“If you voted for Brexit, please realise this is 90% because of your decision”: UK cycle distributor FLi ceases trading

Pubs are closing because they're being hit by sky high energy costs, it's not uncommon to see their bills have risen £10k-20k, and that's before you add in the increases in rent and inflationary prices impacting sales.

As for Wetherspoons, one of the few pubcos making a profit in this current climate, they regularly for many many years have closed pubs in areas where they are over represented, and expand into areas where they aren't, it usually coincides with property rent terms ending and a renegotiation required.

David9694 wrote:

Rhodes wildfires: British tourist says trying to escape the flames 'was literally like the end of the world'  By the end of this summer, every Brit will know someone who cancelled, curtailed, or endured a break in the sun. 

 

No really Brexit but the UK has certainly contributed. Is there irony in jetting to the sun?

yes, yes there is.  We just need a version of this where the man has a suitcase and perhaps a sombrero.  I guess if you're a Brexiter, you have no concept of facts, or The Future anyway, so this will fall on stony ground. 

So wildfires are climate change now? Good to know

Roulereo wrote:

So wildfires are climate change now? Good to know

Yes. Research has found that the wildfire season across the globe has extended by 20%+ due to warmer springs, higher temperatures and longer and more intense drought periods. When forests dry out, they're more likely to catch fire, not that difficult a concept to understand. In the western USA the amount of forest destroyed by wildfires was 10x greater in 2003-12 than in 1973-82. In Alaska, which has suffered hugely from wildfires over the last decade, fires are 45% more likely to occur now than thirty years ago due to conditions changing as a result of climate change. Modelling has shown that at the current rate of climate-change-influenced increase catastrophic wildfire incidents that were previously once-a-century events will be occurring once every 5-10 years in Europe by 2100. Not so much good to know as somewhat terrifying to know. 

Ok Boomer. "Modelling has shown..." is that like "Trust the science", "Safe and effective" "Get vaccinated and you won't transmit it"etc etc.?

Roulereo wrote:

Ok Boomer. 

Ooh look, he said that thing, like that thing that young people say, that's got me....

Apart from the fact that I am not of the Boomer generation, for your interest and education the phrase is used to dismiss older people who deny issues that are generally of concern to young people such as climate change, minority oppression and so forth, so it would appear to apply far more to yourself than to me.

Yes, you're so right. We need a Climate Lockdown urgently. Otherwise how will we ever get to Net Zero?

Our grandchildren will never forgive us if the planet we bequeathed them is a ruin. Perhaps you think it's all something of a joke, shame on you.

Its not often that I agree with you but yes, we need a Climate Lockdown urgently. 

Time to ban all private cars, stop flights and invest only in actual green solutions. Without such, the planet will carry on burning. Fifteen minute cities are the way forward. 

And yes, I am a Boomer and proud. 

We can all help - why not combine two interests?

Or if you want something a bit more general purpose (and a DIY project).  Even better combine multiple sources (note - this website walks the walk so may be offline if it's not been sunny for a while!).

Thanks for the suggestions but I already have 4kw hour solar system plus a solar hot water system on my roof, so the few watts I use on the computer is ofset against that.

I could do more I agree but then should we all. 

It wasn't that we couldn't make separate trade agreements but that we didn't have to make them because, being part of the largest free trade block, we had far greater collective clout to get the very best terms as part of the EU. There's a reason that the USA isn't prioritising a UK deal, we're just too small a market on our own. Whatever the politics, and economics is just the obverse of the political coin, you can't escape geography.

A country can't do full trade deals as part of the EU.

France, for example, couldn't sign a tariff free deal with China as once goods were in France they'd be able to enter any part of the EU without further checks thus rendering the customs union a bit moot.

The UK is a largely service based economy, EU trade deals predominantly favour goods so whilst they would benefit the UK they aren't anywhere near as beneficial as trade deals which play to the strengths of our economy.

The UK is still one of the biggest economies in the world, 5th or 6th depending on which method you use.

The idea that the 6th biggest economy on the planet is too small to bother with is patently absurd.

'Patently absurd'? If it were the US would be all over a UK trade deal like a rash. And I know that we 'couldn't' negotiate separate trade deals, we shared that power with our partners in the EU. Why? Because collective EU deals were better deals for the UK. The EU has 448 million citizens, the UK has just under 68 million. It doesn't matter which way you slice the economic pie, the EU slice is always going to be larger. And being the World's butler isn't anyway to run an economy, it merely puts the nation and our politicians in the pocket of kleptocrats & multinationals. Just look at the bribe, sorry 'incentives', we're having to fork out to have an electric car battery plant built in Somerset!

Trade deals aren't just about the economics.

If they were the US and China would have signed a blockbuster deal years ago.

The current political leadership in Washington isn't interested in a trade deal with the UK. They are however pursuing trade agreements with India which has an economy almost the exact same size as the UK's.

Everybody is offering incentives to battery plants right now, ours are actually less generous than the US and on a par with the EU's.

As I said before a deal that focuses on goods is never going to benefit the UK economy as much as a deal focused on services. EU trade deals predominantly cover goods so predominantly benefit other countries.

EU trade deals favour goods because many EU nations were sensible enough to nurture their manufacturing sectors while the UK Gov't threw ours under the economic bus of sado-monetarism. That's not to say that the French and Germans for example lack international financial centres, bankers in Paris and Frankfurt no doubt rubbed their hands with glee at the prospect of the City of London's influence being curtailed. The US favours a trade deal with India because it's a market with vast growth potential having a population of over a billion as well as India acting as something of a bulwark against China, we're neither of those things. They may even ride more bikes in India than we do here in dear old Blighty. 

So EU deals aren't necessarily in our best interests.

We are one of the world leaders in services, why stay in a trading bloc that doesn't prioritise our strengths in trade negotiations?

I agree that India has vast potential, so too do many of the developing countries in the CPTPP. The UK is in fairly advanced talks with India about a FTA so hopefully we'll be able to finalise that soon.

How many new (or amended) U.K. specific services agreements have we done since leaving. It's very important so it must have been a priority to get as many done as possible I assume? You may want to roll them over but re-negotiate them tout suite right? I mean we could've just been Norway or Switzerland as per Nige Farage's hearty endorsement. Best of all worlds. 

Lots of renegotiations and new negotiations going on.

We have a new service specific trade agreement with Singapore.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9314/

Considering how important Services are to the U.K. economy that to be frank is a pretty pathetic list of new/renegotiations of the terrible not fit for the U.K. EU deals. It's also notable that we became a Services Super power and 5th largest economy while in the EU. 

How many simultaneous trade negotiations do you actually want?

The India deal has the potential to be transformative, it was apparently very close to being signed last autumn so hopefully the remaining differences can be thrashed out soon.

Loyal Brexiters must be getting something out of it. Spite, a twisted revenge on a world in which they have been disappointed, a super right-wing ideology (same things really). There's nothing materially better in our lives for Brexit, is there - spite on the world is all that remains and all it ever was. 

We are now negotiating independent trade deals.

There hasn't been a 'blockbuster' deal yet but the India negotiations have massive potential.

Personally I think we should be going much further with cutting tariffs independently but things are getting better from a free trade perspective.

I'm sure that nothing I say will change your mind however.

We've lost the ability to easily import Taiwanese made bicycles from, um, France which is obviously a disaster. I can't think where we could possibly import them from instead.

So tell me a Brexit benefit. Can you? 

Independent trade deals and tariff setting.