Gransnet forums

News & politics

New EU Treaty - a good deal or not?

(841 Posts)
vegansrock Thu 24-Dec-20 07:15:10

I thought this deserved its own thread. This deal is about to be announced and I’ve just heard Farage on the radio claiming it will be sellout. Trying to stir the pot already. Just wondered how it will be spun. There will be a lot of relieved businesses and relief that there is no deal at least.

Lucca Thu 31-Dec-20 08:37:45

Jaberwok

Good for Boris, the Oxford vaccine is a British triumph! what's wrong with being proud of that ? If we had been behind the loop that would certainly been for some yet another stick to beat the government with, as it is, predictable sarky comments!!
How equally predictable that apart from France, every country obediently signed the agreement without a murmur, you bet they did!!!

It had nothing to do with either Brexit or Boris that’s what I’m saying, if you read my post......

Nezumi65 Thu 31-Dec-20 07:24:54

Given the rate we are losing academics maybe it soon will be ‘British universities for British academics’ (boak). hmm www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/increase-in-academics-leaving-the-uk-since-brexit-vote-66656

Japanese friends of mine left the U.K. after years here. They didn’t want to - they had bought a house here. They had to go to Germany because the project is European funded.

Whitewavemark2 Thu 31-Dec-20 07:18:57

It is called the Little Englander syndrome.

A lot of it about, almost as widespread as covid, and more difficult to treat.

Nezumi65 Thu 31-Dec-20 07:14:56

Because if you had ever set foot in a research lab you would know that it will have been an international group of scientists working on the vaccine. Not a bunch of plucky Brits. I wonder how they feel seeing it described as a British affair.

Research is an international business and effort - Brexit has already damaged that in loss of research funding & academics.

And if countries start getting competitive about the vaccines it will not help in combatting the disease. As WHO said this requires countries to work together.

Of course given our numbers & death rate (that great British triumph) it could be argued we currently have a greater need than elsewhere.

Whitewavemark2 Thu 31-Dec-20 07:12:24

Thoughts from an academic

mary beard
@wmarybeard
·
13h
Thoughts on Erasmus scheme, & how it's been misrepresented as Europe-only scheme for fun abroad. It's international & includes apprenticeships, youth progs & teachers, not just undergraduates..& UK benefits hugely. Turing scheme looks limited & underfunded

Jaberwok Thu 31-Dec-20 07:05:21

Good for Boris, the Oxford vaccine is a British triumph! what's wrong with being proud of that ? If we had been behind the loop that would certainly been for some yet another stick to beat the government with, as it is, predictable sarky comments!!
How equally predictable that apart from France, every country obediently signed the agreement without a murmur, you bet they did!!!

Whitewavemark2 Thu 31-Dec-20 07:02:43

The deal is done, but is not over.

Payback time is coming. The U.K. is smaller, less able to compete, less influential, and whose reputation has suffered enormously.

I alongside all the brexiters will suffer the consequences. I am bloody furious.

Not only did they vote for something that already existed, but in doing so they voted for the most right wing government the U.K. has ever had the misfortune to have in power, and they aren’t finished yet.
So your vote is going to buy you right wing policies that will take away your rights as citizens, ensure the smallest state we have had for over a century, and continue with the policy of nationalism and division in order to boost the populist government.

vegansrock Thu 31-Dec-20 06:48:12

AstraZeneca - a truly international effort, the head is French...just saying....

vegansrock Thu 31-Dec-20 06:45:24

No one has ever had to listen to Gina Miller, high court judges etc , or the 99% of academic scientists who wanted to remain in the EU, well why bother with experts....Those people aren’t going anywhere btw, maybe we won’t have to listen to Farage and xenophobes etc, silver lining and all that.

Nezumi65 Thu 31-Dec-20 06:41:13

I really don’t like to competitiveness around Vaccination. To eradicate this virus will require global effort & not the developed countries hogging all the vaccine (as Trump tried to do(.

Johnson yesterday seemed to be edging perilously close to talking about the Oxford vaccine as the great British this & that. I thought it just showed him to be an ignorant oaf. Universities & research labs are very international places. Especially in Science. When I worked in a university research lab my colleagues and collaborators were from Italy, France, Canada, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey & America.

Nezumi65 Thu 31-Dec-20 06:33:34

Flump. I really hope his business is able to find a way through.

I’m afraid maybee is right though. I shut my (very small) service business in the autumn, in part because the paperwork was just going to make it unviable in terms of time for me. I was told I must just be a terrible business person and that if I was any good I would be accessing the sunlit uplands (I paraphrase). Personally I would have thought recognising when something was unviable showed some decent business skills, but there we are.

