EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

Sorry to hear you got caught up in that. I knew the HO had turned nasty but wow...it's unbelievable what happened there :(

I believe can get a biometric ID now? They brought that in after windrush.

We get no such thing. It's online and when your passport changes, you cannot update the info and have post it to the HO and wait...

This is essential reading. This is exactly what the British media should have been doing. Its too fucking late now

https://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2020/01/23/brexit-2020-everything-you-need-to-know-about-johnson-s-trad

Yep. The UK is fucked. Should I learn the Swiss national anthem in French or German?

Italian. Swiss German and Swiss French is odd. Italian might be too but I don't speak Italian so I wouldn't know.

Swiss Italian is pretty special too. As are Ticinese and Lombard, which depending on your PoV are also dialects or languages spoken in Ticino. And which may, or may not be, the same as Swiss Italian. It's all jolly confusing.

Even Swiss French isn't consistent. In Vaud, a pint of beer is a 'chope'. 40 miles west in Geneva it's a 'canette'.

Thankfully the Swiss solved this language inconsistency by learning pretty good English.

The line that separates ‘Kölsch‘ speaking from an Eifel dialect speaking is the Vinxtbachtal (river Vinxt; roman name), a very nice descent towards the Rhine on the bike after you have climbed Ramersbach or Königsfeld (Tour de France) out of the Ahrtal.

To be honest, the dialects in the whole region are a bit bizarre. The French down in the upper Vosges speak some sort of German dialect, some Belgian towns (like St Vith) speak German too and don't get me started on Luxembourg; between the mostly-German, mostly-French and Luxembourgish spoken, we've now got some places where the primary spoken language is Portuguese.

Sure, but both 'modern' Swiss Italian and Swiss French is basically just 'standard' Italian / French with a slightly different accent, and some regional jargon. Swiss German on the other hand is varied enough that some dialects sound like a different language, especially the further you go up the mountains.

Swiss Italian (and I think Swiss French too) used to be like that, but it got lost over the last ~50-80 years. My grandparents from the Ticino still speak the old local Lopagno dialect, as does everyone else from their generation, but that is the last generation that did so consistently.

I found this map of Swiss German dialects quote interesting.

Convinced me to give up trying to learn German and just concentrate on my French.

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Oh yeah, those maps are fascinating. For the record, I'm firmly in the 'Bütschgi' camp when it comes to what the apple core is called. 'Bitzgi' and 'Bitschgi' are still understandable, as is 'Bätzgi', but of course 'Gröibschi' is just ridiculous.

For sure not very foreigner-friendly! I'd recommend just learning standard German and not to worry about any of this for starters... :D

Would be great names for a range of cuddly toys.

We won't have to worry about any of it after next friday.

Has this been resolved yet?

We won't have to worry about any of it after next friday.

Probably the 31st of December, actually. Don't forget that while the 31st of January makes Brexit as such irreversible (afaik), that's just when the 'transition period' starts during which basically everything is the same, including your FoM. (Prepare for a lot of brexiters going "ha ha, why has the sky not fallen yet?") And then we still have a chance to have Boris fuck everything up royally, because the actual negotiations about the UK's "future relationship with the EU" are only just starting.

So in short, you should have almost another year of deciding whether you prefer 'Bütschgi' or 'Grübschi'!

Probably the 31st of December, actually. Don't forget that while the 31st of January makes Brexit as such irreversible (afaik), that's just when the 'transition period' starts during which basically everything is the same, including your FoM. (Prepare for a lot of brexiters going "ha ha, why has the sky not fallen yet?") And then we still have a chance to have Boris fuck everything up royally, because the actual negotiations about the UK's "future relationship with the EU" are only just starting.

Won't June / July be the next row date, since that's the last time at which Johnson can request an extension?

That is possible - I certainly expect there to be a decent amount of rowing all through the year. I wonder what his position on an extension is. Officially, I'm sure he can't be enthusiastic. But then, he will have 'delivered Brexit' already, and he would benefit from getting more time if the EU can be moved to agree with that.

I think Feb first to the thirty first of Dec is the window named “move to the EU”, after that it’s “play at being a disaster capitalist”.

The EU will, they aren't interested in a mess on their doorstep.

But will the government? He ran on a "get Brexit done" platform, but then wouldn't be the first time he's telling lies. Besides, in the minds of many simpletons the 31st it is "all done".

The day after the referendum, my dad met a guy in the local papershop who insisted that we were already out of the EU. There is no lower limit to the stupidity of people, especially when they're getting misinformed by weird media sources.

However, it's unlikely that the papers are going to give up their anti-EU bashing at this point. For one thing, what the fuck would the DM and the Telegraph print? So expect a huge amount of 'they won't let us go' style stories

There is no longer any provision for an extension of the transition period beyond December 2020. Section 33 of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act says

A Minister of the Crown may not agree in the Joint Committee to an extension of the implementation period.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/1/section/33/enacted

There is no longer any provision for an extension of the transition period beyond December 2020. Section 33 of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act says

A Minister of the Crown may not agree in the Joint Committee to an extension of the implementation period.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/202­0/1/section/33/enacted

That'll be the Tories public position but it is parliament's job to pass legislation - can't they just pass another law which supersedes it?

yeah - I guess it's a good one for the papers:

Leaving EU on time ENSHRINED IN THE LAW

Anyone trying to Remoan will be BREAKING THE LAW

But really, as you say, they have the power to change the law over the course of an afternoon.

Besides, in the minds of many simpletons the 31st it is "all done".

Exactly! So it might no longer be such an issue for him even though he was vehemently against any extensions before.

@Charlie_L

Ah. I had missed that. Well... I feel like he might have snookered himself a bit with that?

Parliament can't over rule the EU - the extension is still there, in EU law, to be requested.

That we've legislated against our ability to ask is simple posturing. We'd have to re-legislate in order to be able to ask, but that's within our power. Not, I think, that we're going to do so.

I think it's full speed ahead, fuck business and smash into the 1st of Jan 2021 with a fist-full of blue passports riding a wave of British Fish.