The broad sunlit uplands of next March. Yeah, really. .

[gary396]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

You mean Gary?

I'm fine with that.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

You mean Gary?

Far too pompous. Much better if it would be named Gazza!

[bauble]

What's wrong with Mohammad, that is a popular name (not Christian) these days?

[gary396]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Far too pompous. Much better if it would be named Gazza!

The tabloids would be on about that for weeks! Mind you they probably will be anyway.

[coppice]

I am no Tory - heaven forfend - but I despair at the mess the party is in , which has obviously infected the whole country . Boris is a duplicitous windbag , 'intoxicated by the exuberance of his own verbosity' , unreliable and lazy . None of the other leadership contestants ticks many boxes - except Rory Stewart, for whom I have a great deal of respect. Even better perhaps would be a Stewart/Ruth Davidson lovechild candidate . May be a bit of a wait and there are some ....ummm ...compatibility challenges too.

[Peter Mallett]

For one thing Ruth D is an MSP and thus is not eligible for a seat in Parliament, which means she could not be PM. Other than that she's a remainer so again no good for solving this issue. She'd create some interesting arguments though. For duplicitous I think you mean Gove.

For all of his faults at least Johnson B has been in an executive position and was pretty successful as London Mayor. Look at what is happening in London now............

And indeed Rory Stewart, although I concur, he appears to be a good bloke and relatively honest, is another remain voter so again would do nothing to resolve the problem.

[coppice]

If you read some detail of BJ's mayoral career ,many of his good ideas came from Ken Livingstone and some of his staff described him as lazy and unprepared . As for his ideas- water cannon anybody , going cheap ?


Of course I am aware RD is currently ineligible but watch this space eh ? . As for Stewart , he is smart enough to know that (tragically in my view ) Brexit must be delivered , even if he voted otherwise . He is a pragmatist and has a serious track record in negotiation.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

For one thing Ruth D is an MSP and thus is not eligible for a seat in Parliament, which means she could not be PM. Other than that she's a remainer so again no good for solving this issue. She'd create some interesting arguments though. For duplicitous I think you mean Gove.

For all of his faults at least Johnson B has been in an executive position and was pretty successful as London Mayor. Look at what is happening in London now............

And indeed Rory Stewart, although I concur, he appears to be a good bloke and relatively honest, is another remain voter so again would do nothing to resolve the problem.

Probably the most able Parlimentarian currently at large must be Jacob Rees Mogg, he has all of the qualities to make a great Prime Minister, apart from appearing too posh. He is dignified, always on top of any topic he is involved with, and has a nice sense of humour and irony. While many will fail to see the value in it he is deeply religious, which for him makes it essential to tell the truth. He has succeeded in business, a rare quality in the current pack, and, is happily married, another rare quality at Westminster. However, personally believe he is far to talented to waste as a leader of the country, you only have to consider most of the previous, and current incumbents to realise that.

As to will lead the Tories after the next general election? I hardly think that will matter very much.

[bauble]

Not historic, but it might interest a few here; Andrea Dovizioso will race an Audi in the DTM rounds at Misano as a guest driver.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by coppice

If you read some detail of BJ's mayoral career ,many of his good ideas came from Ken Livingstone and some of his staff described him as lazy and unprepared . As for his ideas- water cannon anybody , going cheap ?
.

You can always find something to support your narrative, as can anyone. However Livingstone was particularly poor when it came to finances (apart from his personal finances) so yes, there are a few things that Johnson got wrong like the water cannon, but to coin a phrase "exploding bendy buses anyone"?

Likewise how many people in politics are not denounced as lazy etc? Especially if their loyalties lie with other parties.

Baub. Yes I think Rees Mogg would be a good candidate but his values are too high for the numpties who make decisions in this matter.

[Mike Harte]

The water cannons were just small change when you consider that, whilst the rest of the country were having to tighten their belts, Boris thought that it was a bonza idea to spaff up the wall over £50 million on the Garden Bridge, as well as the countless millions on the Boris Island idea. Plus he also spent millions trying to pursue a plan to build a new music venue which would have replaced the Barbican.

These are all just vanity projects!

And do we really want a serial philanderer to be the leader of our country? He has the morals of an alley cat!

[Peter Mallett]

Hmm vanity projects? HS2 would be a good place to start in that vein. However no matter what you say (write) I believe the expenditure on law and order in London during the BJ years was a lot higher than now and/or before. The evidence is before us on a tragically daily basis.

As to morals? Look to yourself is a good starting point.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

As to morals? Look to yourself is a good starting point.

I'm sorry, Peter, but are trying to suggest something that I may not be aware of?

[Peter Mallett]

No, just that as a lawyer once said to me. Before throwing stones, make sure you aren't somebody else's target.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

No, just that as a lawyer once said to me. Before throwing stones, make sure you aren't somebody else's target.

