Is Britain about to leave the EU?

[Ajidica]

Question about the EU Regulations the Common Market:
The understanding I have is that all products sold in the Common Market must abide by EU regulations. However, I got the impression from the Leave campaign is that they wanted to remove "silly EU regulations on pillows and bananas". That said, if the UK wants to do business in the Common Market, wouldn't they have to retain the bulk of those regulations to ensure their product can be sold in the Common Market?

 

[Traitorfish]

It boils down to the same thing. Without any money all you are free is to be chased by the police for disturbing public order or living in the hills like a mountain man. Excellent spectrum of choices.

In fairness to the Cornish, those are the two career paths traditionally open to Celts under English rule.

Call them nostalgic, I guess.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Election results should also be this kind of only consultative thing. I mean the plebs can vote, but what do they know, amirite

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

 

[uppi]

Question about the EU Regulations the Common Market:
The understanding I have is that all products sold in the Common Market must abide by EU regulations. However, I got the impression from the Leave campaign is that they wanted to remove "silly EU regulations on pillows and bananas". That said, if the UK wants to do business in the Common Market, wouldn't they have to retain the bulk of those regulations to ensure their product can be sold in the Common Market?

Of course. And now the UK cannot even influence those regulations. To make matters worse, the UK, like Norway, would have to pay for access to the Common Market.

 

[Traitorfish]

Perhaps Leave voters imagine that we'll become self-sufficient.

Who knew that Enver Hoxha still had so many disciples?

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Question about the EU Regulations the Common Market:
The understanding I have is that all products sold in the Common Market must abide by EU regulations. However, I got the impression from the Leave campaign is that they wanted to remove "silly EU regulations on pillows and bananas". That said, if the UK wants to do business in the Common Market, wouldn't they have to retain the bulk of those regulations to ensure their product can be sold in the Common Market?

I guess they could remove some regulations for products that are only going to be sold domestically. They you'd have one set of rules for stuff that's only available in the UK and another set of rules for anything they're exporting into the EU.
Could work in theory, but probably wouldn't be practical.

 

[Atticus]

Question about the EU Regulations the Common Market:
The understanding I have is that all products sold in the Common Market must abide by EU regulations. However, I got the impression from the Leave campaign is that they wanted to remove "silly EU regulations on pillows and bananas". That said, if the UK wants to do business in the Common Market, wouldn't they have to retain the bulk of those regulations to ensure their product can be sold in the Common Market?

That's what Norway and Switzerland are doing right now, as I understand it. They don't have the word on the rules, and they still choose to follow them. They can have the illusion of doing that out of their own volition though.

The pillow and banana regulations and that kind of things are a common material of urban legends. I once read a book that followed these, some cabbage thing originated from the US and translated in Europe to be EU-bureaucracy. Some of them may have truth in them, possible much even, but still people might not know the whole backstories of them. I don't think the EU-bureaucrats set directives just for the fun of it.

 

[uppi]

I guess they could remove some regulations for products that are only going to be sold domestically. They you'd have one set of rules for stuff that's only available in the UK and another set of rules for anything they're exporting into the EU.
Could work in theory, but probably wouldn't be practical.

No, because without opening their markets to the EU (i.e. implementing EU regulations also domestically), they will not get access to the Common Market.

They could try to convince the EU to implement UK regulations instead...

 

[GoodSarmatian]

No, because without opening their markets to the EU (i.e. implementing EU regulations also domestically), they will not get access to the Common Market.

They could try to convince the EU to implement UK regulations instead...

Their regulations could be imilar but looser, so that any EU product meets British (lower) standards by default but not all British products could be sold in the EU.

 

[Mega Tsunami]

And now it seems that someone has started a different petition to actually get that £350m a week for the NHS. I'd like to see this particular promise being handwaved as an "aspiration".

(Fun fact: at least one of the comments indicates that some people really did vote to Leave based on this specific lie.)

They could easily find the £350m if they wanted to (or near enough).
We give even more in overseas aid than we do to the EU.
We give something like £225m a week (more than any other country in the world other than the US) in overseas aid, which together with the money we save from the EU would make it very easy to find the £350m.
Needs must at times like this – reduce the amount we give overseas (far too much of which lands in the hands of corrupt government officials) and voila, the NHS is well funded.
All we have to do is halve our aid to the level of the likes of France and Japan: that should do it.
For example, we give over £5m a week to India! A country that has a nuke and is sending rockets to the moon and we are giving them £280m pa! Madness.
(PS Nothing against India, great country that it is.)

