It’s gone off the radar.
But Nissan now consolidating European operations in Sunderland, shutting Barcelona.
So what was it remainers we’re saying about the inevitable migration to EU after Brexit?
Renault moved some Clio operations to Turkey.
It is not one way traffic, but EU mainland provably not essential.
Well, who'd a thunk it. Perhaps it isn't quite so simple and straightforward after all. Here's a headline from the Business section of the Daily Telegraph today:
"Nissan warns Sunderland plant can't survive no-deal Brexit. Carmaker said it would not be able to stand by its commitment to Sunderland if the UK failed to secure tariff-free access to EU markets."
Doesn't life have an irritating habit of appearing to be simple, encouraging people to make simplistic assumptions, only for it to show itself as being (to paraphrase Ben Goldacre) a bit more complicated than it first appeared.
If the EU are stupid enough to allow that outcome, then we should not want to be in such a dysfunctional zone as the EU.
But its true. The EU are plenty stupid enough. Its why we had to leave.
But then : Nissan don't believe that outcome or they would not be committing to sunderland.
It is of course not just them. EU Factories have moved out of EU to for example turkey. Last time I looked turkey was not in the EU either, and it wont be.
Hyundai are doing nicely, and south korea is not in the EU iether etc etc etc. So it is utter b!ll!x you need to be in the EU to trade with it. EU cannot keep chinese goods out.
And worse for EU than that, China is tooled up. So the German bonanza in selling manufacturing equipment to china is well past the peak and on the way down. Germany is in serious trouble. It cannot afford to lose the trade of selling cars to britain as well.
Surely even the most ardent remainers have now been forced a dose of reality about just how useless and nasty the EU is ,by how it treated other members when the sh!t hits the fan with the corona and refugees. Every man for himself is the message.
It always was. EU wants your money to flush down the toilet, not to help with problems. The EU is world class at one thing only. Wasting money.
The money trains still run back to berlin, full and on time. There is a large flushing noise from the rest of EU, making recovery impossible for southern europe with the weight of historic debt and the taxation needed to balance budgets. Check target 2
EU is a dead loss. Stop defending it.
We are well out. A deal preferably. No deal, if necessary. We will still keep trading.
If tarriffs come, those in the UK with car plants will clean up on UK demand.
Last edited by Oracle; 03-06-2020 at 04:43 PM.
Talking of The Daily Telegraph: Business, page 5 today.
"...billionaire owner Sir Richard Branson..."
As far as I know there has never been any factual evidence that RB has ever been a "billionaire" despite what The Sunday Trash "Rich List" might wish its gullible readers to believe.
And were he to be so, why does the business section of the DT feel the need to tell its, presumably well-informed, readership that it is referring to THE Sir Richard Branson, the "billionaire", in connection with the airline Virgin Australia?
And if we have sloppy, lazy, cliché journalism in the Business section then why should we expect more rigorous journalism elsewhere in what was once a newspaper of quality?
(For the absence of doubt - the question is rhetorical).
Last edited by Graham Breeze; 03-06-2020 at 03:16 PM.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
But then billionaire has always been a matter of opinion.
The “wealthiest” people on earth primarily own shares in the companies they own or founded.
Even in the listed companies, covenants prevent them selling even a small part of the holdings, and with governments deciding to wreck share values by prevention of trading due to covid, many of the fortunes are very disputable. There is generally not a liquid market for billions of shares.
A very few own land. In dysons case he owns a lot of essex. Productive farmland escapes some inheritance tax. That is easier to value.
Unlisted or delisted companies are near impossible to value.
Branson has been pumping money into virgin atlantic and galactic, and virgin health is run non profit.
So arguably both are worth little. Before COVID , let alone after! The deal done for virgin money valued Branson share as hundred(s) millions.
Not small change, but not a Berkshire Hathaway either!
Amazon is run near to not for profit. So what is really worth?
Socialists state that billionaires shouldn’t be allowed. I often wonder what would happen if the workers were offered employee shares instead of pay. You could be sure they would not value them!
The fact is virgin Atlantic, needed and should have been given grant help.
The idea that billionaires have billions in cash is a misunderstanding of what it means. I suppose buffet is an exception! Since BH has hundreds of billions in cash!
Last edited by Oracle; 03-06-2020 at 04:39 PM.
I see the knob from the EU says we are not making any progress.