Should the UK remain a member of the EU

[dennis tooth]

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), founded in 1921, is a United States 4900-member organization, nonprofit, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. It is headquartered in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C.. Its membership has included senior politicians, more than a dozen secretaries of state, CIA directors, bankers, lawyers, professors, and senior media figures. The CFR promotes globalization, free trade, reducing financial regulations on transnational corporations, and economic consolidation into regional blocs such as NAFTA or the European Union, and develops policy recommendations that reflect these goals.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations

[magicrat]

Source please?

Just made it up

 

The rules for qualification are on the Home office website

The Mrs had the article on the way they are now being applied and the pitfalls that await those applying for leave to remain

I'll get it later

May is being reported as intending to end free movement the day she triggers A50 in the mainstream media. Saw it on Sky or BBC can;t recall which one

[skend04]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/28/brexit-taxpayers-support-supply-chain-nissan-sunderland-car-auto

 

And the blackmail begins. The Tories will switch to the left and enact a socialist revolution throughout the UK with the £350m we will save by not being in the EU.

[magicrat]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/28/brexit-taxpayers-support-supply-chain-nissan-sunderland-car-auto

 

And the blackmail begins. The Tories will switch to the left and enact a socialist revolution throughout the UK with the £350m we will save by not being in the EU.

 

Did anyone else doubt the government had given Honda a blank cheque to shut them up. Corrupt cunts

[moof]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/28/brexit-taxpayers-support-supply-chain-nissan-sunderland-car-auto

 

And the blackmail begins. The Tories will switch to the left and enact a socialist revolution throughout the UK with the £350m we will save by not being in the EU.

Had to laugh at that. Theresa May is worthless as a political entity.

 

The past 8-12 months has been akin to some metaphysical pastiche of reality. I think I have shell shock.

 

The genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

[Anubis]

I suppose this could equally go in the Forced Deportation thread.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/02/citizenship-commodity-free-movement-rich-170228072240281.html

 

 

Citizenship is one thing that is never supposed to depend on how much money you have. The sheer luck of birth and "blood" is supposed to determine what rights and privileges you have, where you can travel. But wherever blood flows, money follows.

 

In Britain, citizenship can increasingly be bought, or at least priced. This is a matter of government policy. Some of this can be traced back to a promise that David Cameron made back in 2010 to reduce net migration to no more than 100,000 a year. It was an arbitrary, pointless and, more importantly, completely unworkable figure. But the government had to somehow make it happen, despite knowing that it could do nothing about European Union migration.

 

Ultimately, Cameron's inability to deliver a cap on migration from the EU consolidated the right-wing consensus for Brexit. But in the meantime, he was able to crack down on non-EU migration in a number of ways.

 

Putting a price on love

 

First, in an effort to curb the movement of poor migrants from outside the European Economic Area, introduced a minimum income threshold for non-European spouses of British citizens of $23,100.

 

Last week, this law was upheld by the Supreme Court, despite its cruelties and arbitrariness. In addition, as of April 6 last year, non-EU migrants who want to settle permanently in the UK must have an income of at least $43,500.

 

Contrast the migrants affected by this, with those for whom the government rolls out the red carpet.

 

In Britain's multitiered visa system, there are now many routes to citizenship (PDF). For those prepared to invest $1.24m in companies registered in Britain, there is Tier 1: a fast-tracked visa system and a lubricated route to full citizenship. Once in Britain, they will also have access to "non-domicile" tax status, meaning that while they live in the UK, for taxation purposes they will be considered to live elsewhere - for example in the Cayman Islands.

 

Increasingly, moreover, this exceptional tax regime for migrant capitalists is one that Britain seems to be prizing as a post-Brexit comparative advantage.

 

The EU committee investigating the Panama Papers and tax havens has described the UK as being "on its way to a prime tax haven". The strategy is to welcome people with money, let them keep as much of it as possible, and wait for them to invest, usually in government bonds.

