[St Charles Owl]

Notice there is a slight similarity to Corbyn's campaign initiatives in the Dec General Election but in his case he made no "inroads" because of the obsession with Brexit in certain areas of England. Brexit wasn't really an issue at all in the minds of a huge proportion of the Irish electorate. Hence the success of Sinn Fein's election. campaign

Brexit was an obsession with every part of the UK in the December GE!!! It was virtually the only topic on the table most of the time, it clouded or drowned out almost every other policy or topic of discussion. Brexit had a minimal effect on the ROI election predominantly because there is nothing they can do about it now anyway.

[hibeejim21]

It was an English obsession, in Scotland the political debate was far broader.

No one could have predicted the outcome of the election in the republic but unless a coalition government can be agreed there will be another election and SF will then take full advantage. They hold all the cards. We will be heading to a border poll there within years I reckon as Boris will be dealing with Sinn Fein in the republic and in the north.

As 0762 points out Sinn Fein stood on a distinct left wing platform and offered corbyn type solutions to the republics problems. There's a faux outrage about the idea that a party with historic links to the IRA could have any sort of power in the South, and there are plenty of voters in the republic who would never vote for someone who has any links with them. But a huge amount of the concern from the centrist parties is based around a Sinn Fein run country being catastrophic for the middle-class landlords bank balances.

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2016 No checks
2017 No checks
2018 Absolutely no checks
2019 No checks under any circumstances
2020 We always said there would be checks. That's what you voted for!!


Gove really is xxxx shameless.

"............In the first official confirmation that the government is going to impose trade barriers post-Brexit, he warned there would be checks on food and goods of animal origin, plus customs declarations and mandatory safety and security certificates required for all imports....."

[0762]

Gove is a shameless scumbag, pure n simple!! Anybody with any kinda political savvy just has to study this moron's political activities, comments and behaviour over the past five years to appreciate what a little, lying bastard he actually is - one of many within Johnson's govt ranks!! It's a funny old world really! Poor people, poor because of Tory austerity; men and women on the "scrap heap" for generations because of Thatcher's destruction of British industry; sons and daughters, grandchildren of miners; all, out of despair what Tory governments have done to them, and their antecedents, over the decades and yet VOTED TORY!!? And now we have another RW Tory government, a govt such as we have not seen since Victorian times, with a majority which allows it to do what it likes, literally, as the unwritten UK constitution has caused them little constraint up to now, nor will it. And those who have voted for them, out of despair, will find despair heaped on more despair, as Johnson and his fascist cohorts sell off anything in the public sector which they have not already sold off, or destroyed, further chop the remains of our prized welfare state, heap fuel on the "fires of global warming" in the name of profit/greed, whilst shovelling the proceeds into their offshore bank accounts and those of their friend/backers. Bank accounts which, fortuitously, Brexit will render safe from EU regulation - an absolute travesty and IMO a glaring crime that should be exposed continually when it happens until rightful action is taken!!
In their exclusive enclaves and private clubs, many a glass will be raised to the naivety of those who repeatedly vote to be humiliated and impoverished in their own local communities - to live on a pittance because there are no jobs, or in the gig economy with no rights, their children "chucked on the scrapheap" or sent to be maimed or killed in foreign conflicts for no purpose, yet continue to vote time after time, for their oppressors and exploiters!!! As said previously, "IT'S A FUNNY OLD WORLD" but I'm not laughing!!

[spireitematt]

It was an English obsession, in Scotland the political debate was far broader.

No one could have predicted the outcome of the election in the republic but unless a coalition government can be agreed there will be another election and SF will then take full advantage. They hold all the cards. We will be heading to a border poll there within years I reckon as Boris will be dealing with Sinn Fein in the republic and in the north.

Doesn't have to be a coalition but a supply and confidence agreement between the parties but there might be another election if they can't agree.

[hibeejim21]

It was an English obsession, in Scotland the political debate was far broader.

No one could have predicted the outcome of the election in the republic but unless a coalition government can be agreed there will be another election and SF will then take full advantage. They hold all the cards. We will be heading to a border poll there within years I reckon as Boris will be dealing with Sinn Fein in the republic and in the north.

Doesn't have to be a coalition but a supply and confidence agreement between the parties but there might be another election if they can't agree.

If Sinn Fein call the shots in the republic boris is in for a very hard time indeed.

[0762]

Now that is an understatement! Imagine a Tory govt having to deal with Sinn Fein esp after reflecting back to the IRA bomb attack at the Grand Brighton Hotel in 1984 that damaged and stunned the Thatcher govt right down to its inner core and exposed how mortal all its arrogant RW members actually were at that time. Has this particular British political party ever forgotten eh? They'll have to forget and "get on with it" because that is the only way forward whether they like it or not. But based on their current "f### off and die" antics against the SNP/Scottish govt, are they able to conduct themselves properly under such demanding political circumstances that I'll bet they'd never foreseen and do remember, retrospectively they have a "black history" as well and not forgotten "across the watter" either although good diplomacy prevails!!

[hibeejim21]

Macron pushing for a harder stance from the EU.

Germany/Holland/Ireland/Denmark are all kind of pushing a 'softly softly' approach to dealing with the UK, but France,spain,portugal and some of the smaller nations want this wrapped up tight in terms of any potential trade wars and are prepared for 'no deal' . Macron in particular wants to hive off more of the city of London to his side of the fence - I noticed a couple more big hitters went last week.

Now we know UK business are going to be wrapped up in red tape for the next few years there is a lot of opportunity to take commerce and investment away from the UK.

BBC News - Swindon Honda closure date 'set in stone' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wi...e-51473399 …

[0762]

IMO much more "hits" to follow - Honda is only part of the 1st phase of real impact hits on the UK economy!

[spireitematt]

Biggest problem we have in the UK when it comes to car manufacturers is people aren't buying new cars as they don't have the money as wages aren't in line with inflation. People prefer to go for second hand cars and the other problem now is electric cars even though we don't have the resources to charge them and if we all went and got electric cars it would put a massive strain on the National grid. Japan have a free-trade deal with the EU so they could close down plants in Europe and move the plants back to Japan and export the cars to Europe.

Problem with Britain is we have no industry anymore it's all disappeared or sold off by Thatcher and the Tories of the 80's and 90's and Britain is now a country which focuses on consumerism and services. We don't have a British car manufacture in this country. Everything in this country is foreign owned by foreign investors or been sold off abroad.

Automation is also going to be a massive problem for Britain but also for the World and it will mean at some point we will need to look at a Universal Basic Income at some point possibly in the next 20-30 years.

[hibeejim21]

I know what your saying matt but that's a very old song now.... 30 years old at least, surely it doesn't matter where the investment is coming from as long as their is manufacturing and jobs at the end of it ? Japan won't move production back to Japan - it wants to sell in the single market, Swindons plant will end up in the Czech Republic or Poland.

The problem Britain has is that Brexit is happening in a country with crumbling public services, food insecurity, increasing child poverty, mass housing insecurity, excessive personal debt and chronic levels of productivity. All of this in one of the most unequal countries in Europe.You can't put up barriers to your nearest trading partners and hope to compensate by trading unicorns with Australia. Brexit is going to make things worse.

The other problem is that people in Wokingham don't give a xxxx about people in workington, people in Guildford don't care about people in Glasgow. It's a very disunited kingdom in many, many ways. Reinforced by the political system, It's dividing to fall.

Cameron,osborne and Johnson will go down in history for destroying Britain.