Brexit

[Golden Princess]

So apparently we are doing well - but we havent left yet!!!! Surely these things (project fear?) are for when we leave. At the moment all we have is uncertaincy. The ramifications will really hit home in the months, years, decades to come.

Food banks - again, I am alright (at the moment - it hasnt happened yet), but just in case I wont be I will not be donating to food banks but keeping them for ourselves from now on.

So people using the food banks now (not able to feed themselves, many of whom are in employment), let alone be able to donate will suffer even more? Oh! I remember now - they are a financial burden.

[Gill W]

Might as well all slit our wrists now Gill

That's defeatist talk.

Plan for the worst, but hope for the best, for example, an outbreak of sanity

I think it was a hint of sarcasm...

I'm fully aware of the tone of Stephen's posts, thank you

[towny44]

So apparently we are doing well - but we havent left yet!!!! Surely these things (project fear?) are for when we leave. At the moment all we have is uncertaincy. The ramifications will really hit home in the months, years, decades to come.

Food banks - again, I am alright (at the moment - it hasnt happened yet), but just in case I wont be I will not be donating to food banks but keeping them for ourselves from now on.

So people using the food banks now (not able to feed themselves, many of whom are in employment), let alone be able to donate will suffer even more? Oh! I remember now - they are a financial burden.

Golden Princess, if you had read Johnds's post carefully you should have noted that the comments about project fear from the treasury and George Osborne clearly stated that the apocalyptical prophesies would take place immediately after a no vote. However none of them did, apart from the fall in Sterling which has produced major benefits to our exports which they also failed to predict, therefore why should we believe the same treasury and the current Chancellor when they state they will now take please after a no deal Brexit.
Jack and his fellow remainers have also failed miserably to produce undeniable facts to support their predictions of doom, other than a rather weird acceptance that the EU won't let us leave without spanking our bottoms. Which seems to me rather unpatriotic and certainly not something to be as proud of as Jack appears to be.

[Golden Princess]

spanking our bottoms ??

[Jack Staff]

Jack and his fellow remainers have also failed miserably to produce undeniable facts to support their predictions of doom, other than a rather weird acceptance that the EU won't let us leave without spanking our bottoms.

That's because my facts come from experts. I understand they should be ignored if you are a Brexiter.

The EU are letting us leave by the rules that WE wrote. They have done nothing that was not to be expected over two years ago with a little knowledge outside of the Daily Fail.

Ahhh diddums, getting a botty smack by reality?

Which seems to me rather unpatriotic and certainly not something to be as proud of as Jack appears to be.

I don't think you even understand patriotism, you hypocrite:

Whoopee, they have been millstones round our necks for far too long. We will no longer have to twist businessmen's arms to get them to relocate to these outposts, and they will no longer receive disproportionate subsidies from Westminster. I cannot see any downside at all in that Jack.

I do not celebrate the breakup of my country, because that IS unpatriotic.

[Stephen]

Jack and his fellow remainers have also failed miserably to produce undeniable facts to support their predictions of doom, other than a rather weird acceptance that the EU won't let us leave without spanking our bottoms.

That's because my facts come from experts. I understand they should be ignored if you are a Brexiter.

The EU are letting us leave by the rules that WE wrote. They have done nothing that was not to be expected over two years ago with a little knowledge outside of the Daily Fail.

Ahhh diddums, getting a botty smack by reality?

Which seems to me rather unpatriotic and certainly not something to be as proud of as Jack appears to be.

I don't think you even understand patriotism, you hypocrite:

Whoopee, they have been millstones round our necks for far too long. We will no longer have to twist businessmen's arms to get them to relocate to these outposts, and they will no longer receive disproportionate subsidies from Westminster. I cannot see any downside at all in that Jack.

I do not celebrate the breakup of my country, because that IS unpatriotic.

Now now Jack let's not get nasty.

[Kendhni]

I generally have stayed out of the brexit debate simply because I don't really care that much. I have taken the approach that I will look after Julie and I and it is up to everyone else to look after themselves. So I have been carefully watching the likes of Farage and Rees Mogg and have followed their investment patterns - basically moving money out of the UK - and ensuring my dual citizenship is up to date.

However when a post is so misleading, it is hard to sit back and watch.

Golden Princess, if you had read Johnds's post carefully you should have noted that the comments about project fear from the treasury and George Osborne clearly stated that the apocalyptical prophesies would take place immediately after a no vote. However none of them did, apart from the fall in Sterling which has produced major benefits to our exports which they also failed to predict, therefore why should we believe the same treasury and the current Chancellor when they state they will now take please after a no deal Brexit.

