Brexit

[jukel123 6,570]

I don't think you are cut out for life as an ex_pat. You should be home manning the machine guns at Dover. That was a joke! 

I'll tell you what ain't funny. Johnstone has not guaranteed that the state pensions of  ex_pats living within the European  Union will be index linked to cpi inflation as it is in the UK. This means in the event of no deal,  state pensions will be frozen for those UK citizens  living  outwith the UK. They are already frozen in countries other than EU countries. No deal is still a feasible outcome. I am aware of this because a member of my family works for a pension company and he has spent the last few months travelling to several EU countries meeting with worried clients.  Forewarned is forearmed.

[WILF 44,328]

18 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I don't think you are cut out for life as an ex_pat. You should be home manning the machine guns at Dover. That was a joke! 

I'll tell you what ain't funny. Johnstone has not guaranteed that the state pensions of  ex_pats living within the European  Union will be index linked to cpi inflation as it is in the UK. This means in the event of no deal,  state pensions will be frozen for those UK citizens  living  outwith the UK. They are already frozen in countries other than EU countries. No deal is still a feasible outcome. I am aware of this because a member of my family works for a pension company and he has spent the last few months travelling to several EU countries meeting with worried clients.  Forewarned is forearmed.

Not Ireland, full reciprocal rights for British and irish citizens under the CTA agreement......

[Nicepix 5,650]

Yes, we are aware of the pension question mark. It is only really an issue when inflation is high and / or you are dependent on it. At the moment  the rises are smaller and we have other income so the UK pensions are not as important to us as they might be to others. I'm planning on retiring from Mole Patrol if and when I get my pension.

I appreciate that we ex-pats are likely to come out of the Brexit situation worse off. But, I firmly believe that the UK itself will benefit over the medium to long term, and if Brexit has the affect of knocking the EU hierarchy back a peg or two then Europe in itself will benefit. In France in the area where I live there is a strong disaffection with the EU and I suspect that in 2 years time Macron will be outed and le Pen will either get a majority or will hold the balance of power based on a Frexit ticket. After the UK France has the worst deal with the EU. If France leave then the whole crooked edifice will come tumbling down as its road networks are crucial to a lot of EU trade.

I'm not anti--Europe, far from it. I'm anti-EU in its current state and its political, financial and legal meddlings that we were never told about. Go back to a trade deal only and things will be much better for all.

[Lenmcharristar 9,182]

53 minutes ago, Nicepix said:

Yes, we are aware of the pension question mark. It is only really an issue when inflation is high and / or you are dependent on it. At the moment  the rises are smaller and we have other income so the UK pensions are not as important to us as they might be to others. I'm planning on retiring from Mole Patrol if and when I get my pension.

I appreciate that we ex-pats are likely to come out of the Brexit situation worse off. But, I firmly believe that the UK itself will benefit over the medium to long term, and if Brexit has the affect of knocking the EU hierarchy back a peg or two then Europe in itself will benefit. In France in the area where I live there is a strong disaffection with the EU and I suspect that in 2 years time Macron will be outed and le Pen will either get a majority or will hold the balance of power based on a Frexit ticket. After the UK France has the worst deal with the EU. If France leave then the whole crooked edifice will come tumbling down as its road networks are crucial to a lot of EU trade.

I'm not anti--Europe, far from it. I'm anti-EU in its current state and its political, financial and legal meddlings that we were never told about. Go back to a trade deal only and things will be much better for all.

Bang on that’s how I feel too

[NEWKID 26,210]

2 hours ago, Nicepix said:

Yes, we are aware of the pension question mark. It is only really an issue when inflation is high and / or you are dependent on it. At the moment  the rises are smaller and we have other income so the UK pensions are not as important to us as they might be to others. I'm planning on retiring from Mole Patrol if and when I get my pension.

I appreciate that we ex-pats are likely to come out of the Brexit situation worse off. But, I firmly believe that the UK itself will benefit over the medium to long term, and if Brexit has the affect of knocking the EU hierarchy back a peg or two then Europe in itself will benefit. In France in the area where I live there is a strong disaffection with the EU and I suspect that in 2 years time Macron will be outed and le Pen will either get a majority or will hold the balance of power based on a Frexit ticket. After the UK France has the worst deal with the EU. If France leave then the whole crooked edifice will come tumbling down as its road networks are crucial to a lot of EU trade.

I'm not anti--Europe, far from it. I'm anti-EU in its current state and its political, financial and legal meddlings that we were never told about. Go back to a trade deal only and things will be much better for all.

Now that's a very good post mate...

Well said

[NEWKID 26,210]

2 hours ago, Nicepix said:

Yes, we are aware of the pension question mark. It is only really an issue when inflation is high and / or you are dependent on it. At the moment  the rises are smaller and we have other income so the UK pensions are not as important to us as they might be to others. I'm planning on retiring from Mole Patrol if and when I get my pension.

