BREXIT NEWS
01-15 Oct 2017
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Quick Brexit facts from reliable, official sources
Read by Ministers, MPs, MEPs, journalists, campaigners, and the public
BREXIT NEWS  01 - 15 OCT 2017
THE YOUNG RIGHT 
© ARD
TAKE AUSTRIA
BREAKING... Austrian elections. ÖVP (Cons): 30.2%, FPÖ (Freedom): 26.8%. The young Right take Austria.
EU'S NARRATIVE DESTROYED
At 31, Austria's new Eurosceptic conservative Chancellor Kurz (most likely, after winning most votes) is less than half the age of his neighbour, German Chancellor Frau Merkel.
This now makes it a difficult Sunday night for the EU elites.
Firstly they have to work out how to spin the fact that the anti-Islam anti-EUEurosceptic FPÖ (Freedom Party) won 26.8% of the popular vote, putting them in second place with a likely 51 seats.
 
SPAIN MAY BLOW UP IN THE MORNING
As if that weren't bad enough for the unelected Eurocrats, they have to consider how to deal with the impending Spanish upset tomorrow at 10am, when the Spanish Prime Minister's ultimatum to the Catalan President runs out.
MEANWHILE, BACK IN AUSTRIA
Political advertising is a little... different in Austria. If you're not sure what we mean, here's the election video from the Freedom Party. The chap at the end is the leader, Herr Strache. Whatever you think, the video seems to have worked.
Rocking the EU's World
BELOW: Herr Strache with his lovely wife Philippa, looking very traditionally Austrian.
OBSERVATIONS
We welcome your comments, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: Austrian and German media ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       5.03pm, 15 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
HILLARY CLINTON 
© Swansea University
LECTURES UK ON BREXIT
Receives doctorate from Swansea University,
pays back Establishment with anti-Brexit rhetoric
Failed US Presidential candidate Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday addressed an audience at Swansea University where she received a Doctor of Laws degree and had the law faculty building named after her.
Mrs Clinton later delivered a speech entitled ‘Children’s Rights Are Human Rights’. Despite the title of her speech, she still managed to bring Brexit into it.
MRS CLINTON ON BREXIT
  • 500,000 children at risk from Brexit
  • Continues to believe in EU
  • EU has preserved the peace
  • Must ‘recapture a sense of common humanity’
Below you can watch the video of the Brexit part of Hillary Clinton’s speech. We have also transcribed the text, because this is how we like to spend our time at 3am on Sunday mornings.
WATCH HILLARY CLINTON ON BREXIT
© News First Coast / YouTube
FACTS4EU.ORG TRANSCRIPT OF MRS CLINTON'S BREXIT COMMENTS
“Even the tenor of our debates is affecting our children. Teachers and schools are reporting an outbreak of bullying and racially-motivated insults. Here in the UK divisive rhetoric and policy shifts are having their own effects.
“Right now the residency rights of half a million children including many who were born in the UK, are hanging in the balance. So there are reports of children being worried, feeling uncertain, even unsafe. Trying to make sense of their places in the world.
“The Children’s Commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already raised concerns that children’s interests are getting short shrift in the Brexit process.
“Now I personally continue to believe in the value of the European Union, and more broadly of a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace. No small accomplishment. And Britain has always been a lynchpin of that vision.
“What’s missing in both of our countries at the moment it seems to me, and what we need more than anything else, is empathy. To not only be at the centre of our own individual lives, families and communities, but at the centre of our policy, politics and public lives. In my recent book ‘What happened?’ I write about the need for what I call ‘radical empathy’. An urgent imperative to recapture a sense of common humanity.”
OBSERVATIONS
In many ways Mrs Clinton is an irrelevance. Unfortunately, though, she will get a lot of press attention during her European book promotion tour. (That's why she's here.)
A large amount of the coverage she will receive from the British and the continental press will be favourable. Not here, though.
We want to be clear: Clinton knows little about the EU. What she does know has been filtered through US State Dept officials who would all be natural Remainers if they were British. The rest is down to her being a signed up member of the globalist elite, who care nothing for ordinary individuals who simply want to retain their identities and cultures.
COMING RIGHT UP
In the manner of the best American TV stations which pre-advertise everything, here's what's coming up!
President Obama, whilst still president, made a trip to the UK before the Referendum, to campaign for the Remain vote, and a trip to Berlin later last year, where he made his views very clear.
In the next article we report on ‘AN AMERICAN IN BRUSSELS’ – a lighthearted look at the USA under a Brussels-type regime.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
American? We'd love to hear from you. Here at Facts4EU.Org we comment on US figures only when they interfere in our democracy and when what they say impacts Brexit. We also comment on US-UK trade matters. We usually look at the UK-US relationship very positively indeed.
[ Sources: Swansea University ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       07.40am, 15 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Denis Cooper, Berks      Date/Time: 15 Oct 2017, 4.20pm
Message: Did she say that US citizens living in the UK should be able to appeal to the US Supreme Court over the heads of the UK courts? Because that would be equivalent to the silly suggestion that the EU court should continue to have the last word on the rights of EU citizens in the UK.
Name: Denis Cooper, Berks      Date/Time: 15 Oct 2017, 4.17pm
Message: She knows nothing at all about it and would do better to admit that.
Name: Liz, Carmarthenshire      Date/Time: 15 Oct 2017, 10.48am
Message: To hear Hillary Clinton talk about racial division is disturbing. She not only supported Bill Clinton's 3 strike rule which has imprisoned many black young Americans for life (many for minor crimes which should have received a slap on the wrist) but praised the policy over the years. The way she has spoken about young black Americans over the years is disgusting using labels such as "predators" to describe young black boys. She is a psychopath and for Swansea University to give an award to someone who laughed at getting a child rapist off a charge even though she admitted she believed him to be guilty shows the type of person she is. The 12 year old had to go through the trauma of having to defend herself at Hillary's claims that the child consented (the 12 year old was left in a coma due to her injuries and was so badly damaged internally she has never been able to have children). This is one very sick woman and I am ashamed how Swansea could bestow an honour on this creature. Swansea University has lost all credibility for this stunt!
AN AMERICAN 
IN BRUSSELS?
HOW WOULD MRS CLINTON SHAPE UP?
 
A fascinating and light-hearted look at the US being a member of an EU-type organisation
Yesterday, failed Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton chose to lecture the Brits again on their decision to leave the EU. See the article above for details of her speech at Swansea University.
It seems that Mrs Clinton has a view of the EU not unlike that of former President Obama.
‘ZE BALLET CLINTON’
Who can forget the magnificent Gene Kelly in ‘An American in Paris’, with the mesmerising score of Gershwin. In particular his 20-minute ballet sequence with Leslie Caron goes down in movie history as one of the greatest musical dance pieces of all time.
When it comes to the visits of US Democratic Presidents to Europe however (and failed US Democratic President candidates), the love affair they have with the EU is most definitely not shared by the majority of the British people who voted for Brexit. For many Brits, Paris now conjures up images of regular Islamist terrorist atrocities, striking workers (often air traffic controllers), and a French president who loves the EU more than his own country.
 
‘BARACK OF THE QUEUE’
Readers will no doubt remember the famous visit of President Barack Obama to London at the end of April last year. His famous threat to put the UK to ‘the back of the queue’ for trade, if it voted to leave the EU, is hard to forget for many people.
 
What was even worse, President Obama made that threat whilst in the Foreign Office. He was standing next to the British Prime Minister David Cameron who appeared to fully support him in making this threat against the sovereign interests of the people of the Prime Minister’s own country.
The then government and the political elites might have been delighted with the US President, but the majority of the British people weren’t.
Before leaving office President Obama made one more intervention, in November 2016, with a trip to Berlin. It was whilst standing with Angela Merkel that he made the statement that:
“I continue to believe that the EU remains one of the world's great political and economic achievements.”
On Brexit, he believes the UK should negotiate something which is the same as membership of the EU:
“I reiterated our hope that negotiations over the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU will be conducted in a smooth and orderly and transparent fashion, and preserve as closely as possible the economic and political and security relationships between the UK and EU.”
SO, MR OBAMA AND MRS CLINTON,
LET’S SEE WHAT THE US WOULD DO,
FACED WITH THE NIGHTMARE OF A BRUSSELS DICTATORSHIP
How would the US fare as a member state of an organisation like the EU?
We ask you, dear reader, to imagine that there is an ‘EU-equivalent’ on the continent of America. We assume that Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama would have no problem signing up to everything that follows?
FIRSTLY, SOME COMPLIANCE ISSUES
  1. No American President has agreed to signed up to the International Criminal Court that holds military and political leaders to a uniform global standard of justice.
  2. Even under a Democrat President like Mr Obama, the USA wouldn’t sign up to many aspects of International Human rights legislation including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  3. The US won’t sign up to the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
So, Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama, can you just confirm that you will sign up to all the above?
Now, let’s just look at the details of this imaginary EU-style organisation in your part of the world. Let’s call it...
'THE UNION OF NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA' (UNCA)
So what does UNCA look like?
  1. UNCA members : Mexico, Cuba, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico
  2. Legislature : Havana (also 2 days per month in Guatemala City)
  3. Laws : Your Congress must automatically ratify UNCA laws and Directives – no debate
  4. Central Bank : Mexico City
  5. Court of Human Rights : Edmonton, Canada
  6. Official language : Mexican
  7. Common currency : Peso
  8. Countries in advanced membership negotiations : Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Aruba, Guyana, Surinam, Turks & Caicos Islands
  9. Note : Mexican President unilaterally threw open UNCA’s doors to Colombians, Venezuelans, Surinamians and Haitians with hashtag “#RefugeesWelcome”. They should be with you soon.
Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama, we hope you’re okay with all of this so far? It mirrors the EU’s structure so you should be fine with it.
NOW, CAN YOU JUST GREEN-LIGHT THE FOLLOWING?
  1. Free movement of people across all UNCA member states, equal rights as for US citizens
  2. Your borders (incl. the Mexican one) will allow all UNCA citizens to cross into the USA
  3. More than 50% of US laws will now be made in the UNCA Capital (Havana)
  4. Only the UNCA Commission (unelected) can propose new laws
  5. UNCA Court of Justice in Panama City will have supremacy over US Supreme Court
  6. US citizens can immediately be deported under the UNCA Arrest Warrant system, to stand trial in member countries like El Salvador
  7. Your coast guard will now be run out of Honduras and your seas are now shared with UNCA
  8. Your military will shortly be combined with those of the other members
  9. Your Pentagon won’t be needed as the UNCA military HQ will be in Nicaragua
  10. The USA will now have a new 20% Sales Tax called VAT
  11. US Treasury Secretary must submit annual budget to Havana for approval, before Congress sees it
  12. US industry must conform to all UNCA policies, laws, regulations, directives
  13. Your energy costs will increase by 20% - sorry about that
  14. You must fly to Havana every 2-3 weeks for UNCA meetings, to be outvoted every time
  15. Motherhood and Apple Pie will now be subject to UNCA specifications formulated in Guatamala, and subject to inspections by unelected UNCA Commissioners
  16. Oh yes, and you will pay $200 billion per year for the benefits of UNCA membership
Obviously Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama, there are many other rights and freedoms you will have to give up, in order to have the undoubted benefits of UNCA membership. However these will definitely be worth it, as you have both indicated many times that the UK has benefited enormously from its EU Membership.
UNCA membership has the same obligations as EU membership, so we’re sure you will love it.
OBSERVATIONS
We hope you enjoyed this. It took a lot longer to assemble than you might think, but with luck it will get circulated in the States, thanks to our US readership. We need our American allies to understand more about the EU and why we're leaving it, because their media has been as one-sided as ours on the subject.
You might also enjoy a report we did on Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP's speech to the Heritage Foundation in Washington last week.
We welcome your comments, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: Global Policy ICC | Mine Ban Treaty | Cluster Munitions Convention | Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities |
etc, etc - too many to list ]  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.

       07.40am, 15 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Odyssey, Derbyshire, UK      Date/Time: 15 Oct 2017, 12.57pm
Message: Excellent! This really puts the nonsense of a Federal Europe in perspective for Americans, who seem to think the EU is 'the same' as their federal structure. Well done - please keep up the good work.
LOOK JEAN-CLAUDE,
WE REALLY ARE SORRY.
WE JUST CAN'T AFFORD
TO GET ANOTHER ROUND IN.
The thing is, we're broke, unless a kind reader could donate something...
 
FACTS DON'T RESEARCH AND WRITE THEMSELVES
Alas none of us are hedge fund managers... or married to one. The Team (and one member in particular) has donated as much as it can. Can you please help fund our work?
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READERS' COMMENTS
‘AN EU PRESIDENT WALKS INTO A BAR...’
(A LUXEMBOURGISH JOKE)
Some observations on President Juncker’s ‘round of drinks’ analogy
Before the UK joined what was then the European Economic Community (EEC), the existing EEC member states had agreed expenditure plans for the coming years. The UK wasn’t party to those plans. Nevertheless, the UK was expected to pay for things which had been agreed in previous years.
Before 1973 Great Britain didn’t ‘order any drinks’, to use Herr Juncker’s analogy. The British weren’t even in the bar at the time. But when they entered the bar, the bills for the drinks which had previously been ordered by the others continued to arrive, and the UK was expected to pick up its share each time.
The EU can’t expect Britain to pay at both ends – for drinks it never ordered at the beginning of its membership, and drinks it won’t be around to consume after it has gone. It’s one or the other. And the EU made that decision when the UK was forced to pay at the start for drinks it hadn’t ordered.
MODERATING YOUR DRINKING
On 24th June last year, the 27 EU countries knew that the UK would be leaving. They knew the provisions of Article 50. They knew that the Treaties (and therefore the payment obligations) would no longer apply to the UK two years after triggering Article 50, so the money would stop.
Did they decide to moderate their drinking? No. Did they even consider it? Nope. They carried on partying.
Let’s be clear. When the UK voted to leave, the EU hadn’t irrevocably committed to buying rounds of drinks of a certain size. The 28 members had decided in principle on an amount to buy, that’s all. They had ordered some of these, and that was understood. That was committed expenditure. However approximately half had not even been ordered.
Why didn’t the EU27 simply stop ordering so many drinks, when it knew that it would have to pick up the tab for them without the help of ‘Banker Britain’?
We suggest the EU might want to look to its own irresponsible behaviour before trying to hold the UK accountable for the mess it now finds itself in.
WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND
There’s one more factor President Juncker forgot to mention with his drinking analogy yesterday. For all the time Britain was in the bar, it was paying for its own drinks plus the drinks of many of the others.
It is frankly astonishing that after 44 years of generosity, the EU now expects Britain to pay for the drinks of its members for many years to come.
YOU CAN’T JUST INVENT RULES WHEN IT SUITS YOU
If it had been the intention of the EU to force a departing member to pay for all decisions in the existing 7-year budgeting cycle, that’s what Article 50 would have said. It could have said “Irrespective of the date of departure of a member state, that state shall pay its share of all costs agreed to within the existing Multiannual Financial Framework.”
Instead, Article 50 provides for a two-year period to negotiate a member’s exit, after which no treaties (and therefore no payment obligations) apply.
All the way through this process the EU has been inventing new ‘rules’. It invented the rule of ‘no negotiation without notification’, which prevented sensible preliminary conversations from taking place for nine months.
It invented the ‘no full talks without agreeing three arbitrary items’ rule. In practice of course this was just a way of trying to coerce the UK into promising unlimited billions, which is virtually what Mrs May did with her Florence speech.
This latest rule of ‘paying for the rounds we’ll be drinking long after you’ve gone’ is just another in a line of insane, attempted justifications for unreasonable behaviour with no basis in law or in normality.
YOUR THOUGHTS?
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Parliament ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       08.45am, 14 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
“OH NO...”
“I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING.”
“I KEEP MEANING TO DONATE TO
THOSE HARDWORKING PEOPLE AT FACTS4EU.ORG”
 
