Westministers : Saving the Union

[RedToothBrush]

Apparently we need a tunnel. Just like we needed the £53 million failed Garden Bridge.

Nice little earner for anyone involved.

"Fuck bushes" said Boris.

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/brexit-forces-buyers-in-northern-ireland-to-scrap-orders-for-100000-trees/17/02/

Buyers in Northern Ireland have had to cancel orders for nearly 100,000 trees because of a post-Brexit ban on the planets being shipped across the Irish Sea from Britain.

So much winning but who cares about the Arts

National Theatre shelves European touring after Brexit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-56095821

More good Brexit news.
www.politicshome.com/news/article/national-theatre-can-no-longer-tour-in-europe-because-brexit-deal-made-it-financially-unviable

I'm surprised ToryBrexitannia didn't simply suggest going by aeroplane to "avoid" the "sea border". If you're a Leaver, presumably you don't realise that national borders go up into outer space and down into the Earth's core.

From what I understand, there are no extra checks on exports from NI to GB - only GB to NI - therefore a tunnel would attract investment in manufacturing, (agriculture?) and tourism in NI.

In an ironic flourish, which history pulls off sometimes, I could see those countries gaining their independence/reunification/EU membership on the same date as the tunnel is finally opened.

That would be ironic.

A dreamer in Scotland;

A Northern Ireland to Scotland tunnel could cost up to £16bn less than a bridge, according to the architect who first proposed plans for a crossing.

Alan Dunlop–of the Glasgow-based Alan Dunlop Architects– initially suggested a bridge across the Irish Sea in January 2018; plans which won the support of Boris Johnson.

According to Dunlop, a submerged tunnel would cost between £8bn and £10bn, with a seven to 10 year build time. The cost of a 41km bridge between Portpatrick and Larne would be up to £20bn, while an alternative linking Glasgow and Ulster would cost up to £24bn, he said.

“A tunnel would require some sophisticated engineering, but it’s not the massive structure a bridge would have to be,” Dunlop told The Times. “I’m absolutely convinced it can be done. It might seem mind-blowing but the Norwegians have shown such submerged tunnels are workable and safe.”

www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/irish-sea-tunnel-could-cost-16bn-less-than-bridge-31-03-2020/

Squirrel alert.

However, I recall that Johnson's taxpayer money wasting bridge was inspired by one in New York which was a repurposed railway line. There is nothing much wrong with repurposing old railway lines, although in some cases they would be put to better use being restored as railways.

The Highline @Peregrina . Amazing project, turning something that was a blot on the landscape into something a beauty.

There is nothing much wrong with repurposing old railway lines, although in some cases they would be put to better use being restored as railways.

Or cycle paths ...

There are some "re-purposed" cycle paths that are now getting in the way of railway lines getting re-built

@prettybird

There are some "re-purposed" cycle paths that are now getting in the way of railway lines getting re-built

Canal towpaths are quite good too. Loads round here in Brum.

It was only recently I learned that's how deer are sneaking into the city. We had a fawn get it's head stuck in some railings a while back near here, and no one explained how it came to be wondering the streets of Brum.

Speaking of deer, did anyone catch the amazing IR footage of around 150 deer crossing the road in Hertfordshire ?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-55836451

FROMAGE ALERT

From what I understand, there are no extra checks on exports from NI to GB - only GB to NI
Until April
because at the moment the UK is breaking WTO rules

After April it will be full checks in both directions
did you not read the small print ??

@ListeningQuietly

From what I understand, there are no extra checks on exports from NI to GB - only GB to NI Until April because at the moment the UK is breaking WTO rules

After April it will be full checks in both directions
did you not read the small print ??

Gove seems determined to avoid those though. Where are his 50,000 extra officials that need to have been recruited, trained and deployed by April ?

Up his arse is my bet.

Until April because at the moment the UK is breaking WTO rules

Those WTA rules that the Brexit BeLeavers love. Thing is, who is going to enforce any sanctions?

Wonder what the new head of the WTO will say?

The Severn crossing features on my local traffic reports. Often closed due to high winds with diversions in place.

@Peregrina

Until April because at the moment the UK is breaking WTO rules

Those WTA rules that the Brexit BeLeavers love. Thing is, who is going to enforce any sanctions?

I would imagine that once the WTO have adjudged, then member states are free to take what action they see fit in relations between themselves and the transgressor ?

I'm watching the new head of the WTO on Linkedin.
In her opening video she said she wanted to get a functional version of the Appellate body up and running FAST.
If the UK continues to breach WTO rules after 1st April I can see other countries starting to give us a very hard time
ones like China and India and Russia and the USA

So sadly the Brexit stockpile is going to come back into its own, just as lockdowns ease

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56101215

...