I appreciate that we ex-pats are likely to come out of the Brexit situation worse off. But, I firmly believe that the UK itself will benefit over the medium to long term, and if Brexit has the affect of knocking the EU hierarchy back a peg or two then Europe in itself will benefit. In France in the area where I live there is a strong disaffection with the EU and I suspect that in 2 years time Macron will be outed and le Pen will either get a majority or will hold the balance of power based on a Frexit ticket. After the UK France has the worst deal with the EU. If France leave then the whole crooked edifice will come tumbling down as its road networks are crucial to a lot of EU trade.

I'm not anti--Europe, far from it. I'm anti-EU in its current state and its political, financial and legal meddlings that we were never told about. Go back to a trade deal only and things will be much better for all.

I'm glad there are so many that can see the positive long term outcome for the UK being independent and able to broker new trade deals... I also think there could be a few bumpy times (although its quite the opposite at the minute as we've noticed a sharp increase in works coming through since the decision has been made).

I honestly think.if we had another year of uncertainty we would have been on our knees this time next year, as it is everyone is now cracking on and businesses are buoyant....

The EU think they had us over a barrel, and must have reveled in the mess our politicians were making of getting any deal tabled...it looked like the EU would have the last laugh and the UK would be pulled in line and a be the lesson to the rest of Europe not to meddle in the grand scheme...

Thank God the majority of the UK have still got the bollocks to stand by their convictions (time will decide if it's right or wrong)... and get out and vote for democracy..... many didn't vote for Boris or the Tories...but fir what they were promised....

Great line mate, I'm not anti Europe, far from it, im anti EU.....

Sums it up perfectly...

[Nicepix 5,650]

The problem with the UK's position now is entirely down to Remainers refusing to accept democracy and undermining the Government's position at every opportunity. Appeasement didn't work against Germany in the 1930s and it won't work against Brussels. Theresa May dropped a massive bollock in calling for the mid-term General Election and refusing to appear on TV. I realise why she did that. You only have to look at how Corbyn fared against the pit-bull interviewers but it cost her the majority she needed.

I said right from the start that the EU would play dirty and try and stall for a second referendum. I also said that the only way to beat the EU was to play hard ball. Belatedly the UK is now playing to its advantages. Theresa May played 4 aces like 2 pairs. Boris has laid the cards on the table and told the EU to call him.

The EU are now between a rock and a hard place. They, that is Brussels are self-serving and will not want to lose any perception of power or their Liberal policies. The other side of the EU is Hans, Fritz, Pierre, Luigi and Pedro who's livelihoods depend on selling to the British market. And it is those who put their crosses on their respective election papers. So local politicians are now lobbying their PMs telling them not to lose the British market which for many EU industries is their biggest buyer of goods. Look around you; domestic appliances, cars, lorries, are mostly sourced from the EU. Go outside the EU and you will find fridges and washing machines from Hitachi, Samsung and other far-eastern products all over the place. They don't have to buy Phillips and Indesit because of import duties and trade restrictions.

The German car industry is up sh1t creek. Emissions regulations are frightening off new buyers, others are ahead in hybrid technology and they face massive fines because they have been found out colluding not competing. Are they going to turn their back on a market that historically is 20% of their turnover? Renault and the French Government are intertwined financially and politically. Will Renault be happy to lose its biggest market if the UK doesn't choose to accept the immigrants that the French themselves don't want? Paris will burn if that happens and Macron will be the Guy Fawkes on top of the bonfire. Le Pen is the French Farage and she nearly got in last time. Only two years to the next French general elections.

As long as Boris keeps his cool and keeps the Scots on board for at least a couple of years the UK will come out of this better off than it is now. I expect that the UK will allow EU vessels to fish its waters in a restricted way so that Brussels can claim some sort of victory whilst also boosting the quotas of UK fishing boats. It will agree in principle to Freedom of Movement but put restrictions on it so that newly registered EU citizens, aka immigrants, will have a means test and it will be able to enforce repatriation without interference from the ECJ which is the biggest stumbling block to repatriation at present. The Irish border, notice how quiet that has gone since the DUP were emasculated? will be treated like the Swiss border like we all said it could be. 

The 4 aces are now back on the table, face down. But the EU know that their hand can't beat it.

[Nicepix 5,650]

Less than a week to go so lets have a round up of the current situation.

Indyref2; Ain't going to happen. Boris needs to keep Scotland on board as they have lots of fisheries and that is a key bargaining point at the moment. Blackford hints at getting EU support to force this through. No chance! The EU will never officially support Scottish independence as that would be hypocritical towards the Basques Separatists and the failed independence referendum in Catalonia where some Catalonian politicians have been jailed and one is hiding out in would you believe, Scotland despite official request for extradition.