Unlike many Brexit websites, we do our own research, write our own content, and create our own graphs.
Unfortunately we barely make it from one week to the next and we rely 100% on voluntary contributions.
We really could use your help in working for a clean and true Brexit.
Subscribe With a monthly donation
From £5 / month
        Donate Make a one-off donation
from £10 upwards
© EU Commission
“THEY HAVE TO PAY...
THEY HAVE TO PAY”
EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, 13 OCT 2017
EU Commission President adds to ‘Junckerisms’ in Luxembourg University speech
Yesterday President Jean-Claude Juncker returned to his homeland, to a University which was established in 2005 during the time he was Prime Minister.
President Juncker was the keynote speaker at an EU ‘Citizens’ Dialogue’, during which he touched on Brexit and many other subjects related to the future of the European Union.
Below you can watch the section of his speech relating to Brexit. Or to save time, you can read some key quotations below that.
PRESIDENT JUNCKER, CITIZENS’ DIALOGUE, LUXEMBOURG UNIVERSITY, 13 OCT 2017
(Refresh the page if you can't see the video.)
SELECTED QUOTES
“We cannot find for the time being a real compromise as far as the remaining financial commitments of the UK are concerned.
“As we are not able to do this we will not be able to say in the European Council in October that now we can move to the second phase of negotiations.
“If you are sitting in a bar and if you are ordering 28 beers and then suddenly some of your colleagues is leaving and he’s not paying, that is not feasible.
“They have to pay, they have to pay. Not in an impossible way. I'm not in a revenge mood. I'm not hating the British.
“The Europeans have to be grateful for so many things Britain has brought to Europe, during war, after war, before war, everywhere and every time.
“But now they have to pay.”
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF LUXEMBOURG
The University of Luxembourg benefits from a very large number of EU grants worth many millions of euros per year. Jean-Claude Juncker oversaw the founding and the funding of the University when he was Prime Minister of little Luxembourg.
In 2015 the university headquarters moved to a newly-constructed campus costing almost €1bn euros.
It ranks 178th in the World.
OBSERVATIONS
Increasingly, the British public are hearing what EU apparachiks are really like. We have pointed out many times in the last couple of years how the British TV media in particular have failed dismally to inform the public, by showing clips of EU politicians.
Pretty much the only times the BBC, ITV or Sky News showed clips of EU politicians was when Nigel Farage was being berated in the EU Parliament for something or other.
Two years ago on 9th September 2015, President Juncker gave his inaugural ‘State of the Union’ speech to the EU Parliament. It was so bad it was embarrassing. Did you see one second of it on the British news? No. We published it – and in the light of Juncker’s ‘bar’ speech yesterday we are publishing it again below.
JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, ‘STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH 2015’
(Refresh the page if you can't see the video.)
Yes, it’s long. One hour and twenty minutes of ‘long’. But then, we watched it, so why shouldn’t you? At least you can fast forward it, whereas we first had to watch it live in all its seemingly-unending, cringe-inducing glory.
The simple fact is that the more the British public see of the arrogant, unelected eurocrats in Brussels and of the elected leaders of some of the EU countries, the more people are beginning to realise just what a mess we are leaving.
No wonder the percentages in favour of pressing ahead with Brexit just keep increasing. As we reported yesterday, the latest Sky poll showed 74% of people supporting the statement that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Parliament ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       07.55am, 14 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
“WE WILL BE BETTER OFF 
WITH THE WTO”
LEADING BREXITEER MP
COMMENTS ON OUR
BREXIT PLUS
CAMPAIGN
 
Yesterday we asked former Cabinet Minister and leading Brexiteer MP, the Rt Hon John Redwood MP for his views on our BREXIT PLUS article.
Dr Redwood has consistently spoken out on the Brexit negotiations. Here are some of his comments from just the last few days:
“The Treasury has a dreadful record on Brexit. It backed the losing side & made very wrong forecasts for 2016-17. It still exudes pessimism.”
“The Chancellor must get the Treasury to have more realistic, optimistic forecasts & to find the money for a successful economy post Brexit.”
“The way to end the uncertainty is to prepare for No deal and to show we are ready to leave in March 2019.”
“As we continue to decline to offer cash the EU will come to the conclusion to talk trade as it's in their interests to continue tariff free.”
THE CAMPAIGN FOR BREXIT PLUS
BREXIT PLUS takes the ‘no deal’ scenario and looks at it from a positive perspective. As we wrote yesterday “We have labelled this BREXIT PLUS because we believe it to be far more advantageous to the interests of the UK than any other strategy.”
Brexit means a better future. The sooner this starts, the better, so BREXIT PLUS means delivering faster for the UK. Here’s how we summed it up yesterday:
BREXIT PLUS means accepting that the EU will never negotiate normally and therefore proceeding on the basis that the UK will exit on 29th March 2019 on the basis of WTO rules.
It means no 2-year ‘transition period’, no continuation of ECJ jurisdiction, no more laws made in Brussels, no more freedom of movement, no more Common Agricultural or Fishery Policies, no more payments of any kind, and complete freedom to start new trade arrangements with all the non-EU countries around the world.
Some people may feel that it sounds strangely like what they voted for in the Referendum.
RT HON JOHN REDWOOD MP
Yesterday we asked leading Brexiteer John Redwood MP for his comments on our article.
“No Deal means transferring our trade activities from the EU to the WTO. The WTO believe in more trade and better prices for customers. They will back us in promoting more free trade,” he said.
Dr Redwood was scathing of the EU’s policies: “The EU believes in tariffs and restrictions, forcing us to impose taxes on cheap food and other products from outside Europe.”
Under our BREXIT PLUS approach, the UK government would effectively be accepting that the EU isn’t serious about negotiating a sensible, mutually-advantageous trade deal. It would be putting all its energies into the arrangements for trading under WTO schedules and in negotiating new trade deals with key partner countries such as the USA, Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Japan, China, etc.
Mr Redwood was clear what he thinks of this: “We will be better off with the WTO than with the EU,” he said.
OBSERVATIONS
John Redwood is a long-standing, loyal, Conservative MP. He is not given to departing from government policy and will always support the government position even when we know he disagrees with it. This can be frustrating for many people, but one thing is for sure. He doesn’t waver on his eurosceptic views.
His irritation with Philip Hammond and the Treasury is plain for all to see. And whilst he continues to hope that the EU will come to its senses on trade, it’s equally clear that he is now preparing for the probability that they won’t.
We know from previous conversations with Dr Redwood and from his writings that he is very pro-Europe and has regularly visited the continent on business and pleasure. Like us - and like many of our reader, we know - whilst John Redwood is anti-EU he remains fond of its member states.
We look forward to hearing from other key Brexiteers about their views on BREXIT PLUS and we’ll keep you posted.
Will you back 'Brexit Plus'? We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: Rt Hon John Redwood MP ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       07.55am, 14 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Paul A, UK      Date/Time: 14 Oct 2017, 08.43am
Message: If Hammond / the treasury were any good at their job they might have noticed that when Britain leaves the EU there will be a whole load of surplus cash floating around - some £361,000,000 per week according to the EU. Just think what use this might be....NHS perhaps? Or reducing taxes, paying down the deficit or all sorts of stuff the treasury should be doing as opposed to playing the new game of the remoaning sneerocracy; Politics and Treason.
LET’S GO 
UK’S DEFAULT POSITION
MUST NOW BE ‘NO DEAL’
IT'S TIME FOR BREXIT PLUS
  • Yesterday EU declared Brexit talks are not about negotiating but accepting
  • Talks now deadlocked and yet main talks haven’t even started
  • Remainer Cabinet Ministers like Hammond & Rudd continue to thwart Brexit
  • We are therefore launching BREXIT PLUS
Below we publish two pieces – one is a short report on Michel Barnier’s comments following the end of Round Five of the Brexit talks in Brussels. For the first time the word ‘deadlocked’ was used.
The second article below is written by Martin Howe QC, Chairman of Lawyers for Britain. In it he highlights the dangers for the UK of continuing to pursue its current negotiating strategy. He echoes our views and gives an important legal dimension.
TAKING BACK CONTROL
We believe it’s now time for the UK government to seize the initiative in the Brexit process. One might even describe this as Theresa May’s ‘take back control’ moment, if she decides to do this.
Put simply, the EU has now been given a generous amount of time to come to its senses and has failed to do so. Talks have been going on for months and while some progress has been achieved in the few small areas under discussion, the EU’s refusal to open full and normal negotiations with the UK constitutes, in our view, a clear demonstration that it has no desire to reach a fair and reasonable separation settlement.
The EU has shown itself to be embarked on a path which any neutral international observer would say was wholly unreasonable.
TIME FOR ‘BREXIT PLUS’
In other words, the UK government can now embark on the ‘Brexit Plus’ scenario. We have labelled this ‘Brexit Plus’ because we believe it to be far more advantageous to the interests of the UK than any other strategy.
The media and Remainer politicians and commentators refer constantly to 'cliff edges' and 'no deal' - we prefer to look at this positively. The whole point of Brexit is that it gives the UK a better future. The sooner this starts, the better, so ‘Brexit Plus’ means delivering faster for the UK. If the will is there, the country is perfectly capable of putting in place everything which needs doing.
Brexit Plus means accepting that the EU will never negotiate normally and therefore proceeding on the basis that the UK will exit on 29th March 2019 on the basis of WTO rules.
It means no 2-year ‘transition period’, no continuation of ECJ jurisdiction, no more laws made in Brussels, no more freedom of movement, no more Common Agricultural or Fishery Policies, no more payments of any kind, and complete freedom to start new trade arrangements with all the non-EU countries around the world.
Some people may feel that it sounds strangely like what they voted for in the Referendum.
The UK will truly exit the EU at the end of March 2019
and will become a fully independent country on the world stage
Under Brexit Plus, the default assumption is that the EU will ‘never get its act together’, in common parlance.
Naturally this doesn’t prevent the EU from agreeing sensible arrangements with the UK on a wide variety of issues such as citizens’ rights for example. However the full attention of the UK will be focused on preparations for a full departure from the EU at the end of the Article 50 notice period.
We intend to publish more about Brexit Plus in future articles.
OBSERVATIONS
Will you back 'Brexit Plus'?
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
       06.30am, 13 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Carole, Merseyside      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 8.17pm
Message: The EU are a nightmare. Leave now and deal later as a third country. It's the only way to get Brexit assured and give certainty for business with WTO rules.
Name: Paul Hughes, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 5.33pm
Message: Brexit plus is what I voted for. Getting our useless PM to implement it is the problem.
Name: Graham Smith, Staffs      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.20pm
Message: We must not remain under the hegemony of the EU. Given the lessons of European history over the last two hundred years, Mrs May should be more circumspect about the relationship she seeks - it needs to be WTO-plus, not EU membership-lite!
Name: Rationalist44, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.19pm
Message: Great idea ... time we turned the table around, and offered simple terms for EU to accept if they want access to OUR huge market.
Name: BettyBoo, Kent      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 1.59pm
Message: Perhaps the EU needs to be reminded of Article 50 where it states that the EU shall "negotiate and conclude an agreement with the (departing) state setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union". Hmmm... perhaps it needs rewording: the EU shall "punish the departing state, expressly delaying an agreement and arrangements for its withdrawal and ignoring the framework for its future relationship.."? Why give them the satisfaction of extending this farce over an indeterminate transition period? Britain should be ready to leave the EU at the end of March 2019.
Name: Colin R, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 1.48pm
Message: You have my full support but as I commented on 6 October we should issue an ultimatum to the EU and start signing trade agreements with the rest of the world from 1 January 2018. Time is running out fast!!
Name: SibeliusFan, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 12.04pm
Message: Yes, precisely what I voted for in the Referendum: I "expected" the government (at the time led by a certain D. Cameron) to get on straight away and work out the nuts & bolts of how to achieve the clean break I voted for. Instead, he ran away and created the vacuum into which slipped that time-wasting court action. Chaos has reigned ever since!
Name: Roger P, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 11.41am
Message: Yes I like the sound of Brexit Plus. It's very straight forward. Exactly what I naively assumed would happen when voting Leave. However I'm a successful businessman who gets on making things happen and doesn't do complicated.
Name: James A, Manchester      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 10.56am
Message: Thank you sounds right to me. 'Brexit Plus' has my total backing.
Name: Frambu, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 09.59am
Message: Tell the EU to stick their union, stop paying blood money, WALK AWAY TODAY.
Name: Alan Johnson, UK      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 09.48am
Message: I think this is a sensible proposal, which I support 100%.
Name: Odyssey, Derbyshire      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 09.28am
Message: "Some people may feel that it sounds strangely like what they voted for in the Referendum." It sounds exactly like what I voted for in the referendum.
EU’S BARNIER SAYS 
'WE'RE NOT NEGOTIATING'
In another bizarre speech yesterday, Michel Barnier gave the clearest indication yet that the EU is not prepared to negotiate like a normal organisation.
Michel Barnier said:
“This is not about making ‘concessions’ on the rights of citizens. This is not about making ‘concessions’ on the peace process in Northern Ireland. This is not about making ‘concessions’ on the thousands of investment projects and the men and women involved in them in Europe.
“In these complex and difficult negotiations, we have shared objectives, we have shared obligations, we have shared duties, and we will only succeed with shared solutions. That is our responsibility.”
OBSERVATIONS
The EU appear to believe that there is one agreement that can be reached between the two parties, and that is the EU’s version. To them it seems that there aren’t two sides with two competing views, but one side which is right and the other side which must simply accept this.
To us this comes as no surprise. It encapsulates the mentality of the EU and its key players, and the way in which they have persuaded themselves that the strange world they inhabit is somehow normal. It means that no normally-negotiated settlement will be possible – something we have long maintained.
The ‘they sell us so much more than we sell them’ argument cuts little ice in Brussels. They really would rather risk the jobs and livelihoods of 443 million of their citizens, than be seen to be negotiating a sensible arrangement with the UK.
The UK must not succeed post-Brexit in their view, or it might trigger even more discontent against the EU in other member states.
Over and over again we have heard Michel Barnier, Jean-Claude Juncker, and others, proclaiming that there is no question of ‘punishing’ the UK for its decision to leave. Shakespeare had a saying for this: “Methinks he doth protest too much.”
Of course the EU wants to punish the UK, that is the whole point of these ridiculous ‘talks’ which have been going on for months.
It’s one of the reasons the talks only cover a small fraction of the subjects which need to be agreed as part of the separation. This whole process must be as painful as possible for the UK and must end up with the UK being as disadvantaged as possible.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: EU Commission ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       05.45am, 13 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Graham Smith, Staffs      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.33pm
Message: Mrs May's looked-for "deep and special relationship" is becoming an unworthy objective, given the control-freakery of the EU and their abusive approach to negotiations. My understanding of Article 50 is that the separation must take account of a constructive future relationship, therefore the EU is not meeting the spirit of A50 (let alone its loosely drafted words).
IMPLEMENTATION PERIODS: 
AVOIDING THE NEGOTIATING NOOSE
By Martin Howe QC, Chairman of Lawyers for Britain
In this first part of his analysis of the legal and treaty ramifications of the Florence speech “implementation period” proposal, Martin Howe QC explains that:
The EU only has the legal power under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to agree transitional or interim arrangements once the destination to which the transition leads has been agreed, at least as a framework. There is no power under Article 50 for the EU to agree an open ended transitional period of the kind which many business leaders seem to expect in order to allow time for negotiation about the future relationship.
 
