Europe, Boring Until it's Not

[TheReal_ND]

[Okeefenokee]

[Fife]

BTW, everybody, and especially our UK cousins: Happy #BrexitDay

[Okeefenokee]

[TheOneX]

I like this one too.

[TheReal_ND]

[Montegriffo]

BTW, everybody, and especially our UK cousins: Happy #BrexitDay

Nah not Brexit day by a long way yet. Merely the opening of the article 50 talks and the beginnings of a long series of compromises. Don't forget our leader, her party and a majority of MP's were pro remain....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-39424391

The prime minister says she wants a reciprocal agreement on the rights of the EU citizens in the UK and the UK citizens in the EU as early as possible.

The mood in Brussels is similar: sorting out the rights of the 3.16m EU citizens who live here and about 900,000 UK passport holders who live in the EU is a priority there too.

Andrew Neil has been asking about the possibility of the UK having to pay a £50bn exit fee on leaving the EU.

The prime minister wouldn’t discuss figures and stressed that people had voted to stop making large annual payments to the EU. But she didn’t rule out paying an exit fee and she said the UK is a law-abiding nation and that the government would have to look at what its obligations are.

Theresa May has been talking about net migration to the UK, which her party aspires to get below 100,000 a year.

The figure is still well over that level, dipping under 300,000 in the year to September 2016 , although the figures are imprecise

There was loud banging on the tables in support of Theresa May as she went into the meeting of the 1922 committee and again when she left.

After the meeting one senior Tory MP said Mrs May told the gathering that "the task starts now and there's lots of work to do" and she apparently added there are "opportunities for everyone" saying the "referendum was not just about Brexit but about everyone who felt left behind".

Lib Dem Tim Farron says the good news for those who are "sad" at Article 50 being invoked is that the European Parliament has confirmed it can be revoked inside the two-year window.

He claims this has thrown a "parachute" to the UK.

During his interview with Andrew Neil, Jeremy Corbyn said he was against a second referendum on Scottish independence because “there is a £15bn gap between Scottish taxation income and the requirements of Scottish public services”. That is essentially the gap between how much the Scottish Government spends and what it raises through tax.

Scottish government statistics say the Labour leader is right. In 2014-15 Scottish public sector revenue was estimated at £53.7bn - the equivalent of £10,000 per person, and about £400 per person lower than the UK as a whole. Meanwhile, total expenditure by the public sector was £68.6bn. Overall, that’s a gap of £14.9bn between revenue and expenditure.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted the "foundations of the Scottish economy remain strong" and that “Scotland's long-term economic success is now being directly threatened by the likely impact of Brexit".

Jonathan Bartley, the co-leader of the Green Party, referred to an ongoing case in Dublin, which is seeking to refer to the European Court of Justice the question of whether the triggering of Article 50 can be reversed.

In the next few days, the EU will publish a holding statement setting out its initial, draft response to Mrs May's letter.

This document - several pages long - will make clear the EU's key principles for the talks ahead. But its formal negotiating position will be agreed only at a summit of the remaining 27 member states at the end of April, so face-to-face discussions are unlikely until May or even early June, well after the French presidential elections.

There'll be an early row over whether or not Britain's exit deal and future trading relationship with the EU are discussed at the same time or one after another.

There'll be an even bigger row over what outstanding debts the UK may have to pay when it leaves.

Theresa May promised today a "fair settlement". The EU wants £50bn. And there'll also be early talks about the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons in the EU: politically easy; technically very hard.

And as for discussions about any future trade deal, most people expect those will not start until well into the autumn, certainly not before the German elections in September. The hope is that a final Brexit deal could be agreed by October next year so there's time for it be ratified by EU parliaments before the UK leaves in March 2019. That at least is the hope.

[Fife]

:goteam: :drunk:

[Okeefenokee]

Remember when the British economy was supposed to slide into depression the minute after the Brexit referendum?

Strange why certain people keep believing in their boogeymen long after they were supposed to show up, but didn't.

[Montegriffo]

Remember when the British economy was supposed to slide into depression the minute after the Brexit referendum?

Strange why certain people keep believing in their boogeymen long after they were supposed to show up, but didn't.

Early days yet.

Remember when Trump was going to ban Muslims from entering the US and repeal the AHCA?
How's that wall coming along?