Brexit was a "wake-up call" and would lead to (much needed) reform of the EU...
6 months later and we get this...
List of proposed 'reforms'
Not really seeing anything in there that would make Brussels more attractive...

Quote:Page 11, paragraph 10
Proposes that the next revision of the Treaties should rationalise the current disorderly differentiation by ending, or at least drastically reducing, the practice of opt-outs, optins and exceptions for individual Member States at EU primary-law level; 

Europe's chief Brexit negotiator says: 'We need the Scottish people ... we cannot afford to lose that'

Quote:“Europe hasn’t forgotten that a large majority of the Scottish people voted to remain,” Verhofstadt said. “We need the Scottish people and their firm European beliefs.

Quote:There was also love from Elmar Brok, the German chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, and a senior member of Angela Merkel’s CDU party. He said that his student days in our capital had stayed with him: “As a student I spent one year in Edinburgh. Since that time, Scotland is my big love,” Brok said. “Due to this emotional bond I always have an open heart for the interests of Scotland.”

---

On the plus side though, not long now before the UK rids itself of the meddlesome EU red tape concerning air pollution.

European commission issues 'final warning' to UK over air pollution breaches

Quote:The UK is one of five countries served with the warning over persistent breaches of nitrogen dioxide ((NO2) levels, which come from sources including factories and vehicles, particularly diesel engines.

Air pollution is linked to the early deaths of about 40,000 people a year in the UK and causes problems such as heart and lung diseases and asthma.

The commission said that if the countries failed to take action on the issue within two months, it may decide to take the matter to the European court of justice.


Britain has been in breach of EU NO2 limits since 2010, with London overshooting its annual air pollution limit for the whole of 2017 in just the first five days.

Quote:A European commission spokesman Enrico Brivio told a briefing in Brussels: “It is a warning that we send to member states asking to comply, to take measures to fight this poor air quality that provokes respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease. It is an important factor on the health of citizens.

Quote:Asked whether the UK would remain bound by any legal proceedings after Brexit, the commission’s spokesman Alexander Winterstein said: “For as long as the UK is a member of the European Union, rights and obligations apply. European law applies fully.”

Quote:Labour’s Mary Creagh said: “We won’t be able to rely on European standards to kick the UK government into action when we leave the EU. That’s why, as chair of parliament’s environmental audit committee, I’ve called for a new Environmental Protection Act to ensure air pollution standards are not watered down.

Quote:Jenny Bates, a Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said: “It’s shameful that the EU has to take legal action against the UK government to get it to deal with the dangerous levels of dirty air across the country.

“Air pollution is responsible for tens of thousands of early deaths every year and is harming the health of an entire generation of children. Current government plans have been shown to be too little too late.”

(February 15, 2017 at 1:40 pm)Mathilda Wrote: ...

Quote:The UK is one of five countries served with the warning over persistent breaches of nitrogen dioxide ((NO2) levels, which come from sources including factories and vehicles, particularly diesel engines.

Air pollution is linked to the early deaths of about 40,000 people a year in the UK and causes problems such as heart and lung diseases and asthma.

The commission said that if the countries failed to take action on the issue within two months, it may decide to take the matter to the European court of justice.
...

Y'see?  This is exactly the problem!

How dare those others violate our right to self-determination.

If we want to prioritise industry and energy resources over quality of life of our human resources why the hell can't we?

There are some things, like the economy, that are more important than the lives of a few street urchins.

Bastards!

(February 15, 2017 at 9:11 pm)DLJ Wrote:

(February 15, 2017 at 1:40 pm)Mathilda Wrote: ...

Y'see?  This is exactly the problem!

How dare those others violate our right to self-determination.

If we want to prioritise industry and energy resources over quality of life of our human resources why the hell can't we?

There are some things, like the economy, that are more important than the lives of a few street urchins.

Bastards!

National independence over the loss of sovereignty. 
A strong nation with a strong currency not under the oppressive euro zone and tied down to member states and urchins.
You are the British strong and proud for your Queen and country you have given the EU, Greece  and other people and states
surrounding you the biggest middle finger and are taking care of yourselves they way it should have been after WW2.

(February 15, 2017 at 9:24 pm)dyresand Wrote: ...
National independence over the loss of sovereignty. 
A strong nation with a strong currency not under the oppressive euro zone and tied down to member states and urchins.
You are the British strong and proud for your Queen and country you have given the EU, Greece  and other people and states
surrounding you the biggest middle finger and are taking care of yourselves they way it should have been after WW2.

Ha!  Good one!

I can just hear Alf saying that.  And Al too...

(February 15, 2017 at 9:34 pm)DLJ Wrote:

(February 15, 2017 at 9:24 pm)dyresand Wrote: ...
National independence over the loss of sovereignty. 
A strong nation with a strong currency not under the oppressive euro zone and tied down to member states and urchins.
You are the British strong and proud for your Queen and country you have given the EU, Greece  and other people and states
surrounding you the biggest middle finger and are taking care of yourselves they way it should have been after WW2.

Ha!  Good one!

I can just hear Alf saying that.  And Al too...

  

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39042876

"Reports suggest the UK could have to pay the EU up to 60 billion euros (£51bn) after Brexit talks start."

"Discussions are taking place in Brussels on the size of the bill to be presented to Mrs May when she launches the talks. The amount will cover the UK's share of the cost of projects and programmes it signed up to as a member, as well as pensions for EU officials."

But our sov-rain-tee!!1!

Exiting the EU is going to cost a hell of a lot.

http://news.sky.com/story/brexit-bill-to...s-10784541

Quote:The House of Lords is set to give the Government its first defeat on the Article 50 Brexit bill as early as Wednesday on the issue of protecting the rights of EU nationals.

In a rare move, a vote will be pushed in the current Committee stage of the Article 50 bill, on Wednesday afternoon.

It is already backed by Labour, LibDem, cross-bench and several rebel Conservative peers, and Parliamentary sources expect the amendment to pass easily.

As it should be. The rights of people who have spent the minimum five years living in Britain and playing by the rules shouldn't be fucked in the ass by May's government.

Like it or not, the implicit contract for these people was granted provided they met the requirements at the time and were not subject to reasonable criteria for disqualification.

Making them a political pawn for yanking away residency earned under the rules is just ridiculous. And the promise of "Repeal and Replace" is common on the States.

No one believes it here and no one should believe it's British cousin.