Because the EU cannot agree to a transitional period until the framework of the future relationship has been agreed, it is impossible for the EU to agree to a transitional period until late 2018 at the earliest. Hopes that such a transition can be agreed “by the end of this year” are naive and totally unrealistic.
The EU27's negotiating strategy dictates that they will not agree to a transition period until the UK has succumbed to their demands about the EU’s legally meritless financial claim, citizens rights, ECJ jurisdiction, and other matters. From the EU27's perspective, granting an interim period would let the UK off the hook, contrary to the EU27's strategy to force the UK up against the wall of the hard deadline for exit in March 2019.
It is quite possible however that the EU27 could make warm noises about agreeing to a transition in principle if other matters are agreed, but without legally committing themselves to it. This would create an extremely dangerous trap, since the dangling prospect of a transition period would create a noose round the UK’s neck as we defer preparation for a “no deal” exit. That noose would be drawn tight by a failure to conclude and ratify the withdrawal agreement at a late stage. The UK would then be exposed to caving in to unreasonable or impossible demands as a price of the getting the transition.
OBSERVATIONS
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: Martin Howe QC, Lawyers For Britain ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       05.40am, 13 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Graham Smith, Staffs      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.38pm
Message: It was wrong to commit to an implementation period for an unknown trade relationship, especially on terms which constitute staying in the EU for a further two years, largely on their terms. The EU want us to pay for trade talks so that they can avoid justifying their bloated leaving bill. They will then draw a line under that and additionally try to charge us for supposedly tariff-free trade between the UK and EU. We would then bear those costs in perpetuity, despite the EU-UK trade imbalance.
 
(With apologies to the Hammer House of Horror)
THE SPREADSHEET PHIL
CHRONICLES
‘SHEET TWO - VAMPIRE BAT FLIGHTS TO END’
A Facts4EU.Org Opinion
[Note for newer readers: Facts4EU.Org is party-neutral and only comments on party matters in relation to Brexit.]
Tory voters are predominantly pro-Brexit: by around 70% according to most polling.
Parliamentary constituencies as a whole were massively pro-Brexit at the time of the Referendum. Analysis of the national vote broken down by constituencies showed that 63% of constituencies voted to Leave the EU. 69%, if you exclude the SNP’s seats. Recent polls of the electorate as a whole have shown that 65-70% think Brexit should now go ahead.
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
Our chart above shows that three-quarters of all Conservative constituencies at the Referendum voted to leave the EU. Yet day after day government ministers, senior Conservative MPs, and 'big' names in the party like Osborne, Heseltine, Major, Clarke et al, seem determined to back Remain and destroy any chance of the UK leaving the European Union.
Just how determined is their death wish for their party?
We regularly receive correspondence which is not for publication from anguished Conservative voters.
These are the ones who did not jump to the UKIP ship in recent years to secure a Referendum and Britain’s exit. These are the ones who stayed loyal to the party despite Cameron and Osborne and Project Fear. These are the ones who desperately want to back Mrs May - despite everything - and who try to find crumbs of Brexit comfort in their increasingly strained interpretations of the government’s announcements.
The emails from these readers used to take us to task for our implied criticisms of the government’s statements. We were regularly told that the government didn’t really mean to do what we warned they were going to do. Now, as our interpretations of the announcements and speeches have indeed been shown to mean what we said they meant, the emails we receive from Conservative voters are more despairing.
Yesterday the master of the House of Horrors, Chancellor Philip Hammond, plumbed the dark depths of Remainerist gloom and misery with a two lunges for the jugular. He started with a piece he wrote for the Times – a paper second only to the FT in its love of the EU – in which he talked down the prospects of Brexit Britain so much that we were all looking for the nearest white cliff to jump off.
Here was upbeat Spreadsheet Phil in cheerful mode:
“The main challenge is paradoxically simple: it’s uncertainty. The uncertainty of what lies beyond March 2019. This has impacted businesses up and down the country. Investment has slowed as companies wait for clarity about access to markets, goods, labour and services.”
He then followed up his Times article with a morale-boosting visit to the Commons Treasury Select Committee, where he told the MPs:
“It is theoretically conceivable in a no-deal scenario there will be no air traffic moving between the UK and EU on 29 March, 2019.”
The Chancellor pours water, Treasury Select Committee, Wed 11 Oct 2017
Let’s be clear. Hammond knew the headlines he would cause with his Times article and with his comments to the Treasury Select Committee. The man is incapable of getting behind Brexit and talking optimistically about it. He has done everything he can to make the concept of a ‘transition period’ politically acceptable – and this is now government policy. In effect and unless plans change, the UK is not leaving the EU until 2021 at the earliest.
Clearly Philip Hammond is engaged in a determined fight to overturn people’s opinions and to destroy the country’s prospects of a successful Brexit.
Yesterday a new Sky Data poll revealed that nearly three-quarters (74%) of people support the Government's position that no deal is better than a bad deal on Brexit.
Right now, we feel that no Chancellor would be better than a bad Chancellor.
We’ve said it before and we’ll repeat it strongly. Hammond must, must go.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: UEA | Sky News | Lord Ashcroft Polls | The Times | House of Commons ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       05.40am, 12 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Graham Smith, Staffs      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.21pm
Message: In recent days Our Prime Minister and her Chancellor have displayed more commitment to the EU than to Britain. We should not be in a position of special pleading.
Name: Shieldsman, UK      Date/Time: 12 Oct 2017, 11.37am
Message: Hammond like O'leary is blathering on about their being no air traffic moving between the UK and EU on 29 March, 2019.
It actually goes deeper than that, and seems to have been ignored by the idiots in Parliament and the Media. As I carefully pointed out - The triggering of Article 50 is notification to the European Union that the United Kingdom will cease to be part of the European Common Aviation Area, in which the Commission negotiates bi-lateral Air Service Agreements on behalf of the member States, including the UK with the rest of the World.
The Brussels Commission will no longer be responsible for negotiating our bi-lateral air service agreements. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs appears to be responsible for negotiating bi-lateral air service agreements. He must therefore confirm that the five freedoms negotiated with the EU's so called third Countries are still valid after 29th March 2017.
Is Hammond in his ignorance assuming that the Air Carriers of the World outside of the EU will be overflying the ECAA and landing in the United Kingdom using their bi-lateral rights?
Name: John Finn, UK      Date/Time: 12 Oct 2017, 11.14am
Message: A common mistake among commentators is to assume that electors who voted to Leave (or Remain) did so with with firm conviction. Some did - but, for a lot of voters, there are many more important issues. The Tories could press on with a hard ('no deal') Brexit and if things go well they will possibly reap the benefits. However, if things go badly and significant numbers of jobs are lost they will carry the can. This is why Labour are yah-booing from the sidelines and didn't even discuss Brexit at their recent conference. They know that Brexit has got a good chance of bringing the government down. The Tories are facing opposition from the EU, opposition from parliament and lack support from the electorate, I made this very point following the GE. May and the Tories are too vulnerable to be bold and dynamic.
Name: Carole, Merseyside      Date/Time: 12 Oct 2017, 10.50am
Message: Just wondering if you have read this document www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/577971/EPRS_BRI(2016)577971_EN.pdf in which the rights of EU citizens is only regarded as a standalone entitlement by a minority of people and that most believe that their rights derive from EU membership alone.
Name: W Alkaway, UK      Date/Time: 12 Oct 2017, 10.38am
Message: An address to Prime Minister, T. May: Theresa May, you are signing your own 'Death Warrant' by associating yourself with poison-tongued Phil Hammond. 'Vampire' is not overstating the case: he is sucking the life blood out of the UK. But only if you allow him to carry on in your Government. Do you really wish to carry on protecting him? Because it will be at the cost of your own position. Do you truly want to forfeit your unbelievable promotion to Prime Minister? Get rid of him, and now. Whilst you're at it, Ms May, you will now have to PROVE your allegiance to Democracy, and to the people of the UK, by removing all the Remainers from your Cabinet, and replacing with Leavers. The Majority who voted Leave ( many are more than ready to change allegiance away from the Tory Party at the next Election) WILL get what they voted for because you CANNOT alter that Vote. It's our call. History should tell you no Dictator ever thwarts the will of the people, and gets away with it. And you, Madam, are no exception.
Name: A Hawes, Great Britain      Date/Time: 12 Oct 2017, 07.54am
Message: What Mr Hammond has said about flights stopping is clearly ludicrous! He is now a fully fledged EU puppet! (For what reason I wonder.) People in the cabinet need to stop listening to him. Even better he needs to go!
PRESIDENT TUSK 
YOUR SPEECH
© EU Commission
WAS UNACCEPTABLE
Insights into EU mindsets plus a ‘where we are with the EU’
On Tuesday the President of the EU Council, Donald Tusk, gave a speech to the EU’s ‘European Committee of the Regions’. It covered several topics, but this article is mostly about Brexit and what President Tusk said about it.
ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY ON THE SPEECH
Note: This article combines factual reporting with our commentary. It’s not possible to leave all of our observations until the end as we would normally try to do, as this would make the piece much less readable. Of course, we wouldn’t even have to report on this speech at all if EU news were reported properly on British TV.
As usual, we give you a choice:-
  • The full text of the speech (approx 1600 words)
  • BELOW: The full video of the speech (approx 14 mins)
  • BELOW THE VIDEO: Selected quotes and our analysis (quick and interesting!)
FULL VIDEO OF THE SPEECH:- [Refresh page if video hasn't loaded]
SELECTED QUOTES AND ANALYSIS
President Tusk’s speech covered many subjects, but here we will focus mainly on what he said relating to Brexit. Firstly, though, we must mention one point he made about the migrant crisis, as it was so misleading.
ON THE MIGRANT CRISIS:
“As regards the first issue, we have been able to achieve a lot. By ordering the closure of the Western Balkan route and improving our cooperation with Turkey, the flows of irregular migrants on this path to Europe were stemmed by 98 per cent.”
No Mr Tusk. You reduced immigration on the Turkish route by throwing €6bn of ‘EU funds’ at Turkey. And the UK is paying for 15% of this, despite the fact we’re not even in the Schengen area which has the migrant crisis.
You have given the impression that there is virtually no illegal immigration into the EU but this is simply untrue. So far this year (2017), 147,854 migrants have entered – and these are only the ones we know about and are admitted by the EU. The only reason it isn’t far higher is because of the huge bribe you threw at Turkey.
ON BREXIT:
“Britain's referendum campaign was full of false arguments and unacceptable generalisations.”
This is an outrageous statement for the President of the EU Council to make, speaking as he does for all 28 member states. The UK remains a member, and continues to pay the enormous annual subsidies and to obey all the rules. He should immediately be asked to retract that statement.
We monitor and research the output of the EU on a daily basis and if anyone is guilty of “false arguments and unacceptable generalisations” it’s the EU. We give some examples of this below, directly from President Tusk’s speech.
Unusually, President Tusk immediately went on to admit: “But it would have been a big mistake to interpret the negative result exclusively as a symptom of British exceptionalism and Euroscepticism, because all over Europe, even moderate voters were asking ‘Is the European Union the answer to problems of instability and insecurity, or is it now standing in the way?’”
Naturally President Tusk then went on to conclude that the EU has now thought about where it was going wrong and has fixed everything, more or less. He took longer to say it, but that’s the gist. In fact the answer to the question he phrased as coming from moderate voters ‘Is the EU the answer to problems of instability and insecurity, or is it now standing in the way?’ The answer is that the EU is the problem.
ON TRADE:
On trade, President Tusk made the bizarre claim that:
“Europe continues to be a global leader in free and fair trade.”
Er, no it doesn’t. It’s a protectionist trade block which applies high tariffs against the products of much poorer countries, to protect its own inefficient producers. He went on:
“A month after Bratislava, we signed the CETA agreement with Canada, and in July this year, a political agreement on an EU-Japan free trade deal.”
The EU-Canada deal was concluded after 13 years of talks – hardly a great achievement. Read our latest piece on it here. And the “EU-Japan free trade deal”... isn’t. It’s little more than a piece of paper saying that the leaders of the two sides, the EU and Japan, have agreed to talk about trade. Read our article on this here.
BACK TO BREXIT:
“Our conduct in the Brexit talks has shown the European Union at its best: in terms of unity, political solidarity and fairness towards the United Kingdom, from drafting the EU guidelines to the negotiations themselves.”
Oh dear. Where do we start on this one?
Following the Referendum, the EU immediately announced “This will not be an amicable divorce.” This came from none other than the President of the EU Commission himself, Lord Juncker of Cognac, and it was hardly a good start. Unfortunately things have gone rapidly downhill ever since.
Very quickly, the EU dreamt up a stream of absurd ‘rules’ to govern the negotiations, none of which appear anywhere in any of the Treaties, or in any rules, directives or other EU documents. The EU announced that no discussions of any kind – even informal talks – could take place until the UK initiated the Article 50 process.
This EU action prevented all manner of helpful dialogues to start, which would have assisted in smoothing the way in so many areas once the official negotiations started. All of that preliminary work, for nine months, was prevented by the EU’s attitude. Not by law, not by Treaty obligation, but by the EU’s unhelpful attitude.
Another demonstration of what President Tusk yesterday called “the European Union at its best” and we would call ‘less-than-helpful’ was when Theresa May tried to agree the principles of citizens’ rights at the November 2016 Summit of EU leaders. Regrettably they refused even to discuss it.
What a shame, because millions of EU and UK citizens would really have a appreciated an early resolution to this question. If the UK government had had an effective PR department and an FCO which was pro-Brexit, it would of course have made it very clear to EU27 citizens that it was the EU which prevented progress on this matter since last November.
The next major block dreamt up by the EU in the way of a sensible and efficient exit of the UK, was the EU’s insistence that it would not discuss the vast majority of the issues which need discussing before the UK leaves the EU.
Instead they insisted that they would only talk about a divorce bill (which they call a ‘single financial settlement’), citizens' rights (which they refused to discuss last year), and the border between Northern Ireland and Eire.
WILL THEY EVER AGREE TO “SUFFICIENT PROGRESS”?
Here is what President Tusk had to say about ‘sufficient progress’ on Tuesday:
“I would like to refer to Prime Minister Theresa May's recent words. We hear from London that the UK government is preparing for a 'no deal' scenario. I would like to say very clearly that the EU is not working on such a scenario.”
“We are negotiating in good faith, and we still hope that the so-called 'sufficient progress' will be possible by December. However, if it turns out that the talks continue at a slow pace, and that 'sufficient progress' hasn't been reached, then - together with our UK friends - we will have to think about where we are heading.”
There are two points which leap out from this. The first is that the EU aren’t even considering the possibility of opening up to full talks after next week and that their minds seem focused on December as the earliest date.
The second point is that if the EU doesn’t deem the UK to have made ‘sufficient progress’ by December, then they will re-consider their position completely. “We will have to think where we are heading” contains an implied threat that the EU will walk away from the talks as they are currently constituted.
It is this last statement which had Michel Barnier running scared yesterday, with the EU’s papers full of stories of how he was trying to persuade the EU leaders to lighten up and let him widen the talks. He knows his talks risk being called off completely – either by the UK or the EU walking away – at the end of the year. And that would damage him and his political aspirations very badly indeed.
FURTHER OBSERVATIONS
So, here we are in mid-October, with an EU leaders’ summit next week and the 99.99% certainty that they will continue to refuse to discuss and negotiate normally on all the various issues which need resolving before the UK ostensibly exits the EU at midnight on 29th March 2019.
They are also, for the first time, showing alarm that the UK will walk away from the Brexit talks and tell the world how unreasonable the EU has been. This matters to Tusk and his colleagues even as much as the potential loss of tens of billions of ‘pay-off’ money which the EU has been demanding as a divorce payment. So much of the EU is about presentation and they couldn’t begin to contemplate this happening. They have therefore started preparing the ground for a mutual ‘walk away’ scenario, so that the UK can’t gain the high moral ground.
Looking at the current status of the talks, how on earth can President Tusk try to claim that “Our conduct in the Brexit talks has shown the European Union at its best: in terms of unity, political solidarity and fairness towards the United Kingdom, from drafting the EU guidelines to the negotiations themselves.”?
We’re unsure which particular planet he lives on, because it’s certainly not planet earth. If Brexit has shown everyone “the European Union at its best”, thank goodness we’re leaving.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: EU Commission | IOM ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       05.20am, 12 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Graham Smith, Staffs      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.22pm
Message: The direction of travel of the EU is alarming: the EU Commission seeks increasingly to take political and economic power to itself, whilst eroding nations-state rights in pursuit of federalism. In addition to an EU army, one can see a time not far off when it has its own police force (and riot police) under centralised political direction, entitled to cross internal EU boundaries to confront recalcitrant minorities.
Name: Gentleman Jim, Bucks      Date/Time: 12 Oct 2017, 08.01am
Message: Tusk is deluded I'm afraid. He and his colleagues still won't get it when the United Kingdom is free from any EU entanglements and is roaring ahead of the EU in every way. I love Europe and hate the EU. (And I'm a Conservative but won't be voting for them again unless they buck up their ideas, get rid of idiots like Hammond, and give me the Brexit I voted for.)
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VALUED SUPPORTERS - Patrick Ford , Kent  |  Alan Bucknall, N.I.  |  David Allworthy, Kent  |  Sharon Stanton, Pembrokeshire  |  Stephen Brady, London  |  E Rimmer, UK  |  A Bruce, Derbyshire  |  Hugh Gallagher, UK  |  Elizabeth Ford, Kent  |  Ashley Hawes, Bucks  |  BBW Davies, Dorset  |  Stuart C, Lancashire  |  P Bushell, West Midlands  |  D Joyce, Powys  |  William Crook, Lancaster  |  R Halton, Ceredigion  |  G Reakes, London  |  J Hatfield, South Ayrshire  |  F Carstairs, W Sussex  |  N Martinek, W Yorks  |  A Hammond, Lincs  |  Anonymous, Aberdeen  |  P Derbyshire, GB
READERS' COMMENTS
THE £1/4 TRILLION 
CUSTOMER CALLED
'THE UK'
 
