For the Brits: When will BREXIT referendum happen ?

[Stavros]

What did the Soviets do with American and British POW's at the end of WW 2?
https://stevehollier.wordpress.com/2...ver-to-return/

Most of them other than those who died, were repatriated by 1953. Unfortunately the author of the article you have linked has relied on Nigel Cawthorne's book 'The Iron Cage', which offers no documentary evidence to support the claims he makes, but does ignore the documentary evidence in the form of the US/Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIA that was established in 1992 and reached the conclusion I have noted above, though it does seem some US service personnel involved in the Korean and Vietnam Wars may have been taken prisoner and remained in the USSR or chose to live there. You can read the report in this link-
http://memory.loc.gov/frd/tfrussia/t...it/tfr099.html

You may be interested in some of Cawthorne's other books -

• Sex Lives of the Popes
• Sex Lives of the US Presidents
• Sex Lives of the Great Dictators
• Sex Lives of the Kings and Queens of England
• Sex Lives of the Hollywood Goddesses
• Sex Lives of the Hollywood Goddesses 2
• Sex Lives of the Hollywood Idols
• Sex Lives of the Great Artists
• Sex Lives of the Great Composers
• Sex Lives of the Famous Gays
• Sex Lives of the Famous Lesbians
• Sex Lives of the Roman Emperors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Cawthorne

[Stavros]

The Conservative Party meets for its annual conference in Birmingham this week, and the Conservative newspaper The Telegraph offers the clearest indication yet of how the mechanics of Brexit will happen. As the article below indicates, the government intends to propose to Parliament a Great Repeal Bill which will have the effect of repealing the European Communities Act of 1972 that was the legal instrument by which the UK joined the European Economic Community as it was then called, and that this new Act will mark the legal cessation of EU membership when Article 50 is invoked. What will happen after that is that Parliament will be able to sift through 40 years of law to decide which of those laws should be retained and which should be repealed. For example, laws on the rights of the employed at work may be retained while the Human Rights Act of 1996 may be repealed (this latter proposal was in the Manifesto of the party in the 2015 General Election). This instrument will thus break the formal relationship with the EU but it is not really clear what the new relationship with the Single Market will be, as this 'Hard Brexit' may require the UK to re-negotiate every new arrangement (or none at all for those who want a 'clean break) whereas a 'soft Brexit' may seek an exit with existing arrangements retained or modified in order to maintain the UK's full or partial access to the Single Market, the issue on which European ministers have said there can be no privileges for the UK and the main issue of contention within the Conservative Party.

The article also claims that this Repeal Act will 'restore sovereignty' to the UK ignoring the fact that the UK never ceded sovereignty to the EU at any time since 1973 as the Government throughout those years always had the power to veto any and every law proposed or passed by the EU through its own Parliament. As was seen in the Referendum debates, this fact was either ignored or distorted because those opposed to the EU did not want to accept that it has been the UK which proposed many of the EU's laws and regulations, that the laws and regulations that were passed were not vetoed because of that or because they were considered good for Britain, and that in any sense of the word the Government of the UK has only limited sovereignty in a globalised economy -the government does not control the value of Sterling, for example.

Nevertheless, it is a good statement because it is clear and sets a clear agenda, one that Labour led by Jeremy Corby must support because,
a) he has opposed the EU his entire political life, and
b) the Repeal may be followed by the selective process whereby Labour can protect those EU laws, mostly on worker's rights which it supports.

Superficially, this is a win-win situation for Theresa May, she shows she has a clear agenda, and can make robust decisions everyone can agree on. But as ever with these things, the devil will lie in the detail.

The article is here-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2...y-theresa-may/

[martin48]

As long as we can keep Johnny Foreigner out then it will all over by March 2019. We will re-enter the 1950s and behave like North Korea but with no significant army. As long as we can grow our own food, work as the sweatshop of the world, bow down to the superior classes - then our work is done (For Americans, please note this is sarcasm)

[flabbybody]

sad thing is that many who voted for BREXIT would not have detected the sarcasm

[flabbybody]

Sterling traded below 1.18 tonight
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...-brexit-result

[holzz]

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36956418

we're doing pretty well, amidst the doom and gloom after the referendum.

