Thought I'd start a new thread as this is going to be a major talking point this year...have not made up my mind yet...(unlike bucksfizz)....but thinking of voting for an exit as Europe is not doing Britain any good at all it seems....

France slams UK tax-cut plan as Hollande plans post-Brexit EU tour

France's finance minister on Monday slammed a British plan to slash corporation taxes to keep businesses in the UK after Brexit and President François Hollande announced he would embark on a mini-tour of five European countries to revive confidence in the European Union.

"You don't get out of a problem you've got yourself into by making announcements like this," French Finance Minister Michel Sapin commented on British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's statement last week that he would cut the UK's corporation tax rate to 15 percent.

It currently stands at 20 percent and the reduction would bring it close to Ireland's, which is 12.5 percent, and way below France's (33.3 percent) and Germany's (29.72 percent).

France courts City business

French ministers have launched a charm offensive to attract companies tempted to leave the City of London following the leave vote in the UK's recent referendum.

"By the way, I'm not at all sure that it's a good thing for Great Britain to respond to a problem of credibility and financial attractiveness by fiscal measures," Sapin warned, although he said he was in favour of France reducing its tax rate to the European average of 28 percent.

The pro-leave candidate for the leadership of Britain's ruling Conservative Party, Andrea Leadsom, pulled out of the race on Monday, leaving the way clear for Home Secretary Theresa May to succeed David Cameron as prime minister.

"Brexit means Brexit and we're going to make a success of it," May declared earlier in the day, despite having campaigned for a remain vote in the referendum.

Hollande on post-Brexit mini-tour

Hollande's office announced Monday that he would visit five EU countries next week as part of an effort to revive confidence in the EU following the blow from the British vote.

He will visit Portugal on 19 March, then go on to the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia, before finishing up in Ireland on 21 July.

Hollande intends to "give a new impetus to the Europe of 27" along the lines discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in a meeting they held after the British referendum result became clear.

They intend to make proposals, particularly on "defence, growth, jobs and competitivity" according to Hollande, to an EU summit in Bratislava in September.

Portugal 'doesn't deserve' sanctions

An EU ministers' meeting on Tuesday will decide whether to impose sanctions on Portugal and Spain for failing to meet targets on debt reduction.

While admitting that they would be within their rights to do so, Sapin commented that Lisbon "doesn't deserve" to be punished, since it had made "enormous efforts over the last few years" and been forced to rescue the Banif bank last December.

So far as Spain is concerned, "the problem is knowing who to discuss with and who can make commitments" following two inconclusive elections, Sapin said.

France slams UK tax-cut plan
well tough!

Exactly

This is one of the problems with the EU. They are heading towards unified tax regimes where the ECB will also set individual budgets for each country (state).

Frau Merkel might now be regreting her stupid open door welcome to untold
millions of immigrants..But it will be on her head if there is any terrorist carnage
that's carried out in Europe!...

4 of the last 8 PMs took over without a General Election: Callaghan, Major, Brown and now May

Theresa May arrives in the Commons to massive cheer.

DC: other than one meeting with the Queen my diary for the day is remarkably free.

Yes cameron's just fricking off now, out the back door...LOL!

Yes I hear he's interested in getting a job at Goldman Sachs, but his preference
is to be Frau Merkels bag boy..

Tis but a scratch

Efforts to overturn Brexit will go nowhere, says senior Tory lawmaker
Wed, 13th Jul 2016 12:32 - By John Irish

PARIS, July 13 (Reuters) - Parliamentary attempts to revoke the Brexit vote in favour of leaving the EU have no chance of succeeding and would run into a solid Conservative Party opposition, the chair of Britain's foreign affairs committee said on Wednesday.

Britain's parliament will debate in September a petition signed by more than 4 million members of the public calling for a second referendum on European Union membership, although it will not take a decision on whether to re-run last month's vote.

However, with a large number of lawmakers opposed to the referendum result, some of them see a slender chance of being able to overturn the vote through parliament.

"Down that road will lie disaster because 52 percent of electorate voted for this and the implications of that would be catastrophic," Crispin Blunt, chairman of Britain's foreign affairs committee, told reporters in Paris.

"It would run into a brick wall of a solid conservative majority of parliament that will support the decision of the electorate. In that sense, parliamentary opposition is going nowhere," said Blunt, who backed the campaign to leave the EU.

Blunt was in Paris with four other members of the foreign affairs committee, including opposition Labour Party and Scottish National Party members, to discuss with French counterparts how Britain's breakaway from the EU would pan out.

In a heated news conference demonstrating how deep feelings are running over the shock result last month, Labour MP Mike Gapes, who campaigned to stay in the bloc, said the government could not bypass the views of parliament.

"Parliament has a responsibility to mitigate the damage and make clear what we wish the government to achieve before it triggers Article 50. We live in a parliamentary democracy and not a plebiscitary democracy."

Invoking Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty will formally launch the process of separation and start the clock ticking on a two-year countdown to Britain's actual departure.