CAN THE EU AFFORD TO KISS IT GOODBYE?
Latest trade data shows EU27 selling UK over £21bn per month
For the EU27, the UK represents a massive, lucrative market sitting right on its doorstep. And they are doing very well out of it.
The latest official trade data issued by HMRC and the ONS yesterday shows that the EU27 sold products to the UK in August alone to a value of £20.9bn.
To put that into context for you, in just one month the UK bought an amount of goods from the EU27 equivalent to twice the entire economic output of one of its members in a year.
In the first 8 months of this year, the EU has sold the UK goods to the value of £169bn. That is approximately the same as the combined annual GDP of Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta.
OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, THE UK HAS BOUGHT MORE AND MORE
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
The chart above shows just how much the EU27 has been selling to the UK. By the end of this year the UK will have bought goods worth over £3.5 trillion pounds (approx €4 trillion euros) from the EU27 countries, over the last 20 years.
SOUNDBITE
The UK is buying goods from the EU27 at the rate of £1/4 trillion per year - this might not be a customer the EU27 want to lose.
As usual, Germany was easily the top seller to the UK, with sales worth over £5.5bn in August alone. As far as the UK selling abroad was concerned, the USA was once again the UK's best customer, buying goods worth over £3.5bn in the month.
OBSERVATIONS
The EU27 countries have benefited enormously from having a very rich customer on their doorstep.
Furthermore that customer was persuaded to sign up to a loyalty card many years ago, which prevented it from buying more cheaply elsewhere. If the customer did buy a product from a shop in the next street it had to pay a big surcharge, which made it uneconomic to shop around.
The manufacturers and distributors of the EU27 countries have been very well aware of this fact, even if the thoughts of their leaders are fixed firmly on their own political rather than economic matters.
When it comes to the Brexit negotiations there is an increasingly obvious and widening gap between the objectives of the EU and its unelected elites, and the economic interests of the businesses and citizens of the member countries.
Put simply, the EU wants to punish the UK and ensure it is seen to suffer from its decision to reject the EU. The EU’s ridiculous mantras of ‘unity’, ‘solidarity’, ‘four freedoms’, etc are what are important and everything must be sacrificed to these.
Government Public Relations must wake up
Given that Brexit is the biggest event in the country's post-war history, it is one of the many jobs of the UK government to ensure that the businesses and consumers in the EU27 countries are fully aware of the true economic picture. If these people and businesses then choose to back their own EU-loving leaders and the EU bureaucrats, then so be it. But the peoples of the EU27 must be made aware.
Since the Referendum, the very poor performance of the UK government’s PR departments compared to the massive propaganda arms of the EU has been painful to watch. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again.
WAKE UP, UK government public relations. The EU is winning the battle for hearts and minds hand over fist.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: HMRC | Office for National Statistics ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       05.20am, 11 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
UK TO STAY IN EU 
PM CONFIRMS:
© UK Parliament TV
UK TO BE RULED BY BRUSSELS AFTER UK ‘LEAVES’
Jacob Rees-Mogg forces PM to admit what we all knew
The Prime Minister confirmed yesterday in the House of Commons that the UK will continue to be governed by EU law under the ECJ after the supposed departure date of 29 Mar 2019.
She further confirmed that the UK will even be subject to new EU laws after the supposed date of exit.
Here is the video of the exchange in full, between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Theresa May. Below it is the transcript from Hansard.
UK Plans for Leaving the EU - Statement by the Prime Minister, 9th Oct 2019
Question from Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg to the Prime Minister
 
Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con)
“Will my right hon. Friend confirm unequivocally that after 29 March 2019 the European Court of Justice’s writ will no longer run in any way in this country and that any new laws agreed under the acquis communautaire after that date will not have effect here unless agreed specifically by Parliament?”
The Prime Minister
“My hon. Friend has actually raised two separate issues but elided them together. The first is about the European Court of Justice. As I have just said in answer to a number of questions, we want to have a smooth and orderly process of withdrawal with minimum disruption. That is why we want the implementation period. We will have to negotiate what will operate during the implementation period. Yes, that may mean that we start off with the ECJ still governing the rules we are part of for that period, but we are also clear that we can bring forward discussions and agreements on issues such as a dispute resolution mechanism. If we can bring that forward at an earlier stage, we would wish to do so.
“The second issue my hon. Friend referred to was the question of new rules brought in during the implementation period. Given the way things operate, it is highly unlikely that anything will be brought forward during that period that has not already started discussions through the European Union to which we are being party of until we leave and on which we would have been able to say whether they would be a rule that we would sign up to or a rule that we would not wish to sign up to. Any new rules put on the table during the implementation period, given the way these things operate, are highly unlikely to be implemented during the implementation period.”
OBSERVATIONS
On 22nd September we greeted Mrs May’s Florence speech with the headline “It's a Sell-Out”. In subsequent articles analysing the speech we showed how she had in effect set out “an abject surrender on many levels”.
We made it clear that the only conclusion that could be drawn from Theresa May’s words in Italy was that the UK would remain under the jurisdiction of EU law and the ECJ.
Yesterday the Prime Minister confirmed in the House of Commons what we have been writing for weeks. She had indeed intended her Florence words to be interpreted as we had interpreted them.
Theresa May claims that on 29th March 2019 the UK will “leave the EU”. This is quite simply a bare-faced lie. And yes, we understand just what a serious accusation that is, to make of a serving Prime Minister.
The British people will continue to be subject to the laws of a foreign supranational body, new laws can be imposed by that body, and the ‘highest court in the land’ will in fact continue to be in a foreign land.
We know that Mr Rees-Mogg views this as seriously as we do. He is a man of principle. Whilst his natural instinct will always be to support the government, on this issue the Prime Minister may just have pushed him too far.
Jacob, if you are reading this, we hope you will stand by your principles today. The Prime Minister has crossed two of your red lines, and many of ours.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: Hansard | UK Parliament TV ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       06.55am, 10 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Graham Smith, Staffs      Date/Time: 13 Oct 2017, 4.27pm
Message: The mantra of "deep and special relationship" from Mrs May is becoming thread-bare and a little sinister - I suggest Mrs May and the majority of her Cabinet, together with her Treasury, are displaying signs of Stockholm Syndrome. The worse the EU behaves, the more plaintive and persistent become her displays of virtue.
Name: Carole, Merseyside      Date/Time: 10 Oct 2017, 11.47am
Message: This doesn't make any sense. Why apply for a custom transitional period instead of just extending the Treaties end date if you are envisaging being ruled by the ECJ (trade excepted). Maybe the government are actually expecting a no deal or perhaps it's a ruse to get the EU to the table on trade talks.
Name: Carole, Merseyside      Date/Time: 10 Oct 2017, 09.49am
Message: There will be no deal, and there will be no implementation period and no ECJ. The UK are currently in a prime position to realise a clean Brexit. The EU are our unexpected friends in this, as they engineered a "no deal" scenario from the start with their absurd negotiation directives.
WHY THERE 
WILL BE NO DEAL
AS THE FINAL ROUND OF PRE-SUMMIT BREXIT TALKS STARTS, FACTS4EU.ORG EXPOSES HOW...
© EU Commission
THE EU REALLY IS
ONLY INTERESTED IN POLITICS
The fifth and final round of Brexit talks before the October Summit will start today in Brussels. Once again, the UK's Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, the Rt Hon David Davis MP, will go into bat against the EU.
Who is Davis really up against?
Whilst Davis has over 17 years of senior business experience - having worked himself up from a position as an insurance clerk after leaving school and paying his way through university - his opposite number has no work experience outside politics.
In fact, the UK’s Brexit negotiations and all discussions with the EU hierarchy have been with Eurocrats who have no experience outside politics – be they in the EU Commission, the EU Parliament, or the EU Council’s Brexit Task Forces. Below, Facts4EU.Org exposes the backgrounds of the EU’s major players in Brexit talks and shows why they're not interested in a trade deal.
FACTS4EU.ORG GUIDE TO SOME OF THE EU'S KEY BREXIT PEOPLE
No EU Commissioners in Brexit-related positions have ‘real world experience’:
  • President Juncker - no experience outside politics
  • First Vice-President Frans Timmermans – no experience outside politics
  • Foreign Secretary Federica Mogherini – Ex Young Communist, no experience outside politics
  • Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström - no experience outside politics
  • Single Market Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska - no experience outside politics
  • Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager - no experience outside politics
  • Economics Commissioner Moscovici – Ex Revolutionary Communist, no experience outside politics
The EU Commission’s Brexit Task Force:
  • Michel Barnier, Chief Negotiator (EU Commission) - no experience outside politics
  • Sabine Weyand, Deputy Chief Negotiator (EU Commission) - no experience outside politics
The EU Council’s ‘Special Task Force on the UK’
  • Didier Seeuws, Head of the Council Secretariat’s Special Task Force on the UK - no experience outside politics
The EU Parliament’s Chief Brexit Negotiator
  • Guy Verhofstadt - no experience outside politics
THE EU COMMISSION
The vast majority of Commissioners have no experience in business, commerce, trade or any activity which generates wealth for their countries.
The EU Commission consists of 28 members: President, First Vice-President, High Representative (Foreign Sec), 4 more Vice-Presidents, and 21 Commissioners. 20 of the 28 members of the EU Commission have never worked outside the world of politics, state bodies, or academia.
AND THIS MATTERS BECAUSE...
It is the designated role of the EU Commission to conduct the Brexit negotiations with the UK on behalf of the EU Council and to secure a withdrawal agreement according to the criteria which the Council has laid down. The EU Parliament has approved the criteria and will have a vote to approve or reject the final deal. The individuals involved, and their motivations, matter.
OBSERVATIONS
Out of all the individuals listed above, only one was elected, and that’s the EU-loving, arch-federalist Verhofstadt - the failed Prime Minister of a small country in a state of almost permanent democratic turmoil.
All of the others are unelected, and like Verhofstadt are standing in the way of a clean, smooth, and rational Brexit, as their entire beings have been devoted to the establishment of the United States of Europe. Brexit is an affront to all they believe in.
It is not the fault of the British public that they are mostly unaware of just how bad are the people who will determine the outcome of the Brexit talks. For decades the British media has more or less ignored the political happenings in Brussels. Even when crises erupted between the EU and the UK - or indeed when the EU had other crises - British TV barely showed any coverage of the EU and its workings. And like it or not, the British public have got their news from the TV.
As Round Five of the Brexit Negotiations start in Brussels today, a lot of journalists, politicians, and 'commentators' will be working out how to spin the outcome to show how the EU has bent over backwards but the UK just hasn't done what the EU asked.
They'll have more of a problem this time, because of Mrs May's Florence speech. In that speech the Prime Minister gave away so much that even if the EU acquiesced it would leave us with a situation on 30th March 2019 which could only be described as being still in the EU. Loyal Conservative MPs have done their best to be loyal to the government, but in private they must surely admit they were appalled.
The rub for the anti-Brexit, pro-EU Labour, LibDem and Tory Remoaner politicians and their friends in the media is that the EU is still going to reject the UK's latest rollover. This time it's going to be very difficult for the Establishment to paint the EU as being in the right.
That won't stop them trying, of course.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Council Secretariat ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       06.55am, 09 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
 ‘BREXITAIR’  
UK IS NO.1 IN EU
FOR AIR PASSENGERS CARRIED
The EU doesn't own the air that we breathe - yet                                        © Facts4EU.Org
UK dominates EU aviation, responsible for
1/3rd of all passenger numbers within EU and
1/5th of numbers travelling outside EU
Another exclusive analysis from the Facts4EU.Org Research Team
The British public has been told regularly before and since the Referendum that the skies will fall in if we leave the EU. When it comes to the literal sense of this, we thought we would look at what the EU has to lose if it tries to play politics with flights across the EU skies.
Here is what the UK means to the EU in terms of air transport:-
  • No.1 in EU for number of passengers carried
  • UK is responsible for 1/4 of all air passengers carried in the EU
  • No.1 in EU for number of passengers carried intra-EU
  • No.1 in EU for number of passengers carried extra-EU
  • Has no.1 airport in EU (Heathrow) for number of passengers carried
  • No.1 in EU for busiest intra-EU route (UK-Spain)
  • The UK-Spain route alone accounts for 9.1% of all intra-EU traffic
  • Has a total of 5 of the top 10 routes in the EU for intra-EU traffic
Some Facts4EU.Org graphs might demonstrate the dominant position of UK air travel:-
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
33.2% share of EU air travel – within EU
 
