Brexit MegaThread - part 14

[Peregrina]

Thread 13. We had a debate about whether there should be a new one but if no one answers this the whole series after 8 years plus will come to their end.

Brexit happened, although one time Leavers do not seem to appreciate this.
It's worth noting I think that Brexit was a Tory initiative and the Tory party has just received its worse electoral thrashing since 1832. Could it be entirely unrelated?

What next? A gradual rapprochement with the EU? A Norway style agreement?

Do you live in Brum ?

No.

So maybe don't tell Brummies what goes on on your Brexit fantasy world. We're getting a 21% rise over 2 years with no referendum.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjk66n85e7go

The big problem, IMO, is the sky high cost of paying interest on borrowed money. The root cause of that issue is borrowing that money in the first place.
Ah yes, and whose mini budget was it that caused PWLB rates to rise by 3% in the space of 36 hours....
lettuce guess ?

Many Many councils are doing Section 114 notices and being allowed >2.99% rises {social care 2% is separate}
of ALL political hues
because unfunded increases in NMW since 2010 have pushed ALL councils to the brink

The costs of running a referendum are in some councils >2% of council tax so an utterly vicious cycle to be avoided at ALL COSTS

I didn't realise there is no referendum in Brum. Sorry to hear that.

TBH while 10% rise per year for 2 years is clearly unwelcome, in % terms it doesn't seem that drastic, for each tax payer, compared to the size of the mess BCC have got themselves into.

In £ terms it may well feel very different. It appears from BCCs own information like an average band D is going up by around £300 when everything is added together. That Beeb page is very confusing as to the actual costs. Entirely accept that's a lot of money for some people to find.

Don't worry, I won't pass on your feeling Brummies won't have any problem paying. You can still visit if you like. And just for you I shall whistle a happy tune when I see the DD has gone out for council tax.

Hard to be too grumpy when I've seen GBNews hand JRM his arse on a plate, just to be finished off by Stanley Johnson. They certainly are an entertainment channel. Who knew ?

@LouiseCollins28
And Slough ?
And Croydon ?
And Thurrock ?
And Chester ?
And Bristol ?
and, in the next few months many, many more

If 10% is, according to you, not unreasonable, why did Eric Pickles make 3% a line in the sand ?

But, but, but, I thought Tories didn't like raising taxes?...

I pay just under £3,850 council tax for a Band G property in Glasgow (but that includes our water charges).

Glasgow City Council is broke though because it had to pay over half a billion to resolve the long running equal pay dispute, which had been going on for years despite legal advice that it was never going to win

So when a new administration finally came in after council elections in 2017, the back pay due when the new administration quickly accepted the inevitable and resolved the claims nearly bankrupted the council (it's had to mortgage a lot of its assets).

I believe that Birmingham had similar issues - which have been brushed over as a reason for its financial difficulties.

As long as Brexiteers put their hands in their pockets and stump up the 100, Billion and all the other extra costs due to leaving the EU that is fine by me.
After all they KNEW that this would happen, including the 40 Billion the UK is due to pay as part of the various joint projects with the EU not completed at the time the Withdrawal Agreement was signed.

@prettybird
Yup, Birmingham were utterly pig headed about the equal pay thing.
Areas that settled ten years before when borrowing rates were a fraction of what they are now and when austerity had hardly cut into the flesh
are now in MUCH better shape.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/dover-port-brexit-eu-ferries-b2600716.html

Coach passengers, meanwhile will be processed at the Western Docks on the other side of Dover. Once cleared by French officials, each coach will be sealed and then drive through the Kent town with those on board effectively in French territory.

The same technique was used during Cold War years for transit between West Germany and West Berlin.

The crazy thing is that it was the Labour led council (who had been in power forever ) that refused to accept the inevitable The case had been going on since 2006

They left it until after the 2107 elections and to the incoming SNP minority administration to finally settle, along with the over £500 million bill for back pay - and then both they and the unions (who never gave the SNP credit for settling ) proceeded to blame the SNP for Glasgow's dire finances and for not settling quickly enough

There's a further c£250 million that was recently settled of cases that had missed the initial cut off (because the case had rumbled on for over 10 years?) so that's a helluva lot of money for a council to find - and to calculate the amounts due

Labour has never had a female leader

Remember the Not the Nine skit about union negotiations ?
Misogyny is very strong on the left and in the Union movement

Probably best not mention the BCC equal pay fiasco. Not that anyones bonuses are at risk.

