[Politics] Brexit

[Baldseagull]

To me it sounded more fatalistic, describing the deal that the Conservative Party had negotiated as unsalvageable is pretty strong for the Telegraph.

It was also unusually frank in its assessment that the Conservatives were out of time to turn it around even if they had the ability or appetite to.

It feels like a significant step forward in terms of the right accepting the rather sober reality of Brexit.

Maybe, my feeling is that it pushes the idea that all the promises could have been made real, if only the Tories hadn't f***ed it up. What would be better is if they were honest and said they were wrong to support Leave, as it was never going to work well.

 

[JetsetJimbo]

So sorry to hear that. It is an utter de-humanising sh*t show.

It is. But as someone with a South American sister-in-law, I can assure you that spuriously denying visas has been the Home Office's MO for a *very* long time now. They literally use it as a revenue-raising exercise. What's changed here is that more people are getting caught up in this bs process due to Brexit, but the bs process itself has been in place since the New Labour years.

 

[Eric the meek]

Some of the stories of individuals on here, and how the consequences of Brexit have impacted their lives, are gut-wrenching.

Not on the same scale, but still noteworthy, is the direct impact of Brexit on my sister-in-law. She works for a company in Blackpool, who make gadgets to combat the syphoning of fuel from your tank. Without going into detail, she said that the workload required to prep the documentation for products to export, is now three times the volume of what it used to be. That impacts time, effort, cost, throughput and profitability.

Extrapolate that across the whole country, and you can see how this key disadvantage of Brexit, restriction of trade, impacts growth, jobs and pay across the UK.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I've ignored this thread. But I want to just share how Brexit has made the last 18 months of my life an absolute nightmare.

Brief background. My wife is Swedish. We met in the UK in 2009. She lived and worked here for 4 years, has a national insurance number etc. We moved to Sweden in 2013. We decided to move back last year. The EU Settlement Scheme was also open to EU citizens living in the EU with qualifying British citizens (me). So we thought we'd do that instead of messing around with visas later down the line.

You essentially get issued a visa (travel permit) which enables to to travel to the UK and apply to the EUSS from there. So that first step goes through UKVI. I had to prove I was a qualifying British citizen and she'd get the visa.

After being told it would take 4-6 weeks. UKVI kept her passport for 6 months. No communication. Nothing. A telephone "support" line which you have to enter your credit card details to talk to a third party company who gives you zero information. I've spent £200 on phone calls. We'd planned to move in March. So we had cancelled our apartment contract, nursery, I quit my job. But we couldn't move. She couldn't even leave the country without her passport.

Then, after 2 months of living in our friends airbnb cottage in their back garden, letters to MPs, paying for solicitors, we got an email at 5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon...
VISA REFUSED.

The reason for the refusal was that I didn't demonstrate I'd lived/worked in Sweden clearly enough for them. Despite sending tax documents, our son's birth certificate and tons of other stuff. If they'd have f***ing CALLED ME I would have supplied them with any information they needed. But no. The only option we had was to appeal. We submitted the appeal in April and finally sat in front of a f***ing JUDGE at a tribunal in August. A judge. A bloody judge. Anyway she agreed that I had in fact lived and worked in Sweden (imagine that!) and granted the appeal.

It took 3 months for the Home office to acknowledge the appeal decision. We then had to go back to Stockholm to submit my wife's passport for a scan and the visa would be issued. A third party took the passport and sent it to Berlin to be scanned. We'd get it back within a week. Three weeks later they accidentally sent it to Bangalore. Where it was stuck for 2 weeks with the visa inside. DHL blamed the thid party. The third party told us to contact the Home office. It was a shit show.

So, we finally got the visa in the passport back in November and have now "moved" to the UK. We have now submitted her application to the EU Settlement Scheme and will have to wait and see what the verdict is and whether we have to move back to Sweden or not.

My wife has lived, worked and paid taxes in this country. Our son is British. She has a right to be here. But it could not have been more difficult at every step to get her here. And honestly, I often wonder whether it's worth it.

Our alternative should the EUSS application be refused is to move back to Sweden or find 5 grand for a spouse visa. Live in our friends gardens for however long that decision takes to make and put our entire lives on hold for another year.

So forgive me for being so blunt. But you can shove Brexit right up your arse.

This thought did cross my mind. I appreciate you have your reasons but from my experience Sweden seems a nice place, good standard of living and quality of life, language isn’t much of an issue and a country which isn’t falling to bits.

 

[Nobby]

I've ignored this thread. But I want to just share how Brexit has made the last 18 months of my life an absolute nightmare.

