Brexit (1 Viewer)

[Dadsdream]

Any last hopes at stopping BREXIT got buried at the ballot box, it would seem. They're calling it the biggest win since Thatcher.
My only question would be, how does it affect the U.S.?

“We will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January, no ifs, no buts, no maybes.”
Boris Johnson

"Brexit closure": Johnson wins commanding victory in UK election

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Friday for "closure" over the Brexit divisions that have riven the United Kingdom, saying his election victory provided an overwhelming mandate to take Britain out of the European Union on Jan. 31.

www.reuters.com

 

[MT15]

Merry Christmas, Rob! Whenever you get around to it after the holidays!

 

[RobF]

Merry Christmas, Rob! Whenever you get around to it after the holidays!

Sorry for the lack of an update on this, it's been a bit hectic with Covid-19 and, you know, everything.

So far it's about what you'd expect, a bit of a mess. The BBC's economy editor did an article one week in here which gives a reasonable overview: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-55584500.

At least some of this will be due to the inevitable lack of preparedness that comes with the introduction of a new bureaucratic measures with very little time for preparation (during an ongoing pandemic!) and will improve with time, but some of it will be inherent due to the impact of the new measures themselves. Additionally, there was a degree of stockpiling before the end of the year and reduced levels of transportation at the start of this accordingly, so we're not seeing the full impact of the measures on all sectors just yet.

A few examples more specific: Northern Ireland is still having disruption to food supplies due to the new arrangements for importing food from the rest of the UK (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-55641544).

Seafood exports from the UK to the EU have been hitting multiple problems (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-55653683 and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-55661274).

The music industry is looking to be hit pretty hard by the changes to visa-free touring, work permit requirements, and transport restrictions (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55616860).

An increasing number of firms outside the UK are refusing to ship to the UK due to tax changes (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55530721). The UK is expecting external companies to register with the UK and collect VAT on behalf of the UK at the point of sale, where previously it was collected at the point of importation. Naturally, not every company in the world is willing to do this, and some of them are choosing to simply stop selling to the UK. As that article mentions, shipping companies are also increasing their charges for shipping to the UK.

So there's a fair bit of disruption so far, and some of it looks to be ongoing.

In terms of benefits, some of the things being claimed by the Conservatives are, well, misleading. For example, the UK banned pulse fishing and the Conservatives claimed this was possible because we'd "taken back control of our laws." Except the EU already banned it last year (https://www.euractiv.com/section/ag...oves-ban-on-electric-pulse-fishing-from-2021/) to take effect later this year, and allowing immediate restrictions on the use in coastal waters. There's a fair bit of this kind of thing.

Additionally there's a significant degree of just plain denial. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland simply claimed there was "no Irish Sea Border" despite it clearly existing now. The BBC NI Economics & Business editor wasn't impressed:


So, so far, quite a lot of mess, not a lot of benefit. We'll see how it continues!

 

[Roofgardener]

I was interested to read the article about the difficulties for touring musicians and bands. Especially as the photograph in the article was of a French tour by renown European national Lynyrd Skynyrd ?

If Americans can tour, so can the British.

 

[RobF]

I was interested to read the article about the difficulties for touring musicians and bands. Especially as the photograph in the article was of a French tour by renown European national Lynyrd Skynyrd ?

If Americans can tour, so can the British.

I'm sure you appreciate that making something more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, has an impact on how beneficial it is do that thing, and ultimately to what extent it can be done and by whom?

Put it this way, what you're effectively suggesting there is that if an American band like Lynyrd Skynyrd (tens of millions of albums sold, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees) can play in France at Hellfest (one of France's largest music festivals), then there should be no impact on any musicians and bands from the UK playing in the EU, like, for example, a band starting out looking to do a small tour consisting of small club gigs across a number of different European countries, or a DJ doing a small set on a casual basis in Germany.

And I'm sure you can see the huge, glaring, flaw with that, right? Different scales, different impact of costs and added bureaucracy, and also different rules across different European countries depending on their particular arrangements with different countries of origin (because the UK doesn't necessarily even have the same agreements the US does now).

It'd be a bit like saying the USA's notoriously expensive and prohibitive visa system isn't actually a problem for anyone, on the grounds that the Rolling Stones can play a stadium tour there. That's clearly not how that works.

 

[Roofgardener]

I'm sure you appreciate that making something more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, has an impact on how beneficial it is do that thing, and ultimately to what extent it can be done and by whom?

Put it this way, what you're effectively suggesting there is that if an American band like Lynyrd Skynyrd (tens of millions of albums sold, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees) can play in France at Hellfest (one of France's largest music festivals), then there should be no impact on any musicians and bands from the UK playing in the EU, like, for example, a band starting out looking to do a small tour consisting of small club gigs across a number of different European countries, or a DJ doing a small set on a casual basis in Germany.

And I'm sure you can see the huge, glaring, flaw with that, right? Different scales, different impact of costs and added bureaucracy, and also different rules across different European countries depending on their particular arrangements with different countries of origin (because the UK doesn't necessarily even have the same agreements the US does now).

It'd be a bit like saying the USA's notoriously expensive and prohibitive visa system isn't actually a problem for anyone, on the grounds that the Rolling Stones can play a stadium tour there. That's clearly not how that works.

Yeah.. I WAS being somewhat sardonic. My main point was the innapropriate use of the picture.