One year on was it worth it?

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Look at the Kiwi Company, Fisher and Paykel. For decades they didn't even BOTHER trying to import into the UK. Some of the best domestic appliances and healthcare devices available - and we had to pay a fortune to get their world leading medical devices.
I hate to tell you this...they are Chinese. Part of the Haier Group.

[Philiptigerrice]

This is all on the assumption that nobody can agree anything other than massive import and export duties (20% you say?!)...
As for a big hard border - well, we already have one - its called the English Channel - and trucks and vehicles get stopped and inspected routinely. Hell, it took me and the kids over an hour to get from the Tarmac to the Baggage Collection at Manchester Airport recently, going through immigration.
I even brought some stuff in by post, from South Africa last year - even that got picked up by customs, and I was taxed on it.
So - to frighten everyone by saying there's going to be a 20% levy on everything, and massive delays getting into the country, when actually its a completely made up thing, and to pretend we have no border at present is just a nonsense.
British Manufacturing is doing brilliantly well at the moment, better than it has in years, including exports. And again - as you said - 44% of it is going to Europe, why would they add a 20% levy to their own imports?
Why would Germany vote to add 20% to the cost of its exported cars? Why would the French vote to add 20% to the wine they export?
Also, you don't take into account the fact that if we do see a token import tax of a few percent - which I personally think is likely - I think we'll agree to not pay a divorce fee, but to pay a token import levy instead, for say, 10 years.... Then we'll offset it by cutting Corporation Tax to companies that are importing and exporting.
Thus making us attractive to foreign investors.
That's the beauty of being fully independent you see - you don't have to do what Brussels says - and you don't have to think like a Eurocrat - you can lift your head up - and look how the rest of the world manages without Brussels - and you can forge your own way - being innovative - as is the way of the UK!
It'll be reet (thumbs)

[Philiptigerrice]

They're a Chinese subsidiary now, but I can assure you they're a Kiwi outfit by origin
you can check the Beijing phone book if you like - come back to me if you find many Mr Paykels :whistle:

[Philiptigerrice]

There's gonna be a Genealogical Search of China for Paykels now isn't there?

[Simon_100]

That isn't what we're seeing inland, prices have either stabilised or risen slightly in the past 2-3 years. There are fewer properties on the market here, and there has been an increased interest in property, particularly from Dutch and Germans. Town houses and apartments aren't doing as well, it seems people want space and land over convenience.

I'm glad to learn that Alan. Today's news was that in Barcelona the average increase was 20% over the last year, 365 in the Gothic Quarter. But in Spain in general it's still diddley squat or less.

IMHO the Elephant in the EU economic room is that the Spanish banks count empty properties as 'assets' rather than 'liabilities', giving them a totally false credit rating. And bearing in mind that, say Santander, owned UK banks such as HSBC' credit operation and building societies such as Alliance and Leicester and Bradford and Bingley the consequences are alarming if ever anything came to the crunch ...

Back on 'one year on': the situation for ex-pats has never been less clear. There has never been any government stance on anything to do with rights of UK citizens living in the EU, some 1.5 million Brits, whose rights have been simply ignored during the entire process. So much for 'caring' government ... and you do have to wonder what the government thinks of UK residents' 'rights' to such liberties of sleeping in bed with the confidence that you may live to see the dawn of the next day - evidently nothing if you are poor and living in a high rise building ...

Regs

Simon

PS re the 'baby boomer' thing from a few pages back.Well I had a specialist clinical nurse job back in the day so didn't get the somewhat paltry weekend allowances. So I had a serious job Monday to Friday, taught evening class two nights a week at the local Tech - including University Access courses - worked two nights a week at my local pub, which was pretty much my entire social life apart from Saturdays when the rugby club boys came in and you could hardly call it 'social' while Mrs S worked nights full time as well as shifts in a pub kitchen by day and took in sewing curtains for the 'elite', who insisted on numerous 'fittings' really just to show us what they had ... and all to support interest rates of up to 17% - never once paid a payment of less that 10% ...

Years later we rented out our last UK house after trading down and clearing the mortgage outright, but over nearly 20 years our young tenants - all of whom earned far more than we could have dreamed of - were total air heads who spend all of there cash 'travelling', going to Glastonbury, and of course complaining about the least thing, all the while treating us like 'parents' with bottomless pockets and totally ignoring their responsibilities to the property as tenants - apart of course from subletting the 'spare room' every once in a while ...

