Westminstenders: 30 days to save us all!

[RedToothBrush]

It's quite remarkable to watch the British press atm.

It's like it doesn't understand English. Well only if its English spoken by foreigners.

Merkel made the observation that the UK had spent two years looking at the Irish border but had failed to come up with a workable solution, and now Johnson has waltzed in and made statements about how the backstop must go, and only has 30 days in which this can be achieved.

The British press writes this up as Merkel giving the UK a deadline to come up with a new solution.

Which is nonsense. The UK have a deadline to save itself, from itself and that's 31st October. This is a self imposed deadline.

Meanwhile comes out with the Brexiteer smack down that he didn't think the UK wS leaving the EU to regain its sovereignty only to become a vassalage or junior partner to the US.

Both these ideas being the result of leaving the EU have long been key issues. From before the ref. Both have been the UK's to solve in order to get the terms the UK wants from a deal.

The referendum was about choosing to align with the EU or to ditch that and rights and align closely with the US. Then Trump happened and the sell on this got harder, but still essentially the same. And it continues.

And then there was the Irish border. The magic solution to Brexit that doesn't break the GFA. I personally think there isn't one as long as the DUP have their red lines about the Irish sea.

So here we are. More than 3 years after the ref.

Leavers still have no plan. Apart for charge headlong over the cliff. Remains still have their heads wedged up their own backsides and also, after spending months criticising every one else on social media anyway who makes a stand again this bull shit.

Yet the newspapers fail to report what Merkel said or why the UK has this issue in the first place. Its an ongoing exercise in national delusion and self denial.

Made me laugh anyway

I almost never celebrate a death
but my main regret is that both brothers didn't pop their clogs at least 5 years ago,
before they could contribute so much to buggering up both the USA and UK

Lewis Goodall@lewis_goodall

If No10’s plan is to bring a deal back, their leverage with Brexiters is very limited.

They can taste no deal, what they really want.

The numbers aren’t going to come from that side.
So they’ll be reliant on the group which never delivered for May despite all the hype: Labour MPs.

I love Iceland as a country but dear god, it's eye wateringly expensive there. Ridiculously so. Don't fancy emulating that!

I love Iceland as a country but dear god, it's eye wateringly expensive there.

When DW and visited, our bar bill exceeded our accommodation

Some UK exporters won't do the admin in time / ever

Faisal Islam@faisalislam

EU now pointing out what was clear in their guidance from March - UK EORI numbers will not be valid in EU after No Deal.

So tens of thousands of UK traders also need to register in France, mainly, separately to auto-enrollment from HMRC announced this week

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EU Tax & Customs@EU_Taxud

UK companies can obtain #EU EORI numbers from the #EU Member State into which they first import or from which they first export goods. #Prepare4Brexit

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Faisal Islam@faisalislam

.. in any event... no EORI numbers or declarations have been required for decades ...so confusion perhaps unsurprising but if we’re getting contrasting answers from 2 experts, & very few buying customs software or appointing the few agents to process this all, does not bode well

checked with two customs experts - one said UK trader needs UK EORI to “prelodge” declaration then to have it checked at French border you need an EU EORI number, UK one not valid.
Other said EU-based importer would have the EORI ... here’s Douane form:
https://t.co/lyEvpSmJE3?amp=1

.. in any event... no EORI numbers or declarations have been required for decades ...so confusion perhaps unsurprising

but if we’re getting contrasting answers from 2 experts,
& very few buying customs software or appointing the few agents to process this all,

does not bode well

... obviously this is for cross channel trade -

systems in place for certain checks even on infrastructure such as the Tunnel for which they were never envisaged -
but require traders’ pre-registration, preparation, accuracy on red tape that had been eliminated for decades...

Hope it's true about Jared O Mara, the useless fucker

And his enabler office manager. He's hardly clean as the driven.

BigChoc
Before the Single Market there were over 600 clearance clerks in and around the Kent ports who did customs paperwork 24/7
now there are 15
and the volume of trade through the ports has massively increased.
Anybody who thinks that lorries will flow freely without an SM/CU deal is utterly kidding themselves.

that form is interesting though - its not part of the online set .... filled out by hand it could lead to GREAT confusion.