"Let he is without sin cast the first stone"

[midgetman]

....At which point a woman came from the crowd and threw a rock.

And Jesus said:

"You really annoy me sometimes, mother."



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Mike Bell]

Well, it appears that the strikes in France today are mainly affecting Calais port, which is closed until midday. French ATC action not so much of a problem for ground and sea traffic.....

Coincidence that with all that’s been going on between us and the EU, for the first time in many years the European Champions League final (soccer ) will be contested by two English clubs......

[Peter Mallett]

There was a documentary series on BBC4 recently. It covered the negotiations from the EU perspective and would you believe it they were laughing all the way to the bank? Couldn't believe the incompetence of the UK "negotiators" who gave everything away right at the beginning.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

There was a documentary series on BBC4 recently. It covered the negotiations from the EU perspective and would you believe it they were laughing all the way to the bank? Couldn't believe the incompetence of the UK "negotiators" who gave everything away right at the beginning.

Peter, you're a lot better informed than me. Was / is the EU perspective correct? I think a lot of us would agree with the opinion that our negotiators were / are incompetent....

[Peter Mallett]

Yes the EU position is correct. As I pointed out a long time ago, by trying to do a deal without confirming that we would leave anyway, meant we lost the argument. To do this properly we should have left with no deal and then sat down to thrash out something. The UK market is a large part of the combined EU GDP thus it would have got around the table pretty quickly.

[Mike Bell]

Thanks, I can see the logic / thinking behind that.

Just have to take comfort in the footy!

[bauble]

Originally Posted by midgetman

....At which point a woman came from the crowd and threw a rock.

And Jesus said:

"You really annoy me sometimes, mother."



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I admire a man who knows his Bible

Rev Bob.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Thanks, I can see the logic / thinking behind that.

Just have to take comfort in the footy!

Well, we appear to have rescued that from Europe.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Well, we appear to have rescued that from Europe.

Have you seen the airline prices to Madrid for the final? Within minutes went up from £150 to £1500 that day.

[Rudernst]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Yes the EU position is correct. As I pointed out a long time ago, by trying to do a deal without confirming that we would leave anyway, meant we lost the argument. To do this properly we should have left with no deal and then sat down to thrash out something. The UK market is a large part of the combined EU GDP thus it would have got around the table pretty quickly.

Europe is not laughing, we were horrified, now a little sad, but life goes on.

What the Brits fail to grasp:
The EU was 27 member states and will be 26.
Many of these have very little commercial interaction with UK and could not care less if UK is an EU member or not !!
In fact, some of these countries are quite aware of the fact that the shift in EU voting rights following the Brexit works in their interest. To spell it out: Brexit is quite fine by them.

The countries that do profit from trade with UK, have not enough votes to swing this.

Germany was - behind the scenes - UKs strongest ally in the inter-EU discussions (because we had the most to lose). But - even in this thread - Germany got a lot of flak (remember the Nazi/war allusions even here in this thread). Well, really really clever to let rip against Your logical and most powerful ally and **** them off.

THESE are the reasons why the EU can take such a hard stance in the negotiations. 26 European states are more unified on the Brexit issue than the British people. THAT is quite fascinating. Governments representing more than 400 million Europeans can agree on something. One governement and one parliament representing 65 million Brits can not agree on much. Food for thought, isnt it ?

The UK economy accounts for roughly 15 % of the EU BIP.
Not nice to lose that, but not a desaster either.
Most of the damage of losing UK trade will be felt in Germany, and we are acutely aware of this, but currently we can afford this, there is 0 unemployment at the moment, who cares if we get one year of zero growth (this is how small the Brexit effect will be in Germany, who is the worst affected)
Again this is the reason why EU stands so unified.
Apart from Germany, nobody will really suffer

One can argue that the timing of Brexit is very bad for the UK position, in times of relative prosperity one can afford to loose a little business.
Would have been different before a crisis background where there was nothing to lose.

UK, on the other hand, does half of its trade with EU.
and UK will have to shoulder any loss of that alone, whereas in the EU it gets diluted amoug 26.

This is, why all talk of "they need us more that we need them" is plain wrong and delusional.
The UK negotiating position always was very bad (one against many).
UK managed to make it far worse than i imagined, but thats another story.

Following THIS thread here has made ME a staunch Brexiteer.
A nation as divided as the UK is on the issue of EU membership has no place in the union and no benefit to offer.
For a while Brexit was unthinkble but Europeans are starting to realise that things will never to back to the status quo ante anyway with UK, not in this generation, so Brexit is inevitable.

Seeing how divided the British are, my preferred option is a no deal Brexit.

RuE