He will also replace Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove as UK chair of a separate committee in charge of implementing the Brexit divorce agreement.

Financial services following fishing under the Brexit Bus...exactly as Catherine McGuinness, the City of London Corporation’s head of policy said last year.

Catherine McGuiness is much more bullish this year;

27 Jan 2021 - City of London chief: Brexit impact 'not at all catastrophic' as Square Mile will thrive without EU access.

[the] political leader of the Square Mile’s ruling body, insisted the City will thrive even if the European Union “irrationally” blocks access.

“It’s disappointing to lose business but it’s not at all catastrophic,” McGuinness said according to Reuters. “We are very confident in London’s basic strengths and that we will make up business elsewhere.” (e.g. Feb 2021 - Shares in Swiss companies will once again be traded on UK exchanges after Switzerland’s financial regulator gave the move the all-clear);

www.cityam.com/londons-financial-powerhouse-backs-city-to-thrive-without-eu-access/

Now this one should please Clavinova because it's the USA which is winning much of the business and not wholly the EU.

Indeed - I did question you all last week, how granting equivalence to the US benefitted Paris and Frankfurt? From the Duff and Phelps link in Yorkshire Bylines (love the Duff and Phelps website by the way - great hot-air balloons);

What’s more striking is who isn’t gaining, however. Despite Brexit, there’s been no rush to Europe. The number of senior decision-makers in financial services citing Paris or Frankfurt as the top financial center is negligible, and that’s not expected to change in the medium term.

mathanxiety's favourite Brexiteer mentioned here;

A group of Eurosceptic City figures and politicians have created a new UK financial services lobby group in a bid to trumpet the sector’s success post-Brexit.

The body, launched yesterday [15 Feb 2021] is called the CityUnited project and it aims to “combat and negate the EU’s actions” by “promoting bold new initiatives to exploit the UK’s expertise in financial services”.

The City lobby group will be chaired by ex-chief executive of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange professor Daniel Hodson, with former chancellor Lord Norman Lamont and former MEP Lord Daniel Hannan on its board.

www.cityam.com/eurosceptic-politicians-form-new-post-brexit-city-lobby-group/

15 Feb 2021 -
Leeds and London set to become global centres of green finance.

Leeds and London will be home to a new UK centre for driving global green finance and investment, Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced today (Monday 15 February), thanks to £10 million in government investment.

The new UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment will begin in April 2021, with physical hubs in Leeds and London opening in a matter of months...

The research hubs in the 2 cities will provide world-class data and analytics to financial institutions and services such as banks, lenders, investors and insurers around the world to better support their investment and business decisions by considering the impact on the environment and climate change.

www.gov.uk/government/news/leeds-and-london-set-to-become-global-centres-of-green-finance

(From what I understand, there are no extra checks on exports from NI to GB - only GB to NI.)

Until April because at the moment the UK is breaking WTO rules
After April it will be full checks in both directions did you not read the small print??

I thought the Northern Ireland Protocol made some exceptions here (NI to GB)?

In case anybody wants to read up on the changes due to hit the food supply chain from1st April,
there is a quick summary here
www.gov.uk/guidance/importing-or-moving-live-animals-animal-products-and-high-risk-food-and-feed-not-of-animal-origin#import-from-an-eu-country-from-1-april-2021

TL:DR
All the stress that food exporters have been having
will now apply to imports trying to restock supermarkets and takeaways and hospitals and schools

Where are his 50,000 extra officials that need to have been recruited, trained and deployed by April?

It's not 50,000 officials - it's 50,000 form fillers possibly required in the private sector (customs clerks etc.) I'm not even sure it was Michael Gove who came up with the estimate - he may have been quoting someone else.

@Clavinova

(From what I understand, there are no extra checks on exports from NI to GB - only GB to NI.)

Until April because at the moment the UK is breaking WTO rules
After April it will be full checks in both directions did you not read the small print??

I thought the Northern Ireland Protocol made some exceptions here (NI to GB)?

you thought wrong. see my link

In case anybody wants to read up on the changes due to hit the food supply chain from1st April, there is a quick summary here.

The link states;

Movements from NI to GB
You can move animals, animal products and HRFNAO from NI to GB if they are qualifying NI goods.

Qualifying NI goods are goods:

in free circulation in NI - which means they are not under customs supervision (except when that supervision arises from the goods being taken out of NI or the EU) which have undergone processing operations in NI under the inward processing procedure, and only incorporate inputs which were in free circulation in the UK.

Clav
What does the UK import from Northern Ireland THAT SOLELY ORIGINATED north of the invisible border?

What does the UK import from Northern Ireland THAT SOLELY ORIGINATED north of the invisible border?

I don't know without checking, but the extract also states;
and only incorporate inputs which were in free circulation in the UK.