Political, Economic And Current Affairs Discussion Thread

I'll see if I can get a posse together and go in, armed with some pins or needles ;-)


Quick question to everyone, now that Covid's taken hold, will us having left the EU be a positive or negative ?

 

I disagree with him there - I think the Brits take more shit than anyone, especially the English. And they take it lying down if truth were told.

I recall after the Islamic terrorist attack in Reading during the summer, following on from all the BLM chaos and people in London calling for Black Militias, with Covid lockdowns and people losing jobs and homes and just an endless fucking whirlwind of abuse... I recall asking myself how much more the ordinary person would be able to take and if Irish people could endure that level of abuse? I don't think they could.

It felt like we under siege. Would there be a violent backlash?

The vast majority of English people are decent and tolerant people in my experience, but it seems to me that they're increasingly vilified within their own country.
It's pretty fucked up.

I've spent a lot of time trying to understand English mentality and why things are the way they are.
And the conclusion I've come to is that most English people are simply scared to speak publicly about what is going on in their country.
They don’t tend to as they might be labeled as some type of “-ist”, and it could easily cost them their job.
It's not worth sticking your neck out.

I never had the sense that race or even religion were an issue in this country, the issue has always been class.
To complicate this further, the education system in England seems to be shite.
Most English people have a poor grasp of their own history, and in my experience, most young people wouldn’t understand you if mentioned: “The Battle of Britain” or “Dunkirk”.

The only caveat here - is that I think the shit is going to hit the fan from March/April - when people start getting hit in the pocket.

• Unemployment predicted to hit 4 million easily within 12 months.
• 1.3 million have emigrated
• Tax increases and bailout cuts on the way.
• Debt nearing 115% of GDP

Austerity Round 2 will follow, one way or another.
Then I think it will get ugly.

 

There's a bit of a misconception with the EU Vaccine scheme; there was actually nothing stopping us from supporting the EU scheme while continuing to pursue emergency domestic applications ourselves - that was fully valid under the existing EU framework.

That was clarified by the head of the MHRA, when Matt Hancock incorrectly claimed that Brexit delivered a vaccine faster.
There is a rather good summary by the BBC here if you are interested:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/55163730

As someone working in the industry, I've found myself having to point out rather frequently since Hancock's announcement that Brexit cannot actually change the way in which work.
We are forced to operate to the same standards as we did before Brexit. (It's a regulated industry)
We are held to the same standards by the MHRA, as by the EMA and FDA. That cannot change as a result of Brexit, it's impossible - we must still comply with EMA and FDA regulations, the same as before Brexit, in order to sell into the EU or the USA. The UK has no unilateral capacity to change that.

This is why you can have full confidence in the continued efficacy and safety of UK medicines post-Brexit.

Apart from that, however, - there is a fight developing right now, so it's too early to answer your question

My rule of thumb when it comes to Brexit, is that it's our biggest mistake so far.
But we don't know what the consequences will be yet.
(I've yet to see a single tangible benefit).

 

Cheers Dan, I did just mean in general terms (as per your last comment), I guess I have a "safety in numbers" mindset on it, hope I'm wrong.

 

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent forecasting unit, has estimated borrowing will hit £394bn by the end of the financial year in March.

Public Sector Net Debt was over $2 Trillion by last August.



Some headlines:
UK manufacturing ‘close to stalling’ as Brexit and Covid hit supplies
UK fashion industry facing ‘decimation’ over Brexit trade deal
Record number of people miss UK self-assessment tax filing deadline
Borrowing costs for risky companies push towards historic lows
China oil futures hit record levels

 

And so it begins...

• corporation tax and capital gains tax to increase (this should wreck any potential economic recovery nicely)
• Pension triple lock untouched
• tax credits to be frozen

So rob from the young and give to the old is the strategy.

The anger has started building already.

In other news, this guy makes me sick:

 

I actually think he's evil, he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, unless you count having a face you'd never tire of slapping as one.

 

Agree on Brexit mate, awful mistake.

I think a lot of people will get angry at having to pay for the bailout when they themselves were excluded.