Freedom of Movement for me is a huge positive and not a negative. I will try to explain my belief in that.
Two philosophies that I hold to in life in general are: (1) We can achieve so much more in this world when we work together than when we work separately both at a micro and macro level. Freedom of movement encourages this. (2) If we are ever to eradicate the horrible prejudices that still blight this planet, whether that be racism, sexism, religious intolerance etc. the more we can integrate across cultures and the more we learn about each others way of life, the more chance we have of succeeding in that aim. Again, Freedom of Movement can play a huge part in that.
People fear what they don't know and they don't understand, which in turn can lead to tensions. Learning and integration reduces those fears. The opportunities for our students, as an example, to go and study at university in Frankfurt, Amsterdam or Madrid can cross those cultural boundaries. Having foreign students attending UK universities is not only good for them, but allows their fellow UK students to get a much broader perspective on the world at large and that has to be a good thing.
I understand fully that Brexit is not going to deny people these opportunities, but as a general rule of thumb, the fewer barriers we have for travel, the more people are likely to take up those opportunities.
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A long time ago in this thread Shhh asked the very good question of what 'positives' people saw about being a member of the EU. You will see part of my answer in the above message.
Today, it appears that my fears about reduced opportunities for young people have been vindicated.
In this piece in the Financial Times, it states that the number of UK young people working seasonal jobs in the EU has fallen more than two thirds since Brexit. Visa costs and employment law seem to be the main driving factors.
If you follow the link from this tweet the article is not behind a firewall.
As seems most common, it is those at the younger and less well off end of the spectrum that suffer. For so many of these young people seasonal work is the only way for them to finance their travels and broaden their horizons.
Perhaps, as the article suggests, there may be ways to solve this situation while still being out of the EU, but as things stand, it is just so sad to see.
Here's a novel approach now being adopted by the Germans, of all people.
So, for several years now, the government has been inisiting that UK firms drop the CE safety mark and move over to the UK equivalent, as part of GB's new freedom to make and follow our own rules.
Apart from the fact that (a) the new safety mark was no reall different from the EU one, (b) it was costing a fortune for businesses to comply with all the admin to move over, and (c) all exports to the EU still needed the CE mark so it was just another added layer, and so had the opposite effect of cutting red-tape, as it was adding more.
Finally, after at least two extensions of the implementation date, the new UK CE mark has now been abandonned (or, technically, it has been made optional and the EU one has been retained, which is - effectively - the same thing as abandoning it)
Business is very pleased, despite one small firm saying, for instance, that they'd spent over £100k trying to comply with the new UK one.
So now, we're back where we were in 2016, with a whole heap of wasted tax-payers' money by government in trying to set this thing up, and of wasted private money by companies in trying to get ready for something that was never going to help and had serious problems
And, maybe more importantly, we're not even back where we were in 2016 because now we are all bound by an EU safety mark into which we have no vote, no input, no nothing.
Implementation on checks for food being imported by the UK from the EU have been put back AGAIN because of fears that the extra red tape will fuel food inflation. The decision was taken by those who sold Brexit on the basis that it would lead to CHEAPER food.
So, for several years now, the government has been inisiting that UK firms drop the CE safety mark and move over to the UK equivalent, as part of GB's new freedom to make and follow our own rules.
Apart from the fact that (a) the new safety mark was no reall different from the EU one, (b) it was costing a fortune for businesses to comply with all the admin to move over, and (c) all exports to the EU still needed the CE mark so it was just another added layer, and so had the opposite effect of cutting red-tape, as it was adding more.
Finally, after at least two extensions of the implementation date, the new UK CE mark has now been abandonned (or, technically, it has been made optional and the EU one has been retained, which is - effectively - the same thing as abandoning it)
Business is very pleased, despite one small firm saying, for instance, that they'd spent over £100k trying to comply with the new UK one.
So now, we're back where we were in 2016, with a whole heap of wasted tax-payers' money by government in trying to set this thing up, and of wasted private money by companies in trying to get ready for something that was never going to help and had serious problems
And, maybe more importantly, we're not even back where we were in 2016 because now we are all bound by an EU safety mark into which we have no vote, no input, no nothing.
Well said. Exactly that.
-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Thursday 3rd of August 2023 08:36:02 PM
The Brexit betrayal takes another turn today as Lord Frost, who negotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol, admits publicly in the House of Lords that he and Johnson always intended for the protocol to collapse and fail - something the would force if necessary by GB's divergence from the EU.
Talk about negotiating in bad faith. Let's agree to something and sign off on it, and then make it collapse.
From the text of his speech:
"We always hoped that, ultimately, divergence by GB would produce the collapse of the protocol arrangements, whether consensually through a vote, through a further negotiation, or otherwise ... ".
So much for 'oven ready'.
-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Tuesday 12th of September 2023 10:21:21 AM