Brexit

[CL]

That's an interesting idea, CL. Of course, another solution is for Northern Ireland to leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland. Recall that Northern Ireland is in the interesting position that the majority of the population voted Remain, while the political party with the most votes supports Leave; which is pretty much the opposite of the situation in England!

Indeed! Why not separate London and all other areas in the UK that voted remain as well as NI? The point here is the Republic of Ireland have established a rule for their own country: to vote again on membership. If the UK leaves without a deal it could be very bad for The Republic. The Republic joining the UK would solve the border problem and to be quite frank I think the EU would prefer that. They wouldn't then take the blame for putting in a hard border.

There is another issue as well. The UK is one of the biggest contributors to the EU budget. When we leave assuming we leave on WTO we'll no longer contribute to the EU. So what will happen to some of those countries who receive more than they put in? Are Germany, France and Italy going to pay more to subsidise those countries who have got used to these entitlements? Are they going to pay the UKs share? I wouldn't be so sure judging by France's riots.

[DrPatrickBarry]

Keep those bloody migrants out.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...t-jobs-at-risk

Real gutter to all involved.

[Witton Park]

Keep those bloody migrants out.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...t-jobs-at-risk

Real gutter to all involved.

Pat come on.

If some UK people are no longer able to take these jobs within the EU, either:

they will fill them with EU nationals and with their levels of unemployment it will be beneficial to them
or
they will arrange a system to allow UK national to work in the EU to fill these jobs.


If you ever venture to the Alps you'll see Aussies and Yanks working there - wonder how that works

[DrPatrickBarry]

Pat come on.

I am taking the piss, I imagine, in the greater scheeme of things, sorting out work visas for these type of jobs will be relatively simple.

[Wheeze]

Yeah, it was a classic "project fear" story!!😏

[anthonykay]

If the UK leaves without a deal it could be very bad for The Republic. The Republic joining the UK would solve the border problem and to be quite frank I think the EU would prefer that. They wouldn't then take the blame for putting in a hard border.

So we can look forward to the Republic of Ireland taking the commonsense option: instead of preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of independence from the UK, they will petition to rejoin the UK.

This will undoubtedly be followed by an outbreak of commonsense elsewhere in the world. The Estonians will eliminate the threat on their Eastern border by asking to join the Russian Federation. The Taiwanese will ask to join the economic superpower that is the People's Republic of China. I can really see no end to this sweetness and light.

[shaunaneto]

😂

I was wondering where you was going with that!

[Witton Park]

So we can look forward to the Republic of Ireland taking the commonsense option: instead of preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of independence from the UK, they will petition to rejoin the UK.

This will undoubtedly be followed by an outbreak of commonsense elsewhere in the world. The Estonians will eliminate the threat on their Eastern border by asking to join the Russian Federation. The Taiwanese will ask to join the economic superpower that is the People's Republic of China. I can really see no end to this sweetness and light.

I think the suggestion would be that Ireland considers leaving the EU to join with the UK as a free trade area, not as a United British Isles.

[DrPatrickBarry]

I think the suggestion would be that Ireland considers leaving the EU to join with the UK as a free trade area, not as a United British Isles.

Why would Ireland do that?
A quick Google
Also shown is each import country's percentage of total Irish exports.

United States: US$36.1 billion (26.8% of total Irish exports)
United Kingdom: $18.3 billion (13.5%)
Belgium: $15 billion (11.1%)
Germany: $10.8 billion (8%)
Switzerland: $7 billion (5.2%)
Netherlands: $6.7 billion (4.9%)
France: $5.9 billion (4.3%)

So you are suggesting Ireland turns its back on Europe inorder to stay close to the UK? As shown below the UK has a trade surplus with Ireland, wonder how that goes once all those lovely tarrifs kick in.

[DrPatrickBarry]

Another google "United Kingdom incurred the highest trade surpluses with the following countries:"

Switzerland: US$6.8 billion (country-specific trade surplus in 2017)
United Arab Emirates: $6.8 billion
Ireland: $6.4 billion
Hong Kong: $3.6 billion
Singapore: $3.3 billion
Saudi Arabia: $2.7 billion
Oman: $2.2 billion
South Korea: $2.1 billion
Qatar: $1 billion
Macedonia: $950 million

http://www.worldstopexports.com/unit...port-partners/