 

This is incredibly short-sighted. Keeping out skilled workers isn't good for employers. Yet, that is what the laws have achieved. The Migration Observatory, based at the University of Oxford, found that skilled migration from non-EU countries had plummeted by a third after the changes were implemented.

 

A global pattern

 

Attracting more oligarchs and tax evaders to the capital does nothing for the economy in the long run. It leads to little productive investment, nor does it answer any particular shortage. Government bonds are never difficult to sell.

 

All it does is drive up property prices around London, and contribute to the financial bubble. But the golden rule of modern migration politics is that the super-rich are footloose and fancy-free, while the poor have to be rooted to the spot, no matter how desolate.

 

Anti-immigrant sentiment has always had a class content. It has been the poor, or those stereotyped for having the supposed attributes of the poor - criminality, vulgarity, disease, lack of cleanliness - who have been targeted.

 

This is part of a global pattern, wherein national and racial exclusions are intersecting with class distinctions. While immigration laws penalise the poor, the rich have always found a way round closed borders and quotas.

 

Now, there is a growing class of "economic citizens", comprised rich investors buying passports. A range of tiny states offer "citizenship-by-investment" so that, for example, a Russian oligarch can have an EU passport from Cyprus for $2.1m. Citizenship is one of the last global frontiers of commodification.

 

The surprisingly sanguine attitude to this can be contrasted with febrile reporting about Moldovans. The Sun has described residents of Moldova as "flooding" into the UK.

 

German and French press are filled with scare stories alleging that Moldovans are illegitimately obtaining Romanian passports in order to become EU citizens.

 

The process by which Moldovans acquire a Romanian passport is that they dig up old Soviet-era documents proving that a grandfather or great uncle was Romanian. They then submit to a lengthy and labyrinthine application process and after two years, they might get a passport.

 

Where it gets interesting, is where principles of bloodlines and money suddenly intersect. Moldovan migrants have been blamed for adulterating the integrity of bloodlines by making spurious claims to Romanian blood, thus undermining the whole EU passport system. But then, they didn't bring investment cash.

 

For those who can pay to override the bloodline principle, all objections suddenly become irrelevant. Even the idea floated by Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's top Brexit negotiator that post-Brexit Britons could buy "associate citizenship" of the EU was more scoffed at by opponents than it was a source of anger.

 

Commodification of citizenship

 

The logic of commodification of citizenship is only in its very early stages, yet already it can override the principle of birthright. Does this tell us something about the shape of 21st-century capitalism? As much as capitalism has internationalised, it has always needed the national state.

 

But patterns of investment and work in the future will demand more migration. Citizens will become less rooted to the town, county and nation of their birth. Immigrants, far from being an alien minority who can be "kept out", are all of us. We are all immigrants in the hereafter.

 

Anti-immigrant sentiment has always had a class content. It has been the poor, or those stereotyped for having the supposed attributes of the poor - criminality, vulgarity, disease, lack of cleanliness - who have been targeted. When Nigel Farage attacked the poorer "quality" of Eastern European migrants, this is what he had in mind.

 

And since we are the migrants of the future, it should alarm us that the means by which new, more mobile forms of citizenship are being allocated, are markets and prices. Because that means the world is becoming a playground for the rich from which we, the majority, are banned.

[Moctezuma]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/02/28/nissan-warns-adjustment-uk-operations-brexit-terms-become-clearer/

 

Nissan warns of 'adjustment' to UK operations as Brexit terms become clearer

 

Nissan could expand its supply chain in the UK as a result of Brexit - but has also warned it could “adjust” its UK operations as the conditions of Britain leaving the EU become clearer.

 

The Japanese car maker said it would build two models - the new Qashqai and X-Trail - at its Sunderland plant after getting assurances from the government last year that its competitiveness would not be damaged by Britain pulling out of the EU.

 

However, Colin Lawther, Nissan’s senior vice-president in Europe, indicated to MPs on the International Trade Select Committee that the car maker could row back on its commitments.

 

If Britain fails to agree a trade deal with Europe and moves to World Trade Organisation tariffs, then this could have an impact on Nissan’s giant Sunderland plant which turns out 500,000 cars a year.