20.9% share of EU air travel – outside EU
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
Looking at the totality of air passenger numbers in the EU, the UK accounts for one-quarter of it. Breaking this down, the UK is responsible for one-third of all intra-EU traffic and one-fifth of all extra-EU traffic.
TOP 10 ROUTES TO FLY IN THE EU
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
The UK has 5 out of the EU’s top 10 busiest country pairings for air travel. Not surprisingly, the UK-Spain route comes top.
OBSERVATIONS
When looking at the countries in the EU, both the EU elites and the British Remainer press and politicians are fond of talking about the EU27 versus the UK.
The UK is presented as being a small minority - just 1 country, against the might of 28.
Whilst it is of course true that the UK is just one country, almost nothing is ever said about the size of those other 27 countries - something which here at Facts4EU.Org we are always trying to put right.
So, putting this into proportion for the EU’s politicians and bureaucrats (and Remainer MPs, journalists and commentators in the UK):
The UK’s air travel is bigger than 18 of the other EU countries combined.
The measure we're using is passenger numbers. The UK was responsible for 232 million in 2015, whereas the combined total for 18 other EU countries was 212 million.
And Ireland, home to Ryanair, is within that total of 18 countries completely overshadowed by the dominance of the UK in EU air travel.
LET'S BE JUST A LITTLE BIT BOLDER
The British have traditionally been self-deprecating and no-one is suggesting that the British government should suddenly start throwing its weight around in the EU talks. However, there is a nice balance between being self-deprecating and being arrogant and we feel the balance needs to shift.
We hope that by continually demonstrating the UK’s relatively-strong position in the EU on a wide range of subjects, we will give our negotiators (and the British people) a tad more confidence.
The one thing no-one should do is to listen to those Remainer MPs, journalists and commentators who seem determined to do Great Britain down at every opportunity.
The example above of the true picture of air traffic in the EU is a case in point. Does anyone seriously imagine that the absurd suggestion of the Ryanair boss that “There will be no flights between the UK and Europe from March 2019” is likely? One look at the real facts is all it takes.
Ryanair's boss may not like it, but then we don't particularly like his recent comments that “She [Mrs May] is delusional. The whole of the British elite are f***ing delusional. They want to leave the single market but retain access to the single market. Why the f*** are you leaving then? It's just bananas, but you're lions led by f***ing donkeys at the moment - you elected them, so it's your fault.”
You, dear reader, may well have your own views on the statements of that man.
The one thing we do know is that the EU has no choice but to do a deal with the UK on aviation routes and regulations post-Brexit.
We welcome your comments on the above article, which we will publish below in the grey box below. You can use a pseudonym if you prefer, and it's always nice to know roughly where you're writing from.
[ Sources: Official Eurostat data for last full year: 2015 | Ryanair Corporate ]
  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       07.15am, 08 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
FACTS4EU.ORG 
EXCLUSIVE IN THE UK
OWEN IN
AMERICA
"...we should give clear notice on Jan 1st that we’re leaving and we’re going to work on WTO terms.”
 
A GREAT WAY TO KICK-START YOUR WEEKEND!
The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP on Brexit
The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP is a man who is always worth listening to. Last night he provided us with some material which he thought we and you might be interested in. He was right.
We are the only UK news organisation to give you full access to Mr Paterson’s Brexit speech in the USA. He delivered the speech in Washington to the Heritage Foundation – a highly respected think-tank – and after the speech he gave a fascinating Q&A session.
We bring you the speech and Q&A session in full. As usual, we also give you some selected quotations underneath, in case you don’t have time to watch or read everything.
© 2017, The Heritage Foundation
You can read the full text of the speech here. Alternatively, we have selected a few interesting quotes from the speech, and we have also transcribed some highlights from the Q&A session.
“A tremendous speech - one of the most detailed speeches I’ve heard on Brexit”
The event was hosted by Nile Gardiner, who is Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. Nile was a former aide to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and holds so many doctorates, masters and other degrees that his brain can safely be described as being in the ‘planet-sized’ category.
 
PATERSON ON BREXIT, IN AMERICA
Why Brexit is great for the UK and the USA
THE RT HON OWEN PATERSON MP
  • One of the sharpest minds not currently in the Cabinet
  • One of the three Founder-MPs of Vote Leave
  • Experienced former cabinet minister - Northern Ireland and DEFRA (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Highly knowledgable, loyal, and a great communicator
 
ON BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS AND TRADE:
“What I said at the Conference this week – and I’m very happy to repeat it again – is that if the EU does not show serious intent to negotiate free trade arrangements, on the basis of reciprocal free trade based on mutual recognition of conformity of standards, by Christmas, we should give clear notice on January 1st that we’re leaving and we’re going to work on WTO terms.”
“EU trade negotiations need the agreement of 28 nations, so limp along at the pace of the lamest camel in the caravan.”
“Spiteful protectionism from the Commission would accomplish nothing”
“US and New Zealand quality wine producers will be able to compete on level terms once we have torn down the tariff barriers of Fortress Europe.”
ON THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT OF THE EU:
“At every stage they’re over-ruled the democratic views that have gone against it. And they’ve won so far. This is the first time anyone’s going to stand up to them.”
ON THE EU ARMY:
“President Macron gave a long speech, a very long speech, last week at the Sorbonne, confirming many more of these attributes, and clearly stating support for a European Army, which is bad from the US’s point of view because NATO has been the great agency preserving peace in Europe since the Second World War.”
ON THE FUTURE OF THE EU:
“We’re only just going to get out in time, because I do not see this project succeeding long-term, and it’s certainly not succeeding economically.”
GENERALLY ON THE EU:
“They simply don’t understand why we voted to leave, although they’ve got all sorts of caricature ideas.”
“The UK was sold that it was joining an economic project, a market. They [the public] were never told they were actually joining a fledgling nation. They were lied to. And they’ve rumbled the lie.”
“The Juncker speech, the Macron speech – they’re all of a piece and we’re well out of it.”
ON CATALONIA:
“So the EU has been pretty cack-handed in making these pretty blundering statements.”
ON NORTHERN IRELAND AND CUSTOMS CONTROLS:
“Having been Secretary of State for Northern Ireland I really do think that is not a major problem to overcome. There’s huge goodwill both sides of the border… Today across your border between Windsor Ontario and Detroit 10,000 trucks will go over the border. You happily describe them as alien trucks with alien drivers and alien goods and alien invoices – and they don’t even change gear.
Photo right: Ambassador Bridge, Ontario-Michigan border
 
“With modern technology some of the most contentious borders in the world have been speeded up. I really don’t think the Irish border, with modern technology is a problem, but the EU is deliberately focusing on these issues rather than free trade.”
ON BRINGING US PRESSURE TO BEAR:
“It’s really important we have very loud voices in the States, saying that as rapidly as possible you want a full departure of the UK from the Single Market and the Customs Union, so that we can really start negotiating with you because until we’ve left we can only talk we can’t actually sign.”
ON THE FUTURE OF THE EU:
“We may have torpedoed the project below the waterline. We may have done grievous, terminal damage to it long-term. Personally, we wish them all well. We wish all these countries in northern and in southern Europe the very best.”
OBSERVATIONS
Owen Paterson is solid on Brexit.
True, he may have to make the right noises being a Conservative MP, when the Prime Minister makes statements that neither we nor (we suspect) he agrees with, but fundamentally he is a man who believe passionately in Brexit.
Not the faux-Brexit of those Remainers who talk of 'soft' Brexit - as if anyone had even of heard of such a thing before voting last year - but the real, no nonsense, Full Monty Brexit which Paterson campaigned for and which we all voted for.
This is man who knows what he's talking about when it comes to the EU. He's had years of experience dealing with them. When he talks about the single market, he has the benefit of knowing what it is, unlike many Remainer MPs we hear on the TV and radio on a regular basis. He even had to grapple with some of the EU's worst excesses, while Secretary of State for the Environment - a job which encompassed huge amounts of EU legislation on farming, fishing, and our rural life.
Mr Paterson also happens to be a linguist, speaking several languages and being, as we are, very fond of many European countries. And finally, he has real business experience.
Owen Paterson therefore ticks all the boxes. Why he's still not back in the Cabinet, we have no idea. We're sure it must be an oversight which will very shortly be corrected by the Prime Minister.
Facts4EU.Org supports several pro-Brexit MPs and we are party-neutral. Our interest is in having the right people in power to deliver what the people voted for last year.
We welcome your comments on the above articles, which we will publish below.
[ Sources: Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP ]  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       08.45am, 07 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: David Price, UK      Date/Time: 07 Oct 2017, 11.30am
Message: A good speech and Q&A from Owen Paterson. I have used the coffee example on blogs myself so I applaud his explanation of the coffee scam which demonstrates how the EU damages the exports and economy of developing countries and how Germany exploits them.

I thought the interesting question and commentary was about the effects on Italy and other smaller countries. Owen's points were mostly about the Euro constraints but my view is that while these countries laud the UK's involvement providing a moderating influence that has never seemed to translate in to meaningful support for us when we needed it.
Name: Odyssey, Derbyshire, UK      Date/Time: 07 Oct 2017, 11.24am
Message: This man should be in the cabinet! (Again)
 ROLL CALL OF SHAME
The British MEPs who voted
in a foreign parliament
against the interests of the UK
Facts4EU.Org deplores the behaviour of the following British elected representatives, who this week voted in favour of a resolution deeply damaging to the interests of the United Kingdom, its citizens, and the citizens of all EU27 countries.
© Votewatch 2017
OBSERVATIONS
For the MEPs listed above to vote in favour of the resolution this week, and against the national interests of their country and its citizens, and the citizens of the EU27 countries, is quite extraordinary and deeply regrettable.
Perhaps if these MEPs prefer to advance the interests of the EU27 governments over those of their own country, they might want to choose to become citizens of those countries instead.
We welcome your comments on the above articles, which we will publish below.
[ Sources: EU Parliament ]  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       07.35am, 06 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Carole, Merseyside      Date/Time: 06 Oct 2017, 3.35pm
Message: Unfortunately this behaviour is mirrored in our government. They see blocking Brexit as a measure to hasten the UK changing its mind on leaving the EU. Such people have not accepted the referendum and their behaviour is blatantly undemocratic.
 THE EU PARLIAMENT
- DO YOU CARE?
Nigel Farage savaging Juncker and Barnier                                        © EU Parliament TV
We look again at what the EU Parliament wants from the UK,
why it will never get it, and what happens next
Six months ago yesterday, the EU Parliament held a debate on Brexit and specifically on the positions and 'red lines' it was taking.
Given that this week the EU Parliament once again held a Brexit debate, and ruled out any talks on a transition period or future trade deal, we thought it was a very good moment to re-visit the key resolution which the Parliament debated and voted for, six months ago yesterday.
'NOTHING HAS CHANGED, NOTHING HAS CHANGED'
The demands summarised below form the basis of the EU Parliament's position on Brexit. The key thing to note is that they haven't changed. The UK government's position has moved considerably, but the EU Parliament's has not.
The demands below will be the criteria against which any deals negotiated by David Davis with Michel Barnier will eventually be judged. The EU Parliament holds an absolute veto over the deals negotiated, and all it will take is a simple majority of MEPs to block any settlement.
In other words, these demands of the EU Parliament must be taken seriously.
The motion below was put forward by the Chairs of five of the main political groupings in the EU Parliament. It was passed with 516 votes in favour, 133 against, and 50 abstentions. The latest Brexit motion in the EU Parliament on Tuesday was passed by 557 in favour, 92 against, and 29 abstentions.
SUMMARY OF THE RESOLUTION
General
  • EU Parliament has veto over withdrawal deal, future trade deal, and transitional deal
  • Demands in this Resolution will be used to decide the yes/no approval
  • Membership of Single Market and Customs Union is not possible without 4 freedoms, ECJ jurisdiction, ongoing annual contributions, and block on independent trade deals
  • Absolute block on UK beginning trade talks with other countries
  • Threat of block on UK participating in normal EU business whilst still a member
  • UK must continue paying “up to and after the date of its withdrawal”
  • No UK-EU trade negotiations until after withdrawal of UK
  • Talks on transitional arrangements only after ‘substantial progress’ on withdrawal agreement
  • ECJ to be final arbiter on ‘interpretation and enforcement’ of exit deal
  • UK must agree that EU27 citizens in the UK will have ‘protection of the integrity of Union law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and its enforcement framework’
  • Brexit bill to be a blank cheque: current commitments, ‘off-balance sheet items, contingent liabilities and other financial costs arising directly as a result of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal’
Future Trade Arrangements
  • Internal and external security and defence issues can’t be used in negotiations
  • UK must continue to obey EU’s legislation on human rights, ‘the environment, climate change, the fight against tax evasion and avoidance, fair competition, trade and social rights, social dumping’
  • No negotiations on sectors, eg financial services
  • No negotiations on partial access to the single market and/or the customs union
  • No special relationship despite 44 years of membership - ‘Underlines that after its withdrawal the United Kingdom will fall under the third-country regime provided for in Union legislation’
  • Any participation in programmes like Erasmus to be subject to payments and EU law
Transitional Arrangements
  • UK will continue to be subject to EU law and power of ECJ under any transitional deal
  • Transitional arrangements not to exceed three years
Other Issues
  • EU27 will not look at existing and previous budgets to reduce ongoing commitments and thereby Brexit bill
OBSERVATIONS
There’s a lot to absorb in the above summary, but the motion ran to eight pages so the summary is as short as it's possible to make it.
It is perhaps worth reminding ourselves in this way of what the EU Parliament wants, because the UK government has significantly surrendered its position in many areas, and yet no-one on the EU side has said they are now willing to start talks on a transition deal, nor on a future trade deal.
HERE IS WHAT WE WROTE, SIX MONTHS AGO:-
Frankly there is so much in the EU parliament’s resolution that will be wholly unacceptable to the British people, we see very little hope of there being any kind of compromise which can be reached.
Any negotiation involves some compromises of course. The difference here is that the EU Parliament have set out their negotiating position so far beyond what neutral observers might consider normal and realistic, that any compromise by the UK wouldn't touch the sides.
Unfortunately we must reiterate our editorial position: it’s much better to face reality and plan for a difficult break with the EU and a positive future with the rest of the World. The government will do what it can to mitigate the worst elements of the euro-federalists’ desire to punish the UK.
Regular readers will know that Facts4EU.Org's position on Theresa May's Florence speech is that it was a sell-out. We wholeheartedly reject the prospect of a two-year transition period, during which the UK will effectively remain in the EU, under ECJ jurisdiction, EU laws being supreme, free movement, unable to negotiate trade deals, and continuing to pay huge sums to the EU.
There simply is no planet on which such an arrangement couldn't be called "staying in the EU".
Despite Theresa May's abject surrender on so many issues, she has got nothing in return. The Conservative Party Conference and the terrible events in Catalunya have naturally absorbed the attention of many people. However these must not be allowed to disguise the appalling negotiating position the government is currently adopting, nor the fact that the EU has rejected all hope of talks on future trade arrangements this month.
In our opinion we were right immediately after the referendum to call for Article 50 to be implemented. We think we were also right six months ago when we said it was better to face reality and plan for the EU never to agree a deal. We could also look at many other predictions we made. We'd love David Davis to prove us wrong about something very soon, but as yet this hasn't happened.
We welcome your comments on the above articles, which we will publish below.
[ Sources: EU Parliament ]  As usual, journalists and politicians can contact us for the list of links to the research.
       06.55am, 06 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Colin R, UK      Date/Time: 06 Oct 2017, 3.45pm
Message: There will clearly never be an agreement so we must now :-
Replace Theresa May
Immediately Elect Boris as PM
Immediately add Rees-Mogg and John Redwood to the negotiating team, working closely under Boris.
Start making arrangements for walking away with no deal. Scrap any idea of a transitional period. Prepare proper accounts to calculate what, if anything, we might owe to the EU including credits for our investments in EU assets and excluding all EU projects which have not yet started. Notify the EU that unless full negotiations on all matters are started immediately we shall be negotiating trade deals worldwide from 1 January 2018. We have to stop knocking our head against this brick wall before we reach the point of no return and end up with a Corbyn armageddon.
 A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Crime and Punishment - EU Style
This week has seen two big issues dominating the agenda in Brussels and Strasbourg: Brexit and Catalunya.
As ever, though, other issues came to the surface during the week. Interestingly, just as the EU was coming under heavier and heavier criticism for its lack of response over the Catalonian situation, it went on the offensive towards another of its members, Hungary.
Below is a summary , contrasting the way the EU has treated Hungary this week, compared to the way it has treated the Spanish problem.
BARCELONA
Spanish government backed
SPAIN'S CRIMES : Suppressed freedom of speech and used violence against the civilian population.
EU RESPONSE : Silence. Eventually, under a day of enormous pressure, said it was an internal matter for Spain and some days later said that there was “the proportionate use of force”.
SPECIFICS OF WHAT SPAIN DID : The national government used the courts to ban an independence referendum. It also systematically tried to suppress political thought, banned websites, arrested journalists, confiscated millions of copies of printed materials, and attacked the general public using armed national police units. Elderly men and women were left bleeding from head wounds. Numerous examples of police brutality were filmed and this was a widespread phenomenon on Sunday.
BUDAPEST
Hungarian government attacked
CRIME : Hungary insisted that rich, foreign-based individuals and organisations who fund Hungarian political and educational institutions must register their interests.
EU RESPONSE : Hungary given one month’s notice of being taken to Court of Justice of European Union, for judgement and penalties.
SPECIFICS OF WHAT HUNGARY DID : New legislation means that NGOs in Hungary receiving foreign funding above approximately £21,000 per annum should register and declare themselves as "organisations supported from abroad". They can face sanctions if they fail to comply.
The case being brought against Hungary is outlined in this EU Commission document on Wednesday.
OBSERVATIONS
The attitude and the statements from the EU Commission, Council, and Parliament this week regarding the deeply troubling situation in Spain have reached a point where even the usually docile Brussels press corps has woken up.
We regularly watch the daily press briefings, where it's clear that many of the journalists who attend are rather too much 'part of the problem'. They meekly acquiesce over issues which we think should be interrogated vigorously. They follow the EU's line as the elitest bureaucrats grotesquely reshape the member states of the EU into a single state controlled by demagogues.
This week saw a small but perceptible shift, perhaps because one of the big problems with what the Spanish government has been trying to do in recent weeks is to control journalists and what they can say. This, it seems, has not gone down well with other journalists.
It is not part of our remit to comment on the specifics of the Catalonian government's campaign for independence. However we do share - we hope - the common humanity of our readers, and we find the treatment of the Catalonian populace by the Spanish state police to have been abhorrent.
For the EU institutions to fail to condemn the behaviour of the Spanish government in any way was the perfect demonstration - were one needed - of the EU's double standards and hypocrisy.
Can you imagine the uproar and total condemnation of the United Kingdom, had such events taken place in the land of Brexit?
As ever, you can comment here, using a pseudonym or your real name. Please state roughly where you're from. Your comment will appear in the grey box at the bottom of this article.
[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Parliament | EU Council ]      Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       05.15am, 06 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
 RELOCATION,
RELOCATION,
RELOCATION
Another EU failure which you won't hear about elsewhere
For the last two years Facts4EU.Org has followed the increasingly desperate attempts of the EU to tackle its migrant crisis. We have faithfully reported on all the various programmes, their spiralling costs, and their progress against the targets the EU originally set itself.
Here we look at just one aspect because it happens to have had its second (and supposedly final) birthday.
EU's 2-YEAR MIGRANT RELOCATION PLAN FAILS BY 83%
  • 2-yr Target - Sept 2015 : 160,000
  • Achievement - Sept 2017 : 27,695
  • FAILURE RATE : 82.7%
 
