Brexit mega thread part 10 : what's the (s)tory? Incompetence, tax evasion, dodgy loans and economic free fall...nothing to see here...check out those sunlit uploands!

[Chevyimpala67]

Part 10 of our long running thread.
I'm still putting my money on a spring GE.
The tory slash and burn of the UK is right on track.
Bon chance my friends!

Once again, decent food is becoming the preserve of the well off, and the whole time machine taking us back vibe strengthens.

Weren't we ordinary people supposed to source cheaper food from far afield?

Apparently Spanish tomatoes have been replaced by Moroccan, and they've had a bad weather year. So the problem now is to find another non-EU supplier that has capacity to spare the UK and it's low price economy.

Lots of reasons is seems

www.goodto.com/food/food-news/tomato-shortage-uk-why-supermarkets-running-out

Well no tomatoes in either big shop I went into today. Also anyone else noticed how much the cheese selection has been reduced by?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64687940

Sunak's dash to NI, and talks with the DUP.

The other parties got hastily arranged short audiences with the PM, perhaps after someone realised they (1) exist, and (2) represent more than half the electorate.

Hopefully they will have been briefed on the negotiations by the Irish government.

It's clear the British government believes the only party it has to deal with in NI is the DUP.

Regardless of the outcome here, this is not good optics.

Looking less likely that a Protocol deal will happen by Tues, ‘now unlikely to be anything concrete until the middle of the week at the earliest’ according to latest BBC report. If a deal can’t be done the recent uneasy equilibrium in EU-UK relations is unlikely to be maintained.

If it’s no dice the PM will be under pressure to proceed with the Protocol Bill, setting a course for a serious trade dispute with EU.

twitter.com/JP_Biz/status/1627365659934920710?t=T2aWfPSzoYPZb85LbGJ_qw&s=19

"If they think that banging on about Brexit is politically popular, they are detached from reality."

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/alan-duncan-boris-johnson-brexit-sunak-b2285271.html

Whilst you can't rule anything out in this climate, I can't see any appetite in the Tory party to go into the next election with the NI problem either unsolved, or having led to the mother of all trade wars with the EU. That would basically be handing Labour a loaded gun putting it in their mouths and saying "mmmmt meeee".

A very wise person once showed how over time everything evens out. The more bonkers the Tories become, the less life they will have left as the world swings the other way. It's shit for those caught at the extremes though. Maybe ignorance is bliss. Which might explain why so many Brexiteers are happy ?

That could be a new tack, now I type. Could force Brexiteers to admit they aren't happy.

I think they could get a lot of mileage out of a trade war with the EU, and the banging of the Lambeg drums wouldn't go against them either. There's a large section of English opinion that responds enthusiastically to dog whistles. And all it takes for a parliamentary majority is English opinion and a strong showing for the Tories in English constituencies.

I think they could get a lot of mileage out of a trade war with the EU, and the banging of the Lambeg drums wouldn't go against them either.

I think the number of businesses that would go under in the first few weeks of any trade dispute is too high even for the fuck business Tories.

Why am I seeing headlines about Boris Becker and honesty when BoJo is returning ?

You can see how easy it is to pollute algorithms.

Liz Truss continues to have the self awareness of a block of concrete.

I do like this idea of hers though, some sort of economic "union" of European countries. I wonder what we could call it?

Brexiteers have no problem with a union of European countries. As long as the UK is leading it.

Remember Camerons arrogance.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/21/britains-farmers-battered-by-brexit-fallout-and-rising-costs-says-union

"volatility, uncertainty and instability are greatest risks to farm businesses’".

Just seem that in a feed. Fuck 'em. They voted Brexit and they voted in Boris to Get Brexit Done. Everything went their way.

US friends have just finished watching Clarksons Farm 2. To say they are underwhelmed by the logic of Brexit would be an understatement.

Farming is fucking hard work. And as a tragic recent story shows, incredibly dangerous. Why anyone would want to make it harder for themselves is a mystery. But it is certainly a clear blue divide between schools of thought.

Yet James O'Bryan had someone on yesterday who claimed to be from some fruit/greengrocer's association who insisted that the shortages are nothing to do with Brexit, that there is no added paperwork and/or it doesn't cost any more to bring in fruit and veg, and that the problem is, wait for it, the market model that we use in the UK

And yes, he voted for Brexit

The BBC article on the shortage also failed to mention the elephant in the room, its the weather's fault.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64718823

Asda limits sales of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers

No real loss to me - I've already explained my tomato situation. And Dr. Johnson was spot on about cucumbers.

As for peppers - well I can take them or leave them.

But I'm not a Brexiteer, and therefore know it's not all about me.

Conflating issues in one post, Sunak has a dead easy route, if he had the brains and balls. Tell the DUP they can have whatever they want once the Sinn Fein first minister is in place. The excuses they will find will confirm that there really is no pleasing them, and therefore they can be ignored.

Alternatively he could offer to put his solution to the people of Northern Ireland. Again, I look forward to the DUPs reasons around why that wouldn't work.

No shortage of tomatoes here in Sweden. Which is a shame as I hate them.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/21/eurosceptic-tory-mps-demand-to-see-full-text-of-northern-ireland-deal

Has if they read the first one… or even the TCA. Love that outraged hypocrisy.

Yet the Great British Public weren't allowed to see any of the Withdrawal Agreement.

However, I may be projecting, but the increasing hysteria from the ERG types does start to feel like impotence. One thing I learned many many decades ago was that if you need to make threats, then you have no power. Anyone with an eye on Mitch McConnell in the US might appreciate that. Very quietly he is taking out - and I mean out - those that dared challenge him.

UK government accused of reversing pledges to protect research spending, after £1.6 billion of unused funds earmarked for association to the European Union’s research programme was returned to the Treasury,

twitter.com/timeshighered/status/1628076082321666053?t=Co16cR1frbVTPceg_3sVKw&s=19

"Nothing to do with Bexit"

This Twitter thread debunks that....

https://twitter.com/chrislowndes/status/1628007273170706434?s=48&t=5Xg0A9UtvR70ZDVCbW-BwQ

...with the added bonus of yet more imaginary ferries

Whose friend, cousin, pub landlord got that 'ferry' contract?