 

"We would have to look at the degrees of change and adjust our business to take into account whatever this new trading platform would be," the Nissan executive said, adding the decision to build the new cars at Sunderland was based on "a set of circumstances" at a point in time.

 

"As those circumstances change, and we wouldn't wait until the end of the process, we will continually review the decisions that we take, based on anything that materially changes," Mr Lawther told MPs.

 

"So at the moment we have got a set of circumstances we are happy with and we will honour that decision going forward.

 

"But if anything materially changes, we would review constantly."

 

Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn met with Theresa May in the autumn and received assurances that Nissan would not suffer as a consequence of Brexit.

 

Mr Lawther said a letter setting out these pledges did not include promises of grants to offset any trade tariffs resulting from Britain leaving the EU.

 

"The Government gave us assurances that it was the Government's intention that they would have a competitive trading environment at the end of the process," he said. "I would expect that competitive trading environment be something that doesn't detriment our business."

 

Nissan did not ask for "monetary compensation" from the Government to offset the impact of Brexit, but instead sought "compensatory measures, tax measures, infrastructure measures or competitiveness measures", Mr Lawther said.

 

He also added that if WTO rules are introduced, Nissan could try to source more UK-made components for cars built in Sunderland in order to meet “local content” rules on trade deals. Many trade deals specify 50pc to 55pc of an items content must me made locally to qualify.

 

However, Nissan came under attack for its stance. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "The promises Nissan got clearly weren't worth the paper they were written on. Even with the offer of funding and a special deal, Nissan has still said it will need to review its Sunderland plant in future.”

[Anubis]

 

 

Nissan did not ask for "monetary compensation" from the Government to offset the impact of Brexit, but instead sought "compensatory measures, tax measures, infrastructure measures or competitiveness measures", Mr Lawther said.

 

 

Because those things don't cost money, one way or another.....

[magicrat]

More cuntery on behalf of the Tories now getting firms to declare their pro Brexit credentials when bidding for contracts,

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/01/firms-bidding-for-government-contracts-asked-if-they-back-brexit?CMP=share_btn_tw

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Tory scum. 

[Rico1304]

More cuntery on behalf of the Tories now getting firms to declare their pro Brexit credentials when bidding for contracts,

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/01/firms-bidding-for-government-contracts-asked-if-they-back-brexit?CMP=share_btn_tw

Surely EU procurement rules will prevent this.

 

Edit: and when you read the article it doesn't actually say that, click bait.

[cloggypop]

Fucking hell.

 

There is no economic case for breaking up the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday, in a speech attacking Scottish nationalists for being "obsessed" with independence.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-politics-scotland-may-idUSKBN16A13E

[magicrat]

Fucking hell.

 

There is no economic case for breaking up the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday, in a speech attacking Scottish nationalists for being "obsessed" with independence.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-politics-scotland-may-idUSKBN16A13E

 

SNP are obsessed ??

 

She is dangerously fucking mental .  The woman is completely fixated on Brexit to the point where sits in the Lords to make sure the naughty boys don't say horrible things about her government. Fixated to the point where schools are asking parents to fund text books, fixated to the point were the police are unable to carry out the first priority of any government , protecting its citizens and fixated to the point where sick people are now having procedures done in hospital corridors because there are no beds , Fixated to extent old people cannot get the care they need to live out their final years with any dignity. Brexit Brexit and more fucking Brexit. I am seriously considering moving to Scotland ..

How the bitch can say she cares about people lives when her whole raison d'tre is to drag the country over a cliff to satisfy the loons who want their notion of country back, 

[Moctezuma]

I think Theresa needs to be aware that lecturing a group of people who have been consistently defecated on by London based governments by someone who has virtually lived their entire existence in the South East of England is not going to play particularly well.

[njackets]

Meanwhile....

 

Dyson Shrugs Off Brexit Fears By Unveiling Plans To Expand UK Workforce And Open New Site

 

 

UK technology company Dyson has announced that it is massively increasing its UK workforce and opening a new site, shrugging off fears cited by some that a hard Brexit might hamper companies' ability to trade, generate profit and hire.