They had a Brexit voting eel farmer on BBC yesterday - all his eels went to Europe, 100%, and it sounded as if he was concerned his customers wouldn’t want to fill in their paperwork and the business was at risk. I posted a link to the bbc report earlier in this thread.

Businesses were told there would be less red tape, fewer forms to fill in etc, when of course that is not the case. I don’t think the U.K. has recruited anywhere near enough customs agents either. If I’d been furloughed I would have considered using my time to do some of the qualifications (they’re all on line) as they are tens of thousands short.

Let’s hope things get better & I have my fingers crossed for your son in law’s business

Lucca Thu 31-Dec-20 06:31:30

Jaberwok

Of course the covid deaths are a tragedy, but being the first to roll out the vaccines is surely a triumph? Well it is for some of us.

What does that have to do with EU deal/Brexit ?

Lucca Thu 31-Dec-20 06:29:17

I’m bemused. Why will it be “bye bye” to all these people you mention (like Gina Millar ) ?

I’m bemused by the whooping and ra ra ? What difference will it make to YOUR lives ? Never yet understood

MayBee70 Thu 31-Dec-20 00:30:20

flump . They really don’t care, I’m afraid....sad

flump Thu 31-Dec-20 00:28:12

Our son-in-law has clients in several countries in Europe and America. The paperwork he is going to have to deal with to send his products will mean it will, unnecessarily, take up more of his time and increase costs which he may have to pass on to his clients. In the past he has attended exhibitions in Europe where entrepreneurs show their products in the hope of increasing business. As far as I know this will mean more form filling as he will have to itemise his products to go through customs, if he wants to do this again in the future. When we were in the EU, everything was a very straight-forward process; now it sounds as if it will be a right pain in the proverbial.

I wonder how many of you happy brexiters can really understand or acknowledge the consequences of your actions on other people?

MayBee70 Thu 31-Dec-20 00:00:14

And we can listen to Mark Francoise, Peter Bone, Cash Redwood, Rees Mogg et al instead, Oh joy.....

Nezumi65 Wed 30-Dec-20 23:57:00

Lord Adonis was on TV a few hours ago saying a lot of sensible things.

Galaxy Wed 30-Dec-20 23:17:35

You could always ignore them. The deal makes no difference to that.

Urmstongran Wed 30-Dec-20 23:15:20

Oh I know some won’t be going away Galaxy and of course they’re entitled to their opinions. But I shall be able to ignore them now - because we are OUT! With a deal too.
Yay!
??

Galaxy Wed 30-Dec-20 23:11:06

What on earth are you talking about. Those people will still have opinions and you didnt have to listen to them anyway. A lot of them have made considerable contributions certainly more so than farage, tedious Wetherspoons bloke etc.

Urmstongran Wed 30-Dec-20 23:05:58

Great to have you join us JenniferEccles!
Lovely to have you join the band of merry makers tonight.
Take a recommend yourself for holding the faith in democracy - even in the darkest days!
?

Just think ...
Bye bye to:

Gina Millar
Alistair Campbell
John Major
Bob Geldof
Anna Soubry
Lord Adonis
David Gauke
Chukka Umunna (?sp)
Jo Swinson (such an own goal there! Arrogant nonsense)
Tony Blair
Dianne Abbott
Jeremy Corbyn
Hugh Grant
Gary Lineker
Ian Blackford
Yvette Cooper

to name a few we won’t have to listen to anymore.
Now that alone is worth a round of drinks.!
Cheers!
?????

Dinahmo Wed 30-Dec-20 22:55:11

JenniferEccles Let's hope that you don't fall flat on your face.

JenniferEccles Wed 30-Dec-20 22:43:19

I am another one who is in your happy band Urmstongran !

I voted to leave and I haven’t wavered from that for a minute, and in fact the longer this tortuous business has dragged on, thwarted at every turn by those here and in the EU, the stronger has been my conviction that we are doing the right thing.

Right from the start I had a feeling we would be in for a tough time extricating ourselves from the EU’s tentacles, but here we are, poised ready to leave and I couldn’t be more delighted ?!

Jaberwok Wed 30-Dec-20 22:29:27

Of course the covid deaths are a tragedy, but being the first to roll out the vaccines is surely a triumph? Well it is for some of us.

Urmstongran Wed 30-Dec-20 22:25:53

Oops.
vegansrock
Not varian
?
Apologies!