Brexit Agreement - more like damage limitation!

 

It not a question of who wins – it is question of damage limitation for both the UK and EU. Both parties will lose benefits.

For copies of the Agreement and further analysis CLICK HERE

We are out of the European Union and I hope we can now start repairing all the damage which has been done to our trading and social relationship with our partners in Europe over the last 4 years but it not a question of who wins – it is question of damage limitation for both the UK and EU. Both parties will lose benefits.

Hopefully, we can now move away from isolationism and division and start working with people rather than against them. Hopefully we can concentrate on building a global sustainable economy meeting the climate change challenge where peace, humanity and the health of communities are given high priority.

This whole Brexit business extending over the last 4 years has been a massively unnecessary interruption to successful business and commerce as well as to peace, security, stability, and the development of a sustainable future. We need to prioritise the conservation of our environment working towards the elimination of greenhouse gases in the planet's atmosphere. The people of the United Kingdom had to vote in a referendum whilst they were being assailed by false statements extolling the benefits of leaving the European Union. The UK Government has seemingly conveniently forgotten all of the mistruths that were put out in 2016.

And why are we leaving the UK's biggest economic partner in the world? Nobody from this UK Brexit Government or the Leave Campaign are repeating the lies which were put out in 2016, – no, they are saying it is all because we need our 'sovereignty' back! Effectively this means that the UK Parliament will now make the decisions about what's good for Britain. But that's a worry in itself. Our Parliamentary voting system is archaic with its First Past the Post voting system. Basically, this means a single party can 'win' an election without the majority of voters supporting them. In the last election in 2019 the Conservatives got 43.6% of the votes but won 56% of the seats. That 13% difference means to say that whatever a small bunch of Tories think (the Cabinet) will effectively be how we are governed in this country. That doesn't make me feel very comfortable. I would rather have the checks and balances of the EU where our ministers jointly make decisions with the rest of the EU ministers, where our European members of Parliament jointly make decisions with elected MPs from all over Europe. I would rather have stable five-year expenditure and environmental programmes based on the precautionary principle rather than the chaotic piecemeal decision which often comes out from Downing Street.

Still, we are where we are and in large part UK business will be able to trade free of tariffs with the EU countries. However, they will have the problem of producing more documentation to export their goods. In the service industry there is still much to be done as the agreement hasn't concluded any details. It seems crazy that the UK government hasn't treated this major export market as a priority. In 2019, the UK’s single largest service export to the EU was “other business services”, valued at £41 billion; this represented 33% of all UK service exports to the EU. Other British service exports to the EU included financial services, valued at £26 billion (21% of service exports to the EU). Combined with other business services, these two categories made up just over half of all UK service exports to the EU!

But beyond this there are real worries as to the logic of the UK government in coming out of the European Arrest Warrant and leaving Interpol. Why? We also leave the Erasmus University exchange student system. Why? It was a great system to help our students not only get the best education but understand how things are done in other countries. If it was good enough for the monks of the Middle Ages why isn't it good enough for our young people in the UK?

The UK loses the freedom of movement so it will no longer be possible to easily go work in another country in Europe. Many businesses are international, and the freedom of a movement principle helps them as well as helping the individual get the best job for them and their family. Our UK government have abandoned the concept of equivalency in professional services. For example, it will no longer be possible for nurses and doctors to have their qualifications automatically recognised in Europe and vice versa.

As we move into this new era, I think the gaps caused by our exit from the EU will need constant attention and will lead to difficulties for our businesses and workers. A disaster has been averted but that doesn't mean to say this Agreement can replace all the benefits we had by being part of the European project. Our departure from the EU is a win for people like Putin but it's not a win for the people of the United Kingdom.

 

Will we ever get a fair voting system?

Here in the UK we are in the first year of a 5 year parliament where the Conservative Party have an overall majority of seats in the House of Commons but that is only because (for the UK Parliament) we have a 'first passed the post' constituency voting system. In this system the way people vote is not reflected in the number of seats in Parliament. For instance, the Conservatives increased their share of the vote by only 0.8% but gained an extra 24 seats. Labour increased their share by nearly double, 1.5%,  but actually lost 26 seats! A crazy system! For more see: the BBC General Election Results 

In fact by a large majority most of the people in the UK did not vote for the Conservatives, who got just over 11 million votes, whereas votes for other parties amounted to 19 million!