 

Echoing similar expansion plans from the likes of Amazon, Google and Facebook, the company said on Tuesday it was opening a second research and development campus in the UK, on land in Wiltshire that was previously occupied by the Ministry of Defence.

 

The opening of the 517-acre Hullavington site, which is close to Dyson's Malmesbury headquarters, will increase the group's footprint in the UK by tenfold, the company said. A spokeswoman for Dyson said that over the longer term, the group aims to double it's UK workforce.

 

Dyson urges single market exit months after losing Brussels battle

According to the company, Dyson, which is famous for its top-end hoovers and hand dryers, has more than tripled its UK head count in the past five years and currently employs 3,500 people in the country, half of whom are engineers and scientists.

 

James Dyson, the billionaire entrepreneur and founder of Dyson, said on Tuesday that the new campus represented an “investment for our future”.

 

“It will enable us to continue creating world class products and jobs,” he said.

 

READ MORE

Amazon announces plans to expands UK workforce by 5,000

Asos to create 1,500 jobs as tech firms shrug off Brexit uncertainty

Brexit will ‘liberate’ the UK economy, says Sir James Dyson

Sir James was a vocal supporter of Brexit last June and last year and in September he said that the split would liberate the country’s economy.

 

“We can make our own laws and determine our own future and determine our own trade deals with other countries throughout the world. I think it is liberation and a wonderful opportunity for all of us,” he told the BBC at the time.

 

Europe last year represented about 16 per cent of Dyson’s global market, but Sir James said there were other very “exciting” markets outside of the EU. He said the business was growing particularly fast in China and Japan.

 

Commenting on Tuesday's expansion announcement, Theresa May said it was a “vote of confidence in our modern industrial strategy and our determination to cement the UK’s position as a world leader in high-tech engineering”.

 

The Prime Minister said in a statement that “Dyson’s exporting strength and commitment to creating jobs in Britain is a real success story that demonstrates the opportunity that our plan to create a truly global Britain can present”.

 

She also said it was “good to see that the site chosen by James Dyson will bring former MoD land back into productive use”

 

 

Other tech giants have in recent months unveiled plans to strengthen their presence in the UK, despite lingering uncertainty over the implications of Brexit.

 

Amazon earlier this month said it was expanding its UK workforce by 5,000, filling roles across a slew of departments, hiring software developers, engineers and technicians, as well as more junior positions and taking the company's total UK workforce to more than 24,000.

 

In November last year, Facebook announced plans to hire 500 extra workers in the UK when it opens a new office in London, increasing its workforce by half. Google has confirmed that it would build a new headquarters in London and create 3,000 jobs while IBM and Asos have made similar commitments.

 

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/dyson-brexit-uk-workforce-new-site-technology-trade-profit-malmesbury-a7604071.html

 

I'm starting to lose count of these giant companies who have faith in post Brexit Britain.

 

Perhaps they know something different than the remainers?

[VladimirIlyich]

I thought we were still in the EU?

[cloggypop]

Most of Dyson's employees are in Malaysia and Singapore of course.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2860995/Dyson-production-moves-to-Malaysia.html

 

Initially, Dyson vacuum cleaners and washing machines were made in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. In 2002, the company transferred vacuum cleaner production to Malaysia. Dyson stated that the company requested planning permission to expand the factory to increase vacuum cleaner production, but that this application failed. However, the local government says that no such permission was ever sought, as the land Dyson planned to use was privately owned and the original owner did not want to sell.[23] The move was also due to the most suppliers being located in the Far East and Dyson wanted to get as close as possible to be cost effective.[24] Also, at the time of the interview, James Dyson mentioned that the market was largest in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and potentially in the Far East market, and therefore the decision to shift production to Far East was driven by the need to get closer to the consumer base. As Dyson was the major manufacturing company in Wiltshire, outside Swindon, this move created some controversy as trade unionists claimed that the move would impact the local economy hard.[25]

 

