BREXIT! BREXIT! BREXIT!

[Scot Dutchy]

I agree not much. What are those people basing their opinion on?

[Brian Peacock]

Probably a few newspaper reports, the Cambridge Analystica thing, the amount of money Russians are donating to the Tory party, the fact that Boris stymied the report on Russian interference until after the election and Brexit Day... that kind of thing.

[JimC]

The term "interfere" is not black or white. There would be a spectrum, with a few minor semi-legal moves at one end, and major spying/hacking/bribery/corruption at the other. From all reports, Russian actions were not at the "zero interference" level, but exactly where is not easy to discern, especially with some elements in British politics having a vested interest in having the public fixated on an external threat...

[Scot Dutchy]

The unbelievable tale keeps on rolling.

Barnier 'flabbergasted' at UK attempt to reopen Brexit specialty food debate

Bloc sources say Britain is trying to water down EU geographical protections

The UK government has renewed its attempt to reopen the chapter of the Brexit divorce treaty protecting specialty food and drink, such as Parma ham, roquefort cheese and champagne, in a move that left the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, “a little bit flabbergasted”.

The British proposal on protected status for food and drink was included in a draft free-trade agreement handed to Barnier by his opposite number, David Frost, last week, according to two EU sources.

But EU officials have ruled out diluting the divorce deal provisions that protect more than 3,000 high-end food and drink products from copycats. “It’s just not going to happen,” said one official.

According to EU sources, the UK is attempting to water down protection for EU geographical indications, while keeping the special status for British produce, such as Scotch whisky, Melton Mowbray pork pies and Cornish pasties.

[Brian Peacock]

Tony Abbott's proposed job as the UK's hired gun on trade is a baffling choice

The appointment of former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott as a British trade envoy is not quite treason but certainly a further sign he has London written on his heart.

That is where Abbott was born in 1957. He went from Australia to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and remains a royalist who as prime minister gave the Duke of Edinburgh an Australian knighthood.

The bestowal baffled many Australians who couldn’t see what services to them warranted a tribute to a prince already overloaded with gongs. But Abbott was keen to do what British PMs could and dispense royal rewards.

And he probably wouldn’t reject a display of royal approval himself, should his services rendered to trade negotiation be worthy of honour. Perhaps he has been chatting to Sir Lynton Crosby.

...

[pErvinalia]

Fuck. Sir Tony.

[Scot Dutchy]

No 10 blames EU and plays down prospects of Brexit trade deal

Spokesman for Boris Johnson says hopes of meeting deadline in December are dwindling

Downing Street has played down the prospect of reaching a trade deal with the EU in time for December, saying it will be “very difficult” – and blaming Brussels’ insistence on tackling tough issues upfront.

The UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, is meeting his EU counterpart Michel Barnier in London, in advance of the next round of formal talks next week.

But with the clock ticking to 31 December, when the status quo transition is due to end, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman conceded that hopes of a deal were dwindling.

“The EU continues to insist that we must agree on difficult areas in the negotiations, such as EU state aid, before any further work can be done in any other area of the negotiations, including on legal texts, and that makes it very difficult to make progress,” the spokesman said.

[Svartalf]

Fuck. Sir Tony.

whose dick are you going to volunteer for this shitty deed of bowel delving? bojo's own? or maybe cameron's?

[Brian Peacock]

Wouldn't be the first time Cameron had sex with a pig.

[JimC]

Oink oink!

[Scot Dutchy]

Poor old Michel having to deal with idiots.

Michel Barnier 'worried and disappointed' over Brexit talks impasse

EU negotiator says UK refusing to put proposals on the table on state aid or fisheries

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said he is “worried and disappointed” over the UK’s approach to the talks, fuelling fears that the UK will leave the bloc in January without a deal.

He said there was no breakthrough at a meeting on Tuesday with the UK’s negotiator, David Frost. “We didn’t see any change in the position of the UK, which is why I expressed publicly what I say, that I am worried and I am disappointed because, frankly speaking, we have moved, [and] shown in many issues real openness in the past months,” Barnier told the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin.

He said the EU had recognised the UK’s red lines on fair competition, fisheries and governance, including the European court of justice, and was willing to compromise, but the UK was refusing to put proposals on the table on state aid or fisheries. “On all these issues, the UK sides continue to disappoint,” he said.

Talks about 11 subject areas that will determine post-Brexit trade and the UK’s future relationship with the EU have been going on since March. Last week the EU described the summer’s talks as a waste of time.

Still looking like the 'no deal' option is on.

[Brian Peacock]

That's the only thing they're interested in - that and blaming the EU for all ills.

[Scot Dutchy]

It is about the only thing they have done.

Government secrecy hindered Brexit plans, watchdog says

National Audit Office study also highlights failure to get to grips with scale of challenge

Excessive secrecy about the government’s Brexit negotiating objectives and a failure to get to grips with the scale of the challenge hindered preparations for the UK’s exit from the EU, according to Whitehall’s spending watchdog.

Departments issued non-disclosure agreements when discussing plans that were meant to inform the public and the business community, the National Audit Office said. More than 22,000 workers were deployed across Whitehall departments on the preparations, which cost £4.4bn.

[rainbow]

That's the only thing they're interested in - that and blaming the EU for all ills.

Especially the fish.
They are undermining British Fish and Chips

How low can they go?

[Brian Peacock]

Fishing quotas are an interesting case in point. EU members negotiated a quota system to preserve fish stocks and protect national industries, but at the same time they created a mechanism for lending and/or selling quota between states. By the late 80s formerly independent UK fisherman had been subsumed into larger commercial outfits who then traded in their allocations. The UK fishermen were squeezed out of the market not by the EU but by the UK companies they worked for trading their fishing rights to the highest bidder. There's a single Dutch factory trawler registered in Namibia that accounts for 25% of the UKs North Sea quota. What killed the UK fishing industry was Capitalism, of course.