"The EU does not understand that Democracies exist because people have different opinions." golf charlie

The EU does understand - and wants to eradicate different opinions and democracy.

We can all have moments where we think the public are dumb (voting for Corbyn) but in those cases, there is an underlying cause we can't see. Democracy is a way for the public to make themselves heard. The alternative is revolution. The EU would do well to understand that democracy is a peace treaty between the rich and the poor.

gc 10:47 PM, I didn't think Brexit would win. I wasn't sure that the country was close enough to the boil. There are so may reasons why it did happen that it would make an excellent study but any such research would be as biased as a Dr Lew composition. It's one of those issues where surveys are practically useless because surveys miss subtlety. Sure, you could conclude that immigration is an issue but immigration resentment comprises of many sub groups. Even before you get to any thoughts about culture differences, you have to recognise that just the sheer number of people causes problems. Everyone is in a panic about knife crime right now but there are people out there who saw it develop and were brushed off as racist or scare mongers. Every year some git will wave statistics at us and say actually things are better. How would we know when they change what they record every year? How would they know when WE change and adapt to crime? We essentially lose millions to crime every year by acting to prevent it. Security systems, insurance, changed behaviour. All costs that should be counted as a result of growing criminality. The child grooming cases weren't an abberation. They didn't pop up out of nowhere. The seeds of that could be seen in Bradford when I was there 30 years ago. Are the people who saw how things evolved, racist for worrying or are they smeared, ignored observers of the truth? It's not a phobia to be scared of a real danger. Something our elite choose to forget.

stewgreen was right yesterday about left and right being an unsuitable way to divide people, especially on things like Brexit. People form groups on all sorts of issues and how they vote may have no relevance to which side they join. On immigration we have a situation where a large slice of the population are at odds with their MP. It's curious how many MPs of left and right can be so strongly in favour of migration and do not see that it drives a wedge between them and the electorate. For MPs, immigration is a route to prosperity, for the public, it's an erosion of society. Are the elite more humane and generous to approve of migration? Or are they just self centred people, isolated from the worst effects of too many people and enriched by the cheap labour? Does the rich couple with their Oxbridge educated foreign friends really understand what immigration feels like?

"French MPs approve anti-riot bill amid Yellow Vest protests, rights watchdog sounds alarm"

https://www.rt.com/news/453678-yellow-vest-riot-law/

The upper house of the French parliament has greenlighted a bill giving police broad powers to quell unrest. It comes as a rights watchdog warned of civil liberties being undermined in France due to crackdowns on protest.
Following hours of tense debate on Tuesday, the French Senate approved an anti-hooligan ('anti-casseurs') bill by a margin of 210 votes to 115.

The bill has courted widespread controversy, having been denounced as "liberticide" by the left, and hailed as a "the law of protections" by the French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

"UK to cut tariffs to zero on 87 percent of imports in no-deal Brexit
Mixture of tariff rates would be retained for some goods, including on agricultural imports and cars."

https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-to-cut-tariffs-to-zero-on-87-percent-of-imports-in-no-deal-brexit/

"The U.K. would temporarily cut tariffs to zero on 87 percent of imports in the event of a no-deal Brexit in order to avoid “potential price spikes” hitting consumers, ministers said Wednesday.

A mixture of tariff rates would be retained for some goods, including on agricultural imports and cars.

The emergency tariff regime would apply for up to 12 months, according to a government briefing issued Wednesday morning.

After Theresa May’s Brexit deal was rejected by the House of Commons for a second time Tuesday, MPs will vote later Wednesday on whether to leave the EU with no deal on the legal date of March 29.

Trade Policy Minister George Hollingbery said the government “must prepare for all eventualities.”

“If we leave without a deal, we will set the majority of our import tariffs to zero whilst maintaining tariffs for the most sensitive industries," he said. “This balanced approach will help to support British jobs and avoid potential price spikes that would hit the poorest households the hardest.”