[rodinuk]

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36956418

we're doing pretty well, amidst the doom and gloom after the referendum.

Yeah right - we haven't even left yet....

But sterling is currently trading against the dollar at $1.29 - a year ago it was worth $1.57.

The pound has also fallen significantly against the euro. It is currently worth about €1.15. A year ago it was worth €1.35.

[Stavros]

In the murky pre-Brexit world in which we live, the options are beginning to narrow as the Government says a 'hard brexit' -meaning an exit from the EU with no access to the Single Market- is more likely than a 'soft Brexit', something EU politicians appear also to confirm.

Nevertheless, there are those in the Conservative Party, such as John Redwood MP, who welcome to the fall in the value of the pound -but did not recommend before July 2016 that the Chancellor devalue Sterling by 17%- and while the markets appear to be robust- even the FTSE 250 which fell dramatically in July (the 250 is the index of mostly British-based firms rather than the multi-nationals who make up most of the FTSE 100); there are other signs that Brexit nerves are having a negative effect:

1) the Russian VTB Bank is to re-locate from London to somewhere else in Europe -Paris, Frankfurt or Vienna; other bankers have also begun to look at their options:
Several US banking executives told a conference in London on Tuesday that without clarity on whether the UK will keep access to the single market, they may start moving people out of London early next year. “How do we and when do we start making decisions … knowing the plan is ready to go … it could be in the first quarter of 2017,” said James Bardrick, head of UK for Citigroup.
https://www.ft.com/content/94667d58-...5-f79f5696c731

2) Academics in UK universities have already begun to feel the impact of Brexit in terms of delayed funding applications, and concerns that if the UK does not remain in the Single Market it will not be able to meet the stipulations for EU-wide research (such as the Euro 2020 project), with additional concerns over the longer term fate of EU nationals teaching in UK institutions-
https://www.theguardian.com/educatio...-funding-fears
https://www.theguardian.com/educatio...ve-warns-group

3) Budget airlines EasyJet and Ryanair have both issued profit warnings as the fall in the value of Sterling and acts of terrorism (Egypt, in Easyjet's case) have hit the firms in terms of sales and revenue; it remains to be seen if the fall in the value of the pound making foreign holidays more expensive will deplete the amount of budget airline sales compared to previous years, Eurostar will be increasing train capacity but over the next year will also be changing its schedule to cut the number of trips per day.
Easyjet is also applying to operate from another European country, and while it claims it has no plans to re-locate from its headquarters in Luton, the option is seen as a Brexit manoeuver which could see precisely that move if the terms of the UK's exit from the EU affect the company's future.
http://www.independent.ie/business/i...-35144183.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/easyjet-...cks-1475735440
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...-a7113301.html

4) Last but by no means least, the motor manufacturer Nissan will make a decision next month (November) on whether or not to make the latest model of its Qashqai car at the Sunderland plant. 80% of the vehicles made in Sunderland are exported, and executives are looking at their options post Brexit, as the Chief Executive stated: "We're not asking for any advantage [from the British government], but we don't want to lose any competitiveness no matter what the discussions." Nissan employs 7,000 people in Sunderland. A decision not to go ahead with the new Qashqai model in Sunderland would, I think, be a major blow to British industry and the confidence investors have in the UK over the next 2-5 years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-37726493

[Stavros]

In addition to my post above, today's Observer/Guardian offers a provocative article that has generated much heat, if not light, claiming-

Britain’s biggest banks are preparing to relocate out of the UK in the first few months of 2017 amid growing fears over the impending Brexit negotiations, while smaller banks are making plans to get out before Christmas.

The dramatic claim is made in the Observer by the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association, Anthony Browne, who warns “the public and political debate at the moment is taking us in the wrong direction”.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...t-of-brexit-uk

[martin48]

Stravros - you should stop reading real newspapers like the Guardian and read the Mail and the Express