i will post it again. theres a fair bit in the irish press to. http://www.businessforscotland.com/outraged-theresa-may-rejects-eu-withdrawal-plan/
Interesting read, yet there's some assumptions made which I'm not so sure about, and that I trust the EU leaders less than I trust our own.....barely I find it hard to believe that the details put forward are exactly what TM agreed in full, nothing more nothing less. But then again I wouldn't put anything past this lot. It's almost like a massive elaborate trick to string this out until the public just give up
I can’t see that happening though. Divisions in Ireland Divisions is Scotland Both long running for many people. Divisions between leave and remain as to the way forward. No real leadership from May since she hamstrung her government. So who do the public rally around and support? Corbyn is evasive and not consistent. No progress on what the future will look like. Increasing unemployment, debt and inflation. Not looking good.
I see your point Loz.i am being extremely pessimistic and I accept that criticism. That’s fair comment. I wish I could be more optimistic but I find it hard. This is the point you offer to take me for a few beers to cheer me up!
Pessimism is like Foresight's evil twin. Humans evolved to anticipate future problems in order to have a plan to deal with them - that's foresight. Unfortunately, it is difficult to turn off the tap so you start anticipating every problem you can think of, including the ones you cannot possibly have any effect on. The trick is not to give those problems too much headspace, so you have to manipulate your feelings for the impending Brexipocalypse, Runaway Global Warming, Snowball Earth, pestilence, asteroid strikes ... uh ... I'm not helping, am I?
Conservative MP on TV disagreeing with an expert from Queens University, Belfast, on the subject of customs border. Indeed, he quoted an academic paper to rebuff her argument. Trouble was, she was a co-author of the report!
That's the problem with arguing with experts. They bring you down to their microscopic view of the world wherein their expertise lies. Unfortunately, expert knowledge doesn't always scale up to the size of the wider world. We see that regularly with regard to Brexit but also in respect of any complex or "chaotic" system: finances, meteorology, etc. I'll try to provide an allegory to illustrate: A botanist was telephoned in order to solve the problem of what a gardener's plants kept dying. The botanist worked out the pH of the soil required for each plant, the amount of watering, the amount of direct sunshine and provided over the phone the necessary information. None of these measures helped. A plumber happened by and saw the garden. He was able to determine that a burst main was flooding the soil from below. Later, the plumber said, "Don't know a thing about gardening mate but I have fixed your faulty pipe". The botanist was then contacted. "Sorry mate, I don't know a thing about plumbing". ***** Feel free to pick holes in the allegory or to miss the point in any other way you like!
they should of use the botanist to vet the tory front bench, not getting them involved in trade deals loz
She had two basic points about the Irish border and customs. This is her specific area of expertise and has cowritten and presented papers to the EU. 1) if you only check 20% of goods you effectively have an open border 2) saying that you will use technology means nothing. It’s a means to an end and not a policy and it’s the policy which needs to be agreed by all parties, and so far it’s not been. I think it’s fair to say she knows what she is talking about.
I think it's fair to say she does not own a crystal ball. The expert will know nothing about the negotiating strategies of the parties involved, she cannot possible know the parameters of the brinkmanship each party will employ. She doesn't know what each party is prepared to concede. And every single policy on the planet is a means to an end, in principle and in practice. Or do you think that hard borders prevent smuggling? Speeding laws prevent speeding? Property laws prevent theft? The expert is commenting upon a situation where her area of expertise represents a fraction of the whole issue. I've said it before, I will say it again - people believe, for some reason, that expert knowledge scales up to encompass the real world. Aside from expertise regarding certain physical laws, that belief is no different to religious belief.
@Loz thats depressing lunacy and does so much damage to the country as a whole. Maybe we should tell Ducati to stop researching since the Cucciolo did a perfectly good job of getting us from A to B. No need for all these race bikes and their rocket science expert engineers. I take it the plant owner is blaming the botanist for the whole thing as well? Its true we appear to be lacking leadership these days but to continue your allegory; if the plant owner was really not clever enough to realise there was plumbing involved then they should have got a manager who was reasonably skilled in the constituent parts to look after the greenhouse and bring in the right specialist. But obviously they didn't because 'these experts cannot be trusted'.