Tariffs on beef products would be set at 53 percent of the EU most-favored-nation rate, while tariffs on poultry products would be set at 60 percent of the EU most-favored-nation rate. Sheep meat would attract the existing EU most-favored-nation rate.

While finished cars would attract a tariff rate of 10.6 percent, no tariffs would apply to car parts required by manufacturers reliant on EU supply chains.

Some minimal tariff rates would also apply to ceramics, fertilizers and textiles.

A set of goods including bananas, raw cane sugar and some kinds of fish would also attract tariffs to protect preferential arrangements the U.K. holds with exporters in developing countries.

The tariff regime will not apply to goods crossing the Northern Ireland border, for which the U.K. today announced a set of temporary, unilateral measures for avoiding checks in the event of no deal."

We should have published a no-deal Brexit tariff schedule months ago. Had German car-makers seen in hard detail that their cars would be subject to tariffs in the UK, then they would have been leaning on Merkel and she would have been leaning on the EU (and the EU would probably have done what Germany wanted, as it usually does). By delaying this, we have wasted one of our strongest cards. My money is still on Article 50 being revoked.

"UK to unilaterally waive all checks at Irish border in no-deal Brexit"

https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-to-unilaterally-waive-all-checks-at-irish-border-in-no-deal-brexit/

The U.K. would unilaterally waive checks on all goods crossing the Northern Ireland border in the event of a no-deal Brexit, as part of a temporary regime in the days immediately after the U.K.’s exit, ministers said Wednesday.

In such a scenario, the U.K. would seek to immediately enter talks with the EU and the Irish government to find a long-term solution, according to a government briefing.

The temporary regime would permit the unmonitored flow of goods and exploitation of the new system by smugglers, officials acknowledged.

Tariffs which would apply to 87 percent of imports in the event of no deal would not be levied on goods crossing the Northern Ireland border. The existing VAT regime for traders would remain in place, and small traders not currently registered would be allowed to report online only periodically.

However, animal and animal products from outside the EU would need to enter Northern Ireland through a designated port. There would be new import requirements on a small number of goods, such as endangered species and hazardous chemicals, but these would not involve infrastructure or checks at the border, the government said.

After Theresa May’s Brexit deal was rejected by the House of Commons for a second time Tuesday, MPs will vote later Wednesday on whether to leave the EU with no deal on the legal date of March 29.

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said the measures “can only be temporary and short-term.”

She added: “We will do all we can to support people and businesses across Northern Ireland in the event that we leave without a deal."

"Theresa May loses control of Brexit"

https://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-brexit-lost-control/

"What would happen if MPs said no to no deal and no to an extension? What if the European Union rejects the extension request? What if the EU only offers a lengthy — or very short — extension? “To be honest, I don’t know,” said one senior government official.

On the biggest strategic question Britain has faced since the end of World War II, the government has its head down hoping not to trip up, one step at a time, hands out feeling into the fog.

Wednesday will start with the publication of the U.K. government’s emergency plans for tariffs and the Irish border in the event of no deal. The market-sensitive papers will be published at 7 a.m. Shortly afterward, the Cabinet will convene to discuss the route ahead. But in truth, for 48 hours at least, the House of Commons is in total control.

But parliament, like the government — and the country at large — is split. There is no majority for a deal; no majority for no deal; no majority for withdrawing Article 50; and no majority for a second referendum.

If the EU says no to kicking the can down the road, all bets are off."

My money is on Parliament voting to revoke Article 50 (now that the ECJ has helpfully told us we can do so unilaterally).

stewgreen at 9.31pm yesterday - fair enough. I posted the link simply because of its exposure of the stupidity of yet another EU policy, which seemed rather topical in view of the current shenanigans in Parliament.

The EU does not understand that Democracies exist because people have different opinions.

I don't want to be a part of that.

Greenpeace can't even remember their own history, but happily support Mann's rewriting of the Planet's

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/12/trump-calls-climate-change-crisis-fake-science-greenpeace-goes-beserk/