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....

Not mine. I prefer a complete cut, but I am not convinced we will get it

does your definition of "a complete cut" mean severing all trading links with eu?

No. That would be impossible. I would prefer to be treated as though we were not adjacent to EU, such as Australia and have us swallow tariffs if necessary to avoid other constraints.

so effectively ditch all preferential rates then as to get those would inevitably have certain strings attached
mind you, all goods sold into EU would have to comply with their regs anyway


any concerns over the potential loss of the City's influence and stature as the European commercial hub across the board?

All goods sold anywhere have to conform to local standards, that's a non starter as an argument.

The city in all likelihood will depart these shores if the €uroloons get their way, so no point in including it in the pot.

However, everything else outside the above can be run to suit ourselves, and not be dictated to by Brussels.

am i correct in thinking that City-related services contribute about 20% of UK GDP?
if that is about right right (or even too low) you can't just ignore its loss!

Yes, a big chunk of gdp.

And how long do you think we will hang on to it if the €uroloons get their way?

i merely ask the questions, not provide the answers :-)

Trade with €uroland while it's still functioning (not long for that) at whatever tarrif applies...and apply the same to their goods, see who starts squealing first.

Cynic
If you are handy to a TV, there is a program on at 5:30 in London Live channel 8 freeview. The vanishing Jewish way of life of Hessel Street Whitechapel. It was made in 1962

Financial services added about £67 billion to the balance of trade, of which £18.5 billion was EU related. Still a large amount but not all of that is threatened by Brexit. Nevertheless, still an amount coveted by Germany and France, who have been making threatening noises for years. But as we all know, one door closes and another opens, particularly when you don't have to deal with the EU mad house bureaucracy.

had never even heard of it, but worth reading on internet
below is an extract ....


From the turn of the 20th century Hessel Street [left in 1936] became the site of the East End's main Jewish market, open every day except Saturdays. The narrow street was filled with small shops and stalls. Chickens and other poultry were kept in cages; buyers selected one, which was killed according to kosher ritual and dressed while they shopped elsewhere (the archway, left, next to Carver's shoe shop at 9 Hessel Street led to 25-40 Morgan Houses and also to the abbatoir area). There were also many wet fish stalls, and general shops, with pans and kettles hanging on strings, and bookmakers. Some described it as an 'oriental' scene, the last of the ghetto markets. See these highly pejorative comments from 1902. Right are two idealised portraits: an artist's impression, looking towards Commercial Road, and a drawing by Noel Gibson of around 1980 (long after the street's heyday).

The Vanishing Street
In 1961, the day before the bulldozers moved in to replace the old buildings with high-rise blocks, Robert Vas made a 20-minute film showing a typical day in the life of the street, and its declining but still vibrant Jewish community. Initially called District for Sale, it was funded by the British Film Institute Experimental Film Fund and the Jewish Chronicle, and was approved by the Council for Christians and Jews before its release; it was first shown at the National Film Theatre in November 1962.

Vas, who had been brought up in a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Germany, was an advocate of the 'Free Cinema' technique. It was shot with a lightweight 16mm camera and tape recorder and presents impressions of the street, combinging long shots and close-ups over a background of natural sounds, snatches of conversations and old Yiddish songs; there is no voice-over commentary. It has a lyrical and nostalgic quality. Authorised viewers can see the film on BFI screenonline.

A few shops remained, in Jewish or increasingly Muslim hands - left is a greengrocer's in 1978, one offering eggs for both Passover and Easter, with signs in Arabic too, and a 1991 grocery shop. In 1988 Alan Dein photographed [right] derelict shopfronts to record the last moments of the Jewish community in the area – the bustling world of the inter-war years had been moved into the suburbs, and the community that stayed behind was less identifiable. In the nineteen eighties they were just hanging on, some premises had been empty for more than five years. Like a mouthful of broken teeth, a boxer’s mouth that had been thumped, with holes where teeth once were.

that last line reminds me of looking into a mirror after a rugby match...

The Scottish government’s North Sea revenues collapsed in 2015-16 to just £60m from £1.8bn a year earlier.
It is a far cry from the rewards reaped by Scotland in 2008-09, when North Sea revenues were £11.6bn.
The £60m revenue last year was the smallest on record since the Scottish parliament was convened in 1998-99. It represented a 78.5% share of North Sea revenues.
Well, let them go alone with that to spend. No doubt the wee one will blame it on Brexit and demand reparations from London...

don't worry; apparently the chinese already own most of the rigs, so they'll gallop to the rescue

Hear George's boys are still buying London?

Perhaps, they will become old fashioned landlords.

Rachman style?
2517

Could be!

Cheer up Fred, only another 20-25 years to the next Labour Govt. Corbyn you have to laugh!

Corbyn is attempting to get into the Guineas Book of Records for the biggest ever defeat at a General Election

Should do it easily