No Free Trade without access to UK fisheries; Really Frau van de Lederhosen? You think that VW, Renault and Fiat along with Phillips, Indesit and Bosch will support that? Of course some EU fishing boats will be allowed into UK waters. It would be madness not to allow it. But the key thing is that the UK will control access not Brussels. They will receive the revenue for licences, set quotas and make sure the British fishermen get a better deal. Bigger fish to fry than that argument. And why should the EU expect to have a share of UK fisheries? The UK doesn't get a quota of Swedish iron ore, Polish coal or French apples.

No free trade unless UK signs up to Freedom of Movement (No! That's why we are leaving Dumbkopf!), obeys EU laws (Wrong again! That's why we are leaving Dumbkopf!) and has a level playing field (No! We'll decide whether our playing field is level or tilted in our favour.) No free trade means the EU's £100 billion trade surplus is at risk at a time when EU economies are sliding. What Brussels says isn't what the Germans, French, Dutch, Italians and Spanish industrialists and farmers want to hear. And why should the UK follow EU rules for manufacturing products? Let's face it; EU standards have to be higher in certain cases because of the sheer diversity of its member countries. If someone wants to make a hosepipe fitting for UK only use why should they have to make one that will withstand 40C in Greece and -40C in Sweden? It all adds to cost. If manufacturers want to export to Europe then sure, they will have to conform. But not for domestic or export outside the EU. Same with food. If the UK wants to buy Moroccan oranges and bell peppers it won't have to worry about them not conforming to strict EU regulations designed to make a market for the large scale hydroponics farming methods in France and Spain. Bendy bananas anyone?

The upshot is that Boris is sitting on his hands, refusing to be swayed from his intended time scale and letting the headless chickens run aimlessly around EU HQ squawking threats and running round in circles.

[Meece 1,957]

What with berko and that bloke that kept hollering outside parliment, the mad votes , blair, major and all of the rest of the traitors, suddenly it's like it never happened.  The process is steaming forward and things like the royal accord and Boris signing the laws are almost a non news worthy event.  I wonder what Blair and co are doing now.  That they haven't got any say at all?

[Nicepix 5,650]

They are not done yet. Even though the UK is leaving they are still trying to make sure that it follows EU rules and so remains subservient for ever. It is interesting ho hard they are trying to keep the UK in. Just shows how much they stand to lose by not compromising when Camemoron asked for concessions. They have learned a big lesson.

Also Varadkar and Macron are saying that a deal cannot be reached by the end of the year. Trying to string it out even longer. Before the general election they wanted it dealt with ASAP.  Looking at it logically the UK and EU have long standing arrangements that just need modifying. The UK and US have no such arrangements yet the Yanks reckon they can do a deal from scratch by the year end.

The EU has got to be the most crooked organisation on earth. If it were investigated it would make the FIFA scandal look like a Christmas Club fiddle.

Edited January 27, 2020 by Nicepix

[Ted Newgent 4,896]

What happens to the EU passports??

are they still valid or do i have to apply for another one now

[mushroom 12,391]

2 minutes ago, Ted Newgent said:

What happens to the EU passports??

are they still valid or do i have to apply for another one now

From what I understand, we keep using the passport we have until we need to renew it. Then we will get the British blue one. So yes the EU UK passport is valid. Man this is a bit of a minefield at the moment. I'm not worried but we are in uncharted waters here

[Ted Newgent 4,896]

Just now, mushroom said:

From what I understand, we keep using the passport we have until we need to renew it. Then we will get the British blue one. So yes the EU UK passport is valid. Man this is a bit of a minefield at the moment. I'm not worried but we are in uncharted waters here

Thanks mate

appreciate the info

just re newed mine last year

[mushroom 12,391]

24 minutes ago, Ted Newgent said:

Thanks mate

appreciate the info

just re newed mine last year

You might have another issue then maybe. I very much doubt that they will let that continue for 10 years mate. Mine is up for renewal next year and my daughter's in 3 years. I can't see them not having it continuing for 10 years bud

Edited January 31, 2020 by mushroom

[Ted Newgent 4,896]

4 minutes ago, mushroom said:

You might have another issue then maybe. I very much doubt that they will let that continue for 10 years mate. Mine is up for renewal next year and my daughter's in 3 years. I can't see them not having it continuing for 10 years bud

Ok here is one for you and this is thru personal experience 

if you are in another country and your passport expires the airline have a duty to let you fly to your home country 

now the problem is when you arrive back

border control get real fckn pissy you are entering on an expired passport lol

they can refuse you entry but it aint worth the hassle