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Brexit slowly becoming a Farce.


John Lambies Doos

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8 minutes ago, Baxter Parp said:

Spain and Gibraltar seek last-minute Brexit deal

https://www.ft.com/content/50fa05a3-80cc-4a7c-aa01-d114ac609867

Keeping free movement would give British territory closer ties to EU than when it was part of bloc

Irony!

C+P please?

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2 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

C+P please?

 Spain and Gibraltar are seeking a last-minute Brexit deal to strengthen ties and preserve free movement across their border as they try to avoid reigniting the centuries-old dispute over the territory’s sovereignty.

Arancha González, Spain’s foreign minister, and Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar chief minister, separately told the Financial Times the two sides could reach a “practical” deal that would limit disruption for thousands of cross-border workers between Spain and the territory when the UK leaves the EU’s single market on December 31. 

Both added that such a deal would not address the sovereignty dispute that has continued since Gibraltar, close to Spain’s southernmost tip, was ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

The talks are particularly sensitive, not just because they affect the economic prospects of both Gibraltar and much of southern Spain, but because the British overseas territory is in effect seeking closer ties with the EU than when it was part of the bloc.

While Boris Johnson’s government wants a Canada-style free trade Brexit deal for the UK itself, Gibraltar would like to become part of Europe’s Schengen free-movement area and eventually the EU’s customs union — to neither of which it has ever belonged.

The issue is becoming increasingly urgent, with negotiators attempting to thrash out an overall Brexit deal by mid-November and the parallel three-way talks between Spain, Gibraltar and the UK aiming to conclude immediately afterwards.

Mr Picardo said: “It is becoming a tighter and tighter timetable and we need to step up a gear . . . We are ready to deliver a deal so long as it is sovereignty neutral and positive for all sides.”

Ms González warned “political will” was necessary to close the deal, which involves a territory that has inflamed passions on all sides.

In 2017, Michael Howard, a former Conservative party leader, suggested Britain could go to war to resist Spanish efforts to increase its influence over Gibraltar. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez threatened to torpedo Theresa May’s newly minted Brexit deal with the EU over the issue in November 2018.


Fabian Picardo: ‘We are ready to deliver a deal so long as it is sovereignty neutral and positive for all sides’ © Matt Cardy/Getty Images
UK officials remain nervous about signing an agreement that could be depicted as watering down sovereignty or reducing British influence over the territory.

Ms González said: “On the big sovereignty issue, we know where things stand — we will not renounce sovereignty, nor will the UK — but, below that, on the things that matter for everyday life, we know that we can make it smoother, we can make it simpler, we can make it less costly [than a no-deal scenario].”

About 15,000 people cross the Spanish border to work in Gibraltar every day, taking up about half the jobs in the territory. Most of the cross-border workers are Spaniards who have relatively few prospects of finding alternative work in the frontier town of La Linea, where unemployment is close to 40 per cent.

    The EU negotiating mandate makes it clear that Gibraltar will not be covered by an EU-UK future-relationship agreement. This places the onus on Madrid and London to come up with a deal, with the EU firmly in Madrid’s corner. 

“On the Spanish side, we will leave no stone unturned to get to a deal,” Ms González said. “If we don’t do this . . . the border of Europe [will be] Gibraltar, with all the consequences that this has, but if we invest in a deal, we can create this space of shared prosperity that we have been talking about for a while.”

Mr Picardo has argued for months that under a Schengen-style arrangement many more Spaniards could find work in Gibraltar and in the broader region.

Negotiating enhanced free movement for a British overseas territory is highly sensitive for the UK government, which champions a much harder Brexit deal for Britain itself.

But British officials have indicated that they would not stand in the way of a mutually beneficial deal between Spain and Gibraltar — despite their concerns about how such an agreement could be perceived.

“We remain committed to finding a solution that supports Gibraltar, its people, and its economy,” the UK government said. “The UK and government of Gibraltar continue technical talks with Spain to deliver the shared priority of continued wellbeing and prosperity of people in the region.”

Mr Picardo said: “There are many issues to resolve but the goodwill is there to make a deal possible . . . People want solutions from us, not rhetoric.”
 

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2 hours ago, trainspotter said:

For anyone who’s ever wondered how far a junior civil servant, desperate for promotion, would be prepared to whore themselves, wonder no more

 

D4B595A9-DF4F-42C4-950B-ADB39F52BC23.png

:lol:

Most of our soy sauce, like Kikkoman for instance, is made in Holland anyway so will be tariffed at 6% in the case of no deal. 

Edited by welshbairn
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13 hours ago, MixuFruit said:

Tellin ye, it'll be the first bit to leave the UK.

What's not been clear to me in the reporting of this is whether Gibraltar has the legal powers to make this deal with Spain, or the UK government are doing it for them.

I doubt Gibraltar would leave the UK as they'd be too afraid of Spain taking them over by default, but if they had to choose between a closed border with Spain or compromising on sovereignty... 

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7 hours ago, GordonS said:

What's not been clear to me in the reporting of this is whether Gibraltar has the legal powers to make this deal with Spain, or the UK government are doing it for them.

I doubt Gibraltar would leave the UK as they'd be too afraid of Spain taking them over by default, but if they had to choose between a closed border with Spain or compromising on sovereignty... 

I’m surprised by Spain, moan about the sovereignty issue then fail to act when handed a solution.

 

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I expect a deal similar to Liechtenstein's, where because they're so small they can afford to bend the rules a bit. London and Madrid will go along with it because it's in everyone's interests, but try to keep it as quiet as possible.

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9 hours ago, Suspect Device said:

Screenshot-2020-10-28-094144.png

 

I was wondering why RR shares were down 65% today. 

 


Edit: There may be another reason for the drop but I just saw this when I was having a look for the reason.

All the machinery in the closed servicing factory at Hillington has already been removed and it's probably only a matter of time before the manufacturing factory is moved to Derby.

 

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1 hour ago, Rock Star said:

You honestly couldn't make it up.

Except it's not quite that simple...

Quote

Amoy, owned by Heinz, has 58% of the £29m market according to research company Euromonitor International. Its soy sauce is made in China and bottled in the UK so the UK-Japan deal will have no impact.

The second biggest brand is Kikkoman, a Japanese company, with 20% of the market. However, most of its sauces found in the UK are made in the Netherlands and only some is imported from Japan.

If the UK does not do a trade deal with the EU, then from 1 January, imports of soy sauce from the Netherlands will go from having no tariff to having a 6% tariff.

The remaining 22% of the market is made up of supermarket own brands and smaller brands, some of which are indeed made in Japan.

So overall it'll have little impact on the bulk of what we use and might even be more expensive if no Trade Deal is reached.

Edited by btb
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I doubt Gibraltar would leave the UK as they'd be too afraid of Spain taking them over by default, but if they had to choose between a closed border with Spain or compromising on sovereignty... 


Providing they can avoid paying Spanish tax instead of avoiding UK tax they should manage
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2 hours ago, btb said:

Except it's not quite that simple...

So overall it'll have little impact on the bulk of what we use and might even be more expensive if no Trade Deal is reached.

Even if you bought the Tesco brand that comes from Japan and used a decent sized amount every single day, their deal would save you less than £3 per year. 

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