I like the bit where you said 'none of them did' and then contradicted yourself with 'apart from'.
The bit you conveniently forgot to mention was that in the weekend following the referendum the BoE reduced interest rates and issued billions more of QE to try to support the pound - yet it still fell by project fears prediction of 10-20%.

The use of words like 'apocalyptical' is just fallacious and an exaggeration of fact in order not to have to address the underlying question.

Some other arguments I have heard attributed to project fear
Project Fear: We will have to surrender the customs union
Brexit: That is all just part of project fear
Brexit (Farage): We are not talking about the customs union
Brexit (Boris): The customs union will remain
The EU: out means out (after Davis thought he was going to tell the EU what we were keeping and what we were not keeping)

Project Fear: Mentioned settlement payments to the EU
Brexit: That is all just part of project fear
The negotiations: It appears we will need to pay several billion as a 'divorce settlement'

Project Fear: It could cost us more
Brexit: That is just part of project fear
Brexit (Farage): It was never about the money
DexEU: Various models showing that the cost could be between 1.25% and 5% (vs the 0.35% cost of the EU)

Project Fear: It could take decades to put everything in place
Brexit: That is all just part of project fear
Rees Mogg: It could be the second half of this century before we see the benefits

Project Fear: It will not have a material impact on immigration
Brexit: That is all just part of project fear
Brexit (Boris): We can choose who we bring to this country. (but he conveniently forgot to mention that trade agreements often have clauses in them about migration, freedom of movement etc. and, if you find one person you want then you often also inherit the spouse, 2.4 children and other family members)

Project Fear: Impact to sovereignty
Brexit: That is just part of project fear
Interesting one this, there never really was an issue with sovereignty, because we always made our own laws. There has been a lot of spin about the EU forcing laws on the UK but that is just spin. The UK was part of the decision making process of all EU laws (something that we are giving up and may, in the future, have EU laws forced upon us to allow us to continue trading with the EU).

Project Fear: It will make another world war more likely
Brexit: That is all just part of project fear
I am inclined to give brexit this one, while strictly speaking the statement is true the increase in likelihood is very small (Maybe moving from 2% to 2.5%)

Project Fear: Inflation will increase
Brexit: That is just part of project fear
If we rejoin the WTO as a stand alone country then we will not only have to pay for the pleasure but there are strict rules we will have to adhere to including their mandated import duties and terms in relation to immigration etc. Even Boris has ceded the point that we may actually see a rise in immigration from Asia and Africa.
Also, the BoE has raised interest rates and probably will again before next March. This is mainly to give them some headroom to try to fight inflation. If they can't reduce rates then inflation could go unchecked - or they will have to issue more QE (basically passing our generations debt onto the next).

But we haven't left yet so goodness knows how this will play out.

Jack and his fellow remainers have also failed miserably to produce undeniable facts to support their predictions of doom, other than a rather weird acceptance that the EU won't let us leave without spanking our bottoms. Which seems to me rather unpatriotic and certainly not something to be as proud of as Jack appears to be.

Again a stupid argument - how can anyone produce 'undeniable facts about the future'? If that is the level of evidence you require then it is not a bit of wonder people fell for the 'undeniable facts' on the side of buses later proven to be lies or, at best, deliberately misleading.


It is not unpatriotic to question a decision and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous and usually means that the person has no valid counter argument. The big problem for me is that everything brexit said before the referendum has been proven to be lies/mis-leading and ever since then their ONLY strategy has been to call everything that does not agree with their position 'project fear'. Brexit has failed to produce a single shred of evidence for any benefits that brexit will bring to the UK. Even DExEU has had to highly manipulate figures to try to put any kind of positive spin on brexit. Now we are starting to see the brexit leaders distancing themselves from their own negotiations because they are wakening up to the fact that they are not going to get what they want and this is not going to be as good for the UK as they would have liked.

I have already seen posts and comments from defeatist brexiteers trying to pre-emptively say don't blame the state of the economy in the UK over the next few years on brexit, that is not what we voted for. Which all goes back to the only comment I really make, we had a referendum at which time nobody had a clue what they were voting for. The public was left to make up their own mind and was generally misled in that decision process. However, brexit will be responsible for the state of the economy over the next few decades (good or bad) - brexiteers have always been very quick to remind us that the referendum question was simply 'out' or 'in' - so, if we are 'out' then they got exactly what they voted for, irrespective of the type of brexit.

