I never said different. I said that 'EVEN with the WTO the WTO 'court' can give judgements'. As it happens I spent 20 years in the shipping and transport business covering northern Europe, the states and the Indian sub-continent so I generally know a lot more about this stuff than most people but, y'know, I'd be interested in hearing your perspective.
My point is the LFP is about far more than "who makes the call". It was certainly a factor, for obvious reasons, but the Brexiteers also didn't want the trade agreement to reach into the UK's economy because, get this, their big thing was they wanted the UK to get away from the EU's control. Caving on LFP means that the UK is now back under the thumb of the EU's LFP rules, which pretty much eliminates that "advantage" of Brexit.
I suspect while many who supported Brexit claimed to be concerned about EU rules affecting the UK, the real driver of anti-EU fervor was immigration and as long as that is restricted, most will be satisfied.
I've no idea what the brexiteers wanted but that's mainly because they don't know what they wanted. Like most people they probably know next to nothing about trade and, as a group, they're a bit dim. But I'm not sure what you mean by the EU 'reaching into the UK economy' at this point? If you've been following this story, (and my and others posts in this thread), you'll know that we've already agreed to implement certain controls of movement of goods between northern Ireland and GB, i.e. between two parts of the same country so the Rubicon of whether we'll be impacted by the EU deal has already been crossed. But it's got nothing to do with the LPF matters under discussion here. The LPF matter is detailed here... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/51180282 Also... Essentially, if it's a matter of principle and agreeing to ANY dispute resolution not completely under ones own control then EVERY country in the WTO has allowed every OTHER country in the WTO, control over it's sovereignty. This issue is about what body makes the call when there's a dispute between the UK and EU, essentially whether they're independent of either side. The implication being that the EU wanted to be the sole arbitrator and Johnson wanting the body to be more independent or, possibly, a joint body. I've no idea what we'll end up with and, in any event, I'm not sure it makes much difference in practical terms.
Yeah, most of this is bullshit, tbh, and is theatre, mainly of benefit to the rubes who want to pretend it wasn't about immigration. In all honesty, (and much to my chagrin), it seems possible that Johnson will sign a deal allowing free trade to continue without tariffs or quotas but ending freedom of movement. So we'll be spending billions on pointless paperwork and admin and we won't be able to get people, (or not easily, anyway), from the EU to work in in our hospitals, schools, hospitality and manufacturing sector, of whom the vast bulk were white and christian as it happens. Like I say, HURRAH!
Who is this muppet? Why does Matt Hancock sit down like Woody in Toy Story when a human enters the room pic.twitter.com/uJOrAWJiTU— Calgie (@christiancalgie) December 17, 2020
Er, excuse me... you are talking about our secretary of state for health and social care But... well, yeah!
Oh well....Who could have seen this coming? U.K. In Crisis “At least 30 countries, including 17 in the neighboring European Union, have banned flights from the United Kingdom after the British government warned that a new variant of the coronavirus could be up to 70% more transmissible,” Axios reports. “U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to hold an emergency meeting of advisers after France announced Sunday that it would close its borders for 48 hours, blocking off ports that account for roughly 20% of the U.K.’s trade in goods.”
Exactamundo. Funny part, when in the EU, you don't have control over your borders. Belgium, Italy or France just proved the opposite.
The thing is quite a lot of the truckers appear to be non-UK. Not sure who's going to pay for them, (or their goods if they spoil in transit which has been in issue in the past)... https://www.ferryto.eu/dover-to-calais-ferries-major-disruptions-due-to-french-strike/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/15/french-fishermen-blockade-ports https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/31/sarahhall.jonhenley
One of Germanys top virologists said in an interview, that there is nothing to suggest 70% increased transmission from that virus strain that is already present in several other EU countries. He doesn't know where this number comes from there is no data available to deduct it from, basically Johnson pulled this number out of his ass. Probably to cover up the failed containment strategy of his government. It's not even known if this mutation is actually beneficial in any way to the virus. Way to early to tell. But Johnson ran his mouth now borders are closed. Actions have consequences.
I'm not sure it's as simple as that because the new variant did seem to be more infectious according to people doing the testing... MK LHL testing data showing increasing prevalence of H69/V70 variant in positive test data - which is detected incidentally by the commonly used 3-gene PCR test. pic.twitter.com/1U0pVR9Bhs— Tony Cox (@The_Soup_Dragon) December 19, 2020 The problem is that it's partly inferred from the rise in cases rather than a scientific measurement but there's also the issue of a suspected increased viral load. So it's certainly true that Johnson's made an absolute shambles of the covid response but, according to various professors over here, (I'm watching one giving evidence to the parliamentary select committee atm), it might well be more infectious. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55388846 It made me wonder if the scientific people around Johnson put the shits up him when they saw he was continuing with his 'free-for-all' christmas madness and tried to quash that. Of course, all this is in the context of Johnson's lunatic decision to open up again after the initial lockdown and actually handing out cash to people to spread the disease in his 'eat-out-to-help-out' fiasco.
It was absolute madness, giving out taxpayers money to incline people to go out and infect themselves and others. Just one in a long line of ludicrous decisions he's made which have made the situation worse for the country. I see the medics are putting pressure on him about his self-imposed brexit deadline... https://www.theguardian.com/society...rge-pm-to-extend-brexit-transition-by-a-month I have to admit, part of me thinks, 'Well, we'll still be in the same position then as well', but, y'know... I guess they know what they're doing. In all honesty, it does make one wonder what would have happened if the bugger had copped it when he had it back in May or whenever it was. I mean, could it all have been handled any worse??? It's hard to see how. Let's just remind ourselves what he said immediately after the referendum result... What a complete twunt!
Looks like a deal will be announced shortly. All that remains to be seen is how much Johnson has capitulated on for a couple of cheap wins he can sell to the press, while the rest of us question why he couldn't have agreed to the same terms 9 months ago, giving everyone time to prepare. Next up, the deal will be rushed through Parliament without proper scrutiny, and then unravel in the months ahead. Johnson will quit before this and blame it all on his successor.
Yeap, a deal has been reached. Apparently Boris has backed away from his original positions, particularly on fisheries.
This is getting worrying - I'm finding a number of Adonis tweets that I agree with. If I'm not careful I'll end up developing a crush on Tony Blair. 1341821689039040514 is not a valid tweet id