I heard Lord Patten on R4 at lunchtime, and he seemed to be painting an especially gloomy picture of how badly negotiations may go, and at great length, in contrast to John Redwood who was on before him, briefly, and was quite chirpy (to the extent that he can be). Then I remembered that, amongst other jobs (80s Conservative cabinet minister, Hong Kong, BBC...) Patten was an EU Commissioner for a while (a tough stint of about 4 years...) and for that he is now effectively on the Brussels payroll to the tune of £40K p.a. or so (amazing - work for 4 years and get a pension of £40K !!!). Now I don't know what the truth is regarding the idea that ex-commissioners risk losing their pension rights if they are not "loyal to the EU". Lord Kinnock denies this , and emphasises how he "contributed to" his EU pension which is more than double that of Patten - well, I'll bet he did not contribute at the rate that an ordinary person would have to in order to create a pension pot worth £millions. However, I'm absolutely sure that being in receipt of a large pension, after having done a job on a very nice salary package, is likely to influence the tone of what you say. It's an old article, and the lords are past trying to delay Article 50 now, but I think it's important to remember this point about some of those who are given plenty of BBC airtime to air their views : Neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson among pro-EU peers looking to force changes to Brexit deal in House of Lords - but they are still earning tens of thousands from Brussels
That bloke is deluded...I mean,seriously deluded...the Yanks are probably happy that they've got Trump now they've seen what we've all been suffering... European Union - EU boss threatens to break up US in retaliation for Trump Brexit support | Politics | News | Express.co.uk
Whatever we negotiate with the EU negotiators will have to be approved by all the remaining EU states. That is where the stickiest part will be I reckon. They will all have their own views on what is the right deal to approve.
The hardest thing to negotiate is getting duke to pay up now article 50 has been launched. Just sayin as to why the eurocrats are in a tizzy about possibly loosing our paid for intelligence and security assistance, look up five eyes (fvey)
Inevitable that the divide and conquer tactic will win in the end. The German industrialists won't wait for Drunker, the Belgium thug and the tribe to affect their wallets. Already direct discussions going on with ministers in each country. Mrs Merk took off her headphones when the idiots started preaching their tactics. She will call most of the shots as she does the €.
I would imagine there are a good number of the remaining 27 who have been waiting for a golden opportunity such as this to beat up and demand things from the eu that they would not get on any other day German car companies want a good deal to stop their industry and economies going under? Sure we in hungary will vote for the end deal, as long as hungary gets another billion a year from the eu. A lot of this eu infighting will take place and far more than any eu-U.K. fighting.
What a dull-witted drunken prick. What an utter clown. And people say Trump is nuts... He looks like a wise and mature statesman next to Junker. And at least he's sober.
It's the type of bloke he is @noobie , showing his true colours. I wouldn't worry about it, there are only 2 losers, duke (obviously a loser) and charity.
80% of EU farm subsidy goes to 20% of the largest industrial producers. In the UK, buying farms and milking subsidies has become the gold-plated tax dodge for hedge-fund managers and multi-millionaire retired politicians and even Monarchs-in-waiting. Where I live there is only one farm I can think of that is still family owned. The rest are owned by city business consortiums and non-farming business people (and professional lobbyists) who pocket the single farm payments and rent the land back to big agri-business and their contractor sister companies, many of which are also part of city portfolios.
WOW!!!!! The Maltese current EU president just stated what the rest of us already knew,(but the BBC and their MSM running dogs have either ignored or were too stupid to see), that apart from the UK financial obligations after Brexit,the value of the UK's share of EU assets also has to be calculated...£500 billion gross since we joined,(prior to any rebates or subsidies repaid),sounds like we might have a surplus and money back! Bring it on! AND the pound/Euro is back up to 1.17...
Before any financial settlement can be discussed with any seriousness all accounts must be audited. The UK's are up to date and signed off. How are the EU getting on with theirs?