In the following year, washing machine production was also moved to Malaysia.[26]The move was driven by production costs in Malaysia which are lower by 30% compared with the UK, however it created a loss of 65 jobs.[27]

 

In 2004, the Meiban-Dyson Laundry Manufacturing Plant was launched in Johor, Malaysia. The newly opened RM 10 million (approx. $2.63 million) plant is a joint venture between Dyson and the Singapore-based Meiban Group Ltd., which has manufacturing facilities in Singapore, Malaysia and China.[28]

 

Dyson stated that the cost savings from transferring production to Malaysia enabled investment in research & development at their Malmesbury head office.[29]

 

In 2007 Dyson formed a partnership with the Malaysian electronics manufacturer VS Industry Bhd (VSI) to take on a major role in Dyson's supply chain, from raw material sourcing and production to distribution. VSI also undertook an extensive production plan to supply finished product to Dyson's destination markets around the globe (America, UK, Japan, etc.).[30]

 

While it is often mentioned that Dyson has nearly 4,000 employees,[31] Dyson has not publicly stated where those employees are actually located, however, it is known that VS Industry Bhd (VSI) currently has around 4,250 employees at their Malaysian facility which manufactures Dyson products,[32] and in 2007 it was reported that Dyson alone was responsible for 80% of VS Industry Bhd (VSI) revenue.[33]

 

Dyson launches $360 million plant of the motor factory in Tuas Singaporec since 2013 which can produce 4 million digital motors a year.[34] In 2016, Dyson injects $100 million to ramp up and double the production output to produces an estimated 11 million digital motors a year.[35]

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_(company)#Production_moves_to_Malaysia_.26_Singapore

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Njackets starting to lose count after 4 or 5.

 

Is anyone surprised?

[Guest Pistonbroke]

NJ posting links from News outlets despite saying all news outlets are bollocks with fake news...blah blah blah. 

[Rico1304]

Dyson was pro-Brexit so he's hardly going to moan is he? It'll be interesting if he wants to bring over Malaysian expertise though, bloody foreigners coming over here making our hoovers.

[mattyq]

Cornwall taking back control

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cornwall-lose-eu-funding-uk-government-replace-brexit-latest-dclg-request-down-julian-german-a7603921.html

[magicrat]

Cornwall taking back control

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cornwall-lose-eu-funding-uk-government-replace-brexit-latest-dclg-request-down-julian-german-a7603921.html

 

I saw that, 

There are lots of stories of promises being broken on funding from the Government to replace lost EU grants, Research in this country is going to take a massive hit

 

As we get close to triggering A50 its become clear that the Tories will have a completely free hand to negotiate the settlement agreement.

Every person in the UK is at the mercy of David fucking Davies under the direction of un-elected Prime Minister, 

The vote by MPs on the final deal will be pointless, It is clear now that the plan all along was to give MP;s a choice of the Tory deal or no deal

No deal would mean crashing out with all the ensuing chaos, Labour have given their support to this process and whether or not they could have done anything to prevent it they should have stood up and been counted,  

[Rico1304]

I saw that,

There are lots of stories of promises being broken on funding from the Government to replace lost EU grants, Research in this country is going to take a massive hit

 

As we get close to triggering A50 its become clear that the Tories will have a completely free hand to negotiate the settlement agreement.

Every person in the UK is at the mercy of David fucking Davies under the direction of un-elected Prime Minister,

The vote by MPs on the final deal will be pointless, It is clear now that the plan all along was to give MP;s a choice of the Tory deal or no deal

No deal would mean crashing out with all the ensuing chaos, Labour have given their support to this process and whether or not they could have done anything to prevent it they should have stood up and been counted,

We don't vote for a prime minister.

[magicrat]

We don't vote for a prime minister.

 

In her case not even Tory party members voted for her to be PM

[clangers]

Nice to see GM getting shot of Vauxhall just before Article 50 is triggered and selling to Peugeot. No problem with that then, jobs all perfectly safe outside the EU.

 

Hopefully pro-brexit Dyson will be bringing back all those thousands of offshore jobs as well.