on good authority from civil servants that regional development grants have increasingly been diverted from SMEs to big businesses in the region, because the grants are exempt from the state aid rules.

The Government, having publicly denied that any money/ bribery was involved, now cannot admit that in fact it was so the companies who have received these grants have a free pass to keep the money, with the public none the wiser, and now begin to relocate their businesses to elsewhere in the EU.

I know I’ve posted this before, but why not again:
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43588/dover-beach

The T.A told me she though Farage was the only one who had come out of the whole business smelling of roses

Did you ask her to explain why?

It reminds me of a couple of women my DH used to meet socially who thought 'Theresa was doing a good job''. This was before the botched election. He was so gobsmacked, he didn't ask in what way, and hasn't seen them since as it happens, so can't find out their latest thinking.

Well.

That went well. NOT!!!!

The parish council cannot offer us either storage or 2 hours a week to run a session from the new swanky community hub that is being built.

Not surprised tbh. Only 1 councillor offered any support.

However, we have til the next meeting to show them how wrong they are 😁

Lots of comments on the fb page already.

Thanks for all the time and advice.

Much appreciated.

MrsR well done for doing this. The food bank I helped with was based in the local church, is yours not interested in helping? All power to you. ✊

I have a huge list of people to contact next week...

I'm sort of glad it's out of the way - we know where we stand now.

Danny Dyer on Brexit Conveying the feelings of a nation.

peregrina In the 2017 GE, Maidenhead voters could choose May or Lord Buckethead and I'm still baffled why they made the wrong choice

Danny Dyer

Rumours on twitter of big Brexit news tomorrow.

I’d put my money on the EU telling us to piss off and walking away from the table.

I wonder what the news can be tomorrow? If only May comes on Bobby Ewing style and it's all been a ( nightmarish) dream.

On poetry Jabberwocky is an oft quoted poem in our house. But got some reason at various points over the last two years the Walrus and the Carpenter pops into my head. It is the underlying sense of doom as the poem progresses..

I think it's Boris/Gove and Rees Mogg as the title characters and the oysters are the leavers. I won't quote it all but ..

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat....

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.


"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and ships and sealing-wax
Of cabbages and kings 
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings."

......
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."
"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"

"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"

The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"
"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.

The strangest thing about Brexit. After years of not liking Terry Christian I now find I have massive respect for him based on very sensible and very angry things he has said on the subject.

Now it turns out I'm in love with Danny Dyer.

Who next?

Quietly looking forward to this big brexit news tomorrow - brexit never had wheels of course - but the imaginary ones we were cycling along on do seem to have fallen off rather abruptly over the last week or so. Even my beloved Daily Express is struggling to find good news stories about it.