badgerx16

The whole world is against a no-deal Brexit, apparently; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46826345 ""The "whole world" wants the UK to avoid a no-deal Brexit, Japan's PM has claimed, after talks with Theresa May. Shinzo Abe pledged "total support" for the withdrawal agreement she has negotiated with the EU, which faces a crunch vote in the Commons on Tuesday. " But I suppose that the USofA doesn't count as part of the 'whole world', given that The Donald thinks that Tessie's deal is only 'good for the EU'.

broken

I moved to the best bit of England in 1980, and I've never known this to be said - cheddar is cheddar, mind you I can't speak for the heathen Yorkies. Here on God's favourite side of the Pennines we have the wonderful crumbly Lancashire, and locally we have Garstang Blue. On the dark side they have Wensleydale, which is fine if you can overccome geographical prejudice.

I was watching a program on TV about an American 'artisan' cheese maker. He said he started his business after a trip to Europe, where he went into a supermarket and saw 45 different types of cheese. When he got back to the States he went into his local store, where they had 3 different colours of cheese. I would suggest 'American' cheese is the worst product to lay claim to the name.

"NEW" had better be a goal machine.

Saints to QPR "So you want Charlie Austin ? " QPR "Yes please" Saints "OK, we'll throw in Shane Long for free" QPR "Deal's off"

Hang on, earlier in the thread you said that you were "a moron due to 7 years at King Edwards".

Given the choice between The Donald and Hilary C I'm surprised that so many people bothered to vote at all. Imagine a direct vote for a nominal Head of State for the UK, where the candidates are Teresa May and Jeremy Corbyn.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46799136 The mayor of Ostend has told the BBC the Belgian port will not be ready for a new ferry line in time for Brexit. Bart Tommelein was asked about the UK government's award of a £13.8m contract to Seaborne Freight for a service between Ramsgate and Ostend. He said it was "impossible" that Ostend would be ready and that he was going to Ramsgate next week to discuss the situation with "all the stakeholders".

So we have now established that there are no tradings blocs with a standing army, none has a single currency ( the EU currently has 11 ), most have flags, and at least 2 ( EU and Mercosur ) are planning closer integration. At least the EU might be unique in having it's own anthem.

ASEAN has a flag

No 'other' trading bloc has an army, but then again nor does the EU. True it has a flag and an anthem, and it has a currency that 19 of it's 28 members share, ( NOT a 'single currency' ), but an EU army is still just a proposal.

Crystal balls.

I didn't dismiss it - you added it to a list of things that actually exist.

We are approx 3000 miles from NAFTA, probably 13,000 miles from APEC, and 22 miles from the EU. Which bloc is likely to serve our trade interests best ?

What colour are the uniforms of the EU army ? Who is it's commander-in-chief ?

And you can guarantee this how, considering we are about to cold shoulder the market for nearly half our exports ?

Kossoff

????

Not sure what this is showing, the UK's greatest current account deficit was just over £32Bn. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/current-account-to-gdp

I would have thought that a graph of EU trade share was bound to show a small drop, as China's growth since 1980 has been astronomic in comparison.

Without an agreement the EU will have to impose strict border controls, the Single Market necessitates this. Without it, for instance, what is to stop somebody importing goods into NI from elsewhere under WTO tariffs that are lower than those of the EU, and then simply shipping these goods across a 'soft' border into Eire. One of the main criticisms of the 'smart' customs solutions is that they cannot "see inside sealed trucks".

The WTO trade rules would not require a 'hard' border, but the EU Single Market almost certainly would.

#AmericaFirst - it won't be a meeting of equals.

Davis ?