RELOCATION - THE BACKGROUND
In September 2015, the EU Commission and Council committed to relocating 160,000 migrants from Italy and Greece across 24 other EU Member States by September 2017.
This programme became necessary because of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who started flooding into EU territory. They mostly entered via Greece and Italy and those two countries rapidly became overloaded.
During the last two years we have reported on the trials and tribulations of the relocation programme, as well as the huge sums of taxpayer money which have been thrown at the problem, which was largely the making of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. It has caused major disagreements between the EU Commission and some member states, who have refused to abide by their allocations.
RELOCATION MILESTONE - MISSED BY A COUNTRY MILE
The original target two years ago was set as being 160,000 migrants to be relocated from Greece and Italy, to 25 other EU countries. These days its hard to find this target mentioned anywhere, but that's what the original target was. And the completion date was September 2017.
Unfortunately the results aren't good, as you can see from our chart below.
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES
The first thing to say about the massive 83% failure rate is that this is not being reported anywhere in the EU Commission. The most you will see will be a reference to something like "Those Member States that have not used their relocation allocation in full should increase their pledges and accelerate the transfers of their backlog."
Facts4EU.Org is therefore happy to assist the Commission, with two charts which very graphically identify the failures.
As for the excuses - or 'reasons' - for the failure, it certainly wasn't down to negligence. Every month the Commission was imploring, urging, and finally threatening member states regarding their poor performance in taking in more migrants.
The problem seems to have been that governments knew full well that the arrival of thousands of 'relocated' migrants from elsewhere in the EU was unlikely to be a vote-winner. Feet were dragged, 'paperwork issues' accumulated, and suddenly 'studies' had to be undertaken.
THE BAD BOYS OF RELOCATION
Then of course there are the bad boys of migrant-welcoming delinquency. Certain countries were so unhappy with the EU's new plans they decided not to cooperate at all. Others cooperated briefly. And many cooperated very, very slowly.
Two countries stood out to such a degree that the Commission took them to court. Last month Hungary and Slovakia lost the case they brought against the Commission at the CJEU (ECJ) and matters are now at a stand off. Hungary and Poland remain the only Member States that have not relocated a single person and the Czech Republic has not pledged since May 2016.
The Commission is now in the process of taking legal action against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
It isn't only Eastern European countries which are against the plan. The EU Commission almost never publicly mentions Austria, which was also refusing to take any migrants. It seems that finally, after two years, it might be about to start in a small way. However, as a Western European country, it has received nothing like the vicious assaults which the Commission has levied against countries like Hungary.
OBSERVATIONS
Not one single EU member state has actually taken its specified allocations from both Greece and Italy, two years after the EU's plan commenced.
Malta might look like it succeeded, and this would surprise no-one who saw its government being the perfect little puppet during its 6-month rotating presidency period earlier this year. The Maltese Prime Minister went out of his way to criticise the British at every opportunity. However even obedient Malta failed to take its required allocation from Italy. It seems to have got a little confused and taken too many from Greece instead.
This particular EU programme happened to come up for review because it was supposed only to last two years. As you can see, it will last a great deal longer than that, and it looks certain that it will involve legal action proceeding against more than one EU state.
This programme is really no different from any other area of EU activity we have studied over the years.
Anyone who thinks that the EU will negotiate a normal trade deal in a friendly way and in a normal timeframe with the UK, is sadly deluded. Far better to look at what the EU does on a daily basis, as we do, and draw conclusions from that.
As ever, you can comment here, using a pseudonym or your real name. Please state roughly where you're from. Your comment will appear in the grey box at the bottom of this article.
[ Sources: EU Commission ]      Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       06.55am, 05 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: SibeliusFan, UK      Date/Time: 05 Oct 2017, 10.28am
Message: Regarding the petition discussed in the comments yesterday: I have passed this on to a couple of people who I thought would sign and found that their response was "would be nice but probably not possible--the civil service probably isn't ready for us to leave immediately -- too much planning still to do" so they didn't sign. Perhaps then it's the wording stopping other people signing.... They might have signed a petition urging the government to walk away immediately from negotiations and make sure plans are afoot for "no deal" when we've served our notice period as per Article 50.
Name: Paul A, UK      Date/Time: 05 Oct 2017, 08.16am
Message: In the pursuit of balance I've been trying hard to find an honest eu success story. However, much like Junker and Barmier I am finding balance a tad difficult to achieve.
EU REFUSES TO DISCUSS 
‘TRANSITION PERIOD’
                                        © EU Parliament TV
EU Commission and EU Parliament sing from the same hymn sheet
Yesterday's debate shows it’s obvious,
and always has been, that the EU
will never agree a sensible deal with the UK
While the newspapers, BBC, ITV, and Sky all focus on the internal politics of the Conservative party, we look at a rather more important EU Parliament debate on Brexit yesterday.
Despite the huge compromises offered by Mrs May in her Florence speech,
the EU says it will not even discuss a transition period,
let alone the future trading relationship.
Yesterday in the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, the Commission (in the persons of President Juncker and Chief Brexit Negotiator Barnier) set out its position, saying the UK’s position is unacceptable. The EU Parliament’s MEPs agreed with them that the UK hasn’t done enough.
President Juncker of the EU Commission kicked things off in Strasbourg with his view of the ‘state of play of the Brexit negotiations’. He was followed by his Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier, and the leaders of the various political groupings in the EU Parliament. Below you can watch a variety of them.
Firstly, here are some quotes from the statements of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, followed by quotes from the Commission’s Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier.
PRESIDENT JUNCKER:
“When it comes to Brexit, we still cannot talk about the future with any real clarity. This is because a condition of Article 50 and the mandate given to us by the leaders of the EU27 are very clear: we first need to agree on the terms of the divorce and then we see if we can half-lovingly find each other again.”
“We have not yet made the sufficient progress needed.
“The negotiators made good progress on citizens' rights but the indispensable role of the European Court of Justice in guaranteeing those rights still needs to be agreed.
“I am pleased that Prime Minister May and her team recognise that the UK has financial obligations which it must respect. The devil will be, as always, in the detail. But the taxpayers of the EU27 should not pay for the British decision.
“And when it comes to Ireland, we can only talk of solutions that fully respect EU law and the Good Friday Agreement.”
MICHEL BARNIER
ON MONEY:
“There are still serious divergences, in particular on the financial settlement.
“On this point: we simply expect commitments taken at 28 to be honoured at 28. It is as simple as that: that taxpayers and the 27 Member States do not have to pay for the consequences of a decision they did not make. No more, no less.”
ON CITIZENS' RIGHTS:
“To effectively guarantee these [citizens’] rights, we need:
  1. The withdrawal agreement to have direct effect to allow British authorities and judges to rely directly on the withdrawal agreement. Without direct effect, these rights could be changed over time.
  2. A coherent interpretation of the agreement on both sides of the Chanel, which only the European Court of Justice can assure.”
“We are also waiting for guarantees from the United Kingdom on family reunification and the exportation of social benefits acquired in the United Kingdom.”
ON TALKS ABOUT 'TRANSITION' OR TRADE
“We have not yet made the "sufficient progress" today to start the second phase of the negotiations with confidence. Firstly, on a possible transitional period, under conditions clearly defined by the European Council. Then on the framework of our future relationship.”
Here are links to the text of Barnier's full opening statement and closing statement.
NEXT STEPS
Another round of talks will start in two weeks, but it's difficult to see what major progress can be made. On 20 October there will be a summit in Brussels for the leaders of the EU27. This will be yet another summit from which the UK’s Prime Minister is excluded.
At that event, the EU27 leaders will consider as an EU Council the stated positions of the EU Commission and the EU Parliament. It is inconceivable that the EU27 Council would decide against the considered opinion of these two organisations at this stage.
OUTCOME:
In effect, even discussions about the possibility of a transition deal are off the table. Talks about any future trading relationship (which in any case would need to be agreed before any transition deal were relevant) are therefore not going to be discussed by the EU.
VIDEOS:
Below are links to clips of some of the main speakers. We urge you to watch some of them. We haven’t included the dozens of minor MEPs but we urge you to get a flavour of those people .

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission

Michel Barnier, EU Brexit negotiator

Manfred Weber (EPP, DE)

Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, BE)

Philippe Lamberts (Green/EFA, BE)

Nigel Farage (EFDD, UK)

Martina Anderson (GUE/NLE, UK)

Janis Atkinson, (ENF, UK)

