Brexit.

[seafoid]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2017/feb/01/article-50-debate-vote-bill-pmqs-theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn-ivan-rogers-to-give-evidence-to-mps-about-why-he-quit-as-uks-ambassador-to-eu-politics-live

May's plan for 'frictionless' border with Ireland after Brexit cannot be achieved, MPs told
Lisa O'Carroll


Theresa May's declaration that she wants a "seamless, frictionless border" post Brexit in Ireland amounted to meaningless "nice words", the government has been told.
The Northern Ireland affairs select committee has been told by two customs lawyers with decades of experience of border controls that the continuing free movement of goods is legally impossible if the UK quits the Customs Union in a hard Brexit.
Retired customs trade lawyer Michael Lux, who worked for the German ministry of finance, has said Theresa May can do what she likes once the UK leaves the European Union but that Ireland Taoiseach Enda Kenny will have to apply EU law with no choice but to have customs checks on the border. He said:

If Northern Ireland is no longer part of the customs union, Ireland is obliged to apply all these rules, what is done on the UK side if it's outside the EU they can do what they want.
His two hours of evidence drew audible gasps from MPs as he told how every vehicle carrying goods worth more than €300 crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland would have to be stopped, even if only "for a few minutes" and checked.
Every driver would have to have an "export declaration" document before travel which would have to be cross-checked by a human being at a border check.
"It is important to understand, it isn't just about customs, it is also about VAT and excise on alcohol and cigarettes," he said.
Dux, who has 40 years experience in customs trade law, told how dogs taken for a walk from south of the border would need documentation as would horses being ridden for pleasure on the border region. This is currently the case on the German/Swiss border, he said.
His comments do not bode well for May and Kenny who have warned that a return to the checkpoints of the past could imperil the fragile peace in the region.
Asked by Lady Hermon what he thought of Theresa May's comments this week in Dublin when she said she wanted a "seamless, frictionless border", Dux replied: "Well these are nice words but what does that mean?"
Even if the export declaration paperwork was electronic, a customs official would still be required to check the reference number for the freight and declare the "export movement closed" he said.
Lux told how cross-border customs charges and possible tariffs could be the death-knell for cross-border dairy production.
Medium-sized businesses might need two people to do the administration, or they could use an agent which would charge typically between €50 and €80 per consignment for an export declaration number, explained Lux.
Even if shrewd businesses got the cost of the export declaration document down to €20, the cost of continually moving milk and milk products back and forth would be prohibitive, Lux said.
Asked if Northern Ireland could get a "waiver" from the EU because of the special conditions pertaining to the island, lawyer Eric Pickett, an expert in World Trade Organisation rules and international trade law, said this was legally impossible.
"It would be a strict violation of WTO law," he said.

[No wides]

Toffee crisp up 2p!

[armaghniac]

told how dogs taken for a walk from south of the border would need documentation as would horses being ridden for pleasure on the border region.

What if the dog heads off by himself for a dander? I suppose that doesn't happen in Switzerland.

[Hardy]

In Switzerland, they'd sell him back to the German.

[seafoid]

told how dogs taken for a walk from south of the border would need documentation as would horses being ridden for pleasure on the border region.

What if the dog heads off by himself for a dander? I suppose that doesn't happen in Switzerland.

If the dog craps in Switzerland the owner is responsible for cleaning up so the Swiss would find and eliminate the owner

[armaghniac]

told how dogs taken for a walk from south of the border would need documentation as would horses being ridden for pleasure on the border region.

What if the dog heads off by himself for a dander? I suppose that doesn't happen in Switzerland.

If the dog craps in Switzerland the owner is responsible for cleaning up so the Swiss would find and eliminate the owner

A form of canine elimination. You could give the neighbour's dog a laxative and let him loose.

[armaghniac]

Brokenshire in full liar mode
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/special-status-for-postbrexit-northern-ireland-wrong-approach-says-brokenshire-35415301.html

[seafoid]

Brokenshire in full liar mode
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/special-status-for-postbrexit-northern-ireland-wrong-approach-says-brokenshire-35415301.html

Sammy says there should be no situation to weaken NI''s position in the UK. So let it deflate along with the mainland then. How does a 15% drop in economic activity sound in Newtownards?

[seafoid]

The Tories are acting in a real life version of "the emperor's new clothes"

[Milltown Row2]

Brokenshire in full liar mode
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/special-status-for-postbrexit-northern-ireland-wrong-approach-says-brokenshire-35415301.html

Sammy says there should be no situation to weaken NI''s position in the UK. So let it deflate along with the mainland then. How does a 15% drop in economic activity sound in Newtownards?

They have plenty money in north Down, Newtownards not so much (you'd know that anyways, with your knowledge of NI) South Belfast even more money... besides it's not the people with money who'll lose out surely?

[johnneycool]

Brokenshire in full liar mode
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/special-status-for-postbrexit-northern-ireland-wrong-approach-says-brokenshire-35415301.html

Sammy says there should be no situation to weaken NI''s position in the UK. So let it deflate along with the mainland then. How does a 15% drop in economic activity sound in Newtownards?

15% of fúck all is still fúck all....

You've never been to Newtownards evidently.

[Milltown Row2]

Brokenshire in full liar mode
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/special-status-for-postbrexit-northern-ireland-wrong-approach-says-brokenshire-35415301.html

Sammy says there should be no situation to weaken NI''s position in the UK. So let it deflate along with the mainland then. How does a 15% drop in economic activity sound in Newtownards?

15% of fúck all is still fúck all....

You've never been to Newtownards evidently.

No JC!!!!!!!!! This man has been to the moon and Mars, he knows their difficulties and how they should be fixed!!

[balladmaker]

"DUP has done the most for a united Ireland ...

The English nationalists who drove Brexit don't really care about the union – under the rhetorical covers, they will ditch Northern Ireland and Scotland if need be.

They were playing with loose change. The DUP was playing with the deeds to its house.

It has thus done more to advance a united Ireland than the Provisional IRA managed in 30 years of mayhem.

In the short term, there is likely to be a border for the movement of people that separates the island of Ireland as a whole from the island of Britain as a whole.

However loyally British you may be, you will have to show her majesty's passport when you land in Stranraer from Larne or in London from Belfast – but not when you drive from Newry to Dundalk."

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-dup-has-done-the-most-for-a-united-ireland-1.2956656

[seafoid]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/02/corporate-dark-money-power-atlantic-lobbyists-brexit

By tying our fortunes to those of the United States, the UK government binds us into this system. This is part of what Brexit was about: European laws protecting the public interest were portrayed by Conservative Eurosceptics as intolerable intrusions on corporate freedom. Taking back control from Europe means closer integration with the US. The transatlantic special relationship is a special relationship between political and corporate power. That power is cemented by the networks Liam Fox helped to develop

[heganboy]

https://youtu.be/Pm8JzSVaB1c

I thought this was a joke until Mike showed up in 1987's suit...