I hope it works out, but at the minute I am finding it very hard to find anything tangibly positive about brexit.

[Onelife]

Hi Ken,

There is no doubt there has been loads of bullsh*t from both sides about our EU depature, and it's fair to say a large proportion of the country will have been influenced...not by reasoned arguments but more by the positive and negative spin cast by both sides.

I don't think you have to be a historian to see what has happened to our country over the past 30 or so years.....We have lost our industrial base, we have sold most of our services, we have surrenderd our higher judicial powers to those who now tell us what is right or wrong (remember, Adu Qutada) our farmers are paid to keep our fields baron of produce, our fishing waters have become a free for all costing this country millions in revenue. ....l could go on Ken but l think you can see where l am coming from, but when you add all the above up it amounts to one thing and the thing that made me vote out.....We as a country have lost our soul and identity.

For richer or for poorer l want my country to feel proud of itself again...A country where all nationalities, cultures respect the opportunities of living in this country, and strive to make it GREAT again.

Regards

Keith

[Stephen]

Sounds fair to me Keith

[Ray Scully]

Hmmm Keith I had intransigent trade unions, bad management, and Tory policies under Mrs Thatcher as mainly responsible for our industrial demise As for services are they not a large and growing part oi economy. Yes Abu Qutarda was a dogs breakfast of an event, however it must be balanced by the many security benefits of being part of the EU. Oh I still am firmly of the opinion that this country is Great not perfect but still Great

Ray

[Kendhni]

Hi Ken,

There is no doubt there has been loads of bullsh*t from both sides about our EU depature, and it's fair to say a large proportion of the country will have been influenced...not by reasoned arguments but more by the positive and negative spin cast by both sides.

I would say, on balance, most of the BS has come from brexit because they have yet to come out with anything tangible - just the tired old argument of calling everything 'project fear'. I want to hear more, I want to hear a proper costed model of the future with a timeline of events detailing the expected ups and downs for the economy. But yet all I hear is a deafening silence apart from the wails of project fear, project fear, project fear (BTW I am led to believe DExEU has run their models but is too scared to make them public).

I don't think you have to be a historian to see what has happened to our country over the past 30 or so years.....We have lost our industrial base, we have sold most of our services, we have surrenderd our higher judicial powers to those who now tell us what is right or wrong (remember, Adu Qutada) our farmers are paid to keep our fields baron of produce, our fishing waters have become a free for all costing this country millions in revenue. ....l could go on Ken but l think you can see where l am coming from, but when you add all the above up it amounts to one thing and the thing that made me vote out.....We as a country have lost our soul and identity.

Do we really want to do a comparison between today and 30 years ago - I personally feel the country is in a far better shape today than it was 30-40 years ago. Our standard of living is higher, employment is higher, infrastructure is better and we now have human rights, consumer rights, employment rights, weflare and the NHS, all of which are the envy of many other countries. Some of that is down to EU and some of it is down to the UK government managing its own country and some of it is down to global economics.

For richer or for poorer l want my country to feel proud of itself again...A country where all nationalities, cultures respect the opportunities of living in this country, and strive to make it GREAT again.

Regards

Keith

I am not sure why you should not be proud of the UK as it currently exists - it is up there among the top countries in the world to live in - personally i am (in the main) very proud to be part of the current UK (the bit I am least proud of is the xenophobia). I don't know how I am going to feel in 10-15 years time though. Why is it currently NOT 'great'? There seems to be this mis-perception that we have lost our way, I don't see that, I see a small island off the coast of Europe that over the last 40 years (and longer) has gone from strength to strength and held its own against much larger countries and the 'super-powers' socially, militarily, economically and pioneeringly (if there is such a word). Britain is CURRENTLY 'great'.

At the minute brexit is basically quasi-religious based on faith and hope (let us pray that it does not need to add charity to that mix). Fact and evidence based models were never and, to date, have not become part of the decision making process. We are nearing the brexit date, I have no doubt it is going to happen, but the brexit leadership has to start telling the people how this will affect all socio-economic groups in this country and stop hiding behind silence and 'project fear'.

[Mervyn and Trish]

A few points Ken. I am not attempting to answer you paragraph by paragraph so this won't be comprehensive.