Brief background. My wife is Swedish. We met in the UK in 2009. She lived and worked here for 4 years, has a national insurance number etc. We moved to Sweden in 2013. We decided to move back last year. The EU Settlement Scheme was also open to EU citizens living in the EU with qualifying British citizens (me). So we thought we'd do that instead of messing around with visas later down the line.

You essentially get issued a visa (travel permit) which enables to to travel to the UK and apply to the EUSS from there. So that first step goes through UKVI. I had to prove I was a qualifying British citizen and she'd get the visa.

After being told it would take 4-6 weeks. UKVI kept her passport for 6 months. No communication. Nothing. A telephone "support" line which you have to enter your credit card details to talk to a third party company who gives you zero information. I've spent £200 on phone calls. We'd planned to move in March. So we had cancelled our apartment contract, nursery, I quit my job. But we couldn't move. She couldn't even leave the country without her passport.

Then, after 2 months of living in our friends airbnb cottage in their back garden, letters to MPs, paying for solicitors, we got an email at 5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon...
VISA REFUSED.

The reason for the refusal was that I didn't demonstrate I'd lived/worked in Sweden clearly enough for them. Despite sending tax documents, our son's birth certificate and tons of other stuff. If they'd have f***ing CALLED ME I would have supplied them with any information they needed. But no. The only option we had was to appeal. We submitted the appeal in April and finally sat in front of a f***ing JUDGE at a tribunal in August. A judge. A bloody judge. Anyway she agreed that I had in fact lived and worked in Sweden (imagine that!) and granted the appeal.

It took 3 months for the Home office to acknowledge the appeal decision. We then had to go back to Stockholm to submit my wife's passport for a scan and the visa would be issued. A third party took the passport and sent it to Berlin to be scanned. We'd get it back within a week. Three weeks later they accidentally sent it to Bangalore. Where it was stuck for 2 weeks with the visa inside. DHL blamed the thid party. The third party told us to contact the Home office. It was a shit show.

So, we finally got the visa in the passport back in November and have now "moved" to the UK. We have now submitted her application to the EU Settlement Scheme and will have to wait and see what the verdict is and whether we have to move back to Sweden or not.

My wife has lived, worked and paid taxes in this country. Our son is British. She has a right to be here. But it could not have been more difficult at every step to get her here. And honestly, I often wonder whether it's worth it.

Our alternative should the EUSS application be refused is to move back to Sweden or find 5 grand for a spouse visa. Live in our friends gardens for however long that decision takes to make and put our entire lives on hold for another year.

So forgive me for being so blunt. But you can shove Brexit right up your arse.

Absolutely dreadful
Our country, my country has been degraded beyond repair.
If I didn’t have kids and Grandkids here now I would have been off.
We are run by morons

 

[aolstudios]

Absolutely dreadful
Our country, my country has been degraded beyond repair.
If I didn’t have kids and Grandkids here now I would have been off.
We are run by morons

& thieves...

 

[nicko31]

Battery plants planned or built

EU 21
UK Nil

Another post Brexit epic fail, no industrial strategy

Majority of Britishvolt's staff made redundant after company enters administration

After once having ambitions to place the UK at the "helm of a global green industrial revolution", the company previously told Sky News that workers were having to take voluntary pay cuts while it waited for crucial government funding.

news.sky.com

 

[nicko31]

Scorched earth Britain continues from the Brexit cabal in charge...

 

[nicko31]

And this the Telegraph journo described as

"is a Brexit supporter and has been lauded by The Conservative Woman website as a rising star"...

Britain is going to rejoin the EU far sooner than anyone now imagines

It is the Tories’ greatest betrayal: they have made such a hash of the project it is probably unsalvageable

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[CHAPPERS]

Battery plants planned or built

EU 21
UK Nil

Another post Brexit epic fail, no industrial strategy

Majority of Britishvolt's staff made redundant after company enters administration

After once having ambitions to place the UK at the "helm of a global green industrial revolution", the company previously told Sky News that workers were having to take voluntary pay cuts while it waited for crucial government funding.

news.sky.com

A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesman said: "The UK is one of the best locations in the world for automotive manufacturing, and we want to ensure the best outcome for the site. We will work closely with the local authority and potential investors to achieve this."

 

[A1X]

Maybe, my feeling is that it pushes the idea that all the promises could have been made real, if only the Tories hadn't f***ed it up. What would be better is if they were honest and said they were wrong to support Leave, as it was never going to work well.