So I have zero tolerance for the generation that thinks that home ownership should just grow on trees for them as seems to be the case the days - Ok rant over!

PPS IMHO the days of lunatic interest rates are just around the corner - it's the only method the Bank of England has to influence the value of Sterling - it's the price of oil stoopid!!! - so dream on all of you who think your UK future is rosy ...

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

"So - to frighten everyone by saying there's going to be a 20% levy on everything, and massive delays getting into the country, when actually its a completely made up thing, and to pretend we have no border at present is just a nonsense.

British Manufacturing is doing brilliantly well at the moment, better than it has in years, including exports. And again - as you said - 44% of it is going to Europe, why would they add a 20% levy to their own imports?

Why would Germany vote to add 20% to the cost of its exported cars? Why would the French vote to add 20% to the wine they export?"

But 'no deal' means reversion to WTO = 20% duty. And May has said "'no deal' is better than a bad deal.'"

A 'dream deal' as you describe will come at a price: including free movement, continuing conformance to EU standards etc, but no UK input into the running of the EU. Bear in mind that many of the things which we don't like about the EU...its continuing expansion to points east, for example, were driven by the UK Govt under Blair. The UK Govt still supports Turkey's efforts to join the EU, for example, and raised not a word of objection when as part of that the EU gave a grant to a Turkish company called Otosan to build Ford Transits that had previously been built in Southampton.

The Brexit vote hit the value of the £, which has give a boost to British manufacturing...particularly in the automotive sector. But that's only been made possible by the continuation of the Customs Union...we haven't left yet. When we do, the automotive sector, our biggest manufacturer, will dry up for the reasons stated.

I agree that the Germans won't like a 20% duty on their car exports to the UK...but that's what they will end up with unless a 'soft' deal is negotiated which will still leave 'Brussels' with a considerable say in the running of this country, but the UK with no say in the running of 'Brussels'.

A very senior German with the VW group said to me that the UK is sleepwalking into a disaster that will have a considerable impact on it and Europe.

"You won't get rid of Brussels and keep unfettered access to the single market."

He said, Brexit is often presented as something where there will be winners and losers, and its up to the UK to get as many wins as possible. That's not the case, there will be only losers, because nothing will be gained.

[WIBO]

What Simon says ref citizens......what will happen come the time for the exit and passports surely revert to something akin to the old black ones with just "Great Britain and Northern Ireland " on them?
I'm thinking for UK citizens living in Europe.........will they need to do what citizens from other countries do when coming to work and live here? Put in papers to do so?
A Brazilian or South African for example will apply for work permits etc? Much the same way a UK citizen does when e.g. going to live and work in say New Zealand or Taiwan?
I wonder what the complexities of that will be....self employed to show accounts that you can remain in the country of choice?....Retirees to show pension proof etc?.... Sponsorship from companies?
I wonder what sort of bureaucratic headaches current overseas workers have when moving to an EC country or is the system that's put in place currently relatively straight forward?
.

[Tramp]

As a european national hgv driver you can work in uk without taking a test...if i was to drive in france or spain i need to take hgv tests before i can drive there...hypocrits...
They have more to loose as exporters than we as gross importers do...spain is getting expensive for expats some.are scurrying back to uk...

[AlanHolt]

As a european national hgv driver you can work in uk without taking a test...if i was to drive in france or spain i need to take hgv tests before i can drive there...hypocrits...

They have more to loose as exporters than we as gross importers do...spain is getting expensive for expats some.are scurrying back to uk...

That is not true. I passed my c+e in the UK, moved to Spain and in order to exchange my UK licence for a Spanish one, I simply needed to pay €90 for a medical.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

I think both of the above answers were actually correct.
The licence to drive was transferable...but France, Spain and Germany also required an additional qualification to actually drive as an occupation for an employer in their state. Driving in those countries was always regarded as a profession, and this is reflected in the very high standards of amenities offered to truck drivers on the continent... Les Routiers restaurants for example. Indeed, in Germany, a truck driving is so highly regarded that truck drivers can countersign passport applications, like directors, doctors and lawyers do here.
Now we have the (Europe-wide) Driver CPC, so anyone who holds this and an appropriate licence can work as a driver in any European state.