OBSERVATIONS
BBC, ITV & SKY WAKE UP PLEASE
Videos are available of the proceedings in the EU Parliament yesterday. Normally we would do the editing ourselves and embed the videos in our content, but this morning we don't have the resource. The BBC and other broadcasters have well-paid professional staff to do this, whereas we’re just a very small, hard-working team making do on next to nothing.
The broadcasters could show some clips to the British public on a regular basis. Perhaps the reason they don’t – and never have done on anything like the scale they should have – is that they know how bad the EU looks in all EU proceedings. And that applies to Council, Commission, or Parliament.
If the British public – particularly those who voted Remain last year – had had any idea of what the EU is really like by seeing it on the TV news on a regular basis, the Leave vote would have won by a much higher majority.
CATALONIA?
Astonishingly, given the crisis in Spain in the last two days, the President didn’t refer to it yesterday, even obliquely.
In case anyone wonders whether this was simply because his speech focused purely on Brexit, think again. He was able to refer in his speech to a meeting in two years’ time: “at the Sibiu, Hermannstadt Special Summit in Romania, where we will give our vision for the future of Europe.”
So he can talk about Brexit, he can talk about the future of Europe in two years' time, yet he can’t talk about one of the biggest EU member states (whose government happens to be strongly pro-EU) using wholly disproportionate violence against its own citizens on a systematic scale.
After enormous opprobrium heaped on them from all directions, the EU Commission finally released a statement later on Tuesday which you can read here. It has not gone down well, especially in Catalonia.
THE EU DECIDING OUR FUTURE
Theresa May will not be attending the summit in Brussels on 20th October at which the EU leaders will decide whether to open up Brexit talks to include everything – which would have been normal international practice in the first place.
We have pointed out many times before that subjects other than Brexit have been discussed and agreed at these EU27 summits which excluded the British Prime Minister – something which is not legal under the Treaties – but no-one in the British government seems to want to take this up.
Regrettably this seems to have been par for the course from a government which has taken a strangely defeatist attitude to the Brexit talks.
To conclude, we will mention just one thing about the Conservative Party Conference which most of the media are obsessed with.
Our point is simply this. Having watched speeches by Conservative Brexiteers at the Conference and at its fringe meetings, we can’t imagine Brexit talks would currently be stagnated in this way, had the likes of Boris, Jacob, Liam, and some other top Brexit campaigners been in charge since end-June 2016...
As ever, you can comment here, using a pseudonym or your real name. Please state roughly where you're from. Your comment will appear in the grey box at the bottom of this article.
[ Sources: European Parliament | EU Commission ]      Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       06.55am, 04 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Mermaid, UK      Date/Time: 04 Oct 2017, 6.18pm
Message: Problems with the petition "Leave the EU immediately" - with reference to Cynik's comments [below]. When I tried to sign the petition I never received an email back so I couldn't confirm my vote, however it did arrive 2 days later. Which I thought was rather strange, normally it's instantaneous. I wonder if this is happening all the time and people don't notice.
Name: Anon, London      Date/Time: 04 Oct 2017, 11.47am
Message: I do not agree that the Commonwealth should seek stronger ties with the UK. You threw us under the bus, when you joined the EU, allowing anyone from the EU in regardless. Bulgarians, Romanians - nations that fought against the UK and Commonwealth in both world wars, were welcomed in. Whereas us Kiwis, Ozzies and Canadians, have to jump through fiery hoops to get into this country, a country many of our families lost loved ones for. You all should be ashamed of the treatment us commonwealth citizens have received, and I pray our governments do not seek closer ties with the UK. You Brits need to learn a lesson.
Name: Denis Cooper, Berks      Date/Time: 04 Oct 2017, 11.01am
Message: If EU citizens resident in the UK will be able to turn to the EU Court of Justice to guarantee their rights in the UK, will US citizens resident in an EU country be able to turn to the US Supreme Court and ask its judges to overturn adverse decisions of that EU country's national courts?
Name: Cynik, Wiltshire      Date/Time: 04 Oct 2017, 09.41am
Message: My wife and I were amongst the first few hundreds to sign the petition 'Leave the EU immediately'. I was confident that with the many of us who support a so-called 'Hard Brexit', the votes would rise very rapidly indeed. Two things occur to me though. Firstly that the link has not been widely circulated, even by Brexit-friendly sources. Can more not be done to address this? The second thing is how slowly the votes have risen since it was started, and how it has as yet failed to reach any decent milestone. I have had the petition page open in a tab within my browser since I signed, and although I have no proof, I do believe that the total has reduced from time to time. I wish I had been paying closer attention to the EXACT figure rather than just noting the thousands. Surely, with the appalling treatment we are getting from the EU, support for just getting out would be sure to rise, but there is little evidence of this view in the petition. It occurs to me that the petition website is probably in a Remainder stronghold, as will be the support staff and everyone associated with the process. How shocking it would have been for the Government to have seen it rocket into the millions, and how satisfying it must be to see how little support there is from the voter-in-the-street. Does no one else smell a large rodent?? Any further thoughts? Brilliant website by the way. Keep up the good work.
Reply: Thank you, Cynik. Yes, funnily enough it was in the back of our minds to check on this petition, as it seems strange the numbers are relatively low. At first we thought it might just be 'petition fatigue', but now we're not so sure. The problem is that with such limited funds and resources we're very restricted in what we can do each day. At least we can publish a (clickable) photo of the petition:-
Name: Paul A, UK      Date/Time: 04 Oct 2017, 09.07am
Message: How about showing the video of Nigel Farage's speech to the EU Parliament yesterday?
Reply: Yes Paul, happy to do so. We didn't have time when preparing the above article overnight but here it is now:
Name: Frustrated Brexiter, Braintree Essex      Date/Time: 04 Oct 2017, 09.05am
Message: There is no prospect of a deal, there never has been. The EU doesn't want a deal, we the UK must be punished for our audacity in wanting to leave EU utopia. Our Government should put all the resources at their disposal in constructing a plan for damage limitation, for leaving the EU on 30th March 2019. When we have exited their club, and the reality of trading restrictions on major EU economies, will hit home. I am sure the German taxpayers, already paying 114 billion Euros in benefits for Merkel's unemployable guests she invited in 2015, will relish paying more for 40,000 unemployed car workers, redundant because the EU closed their largest market. French and Irish farmers, with produce in fields that they can't sell. These Eurocrats don't understand losing a customer is easy, getting them back a lot harder. Also Trade agreements the EU has with other countries which rely on access to the UK market, a market of 70 million people. The problems in Spain will just compound the Commission's worries. We the British will also be hit hard by "no deal", but we will be in charge of our own destiny and a sovereign nation again, as we previously were for a thousand years.
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FACTS4EU.ORG EXCLUSIVE - THE COLONEL KEMP INTERVIEW 
 
“DODGING
THE EU BULLET”
Photo left: Col Richard Kemp CBE, giving evidence to the UN
Yesterday in Manchester, England, a decorated war hero stood and addressed a packed meeting during the Conservative Party conference.
After his appearance he spoke exclusively to Facts4EU.Org.
Colonel Richard Kemp gave our Editor a superb and exclusive insight into the risks facing the UK over the EU’s military ambitions – from the experience of a man who has served his country for 30 years, who has been wounded in action, who has been decorated by Her Majesty three times, and who has worked to protect the United Kingdom at the highest levels.
Helmand Province, 2007                                       
KEMP THE SOLDIER AND INTELLIGENCE STRATEGIST
Colonel Kemp’s military and intelligence record is exemplary.
From the cold, grey fear of Belfast's Falls Road in the late 1970s to the hot and dusty, deadly bazaars of Kabul, along the way he has commanded ever-increasing levels of respect from those he commanded, and from those political masters whose orders he obeyed.
Photo right: On patrol in Northern Ireland
 
He is probably best known as the Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, but our American readers will also be interested to know he took part in Desert Storm in 1991, invading Saddam’s Iraq in a British Challenger tank with the famous Desert Rats of the British Army.
HONOURS
As well as being appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Her Majesty the Queen for intelligence work in Northern Ireland, Colonel Kemp was again decorated for bravery with the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia in 1994, when he got his Queen's Commendation for Bravery. See below for his CBE.
NOT ONLY A SOLDIER
Before any readers think that we only interviewed Colonel Kemp because he’s an impressive soldier who happens to be pro-Brexit, think again. The latter few years of his military career were spent mostly in Downing Street. There he was head of the international terrorism team at the Joint Intelligence Committee. He was in the thick of things politically and diplomatically and dealt with his political masters and with the civil service on a daily basis.
COBRA
He was also a member of COBRA, the government’s top-level crisis management committee. He chaired the COBRA Intelligence Group, responsible for coordinating the work of the national intelligence agencies, including MI5 and MI6, during the July 2005 tube and bus London bombings and the Madrid and Bali attacks. For this and his previous work the Colonel was decorated again by the Queen, being made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his work. In the words of the Chief of Defence Intelligence, he had “huge influence at the highest level of government.”
OUR INTERVIEW
This interview is about the defence and security of our country. Col. Kemp talked to our Editor frankly and made simple and unemotional points which now need addressing by the British government.
The following is a virtually a verbatim account (questions and promptings removed) which show the opinions of this fine former soldier and strategist.
THE KEMP INTERVIEW
"DODGING THE EU BULLET?   WHAT DOES IT MEAN?"
“The EU is looking to create a Defence Union, which some people have referred to as a European Army. It’s not quite that but it’s along those lines. This has been openly declared by Mr Juncker and a number of other EU officials and there are various agreements in the last few months which point very strongly in that direction.
“We have two concerns over that. First of all the fact that the greater and the stronger an EU Defence Union is formed, the more it’s likely to undermine NATO, which is the organisation which has kept peace in Europe for many years and will hopefully continue to do so.
“So that’s our first concern, irrespective of whether we are or are not in the EU.
“Our second concern is that there have been some worrying developments with some of these European Union Council agreements on defence, and Britain seems to have signed up to most of them. Also there was a Dept for Exiting the EU paper which was produced last month which indicated that we would be an integral part of these different arrangements.
“So it concerns us for two reasons. First of all because of the general thrust towards an EU Defence Union undermining NATO, and secondly because it looks as if we’re being drawn into it. Possibly as a bargaining chip.
“In other words ministers and officials are hoping that by going down that route we can maybe achieve what they consider to be more important goals in the negotiations for Brexit.”
QUESTION: “The government says this is all nonsense, how do you respond to that?”
“There is evidence out there to show that's not true. For example the Defence Implementation Plan was agreed by Boris Johnson and Michael Fallon at a European Union Council meeting, and then subsequently supported by the Prime Minister.
“They have signed up to these agreements. Boris Johnson said that the reason we’re signing up to these agreements is because while we’re still members of the EU we don’t want to obstruct the EU itself from moving in that direction. But by signing up to the agreements it gives us the full obligations under those agreements.
“This is potentially highly disruptive to our defence organisation, taking us down that route.
QUESTION: “What can be done?”
“We should immediately cease to be party to these agreements and we should come out of them, or at least make it clear that we’re going to come out of them on leaving. Also, we should be using our influence such as it is in the EU to draw attention to our concerns over them.
“I’ve mentioned our major concern which is that it will undermine NATO, but it will also I think, probably lead to the decoupling of the US – not necessarily the decoupling but shall we say the major concern within the US about the way EU countries are going – the fact that with efficiencies and rationalisation under the EU the likelihood is that will all end up with the EU countries contributing less to the defence of Europe than they are now and therefore America will contribute more and that will cause anger I think within the United States. We’ve already seen that unfolding over a number of years.
“One of the two reasons this route is being pursued is I don’t really think that EU national leaders or the members of the central EU organisation really do believe this is going to be a viable defence organisation or really care too much about it.
British forces in Afghanistan                                 © Col. Richard Kemp CBE
“I think they see it as being part of the whole process of greater and greater union within Europe. And also, particularly in relation to France and Germany, they see it as a way of getting at the United States of America and undermining the US’ overriding influence in these areas.
“I’ve had a lot of experience of working with civil servants. They are extremely adept at smoke and mirrors at any time. I’ve found that ‘Yes Minister’ is absolutely spot on, the way they manipulate government ministers. I think that’s the way it works.
“I’m not condemning all civil servants in saying that – some are very, very good, some are not – but many of them share that skill. It’s even easier for them to do that now, when so much is happening, with so many complexities in relation to Brexit. It’s relatively easy for them to get things passed, to get ministers to sign up to things that perhaps they wouldn’t otherwise have signed up to.
“On a separate note: one of our great concerns as far as the British public are concerned is that if we’d have stayed in the EU we’d have inexorably been drawn into this EU Defence Union. Now we’re leaving it’s extremely disconcerting that we still are, because one of the main things that motivated us at Veterans for Britain is that we were not prepared to see young British men and women being asked to fight for the EU, for a foreign organisation, not properly accountable.
“We believe that if you ask somebody to put their life on the line, you ask them to do that only for your country. You don’t ask them to do that for any abstract political philosophy or foreign organisation.”
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS FROM OUR EDITOR
“Kemp’s not an emotional man and neither is he out for his own self-interest. He gets more demands than you can shake a stick at for speaking engagements and for him to consult on leadership, decision-making, crisis management, terrorism, intelligence, conflict and the Middle East. (Interested parties can contact him here, although he never once asked for his details to be included in this piece.)
Col Kemp, second from the right, Manchester, 02 Oct 2017                                       
“He didn’t have to do this interview as he'd just 'done his bit' during the special event that Veterans for Britain put on at the Tory Party Conference. He did it for the same reason he first took to the streets of Belfast as a rookie 19-year old platoon commander. For his country.
“Colonel Kemp is a patriot of the best kind and he wants what’s best for the United Kingdom.
“He has very serious concerns about the government’s decisions to sign us up to every EU common defence policy mechanism going – and so do we.
“We hope that this article will add to the growing pressure on the government, DexEU, and the MOD to think again.
“If they don’t, they can expect no peace in their time.”
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[ Sources: Exclusive interview - please contact us for permission to re-use in part or whole ]
       08.20am, 03 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
EU HAMMERS UK ON CITIZENS’ RIGHTS 
BUT REFUSES TO DEFEND
ITS CITIZENS IN SPAIN
Montage from Twitter from Sun 01 Oct 2017                                        © Twitter
Anger in Spain, as EU pretends to care about Brexit citizens
but says nothing about Spanish crisis
In Spain yesterday, trying to cast a vote in a regional ballot which isn’t recognised by the national government was enough to get you seriously injured.
The sight of old ladies with blood pouring from head wounds is something which might cause outrage if the pictures came from war-torn parts of Syria.
Scenes of violence involving unarmed members of the public being hit by armed state police wearing body armour would normally be enough to spark outrage from the EU hierarchy.
The difference this time is that the perpetrators were organs of the Spanish state, acting on the orders of its pro-EU government, so the silence from the EU was deafening.
QUESTION
We must ask Remainers: In all conscience, is this enormous autocratic machine really worth your unswerving loyalty? Isn’t it time to recognise that perhaps you have been lied to continuously and systematically on many levels, and isn’t it time to accept that the EU simply isn’t the animal you thought it was?
THE EU'S REACTIONS TO YESTERDAY'S EVENTS?  ......... SILENCE
Below are the reactions from the three main arms of the EU up to now. These are screengrabs taken of their Twitter accounts at 09.30am on Tuesday 2nd October, the day after the shocking scenes of violence we all witnessed in the Catalonian region of Spain yesterday.
We have shown the main account and the President’s account for each of the 3 main arms of the EU: the Council, the Commission, and the EU Parliament.
Not one of these people or organisations felt it necessary even to mention Spain since the violence erupted.
THE EU COUNCIL, AND ITS PRESIDENT, DONALD TUSK
SILENT
 
THE EU COMMISSION, AND ITS PRESIDENT, JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER
SILENT
 
THE EU PARLIAMENT, AND ITS PRESIDENT, ANTONIO TAJANI
SILENT
 
OBSERVATIONS
The rights and wrongs of the Catalonian regional government’s desire for independence are not at stake here. There are complex arguments involved and now is not the time to explore these.
The question for today is much simpler.
Do the three main arms of EU power have absolutely nothing to say on the shameful events in one of its largest member states since yesterday morning?
These people in Brussels take to Twitter on so many issues, to condemn and criticise others. They use social media to influence and manipulate public opinion.
However, when the atrocities are committed by one of their own, they stay shockingly and shamefully silent.
They have now lost any hope of having moral authority on any issue.
And they certainly have lost any legitimacy when it comes to talking about EU citizens in a post-Brexit UK.
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[ Sources: Twitter      Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       11.25am, 02 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Budgie, UK      Date/Time: 02 Oct 2017, 1.29pm
Message: Be careful what you wish for. The EU are past masters at using a "beneficial crisis" to further their aims - in this case to dismantle the nation state. The very existence of the EU makes possible the anti-nationalist separatist movements, whether Catalonia today, Scotland yesterday, or the Northern League tomorrow. The EU has provided enough rope for Spain to hang itself by. The EU will pretend innocence, shrug, and will beef up the Committee of the Regions. Spain has behaved very badly, but the EU will be the winner.
WE SPEAK EXCLUSIVELY TO COL. RICHARD KEMP 
THE TORY CONFERENCE
“DODGING THE EU BULLET”
British forces in Afghanistan                                        © Col. Richard Kemp CBE
VETERANS ADVANCE ON TWO FRONTS
Brexit Secretary David Davis asks Veterans Group to explain
“what DexEU is doing wrong”
WHY IS HE
IN MANCHESTER?
We will shortly be speaking to Col. Richard Kemp CBE, former Commander of British Forces, Afghanistan, and former Chairman of COBRA Intelligence Group.
Check back tomorrow for what he has to say, but in the meantime there is some information you might find useful below.
 