Like Communism, there will be many who can never accept that Brexit is a failure, just that it has “never been done properly”. The idea itself cannot be to blame because they believe so deeply in it, therefore it’s the fault of those implementing it.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Brexit has failed. It has offered us nothing. We had the best deal out of all the countries in the EU at our time of leaving, all the opt-outs we wanted, no Euro but also had all the benefits free trade and yes Free Movement. Businesses who deal with the EU are now faced with increased costs and red-tape. Businesses who look to expand into Europe will no longer invest in the UK as we are outside the single market.

What's really disappointing is that the major parties fail to acknowledge this failure. I am sorry Keir you cannot "make Brexit work" if you rule out rejoining the CU or single market. If we leave the barriers in place this country will continue to fall behind. I cannot see us rejoining the EU as we would have to go back all in and join the Euro, but the middle way of joining the EEA (or whatever it is called) and becoming part of the CU and SM is a realistic option.

When Labour win the next election there will be an opportunity for pro-EU sentiment to exercise some pressure on the new government in the sam way that the wretched ERG did to the Tories, except this time they will be looking to improve the country not just make a few hedge fund managers even richer.

 

[nicko31]

Brexit has failed. It has offered us nothing. We had the best deal out of all the countries in the EU at our time of leaving, all the opt-outs we wanted, no Euro but also had all the benefits free trade and yes Free Movement. Businesses who deal with the EU are now faced with increased costs and red-tape. Businesses who look to expand into Europe will no longer invest in the UK as we are outside the single market.

What's really disappointing is that the major parties fail to acknowledge this failure. I am sorry Keir you cannot "make Brexit work" if you rule out rejoining the CU or single market. If we leave the barriers in place this country will continue to fall behind. I cannot see us rejoining the EU as we would have to go back all in and join the Euro, but the middle way of joining the EEA (or whatever it is called) and becoming part of the CU and SM is a realistic option.

When Labour win the next election there will be an opportunity for pro-EU sentiment to exercise some pressure on the new government in the sam way that the wretched ERG did to the Tories, except this time they will be looking to improve the country not just make a few hedge fund managers even richer.

If there is a win of Brexit is its made the EU more stable, even countries with far right governments no longer see Euroscepticism as something they can exploit.

A strong Europe is still good for us, even while we struggle coming to terms with our self harm

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

This thought did cross my mind. I appreciate you have your reasons but from my experience Sweden seems a nice place, good standard of living and quality of life, language isn’t much of an issue and a country which isn’t falling to bits.

Sweden is fantastic. There were multiple reasons for our decision, but there certainly weren't too many push factors!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Sweden is fantastic. There were multiple reasons for our decision, but there certainly weren't too many push factors!

I have been a couple of times but I have also spent the last 3 years working with a Swedish office in Gothenburg. Amongst many things, I just like their approach and attitude to work and life. And who wouldn’t love a Fika?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Same newspaper, same journalist.

 

[Baldseagull]

Same newspaper, same journalist.

She just needs to believe, talking Brexit down is the only reason we are not all rolling in clover.

 

[Lever]

Here's some hope of future sanity.......

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Battery plants planned or built

EU 21
UK Nil

Another post Brexit epic fail, no industrial strategy

Majority of Britishvolt's staff made redundant after company enters administration

After once having ambitions to place the UK at the "helm of a global green industrial revolution", the company previously told Sky News that workers were having to take voluntary pay cuts while it waited for crucial government funding.

news.sky.com

There has been little or no industrial strategy since 1945 and a conscious decision to erode nay destroy our industrial base since 1979. We handed most of our business opportunity to Germany and Japan on a plate and they grabbed it. We have never recovered. Probably, the most disgraceful and damaging action in our industrial past.

 

[vegster]

Scorched earth Britain continues from the Brexit cabal in charge...

View attachment 155919

To be fair I think that the list is incorrect as its already out of date. Sick leave/Sick pay has already gone for many, my company may or not pay you depending on your value as an employee at the time. One of the girls I work with had bad tonsillitis and her job was mostly phone based so she had to take two days off because speaking was painful....I asked her if she was over it and she said " no, but I'm not getting paid so I'm here..I can afford a couple of days off, that's what savings are for " I told her " No, thats what Sick Pay is for ". I'm sure this is reflected in many hundreds of thousand jobs around the country that are right on Minimum Wage/Zero Hours contracts.

As for " Clean Water Protections " .. they have effectively gone some time ago as It was only the EU and their Blue Flag/ Water Framework Directive and other legislation that kept our water companies to any sort of standard. two words, Fergal Sharkey.