The NHS. It was formed in 1948, and is not a product of the EU. It is, however, under unrelenting pressure, due to, among other things, rapid population growth, the majority of which is directly accounted for by net migration. It has some excellent overseas staff, but many of these are from former Commonwealth and non EU countries, who now have to jump through more hoops to get here than their EU counterparts. Under EU rules we are not allowed to question the qualifications of EU staff and have to accept their training standards match ours. In some cases they don't and there have been a number of high profile tragedies because of that. The EHIC card is supposed to mean all EU nationals holding one can get equivalent treatment when travelling as they get at home. In practice, some countries are reluctant to accept it and still demand insurance or payment. The payments the NHS hands over for treatment of our citizens abroad far exceed what they receive for treating others here. In my view the NHS survives in spite of, not because of, the EU.

Infrastructure. Not a lot to be proud of. Our infrastructure is crumbling. Look at potholes for example. We can't afford to fix them at the same time as sending money to other countries to build new roads there. I personally know a cyclist who spent two days in intensive care because of an unrepaired deep pothole. Schools and other parts of our infrastructure are overloaded, again because of rapid population growth.

Project Fear. You are right, it is overused. A better term would be Project Inaccurate. Numerous examples have been quoted here of what was claimed was going to happen immediately after the referendum and which hasn't. Why would we believe the same "experts" now? An example quoted earlier of it all being okay because Carney lowered interest rates is nonsense. It was he who said interest rates would rise and then made the opposite decision. The suggestion that he is now raising rates to give himself room to lower them later to curb inflation is also nonsense. Banks raise interest rates to fight inflation, not lower them.

Xenophobia. I find that term, which is regularly used, as offensive as Bremoaners or Project Fear. I personally have no issue with people who wish to come and live her and contribute to our society. But I do believe we should make the decision on who is allowed to come, and a surgeon from India should have priority over an unemployed vagrant from Eastern Europe. I do have an issue with spongers and layabouts and really don't care about their ethnic origins. That is not xenophobic. It is just a shame that after all that has gone on those who voted to stay still do not understand why those who voted to leave did so and have to quote an offensive term as the only logical explanation.

If Call Me Dave and the rest of his ivory tower mates had sought to understand the mood of the country outside of Islington dinner party tables (and I include in that Gordon Brown who could only put concerns about immigration down as bigotry, so it's not a party thing) then there would have been no referendum and no vote to leave. If any one of the major parties had said okay we are going to sort this properly they would have won power. It's no good Jack saying that none of the things we are concerned about were the fault of the EU and all the fault of our own government. It that is the case they should have acted. Maybe the best thing about leaving the EU is no UK politician will be able to blame them ever again instead of sorting things out themselves.

[Stephen]

What will be will be, and we will deal with it.

[Kendhni]

In my view the NHS survives in spite of, not because of, the EU.

Not my point, my point was that the NHS is one of many things that we should be proud off about GB.

Infrastructure. Not a lot to be proud of. Our infrastructure is crumbling.

There will always be examples of failings, but overall we have a good infrastructure. There are reasons why it is a bit frayed around the edges but to blame overseas aid is disingenuous.

A better term would be Project Inaccurate.

But still more accurate than anything that has come from brexit

Numerous examples have been quoted here of what was claimed was going to happen immediately after the referendum and which hasn't.

Most examples I have read are very selective interpretation and ignore measures that were put in place immediately after the referendum to prevent the economy crashing. Plus half of what I have heard being attributed to project fear is purely made up.

Many of them were actually j Why would we believe the same "experts" now?

That is like saying why would I believe my doctor because he misdiagnosed my headache? it is the best information we have, and you have to take a look at the bigger picture. Despite attempts DExEU has failed to model a successful EU brexit scenario. I find that worrying, but I suppose we could just dismiss it and say 'they are experts' so should be ignored - is that really the level of evidence that is acceptable?

An example quoted earlier of it all being okay because Carney lowered interest rates is nonsense. It was he who said interest rates would rise and then made the opposite decision. The suggestion that he is now raising rates to give himself room to lower them later to curb inflation is also nonsense. Banks raise interest rates to fight inflation, not lower them.

I think you need to read some of the white papers coming from the BoE. He had a choice to raise them to protect the pound and allow inflationary pressures into the economy; or to lower them and let the pound float. I am actually glad that he chose to lower them, but at the low rate it meant the BoE could not fight inflation which will set into the system over the next few years - some people have talked at hyper-inflation, which I think is a bit of an exaggeration.