At the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this morning, a carefully-planned military operation is underway. Early skirmishes took place in the building yesterday, with recce parties separately ambushing (in a polite way!) the Brexit Secretary and an MOD Minister
The veterans’ message is simple:
“We need full Brexit for defence
and an end to recent UK commitments to the EU
that have a nasty sting in the tail.”
As we have reported many times before, the British government currently propose staying in joint EU schemes on military finance, research and assets. They are also agreeing to increasing integration across military command and control structures, as well as the political direction of these.
None of this has ever been voted on by MPs, and would mean the UK staying in the EU Common Defence Policy, the European Defence Agency, and even continuing to obey EU defence procurement directives.
TODAY’S FIGHT-BACK - PART ONE
Today, the Veterans for Britain group will advance on two fronts. One party will join up with the ‘Bruges Group Volunteers’ to deliver an assault outside the Conference enclosure, entitled “Dodging the EU bullet’.
‘DODGING THE EU BULLET’
PARTNERS: the Bruges Group
TODAY: Tuesday 2 Oct 11.00
SPEAKERS: Major-General Julian Thompson, Colonel Richard Kemp, Captain Will Carver & Geoffrey Van Orden MEP
VENUE: Manchester Town Hall, Albert Square, Manchester, M60 2LA
Free tickets are available to Facts4EU.Org readers – email us here.
TODAY’S FIGHT-BACK - PART TWO
The second front involves joining up with the ‘Taxpayers’ Alliance Regulars’ and advancing inside the Conservative Party Conference itself.
‘DEFENCE AFTER BREXIT’
PARTNERS: The Taxpayers’ Alliance
TODAY: Tuesday 2 Oct 12.45
SPEAKERS: Alex Wild, TaxPayers’ Alliance (Chair), Mark Francois MP, Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott, CB, VfB, Professor Gwythian Prins, VfB, Dr Lee Rotherham, VfB
VENUE: Conference Centre, Manchester Central, Think-Tent
Free tickets are available to Facts4EU.Org readers – email us here.
OBSERVATIONS
FACTS4EU.ORG SUPPORTS OUR BOYS & GIRLS
Facts4EU.Org is proud to be promoting these Veterans for Britain events today. If you are at the Conference or in the Manchester area, then please consider going to at least one of them.
FIRST EVENT IS OPEN TO FACTS4EU.ORG READERS
If you don’t have Conference passes but you live near Manchester, contact us if you would like to hear Major-General Julian Thompson (Falklands Commander), Colonel Richard Kemp (Afghanistan Commander), Captain Will Carver (Royal Armoured Corps) & Geoffrey Van Orden MEP. They will give you a stimulating presentation today on UK defence and the EU. The event starts at 11am.
It is essential that we attack on every front to make MPs and the general public aware of the clear and present danger to our armed forces and to the country as a whole, if we leave the EU but our forces are left behind.
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[ Sources: VfB | Bruges Group | Taxpayers' Alliance      Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       08.55am, 02 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
BREXIT MEANS 
“NO CHANGE”
PM TELLS BBC
Andrew Marr interview with Prime Minister, Sun 01 Oct 2017                                               © BBC
On the day after the UK leaves the EU, there will be “no change”, Theresa May told the BBC’s Andrew Marr yesterday.
Speaking of the 2-year transition period which the PM wishes to see start on 30 March 2019, Mrs May said: “the point of this, is that there’s no change for people”.
Here is the relevant part of the interview, transcribed verbatim by Facts4EU.Org:-
MARR: “After we have left the EU in March 2019 there is now a 2-year transition period where we will carry on paying in money, and so forth. During that transition period, if and when the law changes in the rest of the EU, do we accept those legal changes and regulations or not?”
PM: “This is about an implementation period. We will leave the EU in March 2019 but at that point we will have an agreement as to what the future relationship - the future partnership - between us and the EU will be. That’s what we might call the ‘end state’: where we’re going to get to.
“But in order to ensure that individuals, people and businesses don’t have a sudden cliff-edge, that they have time to adjust to that, do practical things like IT system changes and so forth, we will have that 2-year implementation period.”
“During that period, I have said that in order… if the point of this… part of the point of this, is that there’s no change for people, that they can adjust against a background of certainty of what the rules are going to be… um... that we will... er... er... abiding by the framework that we’ve got.
“That’s one of the things that’s happening in parliament at the moment. EU law is being brought into UK law through our Withdrawal Bill.
MARR: “If the banking law changes in the EU during that transition period, do our banks abide by the change is the real question. Yes or no?”
“As part of the negotiation about what the agreement is going to be for that implementation period, it will be important for us to look at how we’re going to ensure that we deal with any changes that come through.”
[Mutual interruptions.]
PM: “This is important. We want people to have certainty during that period. So businesses can carry on with their businesses. So we don’t see jobs being lost as a result of uncertainty during that period.”
MARR: “Out there there are tens of thousands of business people who are scared witless at the prospect of no deal, which they still think is possible, and I’m asking you: What happens on Day Two after no deal?”
Long, rambling answer from PM, reassuring Marr that there will be a deal, but that the government is also preparing for possibility of no deal.
Three things became very clear from yesterday’s interview:-
  1. Brexit at midnight on 29 March 2019 means staying in the EU
  2. EU laws will apply fully during the transition period
  3. Facts4EU.Org’s analysis of the PM’s Florence speech was correct
If you missed it, the entire interview with the Prime Minister is below.
© BBC / YouTube
OBSERVATIONS
WILL THERE BE A TRANSITION PERIOD?
Andrew Marr started the Brexit section of his interview with the Prime Minister by saying: “After we have left the EU in March 2019 there is now a 2-year transition period where we will carry on paying in money, and so forth.”
The BBC is stating that there will be a transition deal of at least two years.
That is interesting, because currently it is merely a proposal by the UK government. It was an idea that gained currency while the PM was on holiday, when Chancellor Hammond and Home Secretary Rudd came out to play. These two cabinet ministers took advantage of Theresa May’s absence and started pushing for a Brexit so soft you wouldn’t feel it touch the sides.
At the time we campaigned strongly against what they were saying, but there wasn’t nearly enough ‘push-back’ from the Brexiteers in the cabinet nor in the Conservative parliamentary party as a whole.
The EU would of course need to approve any idea of a transition period, and the irony is that it will take them almost as long to do that as it would to negotiate the basic terms of the UK’s hard exit on 29 March 2019.
Nevertheless, the BBC’s position, which you will hear repeated on almost every Brexit programme, is that there will be a transition period. This is a fact for them. Not a UK government idea. Not something which represents ‘Remain’ as far as we and many Leave voters are concerned. Not something which is up for debate and which should be treated impartially. Nope. This is now a BBC fact.
Now, it is looking very likely that the Transitioners will win, because of the spineless opposition from the majority of MPs. But that doesn’t mean the BBC should be telling the public that a transition period is somehow a given.
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[ Sources: BBC ]
       06.55am, 02 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: Tony Blades, UK      Date/Time: 02 Oct 2017, 12.52pm
Message: Surely there will only be a transition period if a full agreement is reached with the EU by 29th March 2019. Given current progress and the EUs blocking tactics, I think it's far more likely that we'll leave without any deal. It's time to stop pretending.
 UK'S EXPORTS GROWING
TWICE AS FAST
TO NON-EU27
ADMITS EU
Latest official figures from the EU show that the UK’s exports to the Rest of the World are growing at a rate double that to the EU27.
UK EXPORTS GROWTH RATE 2017 (latest available official data)
  • Exports to the EU27 : 6% growth
  • Exports to the Rest of the World : 12% growth
Latest official figures from EU, Jan-Jul 2017, compared to Jan-Jul 2016
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
In the latest September release of data from the EU’s Eurostat official statistics agency, the UK’s exports are shown to be growing at a very healthy 12%. These excellent results will be welcomed by the Dept for International Trade, headed up by Secretary of State Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP.
For months Dr Fox and his ministerial team have been jetting all over the World, setting up trade talks. Not one country in the World has given them a negative reception and in most cases the welcome has been very warm indeed.
Unsurprisingly, country after country have said that they are keen to strike up a new trade relationship with the World’s 5th largest economy, as soon as the UK can extricate itself from the European Union.
© Crown
CAN THE UK TALK TRADE YET?
Many times since the Referendum we have published legal opinion on the question of whether the UK can enter into trade talks with countries outside the EU.
The EU’s position is that the UK is not allowed to discuss trade in any way with any non-EU country until it has left the EU.
It was always our view that this was patent nonsense. Unfortunately, as with almost every pronouncement the EU has made in relation to Brexit, the British media immediately took the EU’s position as being legal gospel, which it is not. The senior ranks of the Civil Service, staffed almost to a man and woman by Remainers, happily jumped on this theme when talking to their ministers.
The reality is as we have previously published. Since its decision to leave, the UK has been able to talk trade with other countries, but cannot enact any deals until 30 March 2019.
 
This first became a big issue a year ago in China, when Mrs May met the Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull at a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Prime Minister Turnbull warmly greeted a future trade deal with UK and added:
“We have got things moving towards having a Free Trade Agreement with the UK.”
 
President Jean-Claude Juncker then blew up at this, saying: “I don’t like the idea that member states, including those who are still a member state of the European Union, are negotiating free trade agreements.” Such discussions were an “exclusive matter” for the European Union on behalf of its members and “we are sticking to it”, Juncker said.
In response, the excellent EU-specialist lawyer and QC Martin Howes of Lawyers for Britain said “The process of negotiating new trade deals can be started during the 2-year notice period leading up to Brexit, with a view to bringing them into force on or soon after the date of exit.”
OBSERVATIONS
We thought we would start with good news on this Sunday morning.
So much nonsense is talked about international trade by people who have never actually done it. The UK has a buoyant market for goods and services from people all over the World. It's only natural that other countries are already queueing up.
For all those gloomy, miserable people who try to talk our country down on a daily basis, in order to try to make their absurd predictions of Brexit disaster come true, we have nothing but contempt.
The future is very bright and the UK needs to go and take advantage of it as quickly as possible. We really hope the Remoaners in the Cabinet get put back in their boxes this week at their annual conference, by the members of their party.
As ever, you can comment here, using a pseudonym or your real name. Please state roughly where you're from. Your comment will appear in the grey box at the bottom of this article.
[ Sources: Eurostat |     Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       07.30am, 01 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
 THEY'LL NEVER NEGOTIATE
EU’S LONG-AWAITED CANADA DEAL
TELLS YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
This month the British government hopes to start trade talks with the EU27 – if the EU27 say the UK has made ‘sufficient progress’ in the areas of Brexit it insisted on talking about first.
Last week, none of the key players from the EU side held out any hope at all that UK-EU trade talks will start in October. This has prompted many on the UK side to push the Prime Minister to walk away from the restricted talks which are all the EU27 are offering.
HOW DID THE EU DO, TALKING TRADE WITH CANADA?
We decided it was time to remind the public of three things which are highly relevant to Brexit:
  1. How incredibly long the EU takes to negotiate
  2. How its priorities are not logical, nor are these in the interests of its citizens
  3. How it totally misrepresents reality
1. HOW LONG?
The EU told everyone that the EU-Canada trade deal (CETA) took seven years. Oh no it didn’t. It started in 2004 in Ottowa.
Timeline of Canada-EU Summits:
  • 2004 : Ottawa, deal framework was agreed, negotiations started
  • 2009 : Prague, negotiations were rebranded as CETA trade deal
  • 2014 : Toronto, a signed ‘in principle’ agreement was presented
  • 2016 : Brussels, deal is vetoed by Belgian region of Wallonia
  • 2017 : Brussels, deal is signed, not yet fully ratified
We have the documents, in case the EU Commission has misplaced them.
So that’s 13 years, and it still isn’t fully ratified.
2. HOW LOGICAL?
It would seem logical to try to do trade deals with the world’s largest economies, and to make these the key priorities. After all, if you compare just one deal with a country like the USA with a country like, ooh… say Canada, this would be worth ten times what CETA is worth.
Unfortunately after 60 years of existence, the EEC/EU hasn’t managed to do a trade deal with the biggest and most powerful economy in the world.
And just to remind you how dysfunctional the EU are when it comes to dealing with other countries, here's the Canadian Trade Minister, in only October last year, when it seemed that once again the deal was falling apart.
© Euronews / Youtube
3. HOW REAL?
There’s no easy way to put this to our Canadian readers. Premier Trudeau knows, of course, but he is so pro-EU he could move to Brussels and have more friends than he has back home. And the EU knows of course. But maybe it hasn't been spoken about much on the Canadian media?
The thing is, well, CETA isn't quite what it used to be. Or rather, it soon won't be.
© Canadian Government
When it comes to trade, what you’re interested in, (dear Canadian reader), is how much your country can sell to the EU. After 13 years of trying to get the EU to sign a trade deal, they finally did. Well, kind of. There’s a bit more to do but they’re nearly there now.
Last year you sold goods worth $41,880 million to the EU. A great result! The thing is, a lot of that was actually sold to the UK. Now when the UK is no longer part of the EU, which will happen on 30 March 2019, your Free Trade Agreement with the EU will suddenly be worth a whole lot less.
© Facts4EU.Org 2017
OBSERVATIONS
HOW REALITY IS A DISTANT ACQUAINTANCE IN THE EU HIERARCHY
In all the research we do to bring you the best, original information about Brexit and the EU, we are constantly confronted with summary information from the EU which doesn’t seem to tally with our impressions.
The headline information does of course have the best possible spin on it, and this is to be expected from any governmental organisation. However the EU always goes much further, to the extent that when we research the raw data we generally find that the truth has been distorted in a grotesque fashion.
This was certainly true with CETA, where we lost count of the number of times this deal was allegedly completed. The duration of the talks is almost double that quoted. And the deal still requires full ratification.
On a positive note, our Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, welcomed the CETA deal saying: “It is also an important blueprint for what our future trading relationship with Canada could look like.” There’s no reason the UK and Canada can’t continue their very long trading history with a UK version of the deal which could start on Day One of Brexit.
As for the EU, unfortunately they made it impossible for us to stay, so the deal they were selling to Canada is worth a lot less now. It’s a shame that no-one in the Canadian government re-evaluated the deal the moment the UK voted to leave the EU. Unfortunately, this is the kind of thing that can happen when you elect an ardent europhile like Mr Trudeau as your Prime Minister....
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[ Sources: Statistics Canada | Eurostat | Dept for International Trade |     Journalists and politicians can contact us for the full list of links, as usual. ]
       07.55am, 01 Oct 2017
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READERS' COMMENTS
Name: RichT - Croydon      Date/Time: 01 Oct 2017, 12.28pm
Message: Someone needs to run a publicity campaign to convince people that "no deal" is nothing to worry about. Some Leavers worry about this, never mind Remainers. Unless this message is publicised widely and effectively, there will be enormous pressure against the government walking away from th (non) negotiations. Here's an idea for a slogan: No deal? No problem!
Facts4EU has already contributed in this area. Keep it up!
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