Cont: Brexit XII

[The Don]

So it will be a friction-free trade and movement agreement that looks, walks, smells and quacks like EU membership. But it won't actually be EU membership.

Got it.

Probably not. Labour have drawn some red lines for themselves, particularly on free movement and immigration, which will scupper EEA membership.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Probably not. Labour have drawn some red lines for themselves, particularly on free movement and immigration, which will scupper EEA membership.

I gather any of these red lines are only for public show. And whenever it is expeditious, they can be moved like goalposts.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

It’s pretty much standard English in the UK. I think it’s called a ‘team plural’ by some linguists. I’m not keen on it, but it’s been around a while.

OK. I had never heard of that but I'll Google it. Thanks for putting Education in ISF.

After Googling - https://style.mla.org/verbs-with-collective-nouns/ seems to say it should be treated as singular.

Collective nouns, like team, family, class, group, and host, take a singular verb when the entity acts together and a plural verb when the individuals composing the entity act individually.

Other sites say differently.

 

[Mojo]

OK. I had never heard of that but I'll Google it. Thanks for putting Education in ISF.

After Googling - https://style.mla.org/verbs-with-collective-nouns/ seems to say it should be treated as singular.


Other sites say differently.

There may also be a difference between spoken and written English.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

“
We think that because of the trust we built, we can get a better deal. The European Union have understood from the beginning those red lines,” Ms Reeves told The Guardian.

What...I don't even...lol...wtf? Hahahahaahaaaaa!!!! That's so funny!

The thing is, if the red lines haven't changed, the best deal is BoJo the Clown's one.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Is she a native English speaker? "European Union" is singular. Should it not be 'has" not "have"?

Collective nouns are generally treated as plurals.

 

[Darat]

The thing is, if the red lines haven't changed, the best deal is BoJo the Clown's one.

No it isn't - we could have had "free" travel reciprocal arrangements for the likes of touring musicians. Just small things that would have made it better for everyone.

 

[zooterkin]

No it isn't - we could have had "free" travel reciprocal arrangements for the likes of touring musicians. Just small things that would have made it better for everyone.

One of the (many) annoying things is that they said such arrangements would happen, and they didn't, because no-one bothered to do it.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

No it isn't - we could have had "free" travel reciprocal arrangements for the likes of touring musicians. Just small things that would have made it better for everyone.

Problem there was, and still is, the UK wasn't willing to reciprocate.

 

[Cosmic Yak]

There may also be a difference between spoken and written English.

And between British and American English. I've actually just been told by someone on this forum that because the site is American, we should all use American English.

 

[Andy_Ross]

UK and EU reach new deal including 12-year agreement on EU fishing boats in UK waters

Bexiters and Gammons apoplectic

 

[Andy_Ross]

Here or UK politics thread?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1924384195968684497

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Just showed up in my YouTube feed. Posted here for your enlightenment amusement:

 

[wobs]

March for Rejoin in June 2026:

National Rejoin March | National Rejoin March

National Rejoin March is a grassroots campaign advocating for the UK's return to the EU. We work tirelessly to keep #RejoinEU in public discourse, ensuring that our voices are heard both online and offline. Together, we can make a difference for our future.

marchforrejoin.co.uk

 

[Helen]

Watched some mock the week-clips yesterday, and in one of them, Ed Byrne says that the UK will be allowed back in 2068, after you've changed your name to Verysorryland. Maybe you could speed up the process by changong the name straight away?

 

[Helen]

I do miss you guys, but it least our idiotic Swexiteers have lost the wind beneath their wings, as we've watched the sunlit uplands of the UK not exactly living up to the promises of the Brexiteers... But I wish you were still here with the rest of us.

One of the stupidest part of the Swexit idea, apart from every other stupid part, is that we would still be every bit as dependent on the EU, but without even the tiniest influence.

 

[jimbob]

One of the stupidest part of the Swexit idea, apart from every other stupid part, is that we would still be every bit as dependent on the EU, but without even the tiniest influence.

Why does that sound familiar?

 

[Darat]

Why does that sound familiar?

"The EU needs us more than we need them...."

 

[Helen]

"The EU needs us more than we need them...."

Not even the Swexiteers have ever claimed that, but perhaps even they are actually aware that this is very small (population-wise, at least) country in northern Europe, and that trying to claim that the rest of the EU needs us for anything much at all, is pushing it. They do like to say that we're a net contributor, though. What they fail to realise is that if we left, we would still contribute, but would not receive anything, so we'd still be a net contributor.

Sorry, got carried away, this is about Brexit, which was one of the stupidest things ever, but I think that you saved other countries from having to have that discussion. But as far as I can tell, that was the only positive effect. I'd love to see a real rejoin-movement from you, and remember; Verysorryland. Should work.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Watched some mock the week-clips yesterday, and in one of them, Ed Byrne says that the UK will be allowed back in 2068, after you've changed your name to Verysorryland. Maybe you could speed up the process by changong the name straight away?

Motion seconded, all those in favour say 'Aye'..

 

[jimbob]

Brexit blame game returns ahead of Budget - https://on.ft.com/49jOSbo via @FT

Unsurprisingly to me at least, Brexit has been worse than many predictions.

"The OBR will say clearly that Brexit had a bigger effect on the British economy than they expected, along with Covid," said one government official. The OBR declined to Comment.
A 0.2 percentage point markdown in the OBR's productivity forecast would cost about £18bn a year.

 

[Helen]

And as usual, the have-nots will pay the price while the haves keep getting havier.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Some stats are now in.

Brexit’s impact on the UK economy - UK in a changing Europe

Nicholas Bloom, Philip Bunn, Paul Mizen, Pawel Smietanka, and Gregory Thwaites argue that there is evidence that Brexit has had a large and persistent negative impact on GDP, output and productivity in their new NBER working paper.

ukandeu.ac.uk

Our three main findings are:

1. Brexit has imposed a large and persistent cost on the UK economy. By 2025, we estimate that UK GDP per capita was 6–8% lower than it would have been without Brexit. Investment was 12–18% lower, employment 3–4% lower, and productivity 3–4% lower.
2. These losses emerged gradually. The impact was hard to see in 2017–18, but accumulated steadily over the subsequent decade as uncertainty persisted, trade barriers rose, and firms diverted resources away from productive activity.
3. Economists were roughly right on the magnitude of the impact, but wrong on the timing. The consensus pre‑referendum forecast of a 4% long‑run GDP loss turned out to be close to the actual loss after five years, but too optimistic about the longer run.

An immense success.

(Well I guess some made a decent profit. But I wonder who?)

 

[Norman Alexander]

(Well I guess some made a decent profit. But I wonder who?)

Bookies taking bets on Brexit success.