So letting in a bit of reality - does this mean it is the beginning of the end of Brexit

We now have the Tories talking up joining the Pacific partnership as a terrific plus following Brexit. The OBR calculated it would add about +0.08% to GDP and that Brexit contributed MINUS 4%. Several of the partnership countries we already had trade deals with via the EU so it's mostly carbon copy time. About as useful as the trade deal agreed with the Faroe Islands in the heady post-Brexit days under the Buffoon.

Did we have a referendum before joining this trading group on the far side of the planet?

Are we not surrendering part of our sovereignty by having to obey the rules already agreed by these faraway countries?

Take back control???

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/31/pacific-trade-deal-brexit-britain-food-standards-economic-benefit

I thought this new wonderful deal must be a joke but 1st April is not until tomorrow. I agree, we should have a referendum. Not sure what the message on the red bus would be.

Chaos again in Dover, and set to get much much worse this autumn once full ckecks come into force. What a mess!

Simon Caler explains

fb.watch/jDTzY3KIVk/

Calder

MaizieD

Fleurpepper

I used to take my foreign students to Colchester, for Roman history.

Colchester was lovely until the council drove a ring road through it in the 70s They even bashed a hole in the Roman wall...

It does still have some nice bits, lots of history and a superb park. But a rather dead town centre. And Will Quince is its MP.

It is worth a visit, Wwmk2. If you ever plan to visit, PM me...

and me

The French are striking again are they Fleurpepper?
I’ll give Dover a miss for now then.

Oreo

The French are striking again are they Fleurpepper?
I’ll give Dover a miss for now then.

No, it's not a strike, it's what happens when you leave the EU and become a third country. The French are checking and stamping every non EU passport. It slows things down considerably.

Don’t the French air traffic controllers go on strike every August causing chaos?

But you’ll put up with that because you can’t blame Brexit.

kandinsky - no , the French air traffic controllers do not strike every August and no, we don’t “put up with it as we can’t blame Brexit” - what a ridiculous defence! Any more than we “put up with” British airport security strikes or baggage handlers that seem to coincide with holiday times. Brexit is an additional, completely avoidable act of self harm.

We also “put up with” sewage in our river and in our seas - another Brexit benefit , eh Brexit lovers?

Kandinsky

Don’t the French air traffic controllers go on strike every August causing chaos?

But you’ll put up with that because you can’t blame Brexit.

Do you always talk in myths and cliches, Kandinsky?

No you’re right, French air traffic controllers don’t just strike in August, they strike over Easter too!
It’s just you don’t talk about that because it’s not brexit related.

This board is so ridiculously anti brexit it’s actually becoming funny. 😂

Why do you think it is so anti Brexit? Where is that list of benefits? We have asked for it again and again, but zilch, nada! Rees-Mogg himself couldn't find any.

MaizieD

Oreo

The French are striking again are they Fleurpepper?
I’ll give Dover a miss for now then.

No, it's not a strike, it's what happens when you leave the EU and become a third country. The French are checking and stamping every non EU passport. It slows things down considerably.

I am quite sure Kandinsky has not bothered to watch the explanation by travel expert Simon Calder. Here it is

fb.watch/jDTzY3KIVk/

Nothing to do with French strikes, but with checks, that the UK has demanded via the Brexit process, and not even implemented properly yet.

You can give Dover a miss Kandinsky- I am sure they won't miss you.

But the essentials chemicals we need, food we can't produce, medicines, parts for industry, and so much more- can't avoid British Ports. Funny did you say? Really?

Sewerage in water is directly linked to Brexit, and several ways.

Fleurpepper

Chaos again in Dover, and set to get much much worse this autumn once full ckecks come into force. What a mess!

Simon Caler explains

fb.watch/jDTzY3KIVk/

Down to the intransigence of French border control. When passing into Amsterdam, a polite hello, normal check, another desk for a stamp. Quick and efficient, a lovely smile to boot. Germany are doing well also with passport checks, as efficient as usual.
Wonder how everyone else who needs stamps are welcomed in France, or is it only the British they have a beef with.

You do realise the others are part of EU and part of Schengen, yes? You do understand the difference, yes? You do understand it is because of Brexit that they only have to check and stamp British passports- because this is what the British asked for?!?

If you cross internally into the Netherlands, or Germany, France, etc- there isn't the concentration and numbers. Have you ever been to Dover? It is extremely narrow, a strip of land partly built onto the Channel with the White Cliffs right next to it... The French could put any number of staff on, there is NO space for extra booths at all.

Around the borders of Germany, there are literally 1000s of border check points, same for France. At Dover, due to the Channel, there is 1 - for all the traffic, private, freight, coaches. ONE, with NO space to expand at all.

Perhaps the Brexiters would relish seeing the White Cliffs of Dover, the Castle, Churchill's War rooms, etc, bulldozed to accommodate the checks THEY are asking for.

I mean ... really !?!

A whole lot of whataboutery (French strikes, etc.) does not conceal the inefficiencies that this Tory-run Brexit has created. The delays at Dover are a consequence of Brexit and this Tory government's willful head in the sand attitude, witness Braverman's denial this morning. They want 'control of our borders' but try to blame the French for exercising passport control of their own - classic Tory blaming of foreigners.

One of the many advantages of being in the EU, and for most in the EU, Schengen too- was to eliminate border checks. It was always clear that if we insisted on them one way, it would mean that it would have to be both ways. DOH! It is not the fault of the French the geography of Dover makes it impossible to have more booths either.

They haven’t got enough staff or space to cope with holiday times when there is greater demand. It also takes longer to get on the Eurostar train as the checks take so long it often leaves half empty with a queue of passengers still at the station. Great thank you Brexit.

Here is another interview with Simon Calder.

It explains the physical constraints of Dover very well. And that it is the UK that required French hard border controls in Kent, and not on French side. The Chief Exec of the Port of Dover said they have 'been taken by surprise' with the number of coaches.

This autumn, we went to Croatia- and visited the country by coach. We went through Bosnian border several times, and each time, all passports had to be gathered and taken to Border Office by leader, and 3 times, all passporst were then re-distributed to all of us, we had to physically come off the coach and go one by one to desk to have own passport checked, Each time the process took about 30 minutes- for ONE coach!

youtu.be/DYYH2aOjKJM

I can only think that some making comments about the 'French' being difficult- are not aware that it is the UK that required this as part of Brexit. And of the geographical situation of the Port of Dover.

Do Brexiters want the White Cliffs be bulldozed, with the Castle and Churchill's War Rooms. That would be the only way- and would meant closing the Port for months if not years!