Labour Shadow Government Bullshit thread

[birdie]

For whatever the reason and there are quite a few the political class in this country, on all sides, it at an all time low in terms of talent. I'm not sure how that can be resolved.

It's been like that for years, though. No-one in politics has ever done anything else, they either go via student politics or via a trade union. They know little else but election campaigns and opportunism to get them up the next step to Parliament. Once they get there they haven't got a clue about how the rest of us live, or see any further than the next election and how to keep their seat.

This is why Brexit turned out to be such a shambles; they couldn't just pass Brussels law on the nod any more, and were left to their own (pathetically inadequate) devices. I can't see Palmerston's Cabinet making such a fuck-up of a golden opportunity, but there you go.

Which shows just how much 'sovereignty' successive governments gave away, that wasn't what people voted for in 1972?, ( I didn't have a vote then but I do recall hearing that it would make trade with mainland Europe much easier and it was supposed to harmonise prices of goods such as cars and wine, whatever dame of that promise.

It did make trade easier. No customs at all. Much harder now.

Harmonising the price of goods was never part of it as far as I am aware. How could a new car cost the same here as it would be in say Poland or Latvia etc… totally different economies.

I do remember hearing that a high end German brand car would cost the same as in Germany, and that a bottle of French or Italian wine would cost the same as .
n those countries, about 3 bob a bottle in Italy for 'domestica'.
We were also told, by some, that we wouldn't need to show passports at borders, that was a load of ballacks of course, done to sell the COMMON MARKET to the population.
I reckon that if those who voted to stay in the Common Market had been told that the ultimate goal was a United States of Europe they would have told the old Queen, (and I don't mean the late Majesty) to stick it where the sun don't shine, he later admitted that had he told the population and Parliament the truth the vote would have gone a great big fat 'NON', to paraphrase de Gaull.

Poland and Latvia weren't in the equation, they didn't come in until 2003, when we got the 'invasion' of Polish plumbers and builders.

[The Tick]

We were also told, by some, that we wouldn't need to show passports at borders, that was a load of ballacks of course, done to sell the COMMON MARKET to the population.

We wouldn't have had to show passports at borders had the UK joined the Schengen zone. But the UK refused and therefore we didn't get that perk like the French, Germans, Italians, Czechs etc.

Iceland, Norway and Switzerland all joined the Schengen despite being non-EU nations and therefore their citizens don't have to show passports when travelling to other Schengen countries.

[Sunbeam Alpine]

No. We were never told prices would equalise.
As for no passports, that came later and we opted out.

[birdie]

No. We were never told prices would equalise.
As for no passports, that came later and we opted out.

I must be mis remembering then, perhaps it was in relation to wine duty and import taxes on cars and other goods manufactured in the Common Market. I do remember people asking questions about why prices of imports weren't coming down, in particular I remember a wine importer friend saying that his Italian imports should be cheaper but instead were increasing in price.

[Jonathan]

No. We were never told prices would equalise.
As for no passports, that came later and we opted out.

I must be mis remembering then, perhaps it was in relation to wine duty and import taxes on cars and other goods manufactured in the Common Market. I do remember people asking questions about why prices of imports weren't coming down, in particular I remember a wine importer friend saying that his Italian imports should be cheaper but instead were increasing in price.

Definitely a memory problem. The same price for everything across countries would never happen.

Harmonisation was that all customs procedures, taxes etc would be the same n every member country. That has never fully happened.

[Sunbeam Alpine]

You simply couldn't have prices the same everywhere.
Costs of production and distribution would vary for a start.
Oranges grown in Spain would be an example.
What was offered was regulation such that there were common standards and definitions.

[Sunbeam Alpine]

No. We were never told prices would equalise.
As for no passports, that came later and we opted out.

I must be mis remembering then, perhaps it was in relation to wine duty and import taxes on cars and other goods manufactured in the Common Market. I do remember people asking questions about why prices of imports weren't coming down, in particular I remember a wine importer friend saying that his Italian imports should be cheaper but instead were increasing in price.

No never promised.
That was one of reasons booze cruises started. As a member of the EU we could buy like a local, within reason and wines and spirits were cheaper and had lower duty in France. In fact i can recall buying beer there which had been made in the UK, shipped over there and still cheaper.
For a few years there was even a trade importing retail cars ,
German cars, if you mean BMW, Mercedes etc, they are more expensive here because they have created brand images they don't have at home.

[birdie]

It's probably a good thing that I'm not testifying at a war crimes tribunal, as Her Maj observed, recollections can differ, no beggar would be found guilty.

[paolo]

Going well

perhaps you've hypocritized again?

first the pisstake (as per)...then revert....

[Sunbeam Alpine]

No no idea

[paolo]

No no idea

[Vespa]

Which shows just how much 'sovereignty' successive governments gave away, that wasn't what people voted for in 1972?

No EU country loss of sovereignty, every EU regulation ever adopted into any EU member for the entire history of the EU was implemented by the sovereign government as the EU has never in it's history had the power to pass any law in any country. It's like saying us being a member of the UN is a lost of sovereigny because the UK goverment signs UN trearties.

It's a bullshit line peddled by frauds and charlintons to people who don't understand how treaties work and people who perpetuate it should be embrasssed. The EU has so little power over it's members it can't even kick them out of the EU.

[Zambo]

Heard a lot of screaming and screeching from Starmer, demanding that we have a GE, and I could well have missed it, but has he or any of his team said what policies they have to counter the energy, cost of living crisis, or inflation issues?

At the moment all the public have to go on, is that the Tories have fucked it.

[The Tick]

Heard a lot of screaming and screeching from Starmer, demanding that we have a GE, and I could well have missed it, but has he or any of his team said what policies they have to counter the energy, cost of living crisis, or inflation issues?

At the moment all the public have to go on, is that the Tories have fucked it.

Labour have been pitching their alternatives. Most have chosen to conveniently pretend otherwise.


https://labour.org.uk/stronger-together ... orks-2022/

[The Ghost of Alex Higgins]

Starmer = Izzard