EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

Not sure anybody is happy!

I've seen comments online from people that are happy as they got a payrise as their employer really had no choice, but other than that...nothing got "fixed"

It is almost as if most of the things Brexit would fix are not under government control (refugees, I mean...wars all over...) / locally caused (low wages, low productivity, lack of rent control and supply) / issues in many EU countries as well, with the few things that could be used for good (prefer your local supplier instead of Big Business and skip all the EU supplier rules) are not...used.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63596773

BBC very gently mentions the B word in relation to the UK going into recession.

Interesting to see the UKCA has been postponed by Grant Shapps/Michael Green/etc, for the 3rd time. This time for 2 years. it was a nuts idea that was just going to cost business lots of money for zero benefit.

It'll be dead after the next election and is just another step on the road back to standards alinement and re joining the single market, customs union etc.

My long terms prediction is we'll have two terms of Labour moving us closer and closer to the EU, perhaps "a" customs union in the second term and the Tories returning 2035 ish to take us back into the single market.

take us back into the single market.

At less favourable terms, no rebate, no sterling, no Parthanon marbles, no blue passports.

But retention of the sunlit uplands will be the victory we will celebrate for the next century!

At less favourable terms, no rebate, no sterling, no Parthanon marbles, no blue passports.

ultimately yes for sure, and all good things too. but those things will come with full rejoining and not needed just for singlemarket access.

I saw the Shapps/Green announcement, and wondered if the topic would show up here.

The UKCA really was a Rees-Mogg /Britannia 2.0/ 'they need us more than we need them' wet dream.
Needless, British exceptionalism based red tape and considerable costs for a small, domestic market only certification. Makes as much sense as the Isle of Thanet having its own 'standards'.
One of the abiding successes of the EU was the adoption of Euro Norms, EN, that did away with petty national standards that were routinely based upon favouring local manufacturers and stifling competition.

[ENs did not stop French firms routinely requesting 'homologation'].

The UKCA really was a Rees-Mogg /Britannia 2.0/ 'they need us more than we need them' wet dream.

Yeah I don't think it's going to be a good couple of weeks for poor Moggy, the next thing on the chopping block will be the The Retained EU Law bill, the mood music suggests that it'll be kicked into the long grass very soon too.

Laughable isn't it.

It makes sense to move back to the EU. Unless a fantastic India deal is struck in the meantime? The EU has no tradedeals with India, but it would really need to be something great to stop moving closed to the EU.

Going to be picky here: There is no "a" customs union. And the problem with that is the AUS/NZ deals which the UK signed up for, will they roll over? Or merge into EU deals?

And if they do...their beef etc. is not EU approved. So, this is a tricky issue to resolve, perhaps the UK can opt out of those deals, but it will cost. (these are no good anyway) If that tradedeal does not go and we are still not back in the EU regulations in 15 years, the "irish sea border" is definitely here to stay.

Switzerland is the closest to a lot of custom deals and that might work for the UK.

Maybe...it depends how much the EU wants somebody who isn't that keen on the EU project and seemed only in it for itself back.

I mean the treatment of us citizens of nowhere was really fantastic, not. And the mess in Northern Ireland, ergh.

And the UK also seems to have forgotten the EU is =also= a peace project. An attitude of "we are so special" and "it is just about the economy" with all the fire fighting the EU has to do / yet another way in Europe, no thanks if you ask me.

At the same time the UK is also historically aligned with many non EU countries (not always in a positive way heh) and in that sense can enrich the EU as well, with not just trade knowledge but also genuine understanding and cultural exchange.

With a bit of genuine understanding of the shittiness of Brexit/really wanting in and not just for the £...well, why not? :)

I guess humans gonna human, many people won't listens to warnings but it's truly a case of the BBC not speaking truth to power with Brexit until its too late.

Brexit benefits so far:

Low vat on insulation I heard but have to check
Perhaps targeted dropping of tariffs for hand caught tuna
Reform of agriculture but some EU countries also pay for rewilding on top of eu subsidies so was this really necessary?
Banning of trawlers on sea conservation areas (the EU fishing policy needs an update there!!!)
Banning of live animal exports which the EU will also go for

Nobody in the EU even thinking of an EU exit anymore ;)

Don't forget Duty Free Lego on cross channel ferries!

There are a few small pluses RE environment/animal welfare but I didn't see "we give 350 million to the EU let's ban trawlers in protected fishing instead" :)

Are UK web sites allowed to drop the cookie consent popup now? I'd have voted leave just for that.

Not if they have viewers in the EU.
And I guess the uk government haven’t repealed the law anyway.

Brexit benefits for me are that I don’t have to charge UK customers VAT so I can be cheaper, and make more profit.
Sadly all undone by the £-€ exchange rate dropping from 1.6 pre Brexit to almost parity these days.

No benefit for us; we can’t get bicycles parts for 2-6 months but widely available in Europe; just not shipping to the UK.

Warranty process take 2-3 times longer too.

AUS/NZ deals which the UK signed up for

Yeah, that's been talked about this week in parliament, George Eustice was talking about how crap it was, he was all over it at the time as mister for Food / rural affairs, but there already turning on it.

It also has a 6 month cancellation clause so it might not even make it to the end of this parliament let alone 10 years.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/16/ni-deal-will-be-sorted-by-good-friday-anniversary-sunak-promises-biden?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Oh it will definitely be sorted...by next year.

Sure what's another year as this crap had been ongoing since 2019s "oven ready deal" 🙄

I'm not granting the Tories the "bad guy redemption story arc" over this.

As much as I don't like what Kemi Badenoch stands for her "he didn't object to it when he could" isn't wrong.

He is trying to save his seat. Let's hope those deals will go.

Same deal here. Can't get a Specialized in France for love nor money, and even supposedly common stuff just isn't available.

I think it's a combo of supply chain difficulties and lack of distributors.

Luckily the Basso Palta has Rival AXS and not GRX, so I'm not riding to the shop across the river and return two bikes home with tram and bus.

It's pure will not to buy a bike with SRAM.

SRAM parts are much harder to get, more often than not, we had customer who brought their bike in to swap groupset for 11/12 speed Di2 due to part availability.