Blunt said he did not expect that process to be triggered until the end of the year.

Elisabeth Guigou, head of France's foreign affairs committee, underlined France's official stand on the issue, saying the process should begin quickly.

"We can't be left shunted by pro and against decisions eternally. Things must now be settled."

Blunt and fellow conservative lawmaker Daniel Kawczynski, who also supported the campaign to quit the EU, said Brexit could ultimately create closer ties with France.

"The relationship has been neglected for far too long on a bilateral perspective," Kawczynski said. "There will be a renaissance as a result of this referendum."

Boris Johnson's appointment as foreign secretary is an interesting one as it's more a case of "keep your enemies close to you" ......that way TM can keep an eye on BJ...: far better to have him on the team rather than on the outside causing the government trouble; also if he blunders with diabolical remarks and such : after three or four he can be relegated to the sidelines out of site not able to cause any further harm....tactical choice from Teresa May keeping the leave camp happy....!..

I don't think appointing BoJo as FS is a matter of keeping the LEAVE camp
happy as such, more like your first presumption, ie enemy close.

He'l certainly have to watch his P's & Q's and grow up.

I have to say : I'd love to see him drunk....at a united nations dinner party....making jokes....

They don't like it up em you know .

And first in the queue line for a Boris apology: President Obama

:-)

A bit of a strange appointment really, IMHO. I remember her saying about two weeks ago, something about how the last time Boris went to Germany he came back with some nearly-new water cannon. A bit indicative of, well, not exactly the highest amount of regard for him.

Perhaps she has now got him close at hand so as to use his excellent brain and very wide take on things to get some apt advice from time to time.

Payback.

BREXIT: THE TIMETABLE

0-6 months: EU politicians insist there will be no negotiations until after Britain leaves. Secret negotiations begin at brand-new EU-funded E3 billion "Brexitorium" in Slovenia. British PM warns of "looming economic crisis" - puts extra 10p tax on cigarettes. UK economy unexpectedlly picks up on strength of travel industry bringing in EU citizens to collect benefits while opportunity lasts. Immigration to UK doubles.

6-12 months: Secret negotiations founder on French insistence that English cannot be spoken as it is no longer an official EU language. Trade tariff talks get underway at E17 billion "Brexitorium 2" in Slovakia. Citing "new era of austerity in post-Brexit Europe", Brussels cancels E51 billion motorway and high-speed rail link between Brexitoria, plus hundreds of proposed construction projects. British economy strengthens as business takes on thousands of highly-qualified EU graduates arriving for once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a job. PM warns of "overheated economy" and puts extra 10p tax on cigarettes. UK unemployment rate falls to lowest on record despite immigration doubling..

12-18 months: Breakthrough at Brexitorium: "English" renamed "Irish" and negotiations commence. Commentators note "a subtle change in mood" amongst several previously-hostile EU leaders whose families, close friends and political backers coincidentally own construction companies. Tariff talks get bogged down in discussion over whether widgets made in Italy for a Franco-German conglomerate based in Luxemburg with a gizmo assembly plant in Latvia which sends the finished product to Britain for labelling and is then warehoused in Spain before being shipped to Holland should be subject to a tariff or a subsidy. British economy booms as manufacturers lease Lithuania to store all the goods they've produced to beat the imposition of trade tariffs. After being told not to bother planting any crops as Britain won't be buying next year, French farmers burn down Paris. UK Independence Party invokes European Human Rights Act when calling for more EU workers to be brought in as UK employees are having to work 12 hours overtime a day to keep up with orders. In widely-applauded "firm but fair" response, PM puts extra 10p tax on cigarettes. Immigration to Britain doubles.

18-24 months: After casually reading the Treaty Of Rome, German Chancellor notices that "free movement of people" does not in fact mean the right of one country to dump their unemployed citizens on another in order to avoid shelling out unemployment pay. Blames "error in translation" and announces breakthrough. British Prime Minister discovers serious mistake in calculation of UK immigration figures: new "100 per cent accurate" figures prove conclusively that immigration to the UK has in fact halved every year since Britain joined the EU. Blames "computer glitch" and announces breakthrough...plus another 10p tax on cigarettes.

24 months-next time: Britain becomes first "Super-Associate Five-Star Triple-A (Class One)" member of EU, which allows it to do pretty much what it wants as long as it keeps paying the bills. At moving ceremony in new French capital of Versailles (fully restored at EU expense) emotional French President Marie Antoinette Le Pen talks of "new era of peace and harmony in Europe" as fight breaks out between Spanish and British delegations over Gibraltar. Tariff talks switch seamlessly to arguing over exactly how many pips an apple must have to qualify for a farm subsidy. British economy slumps, exchange rate falls, house prices rise, Conservative MPs start muttering about Brexit 2, extra 10p tax on cigarettes, Germany beat England on penalties in football tournament, immigration to UK doubles etc etc ad nauseam.

(4480), Yes it might be amusing on a stag night, but when you're representing the
country it doesn't look professional on the tv screens..