Westministenders: Canada Plus and the Transition Phase

[RedToothBrush]

As we approach the 31st January, we slowly tick towards exit and transition.

Things are not yet signed off though the No Deal planning has quietly been stood down with no press release and the government have said they won't talk about trade deals post 31st Jan because the public are bored of them and don't understand.

The new EU president has said that the UK doesn't have time to make a full deal with the EU before 31st December with a deadline which isn't flexible.

We still have no idea what the government plans are. We still have many EU citizens feeling very vulnerable.

Perhaps we should start talking about this rather than Royals for a couple of weeks...

Well hey, why not get rid of the funny Norman French on the passports? It's foreign, isn't it?

someone has ...

Who's up for starting a thread on 1st Feb asking for specifics of what's changed now Brexit's happened ?

I thought the new passports were due in September.

Did your passport say European Union though? Some do and some don't, I suppose it depends on how much stock they have to use up.

Its a red UK and NI only passport. No EU on it which is depressing.

I have an EU one for another few years yet at least... Even if its in name only.

No Red - it will be a red UK one. NI is still in the UK. Now I do wonder if my next passport which isn't due for renewal for 4 years will say United Kingdom, Great Britain, or England and Wales.

DS’s new British passport doesn’t have EU on it either. Fortunately his other one does.

Sajid Javid's flip-flop on regulatory alignment in just 6 days:

17th Jan 📕 www.ft.com/con…/18ddc610-3940-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4

23rd Jan 📕 www.itv.com/news/2020-01-23/chancellor-sajid-javid-seeks-to-reassure-business-about-brexit/

How have they got away with pretending that UK passports used to be blue? Just how? It's surreal. What's wrong with the original black anyway? Is it because dark blue is the colour of the conservative party? My God, it is, isn't it?

How have they got away with pretending that UK passports used to be blue?

Same way they forgot they are going to be made in Poland.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7877395/Polish-workers-reveal-poor-conditions-Blue-Brexit-passports-factory.html

I must admit to being touched by the Mails concern for foreign workers over UK workers although I have every confidence they'll recover.

I thought they were going to be made in France. The old passports were a very, very dark blue - if you put them against a black one the difference could be seen.

But we can't have them now with the little windows in the front cover - doesn't fit with ICAO regs. Yet I thought we were 'taking back control' and 'making our own laws'.

I feel so disheartened. Everything is so quiet and feels like it's being deliberately done that way. Brexit by stealth now.

Bercows
I am reassured that its so quiet.
Next weekend is going to be the mother of all damp squibs.
Then at the end of February the UK has to officially set out its stall to the EU - for the very first time.
At the end of March we get a new Labour leader.
By the time my veg garden is starting to sprout we'll start having a picture about what will happen next year.

We have a functioning but thick government.
We have a functioning civil service.
The lights come on and the taps are not dry.

Wait and see. Wait and see.

re the pic of the passports - are there only three of us who bothered to read the small print

The Tory government have deliberately changed the colour of British passports - saying that they are the original extremely dark blue (they looked black to me) passports - to a Tory party blue. This is a subliminal prompt that the Tories are the truly British party.

I thought they were going to be made in France.

The news that Thales were using a Polish plant for the job somehow eluded the MSM back in July.

Knowing the French, as I do, I suspect there was a board meeting that decided that unimportant jobs could be handled outside France ....

Knowing the French as I do, I bet that at that meeting they all agreed, with the merest hint of a raised eyebrow, that really they just had to get them made in Poland.

Grenzen
Its all over my FB, sometimes linked to this picture ...

I'm just waiting for them to say that if your passport has EU on it, you'll have to renew it (at the full price) even if it's valid for another nine years as in my case.

I read the small print, which was why I made the remark about getting rid of foreign Norman French. It is hilarious if the Express didn't, thus confirming that their editorial team are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

This is for BCF, on the subject of decorations in both directions for GB-NI trade.

Tl;dr it's worse than I thought!

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/24/revealed-complex-post-brexit-checks-for-northern-irish-traders

For decorations read declarations, obviously ...

So sick of the Express, which is forever coming up on my phone. Everything is personal and about aggression, approving the aggression. Eg. Brexiteer slams down Remoaner! Boris destroys Nicola Sturgeon! Today Thornberry has been "blasted" apparently. And Sturgeon is "snubbed". Various people are "angry" and "furious". It really encourages division, anger, and maybe even violence over political issues.

Tintin can't you block it? I routinely tell FB and Twitter I don't want to see the ads they are serving me. And on twitter I mute all low-quality news sources (eg the BBC), and American sites that won't serve you articles because they want to steal your data and the EU won't let them.

I routinely tell FB and Twitter I don't want to see the ads they are serving me

AdBlock plus. NoScript. Job done.

ListeningQuietly

Was that a quote of his? I hadn't realised... double the pleasure!