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....

Oh dear!

Viviane Reding's Brexit speech

"They promised a global Britain. Instead they got a lonely Britain" - the barnstorming Brexit speech that's going viral.

("They" meaning Britain's political crooks. Cough, cough.)

Exec,

Don't let Dil see that.

He will have apoplexy.

Unless he already has.

469 moaning days to go Fred.

That by any other name will be the same!

MP: Government must get its share of the EU's wine

Sir Edward Leigh told Parliament that the EU was thought to have a wine cellar stocked with more than 42,000 bottles and has artwork worth more than £13m.

He urged the government to "promise" to not leave the goods for European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to enjoy.

Sounds like Nigel and Edward could have a good night out.

Perhaps they have.

What is No 10 cellar like?

Dunno Fred, but I wouldn't decline an invite to the degustation. :o)

You could also try the Palace of Westminster.

Supposed to be a cheap eating place!

But back to Dil's future.

BORING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is Theresa conning us all?

We cannot start to sign trade deals until we are actually out of the EU but have a read at the following. I read it that we are going to have to break our agreement with the EU during the Brexit Transition Period if we want to get any deals signed with the rest of the world.

From: http://uk.businessinsider.com/theresa-may-chuka-umunna-single-market-customs-union-eu-council-2017-12

Theresa May is trying to hide the fact that Britain will stay in the single market for years after Brexit
Adam Payne and Adam Bienkov
Dec. 17, 2017, 7:50 AM

Theresa May is refusing to admit that Britain will stay in the single market and customs union during transition, Labour MP Chuka Umunna tells BI.

The PM has insisted that Britain will leave both organisations on exit day in March 2019. Yet new guidelines agreed by the other 27 EU countries suggest Britain will remain as de facto members for years after Brexit.

LONDON — Theresa May is not being honest with the British public about the reality of the Brexit transition period.

That's the view of Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who in an interview with BI this week, accused the prime minister of misleading the public about the fact that, for at least two years after Brexit, Britain will effectively stay part of the EU single market and customs union.

"It was clear that certainly as far as transition is concerned, there was nothing else the EU could offer us other than transition on single market and customs union terms," the former shadow cabinet minister told BI.

"There was never going to be a bespoke arrangement offered to us, not least because there just isn’t time to put in place an alternative to a single market, customs union transition."

For Umunna, May's attempts to obscure the reality that Britain is heading for a Brexit transition inside the customs union and single market is so strong that she is not even being willing to use the terms.

"The prime minister has used different words like 'implementation period' and said we'll observe the same rules and regulations apply, without actually mentioning the phrases single market and customs union," Umunna adds.

"But that's exactly where [we] have landed."

Ummuna's view was this week given weight by the negotiating guidelines published by the EU Council following their decision on Friday to allow transition negotiations to begin.

It's clear from these guidelines which you can read here, that the EU understands the UK will "continue to participate in the Customs Union and the Single Market (with all four freedoms) during the transition."

EU Council Brexit talks guidelines European Council

It adds that Britain will accept the entire legal "acquis" of the EU, including "all existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures," as well as "the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union."

Yet these are not things that the prime minister has so far been open about.

For instance, in October the prime minister told parliament:"I have been clear that when we leave the European Union we will no longer be members of its single market or its customs union."

She added: "The British people voted for control of their borders, their laws and their money. And that is what this government is going to deliver."

And on Friday Dan Dalton, the Conservative Party's chief whip in the EU Parliament, described the prospect of staying in the customs union during transition as "totally unacceptable" in an interview with Sky News.

This is a view shared by large parts of the Conservative party, which is increasingly worried that Britain will be left essentially as almost full members of the EU for years after we leave.

Importantly, continued de facto customs union membership would prevent Britain from immediately striking new free trade deals around the world as her International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has previously suggested we will.

As BI previously reported, Fox promised cheering delegates at the Conservative party conference this autumn that the UK would sign 40 free trade deals the 'second after' Brexit. None of that would be possible under the plans spelled out this week.

More importantly, continued de facto single market membership would also leave the door open for a future government, potentially under Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to keep Britain inside the tent indefinitely — something leading Brexiteers such as former UKIP leader Nigel Farage increasingly fear.

This growing conflict between political demands for Britain to reach out into the world away from the EU and the economic necessity for a smooth transition period is incredibly hard for May to settle.

This is almost certainly why the prime minister has so far been so reluctant to spell out the reality of the Brexit transition period, or even to use the phrase itself.

Yet whatever words May chooses to describe the two year period after Brexit, it's become increasingly clear that any transition period will look very much like continued membership.

And as transition talks begin in the new year, this is a reality that May could soon be forced to face up to.

Sorry, wrong thread.

What % of UK businesses trade with the EU?

Negotiations will run longer than Agatha Christies "The Mousetrap"

That's exactly what they want in my opinion.

Just a pretense to leave.

Kida,

Figures and comments from a while ago:

Approximately 40%+ of UK exports are to the EU.

Approximately 10% of EU exports are to the UK.

Suggesting that we are more economically dependent on the EU than the EU is on the UK.

I am sure, that the 10% can be obtained from other than the UK.



-=---=-=-=

(But divide the figures by 27 for average effect and importance.)

Here you go Fred, the true picture of UK/€U trade:



Everything you might want to know about the UK's trade with the EU


https://fullfact.org/europe/uk-eu-trade/

After a separation, many some say fond memories but easily left behind.

Warning warning: Brexit bad news..




UK manufacturing order books near three-decade high, says CBI

Strong growth recorded in November continued in December, but is expected to slow in early 2018



The production line at the Jaguar assembly plant in Castle Bromwich. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images



Larry Elliott

Monday 18 December 2017 15.12 GMT First published on Monday 18 December 2017 12.21 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/18/uk-manufacturing-order-books-cbi-growth-december



Britain’s manufacturers have ended 2017 on a high note, with output surging to meet the strongest order books in almost three decades.

The latest snapshot of industry from the CBI found the strong growth recorded in November continued in December but is expected to abate in the early months of 2018.

In a survey of 371 manufacturers, 28% said order books were above normal while 11% said they were below normal. The balance of + 17 points was the joint highest on record and well above the long-term average of - 14 points.

The employers’ organisation said order books were particularly buoyant for the motor vehicles and transport equipment, and mechanical engineering sectors.


The weak pound was helping to swell export order books, even though they were slightly softer than in November, the CBI said.

Output rose for 42% of the firms questioned during late November and early December while 11% said production was lower. The rounded balance of +30 points was above the long-term average of +4 points.


Manufacturers also reported inflationary pressure, with output prices expected to rise over the next three months at their fastest pace since June. The survey also reported that stocks of finished goods were below normal – a sign that some companies are meeting orders by running down inventories.

Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist of Pantheon Macro, said it was only the 11th time in the 42-year history of the CBI survey that more manufacturers said stock levels were inadequate than adequate.

“All this suggests that manufacturers are running at full capacity and can’t easily ramp up production in the near-term to meet higher demand,” he added.

Anna Leach, the CBI’s head of economic intelligence, said: “As we head towards the end of 2017, UK manufacturers’ total order books remain at a near-30-year high, with export order books remaining at their strongest since the mid-1990s.

“While the lower level of sterling continues to support exporters, cost pressures remain intense. Businesses will expect to see the government’s industrial strategy make rapid progress next year to support manufacturing and the wider economy in every corner of the UK.”