Article 50 trigger 29th March

welsh the EU can take these big companies on because they have so much clout given they have 27 countries behind them.

Place marking

Exactly WW - so many laws etc which stem from the EU people just think are UK - although of course many stem from the UK or they helped to get them sorted - the bigger clout is a great thing.

I agree about not training the young in UK - complacency - but it is not only EU citizens the UK also takes them from places like the Phillipines - these countries paid to train their people and then do not get the benefit!

The UK housing problem has a lot to do with the fact that when the right to buy came into being the Councils were not allowed to build more houses with the money from the sales - then Housing Associations came into being - they are now going to have the right to buy and with the discounts they will have to give cannot afford to replace their stock - madness. All that is happening is the rise in private landlords renting out at high prices and local Councils doing much of the paying the rents. This is an area which really needs reform.

I don't know how workers from the Philipines get here to work when they're not in the EU ... Do they have a visa or something?! .

Agree WW I've read that some Eastern European countries are really suffering as, although the income of the countries themselves benefits from their trained young working here (and other Western European countries),their people certainly don't, with a severe shortage of medical staff especially and land workers. And of course many want to settle in the west leaving an aging population behind. I think Lithuania was the country given as the example. (Waiting room reading!)

Also agree about rented housing. I believe some council/HA building is now being encouraged, but not enough. Successive governments since Maggie have gone down this 'Eveyone Wants to Own Their Own Home' route, when in fact a lot don't want the responsibility, just a secure roof over their heads with a reliable someone else looking after maintenance. In other words a council house!

Why is everything privatised. Allowing companies to make a large profit instead of us making a profit and putting in back into say housing. Too many backhanders I understand. These companies come in cheap for the basics but then everything else they do is extra and it ends up costing more. Grrrrrr

NfKDumpling I was living in Bulgaria when they went into the eu. This country has a population of roughly 8 mil people and it's estimated that a quarter of that is Roma gypsy who are mainly uneducated. The affect of loosing a large proportion of their young educated people was disastrous on many small companies, of which most companies in Bulgaria are.

For anyone who wants a laugh, or even a wry smile.

politicalscrapbook.net/2017/03/the-tories-have-sacked-so-many-civil-servants-they-cant-deliver-their-own-policies/

I wonder why they didn't make it April 1st?

Bit late with that, suzied.

I have various contacts in the civil service. It is laughable what they are trying to do, but those trying to achieve everything that is being asked of them don't find it remotely funny.

A quarter Roma petra? That's high. Even higher now I suspose. And a very tight insular community. How does the country survive?

Could still be 1st April. After all, we've already missed one date. The Health and Social Care Act came in on 1st April. However, I don't think May has a sense of humour.

It's quite sad that sixty years since the Treaty of Rome was signed some people are triumphant that we are splitting from EU solidarity.

"With Brexit negotiations about to begin, it is essential to keep all eyes on the prize: peace. So far, a united and diverse Europe has been pretty good at this. As the current European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated in early March in a white paper on the future of Europe, form follows function when it comes to the EU. The means to achieve peace through unity can vary – the Euro Area, Schengen Area, a European Free Trade Association. These forms of European unity achieve the same function: they ensure peace through a degree of solidarity among member states working for common interests via common action.

The shape of UK-EU relations after Brexit should reflect this spirit of solidarity to achieve a mutually beneficial form of unity. The UK is leaving the EU construct, it is not leaving Europe. Negotiations should be conducted in the spirit of cooperation, community and, of course, solidarity, in order to keep the peace."

Somehow, I don't think those people will agree with the above sentiments.

NfKDumpling Survive is what they do. They don't prosper, they just survive. They received huge sums of money from the eu but unfortunately most of it went into the hands of ' the men in sunglasses with no necks and are chaufered around in armour plated cars' nudge nudge, wink wink.
We were there 2 years before they went into the eu and saw what was going on. You would be horrified to see where your taxes are going.

"I know I am in a minority in thinking Brexit can be stopped, but I'm not in a minority in thinking that it should be,"
Alastair Campbell speaking at the London March.

I'm horrified too that its come to this.

Sorry, that last was to Petra

That's odd. Wiki states that the Roma population of Bulgaria is 4.4%.

Apparently the official figure of the Roma population of Bulgaria is 5% daphnedil but it could be much higher because many are illiterate, refuse to register or register as other than Roma for fear of prejudice.
Girls here rarely study beyond primary school. Boys drop out around 15, as soon as they can get a driving licence. Asked about their aspirations, seven in ten say they want to become pimps, laments Gantcho Iliev, who runs a charity working with Lozenets’ youth. No other occupation comes with a big house, posh car and the attention of attractive women.

OK! But that's still nowhere near a quarter, which petra claimed.

Men with sunglasses and being pimps doesn't sound that different from Southend.

I am surprised that someone who happened to be in Bulgaria 2 years before they were in the eu could ascertain exactly what was happening to eu money after they joined. The population is 25% Roma - where are those figures from?

we nearly moved to Southend years ago!

How do you know, daphnedill - do you live there?

Well, not all from Southend are like that, some end up as consultants in the NHS

Just round the bend from Clacton, isn't it? Carswell-land.