Re: Brexit discussion
 

I don't think they would have had a direct impact on the result. However it's still worth seeing if foreign entities are trying to damage the UK's interests Leave or Remain.

Re: Brexit discussion
 

I don't think any Leavers who believe in sovereignty can turn round and say it's unfair that Parliament is investigating possible overseas influence in a political campaign, especially if they believe thar campaign to be wholly innocent.

Re: Brexit discussion
 

I predict that once we have exited from the EU millions of remoaners will spend the rest of their lives sulking and going to weekly therapy sessions .

Re: Brexit discussion
 

Well first of all less of the remoaners as l for one won't be sulking for the rest of my life or going to weekly therapy sessions as there are far more important things in life to care and worry about IMO..:p::p:

Re: Brexit discussion
 

I was not advocating that a group of civil servants would get together and work out a formula to determine the optimum level! What are you like? :D

When demand and supply are more or less in balance, you will know. When we are able to meet housing needs, when the NHS is able to cope with the demands placed on it, when we can once again rely on being able to get our children into school within their catchment area - all these things and more will tell you whether we have reached an optimum level. Everyone can see that GB is creeking at the seams at the moment, and that cannot be allowed to continue.

You keep returning to this belief you seem to have that those calling for controlled immigration are dismissive of the contribution of migrants. Well, I'm certainly not, and I drew attention on an earlier post to the fantastic contribution made by the Asians who came to this country during Idi Amin's rule a few decades ago as an example.

This is not about the contribution they make, it's about the strain that over-population puts on the infrastructure of a country.

And as for your 'solution' that we should build and build and build our way out of this situation, I think you will find that most people don't want to see their countryside destroyed to accommodate more and more people. That is exactly what would happen when you run out of brownfield sites, and indeed is happening already. We have whole villages and miles of fields being destroyed in the Thames Valley to make way for huge new housing estates. We can't go on like this!

I don't see what 'burden' you think I want to see on industry. All I have said is that employers should seek to recruit people from within this country before looking overseas. We should be able to improve the prospects of our own people by training them, and that's what TM's government is all about, and is why you are seeing so much investment in apprenticeships, the new technical qualifications, etc.

Re: Brexit discussion
 

I think you're taking a leaf from Trump's book to try and move on from the big news of the day. Naughty smurf! ;)
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2...undayTimes.JPG

Re: Brexit discussion
 

I understand where you are coming from, Chloé, but I stick by my views on this. Religion has its place, of course, and it can bring great comfort to people in coping with their lives. What I was trying to say was that to make decisions based on what the Bible, Koran, or whatever says, you are basically not taking responsibility for your own decisions. Whether one is a good or bad person, they can construe the meaning of these texts the way they want to - we all know that, don't we?

When I said that religion was not relevant, that is what I meant. Clearly the religious sensitivities in the island of Ireland must be taken into account, which is why the border issue is so sensitive.

However, having said that, I think people are bigging up the issues over the Irish border. Everyone will come to see very soon that this 'problem' is not a problem at all. It's just hype and the media is exploiting it for all it's worth because they want to keep the Brexit debate going as long as possible. The eventual solution will not exactly be rocket science.

Re: Brexit discussion
 

Bingo first ;)

Re: Brexit discussion
 

No its the family as bingo is just a nice little outing every now and again.:)

Re: Brexit discussion
 

Neither Protestants nor Catholics want a hard border in Ireland. It's more a case of identity and not religion. Google the FT article I linked to before for a better understanding of the context.

Thinking broadly, there are only three practical solutions:
1) Remain in the EU.
2) NI to become part of the Republic
3) UK or NI has an effective customs union and parts of the single market shared with the EU.

I expect you would rule out 1) and 2) just leaving 3).

The other solutions are unacceptable to the EU so even if they were practical - which they're not - the back stop ie 3) would kick in anyway.

However, as Damien and a few others have wised up to, 3) allows the EU to seamlessly and tariff-free sell us manufactured goods but we can't sell our services to them in the same way. The UK's exports are mainly services, not manufactured goods.

Pretending this is not an issue has no merit. This is not a case of religion where praying enough or believing enough matters. These are practical issues requiring practical solutions and the menu from the EU has been written many moons ago. Grand statements from BoJo won't make the problem go away. They just reveal his ongoing ignorance of detail and disrespect for the people of Ireland.

Re: Brexit discussion
 

All I've seen for weeks is attempts to overthrow the democratic vote by any means possible.

Re: Brexit discussion
 

His religious principles, unless he wants to move us to a theocratic state, would be subordinate to his duty to represent the UK population as a whole. For example, as a Catholic, he would be against contraception. Should he propose a bill to ban contraception? No of course not.

You say he is a "rich man who is only involved in politics for other people...he isn't doing this for himself" Total rubbish. I know of no politician now and few in the past that are not in politics, at some level, for themselves whether that be vanity, power, wealth, etc.

To deploy the Chocolate Teapot, I doubt JRM would find himself at the Pearly Gates:



---------- Post added at 13:01 ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 ----------

Maybe they could use the sessions vacated by the Brextremists? I mean after 40+ years of moaning, you would have thought that they would be more well adjusted by now. :)

Re: Brexit discussion
 

I predict the Brextremists are first ones to moan when country is much worse off

Re: Brexit discussion
 

Except that we won't be worse off because the customs issue will be shown to be the nonsense it is, we will gain the ability to forge our own trade deals, we will have a tariff free deal with the EU (that nice Mr Barnier has already conceded that), so there will be more trade, not less, and we will no longer be contributing to the EU to boot.

Where you and other naysayers get the idea we will be poorer, is frankly beyond me.

---------- Post added at 13:49 ---------- Previous post was at 13:46 ----------

Nor do I want a hard border with Ireland. Frankly, Andrew, you need to start thinking outside the box and stop arguing that the sky is about to fall in. We will not remain within the customs union once the implementation period runs out. There would be absolutely no point in Brexit if that were to be the case.

Ask Mick, he knows about these things! :D

Re: Brexit discussion
 

Prove that we will not be poorer? as even most Brexiteers have said we will be worse off financially.

---------- Post added at 14:07 ---------- Previous post was at 14:05 ----------

He has a opinion just like you , l and everybody else.:)