When DW and visited, our bar bill exceeded our accommodation

That doesn't surprise me. We spent a stupid amount in the Aldi-equivalent supermarket too.

BCF well don't congratulate me too much as pretty points out I didn't get the detail all right.

I've been half following Icelandic politics for a while.

Its pretty much a by word for corruption so when I see a story like that I'm Hmmm...

Pretty much all the parties have been up to their necks in bollocks at some point, but people keep voting for them in a circus that keeps being repeated.

That guy is the best of the lot though.

I hadn't realised it was him when I started to read the Spectator article but since I knew they were all pretty dodgy I looked who he was up...

... Its quite something to be lectured on what we should and shouldn't be doing by someone with that past. He's straight out of the Trump / Johnson camp of liars.

pmk

Ah, software ... my area of expertise.

The first problem is that the software to handle the new regime doesn't actually exist. That's because there isn't a country in the world that is doing things the way the UK will be doing them come 1st November. Even that old fallback "lets put up with "zip codes" and "state/province" and use US software won't fly, since the US trades with the EU under a trade deal. So their software is set up for such.

Almost a decade after I stated until I was blue in the face that ^there were no manual processes to fall back on" in certain IT systems, things will only have got worse. And they won't be helped by the UKs strange fascination with phone calls over emails everywhere ...

Amazon rain forest story is interesting:
EU especially France and Ireland lobbying for action.

While

Latest Brexit trade talks with Brazil could ‘put rainforests at risk

Read more: metro.co.uk/2019/08/22/latest-brexit-trade-talks-could-put-brazil-rainforests-risk-10614537/?ito=cbshare

Have the LibDems gone into full on GE mode? I got this letter and leaflet in the post today, addressed to me. I am not a member of the LDs. They are in full-on stop Brexit mode.

Iceland is indeed incredibly expensive (although the Kreppa and subsequent devaluation of its currency made it slightly more affordable).

We used to pay extra to get into the Hilton's Business Lounge (having got a free upgrade the 1st time ) because you got free snacks, coffee and breakfast - but more importantly beer and wine - so it more than paid for itself!

.. in any event... no EORI numbers or declarations have been required for decades

Is pure, absolute, bollocks. They were only introduced about 10 years ago anyway and EVERY trader importing or exporting to/from the EU already has one.

Interesting posts earlier by both red and prettybird on Iceland, and that UK has been so close to 'failing' even in fairish weather .

Something you wrote ages back about Iceland stuck in my mind red you described it in words to the effect that it had become a 'pirate culture' post the crisis, which sounded mildly terrifying.

Iceland can also grow its own bananas and tomatoes!

Before the Single Market there were over 600 clearance clerks in and around the Kent ports who did customs paperwork 24/7

Is completely true, and the number of loads has increased vastly.

But on the other side of the coin, it's far more IT based now, and not reliant on bits of paper and waiting in queues.

Still going to be a shitshow though.

We went to Iceland in Oct 2012 for our honeymoon then in Nov 2016 for my 40th. The second time was much more expensive, we felt, but that was an exchange rate issue, most likely. And we had two kids to feed as well as us!

But on the other side of the coin, it's far more IT based now, and not reliant on bits of paper and waiting in queues.
Turnout and tally and physical goods checks will still have to be done with grubby hands.
and blown VAT deferments will result in lorries parking up - as they always did.
30 years is a long time.
Not many people in "management" remember how it used to be so cannot envisage what might happen.

Have the LibDems gone into full on GE mode?

One word.

Yes.

Not many people in "management" remember how it used to be

Filing cabinets will be back a la 'years and years'.

Pre email, pre tinternet, I was working in a large college; we used to communicate with each other with paper memos. A charming American man was our 'postman' and would deliver our messages to each other, by hand twice a day.

Different times, kids.........

Fishes All Uk exporters will already have a UK EORI number, but will they have an EU EORI number ?

I may be misinformed - because I'm reading about some baffled firms ! - but I thought that while we are an EU member, the UK EORI number suffices,

but once we have left the EU, it won't, so Uk exporters will then also need an EU EORI number

It will be a problem that there is almost no remaining "institutional" memory of handling trade borders to European partners

In tough and changing circumstances, institutional memory of similar events is very important