Westministenders: The Beginning of Negotiations

[RedToothBrush]

Transition has a few hours left.

Then negotiations start and trade stops.

Far from being over, there are huge numbers of issues that lay unresolved.

And businesses both now in the UK and EU will cease to trade with each other just because the red tape is such a pain.

So whilst people will celebrate and think things are 'done' that just shows how much people are paying attention.

It will be interesting to see people gradually realising what has been lost...

..

Pmk

Thanks Red. We need these threads more than ever, now the leaky ss Brexit is about to set sail. Still, if you’re too busy puffing out your chest, patting each other on the back and waving your Union Jack then you’re probably too busy to see the hull is full of gaping holes.

God help us all.

pmk

Ultra chilled cats taking up their place on the sofa.

I'm hoping that my period of non-EU citizenship will not be as long as the citizens of FUKD which is increasingly looking like will just be England I feel sorry for those English that are outward looking and European and don't have an escape route

Don't forget we leave transition at midnight EU time...

Don’t worry about us, we’ll all be taking up residence in your garden prettybird

Here’s hoping for a better 2021, in covid terms at least.

Thank you Red
I'm buckled up for the ride.
And I'm sad

@RedToothBrush

Don't forget we leave transition at midnight EU time...

11pm Drown our sorrows humming Ode to Joy

Midnight Drown our sorrows humming Auld Lang Syne

@QueenOfThorns

Don’t worry about us, we’ll all be taking up residence in your garden prettybird

Here’s hoping for a better 2021, in covid terms at least.

We had a trial run of the supplemental heating system on Tuesday aka the fire pit

I remember New Year's Eve in 1972 when we were on the cusp of joining the then EEC and feeling joyful - we were opening ourselves up to our continental neighbours and there was a sense of new beginnings.

Today, 48 years later, I feel the most profound sadness. We have potentially lost so much because of a few mardy moneyed Tories and weak or opportunistic Prime Ministers.

The Brexiters are still failing to tell us what we have actually gained - it's all we might do this, we may do that. We saw the eel man's lament go viral. Would it not have been better if that video had been able to say "as a result of leaving the EU my business has grown so I can now employ 20 people", (leaving aside whether the river has enough eels.) Well, someone might be able to say so in 10 or twenty years time.

So I feel despondent, but then I remembered communism in E Europe collapsed in 1989. 15 years later some ex - communist countries joined the EU.

@JamieLeesCurtains

God help us all.

This Thank you Red all contributors & lurkers, I don’t have that much to say on threads, but you have all taught me a great deal & you are an oasis of sanity, I salute you one & all & wish if possible a peaceful & brighter 2021 for everyone.

They think it's all over.

PMK and thanks RTB with this example of a Daily Fail reader (I wonder if they're a Brexit/Trump supporter):

twitter.com/DMReporter/status/1344677863937740802?s=20

Well, here we go... Going to carry on supporting my DC through their education, help them find jobs outside the UK (will be harder for the fostered one who doesn't have an EU passport) and when that's done, I will leave. It's sad - I love this country, but right now I love it a lot less.

Hope everyones 2021 brings them more joy than 2020.

.

2021 will be a rollercoaster, but I am hoping for a phoenix, rather than a bin fire.

The only positive outcome I can see is that there is no-one left to blame. The WM establishment have to own their decisions.

I have found these threads, where I mostly lurk, invaluable as an informed source of debate. Thank you all, and best wishes for 2021.

.

Sad times

From our shared past ...

Fans of our Roman heritage will be saddened to hear of the passing of Andrew Birley of the Vindolanda site which produced the famous tablets. Absolutely unique in the entire span by time and geography of the Roman Empire, and a window into our forbears lives - with best wishes for birthdays, ongoing complaints about the state of the roads, and grumbles about uselss floppy haired leaders.

The only positive outcome I can see is that there is no-one left to blame.

You're either ludicrously young, or new to these shores ... I am old enough to remember pre-1972 when "bloody Europe" was the cause of the UKs pisspoor situation. As DF was told daily, if he wasn't just told to fuck off home.

Remainers shouldn’t be disheartened. Tonight marks the start of a new relationship with the EU, but it is just a fragile and temporary status quo, not the end point that Brexiteers claim. In the years ahead our relationship with Europe will continue to transform as successive governments renegotiate the relationship. There will be new deals, disputes, challenges and opportunities. It is for remainers to steer the future towards tighter integration, even if that (for the time being) falls short of membership. And at every stage we must hold Brexiteers to account. We have everything to play for.