Lion in Winter

I'm still a little worried about "the finishing waters". That, along with God requiring some sort of form in order to prevent discussion smacks of religious oppression to me. What price freedom, eh?

Red Eric

I think a lot of them would agree with that. Gideon, for starters.

Red Eric

You think it should be finishing-waters?

Lion in Winter

SultanOfSwing

Good point.

Maybe a better thing would be a series of minor inconveniences spaced close enough to each other that you're not quite over the last one before the next one finishes. Cut off on the drive in to pretend to be working (or you miss your train on your way in to accept your latest bribe/be sucked off by your favourite rent boy in the public bogs), a seagull does a poo in your coffee as you sit outside a trendy coffee shop displaying your distaste for the plebs. All leading up to an epic marker-top shit that occurs with just not quite enough bog roll left to deal with it.

AllanB

Think of this new trading block "New EFTA" here is the line up.

The Magnificent 7

1. UK, bringing all our old chums from the Commonwealth, so, already bigger than the EU' as trading block.
2/3/4 The V4 they can dump all those useless migrants, to where they want to go anyway Merkle's magic DDR.
5. Switzerland, they are an existing member, doing very nicely, show us the ropes.
6. Iceland, they can show us how to sort the banks out when they go bust and how to get the poachers out of our fishing waters.
7. Italy, white goods for everyone. Alfa Romeos and Vespas.
1b. Ireland, keep the border open, a sidecar can't go very far without the motorbike anyway.

Little Liechtenstein, well they can launder the money and handle the bankruptcy, when Greece revert to the drachma.

And no fees to pay.......Who wouldn't want that?

DaveLovesDee

Were we forced to join the EEC? The UK tried joining the EEC twice before we were finally successful, both times vetoed by Pres. de Gaulle who was worried the UK would take over from France as the major power in the Community.

Our democratically-elected representatives, the UK Prime Minister and MPs at the time, took us into the EEC. A successor PM only decided to hold the EU referendum to appease a small faction of his party's MPs, and Parliament made the rules of the referendum to be non-binding and advisory.

The first problem came when the winners of the referendum vote didn't accept that it was advisory and non-binding, the second when the government tried avoiding Parliament's right to debate the referendum result. Were Leavers worried that Parliament would decide the vote shouldn't be acted upon?

SultanOfSwing

AllanB be like

AllanB

Blackjack and Hookers, all run by Hommer Simpson and his dopey family, that sounds just like the existing EU. I don't get it.

Maybe you should get a new record.....?

SultanOfSwing

That's Bender, you daft plank

Bipat

Yes, I should have said citizens of EU member countries.

Yes, I imagine UK citizens who are already living in EU countries will have the reciprocal rights that are now being negotiated. Those moving there after Brexit presumably will be subject to the same rules/laws/rights as any other non-EU citizens living there just as UK expats are in any country they move to.

Bipat

I said that the UK public voted to stay in the EEC in 1975.

We had several democratically elected representatives in the following 41 years, but no chance for the public to air their views on the matter of membership of the EU founded in 1993 by a major Treaty and followed by another Treaty making substantial changes.
A successor MP? It is not a ruling dynasty! There are different political parties and the same parties have different views at different times, that is why there are regular elections.

What is the point of the expense of a referendum if it is not acted on? You are saying it is 'right' that the public can vote for a different government at frequent intervals but not have their views respected in a referendum.

Red Eric

There wouldn't need to be any negotiation if the UK agreed that all rights currently enjoyed by those who have already made the move in either direction should be retained. That was what the UK government pretended it wanted when it was pretending that the EU was refusing to do a deal to safeguard those rights. The EU has now called the UK government's bluff on that, exposing the truth for all to see (all except the most determined of misrepresenters, that is )

Not forgetting, of course, that the UK has responsibility for honouring some of those rights with regard to its own citizens residing in other member states, so nothing at all reciprocal about those. Thank goodness the EU's arguing on our behalf for the retention of those though, eh?

But none of that gets around the fact that some body or other beyond the highest court in the UK will have to act as final arbiter in the case of any dispute.

DaveLovesDee

EMR wasn't suggesting any such thing. He was pointing out that countries who usually pull the shit the UK are usually called dictatorships.

Do we? Do you have any evidence?

Counties? What makes you think the V4, Greece, Ireland or Italy want to leave any more


Years....... Oh yes, the whining of those wanting us to Leave the EU. We're leaving.


And all 4 EFTA member states are signed up to free movement of persons. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein via the EEA protocols, and Switzerland via bilateral agreements.

Remember, he's been abroad. Hasn't seen proper TV since Starsky and Hutch....

DaveLovesDee

You appear to be reading something into my post that I can't see.

I'll wait to see if anyone else reads it the same as you do.