Sadly though, we are now beset with a 5 year period of Conservative style legislation despite the huge majority of people NOT voting for the Conservatives. We are having to endure a 5 year programme where the Conservatives impose their version economics (Osbourne’s budgets), their nuclear energy programme, and their relaxation of the human rights legislation, planning laws, climate change legislation and much more!  

http://electoral-reform.org.uk/

If you think that the voting system should change please join the Electoral Reform Society and/or support their campaigns via:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/electoralreform and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/electoralreformsociety




Or support #FairVotesNow on www.change.org

NHS Privatisation

I wonder how many people know that all GP/doctor's surgeries in England are not part of the NHS - GPs are contractors to the NHS and have been so since the the formation of the NHS. 

Likewise, surgeons, anesthetists, gynecologists and many more are contractors to the NHS, most of them also contracting to private hospitals etc. So let us take a REAL look at privatisation of the NHS and not just one aspect. 

Do we need more national boundaries dividing up this little island?

Here are observations on Scottish Independence from an ordinary fellow who lives in England but who comes from a multinational background and whose wife is half Scottish.  Please explore there links and let me have your views:  

Peace, democracy, strong economy +  cultural & historical heritage development rather more national borders
Is independence really worth it? Perhaps Scotland should be more outward looking and concentrate on improving the economy and creating a better future for our children.

Scotland has wide-ranging financial spending freedom now!
Does Scotland need independence to achieve a better future for people who live in Scotland? There are doubtful benefits to independence and many potential major catastrophes including the issues surrounding oil prices and oil extraction in the North Sea. Here,  I try and put the facts and signal some of the dangers.


An historical view on Scottish independence
Why did I write this? Because I remember Winston Churchill's words (and many others who have the same sentiment): “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” 


PS: 
If I were to be cynical I could say: perhaps some of the leaders of the independence movement want to strut the world stage like kings of old? 

Scottish Independence Vote

Personally, I am not one who is enthused by the idea of ‘nationhood,’ – I am more concerned to live in a peaceful, democratic society with a strong economy that can sustain our children and future generations. I am more concerned with the development of our cultural & historical heritage rather than distinct legal national borders. I suppose my feelings on this matter are partly rooted in my ancestry which is a combination of Welsh, German and English. Also, my wife’s father was born in Glasgow. I am happy seeing myself as a European and as Welsh, English and German with Scottish links. Now, I see myself as a ‘man of Sussex’ (where I have lived for over 30 years) as well as a citizen of the world where I wish to travel and understand other peoples and enjoy their culture and history!

I do not believe we should go back to the concept of ‘tribal like’ land disputes of the past dividing up this little planet but to seek co-operation between countries and regions for economic, ecological and future sustainability reasons; to protect ourselves and to have influence over other spheres of the world working towards world peace but at the same time to protect us from aggression, extremism and terrorists. As John F Kennedy said: “United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. As the Greek philosopher, Aesop, tells us: “United we stand, divided we fall”.

We have to think how all the billions of people in our fast growing world population are going to live in peace and be fed; not who runs which little corner of the world.  

We can all regret the passing of nations for example the King of the Britons, the  great King Arthur, that great mythical British Monarch; the loss of the Welsh principality; the loss of the Kingdom of Wessex and the Kingdom of Northumbria and the like ……… but what remains and what we must cherish & nurture is the historical & cultural heritage. I do not believe that formal fixed borders will help us economically or culturally. In fact the more one divides up the geography of our planet the more likelihood there is for dispute and economic difficulties. For example I believe the federation of 52 American states in the form of the USA is far better than 52 separate countries!  As for Europe, before the formation of the EU the people of Europe had suffered from centuries of war and economic crisis.  

The vote in Scotland next month is a simple action, too easily taken but what will follow is a long period of economic uncertainty and to what benefit? The debate seems to have been inward looking and not outwards to the world where our destiny really lies.