[theo_luddite]

When I moved to Canada in the mid-90's I quickly realised how much our original decision to join the EU (EEC as it was or some other marketing version) was hitting our personal pockets. New Zealand Lamb was way cheaper over there (easily 2/3rds of the price, compared to Welsh/British Lamb here as a minor example), however all meat products were cheaper here until we joined and had to personally dig deep to fund the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) that guaranteed our farmers a fixed (not fair) price whether the harvest was bountiful or non-existent.

The tariffs imposed by the EEC at the time meant two of our then biggest suppliers of meat and other animal products, which were er, Australia and New Zealand would you believe? were basically cut off from their main market overnight. Nobody was moaning about the "cheap" imports from Darn Unda just before then. Just saying like. What goes around comes around.

Given that the original concept of the EEC was pretty much all about keeping the (mainly French) farmers happy due to CAP and tariffs to prevent/reduce foreign competition, we were kept out for donkeys years by the French. Eventually we got in, then the semi-retired or voted out bloody politicians got involved and all of a sudden it's about politics on a grand scale.

You know which way I voted regarding Brexit, you can't change owt from the wrong side of the door. If our farmers could compete way back then (with no CAP supporting them) they can bloody well compete now. They've (the big landowner farmers, not the small tenant one's) have had it handed to them on plate for donkey's years. They voted for Brexit (mostly) now they are moaning about competition. Had the EU, as it is now, negotiated more FTA's outside the EU then Brexit would have been less likely to happen - however, the thing about parking your money in a tax haven was and still is the elephant in the room and the main reason why the rich scum wanted us out of there.

The fact that Biden now has them scrambling around due to his proposal to tax multinationals at source of income (amounts to the same thing) and basically giving British (in particular) tax havens the boot, means our lot (especially him in No.11) are suddenly getting very creative at their accounting again whilst appearing to "agree in principle with the idea". A certain recent Labour leader was absolutely crucified by the Tory press for putting this forward in his manifesto. Over their dead bodies they will agree to it.

Meanwhile expect more tin-pot trade deals that aren't actually "worth a hill-of-beans" to be announced in coming months.

Almost as bad as Bodgit saying there will be no borders between the UK/Norn Iron and Norn Iron/Republic of Ironed. You can't have it both ways you prick and you signed up for the first border, not the second and certainly no border anywhere between here and the EU. Your back door is open Bodgit, the EU are only asking you to close it, which you should have done on the way out.