When it was coming to a head, and BCC tried to ameliorate the fallout (of their own making) by reducing the wages of existing workers (which went as well as you might expect) it did expose a rather illuminating underbelly of people who had only ever worked for "the council" with fuck all transferable skills (or, indeed to my ears any skills at all).

The nadir was a "wages technician" (one of 30) that was interviewed on local radio. They were complaining they couldn't afford the pay drop. When the interviewer suggested they look into getting another job, and the person said "but the council doesn't have any other vacancies" the penny dropped to an entire city that there were people who were basically doing non-jobs. At no point did the concept of actually working in the private sector seem to factor in their imagination.

This was around 2006. At the time it was stated that Birmingham had from 1977 to fix the problem.

@SerendipityJane
I worked with some of the people who tried to sort it out. Birmingham stuck their heads in the sand SO FIRMLY it was astounding

In what language does "arse" translate as sand ?

I have extremely little time for local authorities. The recent mismanagement of dogs reported a year ago that went on to kill is a mere sideshow compared to their weapons grade incompetence.

I could have set their entire council taxpayer portal up for a few hundred thousand. Including hosting. It would provide 10x the functionality that the current one does and cost zero in licensing.

My careerlong aversion to Oracle would have stopped me touching them with a 8000 mile bargepole too.

Fans of "The Peter Principle" will recall how many examples came from local government. There's a reason for that. And I speak as on who almost joined NALGO.

When that nice Mr Pickles abolished the Audit Commission, he also disbanded the VFM team.
They saved taxpayers dozens of times more than they cost
but all moved on to richer pastures

Ah, Mr. Pickles. Source of one of david Dimblebys standout moments on QT (we are still waiting for FBs. I suspect the highpoint of her tenure will be a "goodbye" to and empty hall).

The discussion was over second homes for MPs ...

EP: "What you need to understand is that I need to be places at certain times, to do certain things, I need to get to places in order for that to happen ..."

DD "Like a job, you mean ?"

(Audience laughter and no more from Mr Pickles on that matter).

I have to congratulate posters here on avoiding the AIBU thread about bottle tops so far. Not sure why Clav hasn't posted to trumpet it as a Brexit success.

Hey - Global - this could be your chance. Pop in and remind posters of something from the past by quoting it. It'll be great training for you. Much wider spread of source material.

@DuncinToffee

Take a look at:

Germany spends big to win $11 billion TSMC chip plant | Reuters

Key text is:

TSMC's is the single largest investment in Saxony's history and a boost for conservative state premier Michael Kretschmer, who faces a strong challenge from the anti-immigration, far-right Alternative for Germany party ahead of next year's regional election.

The decision to by Germany to spend $11 Billion is naff all to do with a unique EU, but to stave off a party who sees the danger of uncontrolled immigration.

The policy would grant 18 to 30-year-olds visas for up to three years to work, study or volunteer in the UK, with a reciprocal agreement for young Britons.

To achieve this, Brussels will have to bend on the 90/180 Schengen guideline particularly for UK persons who have second homes in the EU. France attempted to get the ruling changed, but higher courts (under the direction of Macron) overulled.

Spain are still campaigning to get the 90/180 rule changed as they too are losing out due to Britons spending less time (hence less money) in Spain.

Never forget that negotiation is a two way process.

I'm afraid your AI is failing again Global. Germany is not spending 11 billion. But as you don't read these things, you wouldn't have noticed that.

From that moment on I doubt there is the slightest point in reading your irrelevant screed any further...

'Take a look'

I now have the Phil Collins song going round in my head

I haven't seen the bottle top outrage thread. But like with the can rings I am sure people will get used to it soon enough

Something about the AfD and uncontrolled immigration, so scrolled on too.

@IItisymoi As long as Brexiteers put their hands in their pockets and stump up the 100, Billion and all the other extra costs due to leaving the EU that is fine by me.

Flawed logic. You and many other remain supporters have forgotten that the Lib Dems offered to revoke Article 50 if they were elected in the 2019 general election. Had the 16.1 million who voted remain in 2016 taken up that offer, this thread would not exist. I have seen only one remain supporter on MN acknowledge that remain blew their chance.

You also have forgotten that as per the Gina Miller case, the UK leaving the EU had to be done by an act of parliament. This effectively superseded the outcome of the 2016 referendum.

The vote held 29 March 2017 produced Brexit by a majority of 498 to 114.

Increases in council tax and other taxes in the UK was always going to happen to recover the 400 Billion spent on COVID and 100 Billion spent on energy subsidies

Ah, more meaningless drivel about the past...

Who put 50p in the AI?