Xenophobia.

It was not aimed at anyone, so no need to take it personally. It is a general statement about the UK where there is, without doubt, a bit of a wave of xenophobia, going on. Many on the brexit camp including Farage, Boris and Rees Mogg have also stated as such.

It is just a shame that after all that has gone on those who voted to stay still do not understand why those who voted to leave did so

Fair comment, but then most of those that voted leave have no real understanding of why they voted leave either, they based it on (proven) misinformation so a year ago I wouldn't have expected them to be able to explain it rationally. BTW, I say that similarly for remain - the EU had a chance to lay out its stall and it refused to. However as we approach brexit I would expect that the brexit camp could at least outline what brexit is going to mean (and not still rely on hiding behind calling everything 'project fear').

Maybe the best thing about leaving the EU is no UK politician will be able to blame them ever again instead of sorting things out themselves.

I wish , that sadly isn't going to happen. I am already hearing sound bites from politicians looking to line up excuses why they have failed and how brexit is being weakened by the behaviour of the EU. If you think post brexit that the EU and the UK are not going to continue to lock horns on many issues you are badly mistaken.

I have always been the sort of person that could be convinced to get behind brexit, but the brexit camp so far has not given me a single shred of tangible evidence on which to hang my flag - it is all based on faith, hope and internal jingoism (a term I use advisably since I have often seen comments from brexiteers that if May does not deliver their flavour of brexit (one of many) there will be civil war - which personally I find hilarious).

[Kendhni]

What will be will be, and we will deal with it.

Just to be a bit more accurate

What will be will be, and we hope that we can deal with it.

[Ray Scully]

What will be will be, and we will deal with it.

Hmmmm the royal "we" i presume

[Mervyn and Trish]

I have always been the sort of person that could be convinced to get behind brexit, but the brexit camp so far has not given me a single shred of tangible evidence on which to hang my flag

And that is precisely where I was, but the other way round, before the vote Ken. My inclination was to vote Leave. However, I really wanted the EU to come up with an indication they understood our concerns, but instead they sent Call Me Dave home with his tail between his legs and a piece of paper as worthless as Chamberlain's.

Then I wanted the Remain campaign to convince me to stay. But they didn't. Because, call it what you want, it was all threats. "I'll put up interest rates." "I'll have an emergency budget the day after the result to raise taxes." Did the Leave campaign think about the Irish border, which is now one of the biggest issues? No. But was that a core message of the Remain campaign either? In fact were any of the things Leavers are now condemned as not understanding or not thinking of explained by the Remain campaign? No. Because actually they didn't believe they could possibly lose. Threaten the plebs and they'll fall into line. No worrries. Pass the Port darling.

And how can anyone give a costed time line etc when we don't know the shape of the deal or not? My view now is let them get on with the negotiations. Stop trying to sabotage them (a message for the extremists on both sides). When we know the answer let's get stuck in and work with it. Yes there will be issues if/when we leave. It would be naïve to pretend not. But there will also be huge issues if we change our minds and stay, because the EU bureaucrats will have learned nothing other than that if they bully us enough we give in.

And the great European state marches on to greater union (which means more riches for the rich and more poverty for the poor). You've heard the thing about give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him forever? Well the EU is the former. Taking money from the rich to give to the poor does nothing to encourage the poor countries (and especially those burdened with inept corrupt governments) to do more to help themselves. That should be the EU target. Not building their own bureaucracy and trying to make all the countries meet one inappropriate, dependent and subservient model.

[Onelife]

Hi Ken,

There is no doubt there has been loads of bullsh*t from both sides about our EU depature, and it's fair to say a large proportion of the country will have been influenced...not by reasoned arguments but more by the positive and negative spin cast by both sides.

I would say, on balance, most of the BS has come from brexit because they have yet to come out with anything tangible - just the tired old argument of calling everything 'project fear'. I want to hear more, I want to hear a proper costed model of the future with a timeline of events detailing the expected ups and downs for the economy. But yet all I hear is a deafening silence apart from the wails of project fear, project fear, project fear (BTW I am led to believe DExEU has run their models but is too scared to make them public).

I don't think you have to be a historian to see what has happened to our country over the past 30 or so years.....We have lost our industrial base, we have sold most of our services, we have surrenderd our higher judicial powers to those who now tell us what is right or wrong (remember, Adu Qutada) our farmers are paid to keep our fields baron of produce, our fishing waters have become a free for all costing this country millions in revenue. ....l could go on Ken but l think you can see where l am coming from, but when you add all the above up it amounts to one thing and the thing that made me vote out.....We as a country have lost our soul and identity.