(PPS And I haven’t even mentioned the £100m a week we would save in subsidies we give to Scotland if they decided to go.)


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ies-follows-s-pledge-0-7-national-income.html

 

[Ajidica]

One problem I see with reducing foreign aid is how the UK can convince countries to say in the Commonwealth and pretend it still has an empire if it isn't bribing them providing foreign aid.

 

[Lillefix]

At least now street vendors don't have to display prices in the metric system...

 

[really]

For free access to the common market the same standard would have to apply in both countries for both domestic and export products - otherwise an advantage might be available to a british manufacturer who could take advantage of looser standards when producing for the domestic market - that advantage would not be available to a foreign competitor who is bound by the higher standards even when trying to sell into Britain.

 

[Kyriakos]

I think that the UK would never had left had there not been massive errors (or even "errors") in the last 10+ years, ie even before the economic crisis. Basically the whole current mess would have been impossible without the 2004 mass expansion of the EU, generally doubling its landmass and population.
While 1 or 2 of those new countries would fit right in (eg Czech republic? And Poland as well, i think) the rest simply have no common basis with the EU as it was up to 2004, given they are openly zenophobic and not keen on reforming on such values.

Anyway, not that it matters now. But it was a hugely detrimental move. You cannot have a union of 500 million people speaking a host of different languages and half of them having very different culture. It will lead to vassalisations and those will lead to the kind of powergrab by creeps like some ruling govs in EU atm.

This is somewhat off-topic here, but i am not seeing the british voting to exit if things weren't really messed up in the EU, despite that level of messed up not having affected Britain itself much.

 

[Mega Tsunami]

One problem I see with reducing foreign aid is how the UK can convince countries to say in the Commonwealth and pretend it still has an empire if it isn't bribing them providing foreign aid.

Well maybe now is the time to make a call on some of that bribery foreign aid.

As for India, I think they are embarrassed by our aid.

The real problem of our aid is it is set as a percentage of our GDP so that sometimes the Foreign Office has to thrash around for something/someone to give money to. Stupid as hell. We should give to the needy, not to any old place/person because the maths says so.

 

[hoplitejoe]

Maybe money isn't everything? Radical idea.

yeah, just go without money guys! worry about immigration, not the quality of life you are living. Worry about some abstract concept of sovereignty, not how long until can afford a house.


This is exactly why so many young people are angry. It's so much easier when you have experience in work, a comfortable pension, a house already, to act like money isn't important, because it doesn't have to be for you.

Since 2000 the amount of young people renting a house has gone from 20% to 50%, mostly due to wages not being able to keep up with house prices. With the price of imported food increasing, and possible job losses ahead, this could be made worse.


There are a lot of angry young people out in the UK right now, who did take part in the democratic process, and did vote remain and they have a right to be angry due to the selfishness comments like this and the consequence they will now have on their entire lives.

 

[Dachs]

I understand that bookies want to make a profit whatever the result.

Therefore the odds change to reflect the respective level of bets placed for
Remain and Leave.

Bookies odds are generally not based on probability.

Odds usually are based on probability, especially in sports. Few sporting events have enough whales betting on them that the whales move the line by themselves. Because the thing is, with most sporting bets, sharps - with deeper pockets and a great deal more knowledge - will move the line far more than the penny-ante people.

The point of what I mentioned earlier is that the low ceiling on Betfair bets means that sharps simply weren't interested in the action.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

For free access to the common market the same standard would have to apply in both countries for both domestic and export products - otherwise an advantage might be available to a british manufacturer who could take advantage of looser standards when producing for the domestic market - that advantage would not be available to a foreign competitor who is bound by the higher standards even when trying to sell into Britain.

Hm, that would be the likely outcome.
But people who thought Brexit is a good idea might try it.

 

[Birdjaguar]

How quickly will immigration to GB be affected? What will happen to the status of those "foreigners" now living in GB?

 

[Atticus]

Nobody knows. They might need worker visas.