Senate The UK Politics discussion

Interesting!

If we lose Japanese investment in the UK that'd mean somewhere in the region of a quarter of a million jobs lost. I would pretty much expect the requests about access to the single market and labour force but this surprised me:

maintenance of the UK’s access to the EU budget for research and development and participation in the Japan-EU joint research project

Looks like we'll continue paying into the EU pot as well as staying in the single market and accepting freedom of movement. Got to laugh, really! We'll end up exactly where we started... neither in nor out. BTW, this WAS where we started... when 1/3 of MEPs were a one issue party dedicated to leaving the EU that's not a position of INfluence. Particularly when most of the other MEPs were ineffectual hippies.

I'm not sure who to laugh hardest at, though... the hand-wringing remainers who think we've lost something or the dullards who thought we'd all somehow go back to cricket on the village green and dancing 'round the maypole.

 

The main thing is that you feel superior.

 

Breaking news on BBC News - David Cameron is to resign as an MP - triggering a by-election in Whitney. Don't have a link - just seeing it on TV now.

Edit - link.

 

Brits Don't Quit... Unless your David Cameron it seems.

 

Is he so discredited he couldn't even stay in his constituency/ward?

 

No, he could have hung about if he'd wished.

My guess that his reasons for quitting as an MP are:

1. He can earn vastly more money away from Parliament.

2. Theresa May has basically trashed the majority of his policies.

3. He's still bitter about how the referendum went and it's a final F-U to Britain in general and the Tory Shires (who voted Brexit against their leaders wishes) in particular.

 

I've met him; he is superior.

Cameron says he quit to avoid being a distraction to May.

I suppose a grown man weeping and licking his wounds in the Commons would be distracting for anyone, to be fair.

 

I don't normally read the Grauniad but I did enjoy this opinion piece on David Cameron.

In other news, do Treens even lift?

 

Obviously different Treens are bred for different tasks; Mekons are for thinking rather than lifting. While the surface gravity of Venus is only 0.9g, the 92 bar atmospheric pressure means moving around is much harder than on Earth (1.01325 bar), therefore all Treens are naturally lifting more than 90x more atmosphere all the time.

 

Yeah, that's the kind of excuse you hear from calisthenics guys. If there's no weight involved, it's just moving around.

 

Ender Sai

What do you think to the possibility of CANZUK then?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...canada-australia-new-zealand-and-britain-can/

 

Honestly? It would be amazing.

I mean, Canada? No. Because all these people will leave the USA when Trump is elected and bring their watered down language and bad sports with them, and once they have access we could find them in our countries.

But roughly 1 in 20 people in Australia is actually British. And Christ knows you can't walk around London without finding an Australian (is the Walkabout still open?). Reaffirming strong ties or culture connection is pointless; it simply is.

But, reaffirming a strong desire for Australians (And Kiwis, those who haven't moved here for work anyway (i.e. 90% of them)) to live and work in London; and for Brits to work somewhere stroke-inducingly hot so they can work on their melanomas? Goes without saying.

Greater movement and access would be a tremendous thing for all involved. V2 might even enjoy some benefit.

 

Why, out of all the Commonwealth countries, would the isolationists, jingoists and nostalgic BREXITers favour the English speaking, predominantly white countr-oh never mind.

 

Find the positives though V2. You could be sitting on a beach in December, complaining about the heat and the sand and the sun and how Bondi beach is all just bloody brits anyway so why did I leave it's rubbish

 

Theresa May about to give a "greenlight" to Hinkley

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/14/theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn-pmqs-hinkley-point-live/

Makes you wonder what the "pause" was all about. Hope she's not going to turn out to be a Gordon Brown type ditherer...

 

I can understand why Brits would want "free movement" to be able to go to Australia (the sunshine, the lifestyle, the beer) but what do Aussies get out of it? Who would want to swap the Aus climate for the UK climate? You'd have to be crazy!

 

Ok, first off, CANZUK could not replace Europe, particularly in terms of trade. We need to be part of the European single market and we need a freedom of movement agreement with Europe. I think we can (and will) have both or at least a very close approximation.

But... are you serious?! I mean, are you seriously suggesting that a freedom of movement agreement with the whole of subcontinental Asia is a good idea? Population around 1.5bn with a huge hunger for hard currency and UK education/work experience? You don't think freedom of movement with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria might pose a security problem or two? You think we're politically compatible with Rwanda and Zambia? Or that the people (other than a handful of filthy rich) of those countries would benefit in any way?

I could see it working with many of the island nations in the commonweath - certainly Fiji, Samoa and the commonwealth members in the Caribbean - but that would hardly form any kind of bloc. Kenya could be an option. Singapore I honestly don't know enough about. The whole commonwealth, though? You have to be kidding.

 

Not the argument I was making, but that was a revealing rant so thanks for that.

 

It's hardly a rant but if it's made you feel nice and smug in some way, I suppose that's a good thing.

 

Because being anti racist is all about feeling smug.

 

Well, I'm glad we've got that cleared up.

 

I do love you pete.

G-FETT - What do we get out of it? Work, usually. The ability to do a stint in risk management in the City, even just for 2 years and will a modest team of direct reports, would be a huge career boost.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics...enly-issues-list-of-mps-who-undermined-leader

"The list, obtained by Press Association, highlighted the behaviour of a number of Labour MPs, including Jess Phillips for telling Corbyn’s ally Diane Abbott to “**** off”"

I'm confused; from what I've seen, the natural reaction to Diane Abbott is to advise to **** in the general direction of off.

So why is this something Corbyn's citing as bad?

 

Apparently Abbott and Corbyn had a 'fling' back in the 1970s. Just Google both of their names and you'll see some press articles about it.

 

I thought you meant Tony Abbott.