Do we really want to do a comparison between today and 30 years ago - I personally feel the country is in a far better shape today than it was 30-40 years ago. Our standard of living is higher, employment is higher, infrastructure is better and we now have human rights, consumer rights, employment rights, weflare and the NHS, all of which are the envy of many other countries. Some of that is down to EU and some of it is down to the UK government managing its own country and some of it is down to global economics.

For richer or for poorer l want my country to feel proud of itself again...A country where all nationalities, cultures respect the opportunities of living in this country, and strive to make it GREAT again.

Regards

Keith

I am not sure why you should not be proud of the UK as it currently exists - it is up there among the top countries in the world to live in - personally i am (in the main) very proud to be part of the current UK (the bit I am least proud of is the xenophobia). I don't know how I am going to feel in 10-15 years time though. Why is it currently NOT 'great'? There seems to be this mis-perception that we have lost our way, I don't see that, I see a small island off the coast of Europe that over the last 40 years (and longer) has gone from strength to strength and held its own against much larger countries and the 'super-powers' socially, militarily, economically and pioneeringly (if there is such a word). Britain is CURRENTLY 'great'.

At the minute brexit is basically quasi-religious based on faith and hope (let us pray that it does not need to add charity to that mix). Fact and evidence based models were never and, to date, have not become part of the decision making process. We are nearing the brexit date, I have no doubt it is going to happen, but the brexit leadership has to start telling the people how this will affect all socio-economic groups in this country and stop hiding behind silence and 'project fear'.

Hi Ken,

How can you expect a "properly costed model with time frames" when we are not sure which trade partners we wil be dealing with?....Whilst we may be able to discuss trade option within and outside of the EU nothing can be finalised or made publicly availible until trade deals have been made...l would imagine?

......

Ken, our standard of living may arguably be better than what it was 30 years ago but there is an increasing number who will argue this isn't the case (A large majority of them who voted out). It matters not how many "rIghts"  we all have if those rights don't include and move the less advantaged from where they were 30 years ago.

As for better infrastructure.....you only have to look at the state of our roads to dispel that argument. ....Our transport systems are in need of a major overhaul, 'net work rail'  is known as 'net work' derailed in may parts of the country.

We've been complacent in providing our own long term power supplies and now are very dependent on overseas Imports.

..........

Our small island is being kept afloat by financial services, if that bubble bursts we'll have no other industries to fall back on ... that'll be nothing to be proud of for sure.

Regards

Keith

[Onelife]

Oops Sir Merv....l've just read your post and it covers most of what l have said.....but yours was put far more eloquently

[Stephen]

What will be will be, and we will deal with it.

Just to be a bit more accurate

What will be will be, and we hope that we can deal with it.

Oh dear, yet more doom and gloom. Looks like it's ration books and land reclamation for grow your own then.

[Onelife]

What will be will be, and we will deal with it.

Just to be a bit more accurate

What will be will be, and we hope that we can deal with it.

Oh dear, yet more doom and gloom. Looks like it's ration books and land reclamation for grow your own then.

Don't worry Stephen...I look after my mates, you can have part of my country estate if you need to grow your own

[Stephen]

You mean that weather beaten patch outside your tin hut next to the landfill site in taffysville

[Onelife]

You mean that weather beaten patch outside your tin hut next to the landfill site in taffysville

You Bast*rd..why did you have to mention that

[Gill W]

Hello Ken,

First of all, great to hear a different voice on this thread. I remember you wrote some excellent, balanced posts back at the time of the Brexit vote, and I agreed with a lot of the things you said at the time.

Secondly, I'm fairly sure you are in Northern Ireland. What are your feelings about the Irish border question? As I understand it, under the terms of the Good Friday agreement we can't have a hard border between North and South, yet to trade under WTO rules, we have to have a hard border.

Now I hear that Rees-Mogg wants to 'have people inspected as we did during the Troubles.' This all sounds very worrying. I live in Kent, and I'm concerned about my county being turned into a car park - but it doesn't worry me half as much as the Northern Ireland border.

You mentioned you had dual citizenship - if it got too bad, do you think you'd move south of the border, to a relatively sane country?

[Kendhni]

Sorry guys, at the airport .... again!!!! Will try to get back to this when I get a chance.