Lloyds Banking Share Discussion Threads

[careful] 07/9/2020 07:59

If OMG can rip up the withdrawal agreement, then they can rip up any trade agreement.
Trump has ripped up several international agreements made by Obama since coming to office.

What a farce, agreements are unenforceable by international law short of going to war.
Maybe we shall all carry on as usual after Brexit, agreement or not.

Windbag politicians overrate their influence in some areas.

[freddie01] 07/9/2020 07:34

UK government 'plans to rip up Brexit Withdrawal Agreement' ahead of next round of trade talks


A “TREACHEROUS BETRAYAL” enacted by a group of Tory “charlatans” is how various political figures have described the UK government’s reported plan to rip up the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement ahead of the next round of trade talks.

In reports a government spokesman appeared to confirm, the Financial Times said Boris Johnson was planning new legislation that would override key parts of the agreement – the treaty that sealed Britain’s exit from the EU in January – in a move that could risk collapsing the UK-EU trade talks.

The prime minister is expected to say today that collapsing the trade talks, should there be no agreement by the 15 October European Council, would still be a “good outcome for the UK”.

Johnson is expected to say: “We are now entering the final phase of our negotiations with the EU.

“The EU have been very clear about the timetable. I am too. There needs to be an agreement with our European friends by the time of the European Council on October 15 if it’s going to be in force by the end of the year.

“If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on.”

The pre-briefed words from Johnson arrived as the FT reported sections of the Internal Market Bill, due to be published on Wednesday, are expected to “eliminate” the legal force of the Withdrawal Agreement in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs.

As part of the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the region is expected to continue to follow some EU rules after the transition period ends in 2021 to ensure there is no hard border.

Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill tweeted that any threat of backtracking on the protocol would be a “treacherous betrayal which would inflict irreversible harm on the all-Ireland economy and the Good Friday Agreement”.

O’Neill stressed the need for the protocol to be fully implemented as soon as possible and to “avoid any border in Ireland”.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the reported development would be “a very unwise way to proceed”.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move would constitute a repudiation by the UK government of a treaty “freely negotiated by it” and which was described as “oven ready” by Johnson.

She tweeted this would “significantly increase” the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit, and the “resulting damage to the economy will be entirely Tory inflicted. What charlatans”.

‘Undermine the Good Friday Agreement’

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the Government would be undermining the Good Friday Agreement, risking the future of the UK and destroying its own credibility on the world stage if it proceeded with one of the most “reckless” acts concerning Ireland by a British government “in a long long time”

“It’s absolutely astonishing that any government who says they want to go and do trade deals around the world would just rip up an agreement that they made a few months ago with the European Union,” Eastwood told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour.

“And what they would be doing in that would be undermining the Good Friday Agreement which is an agreement voted for by the vast majority of people on the island of Ireland, they’d be risking a hard border in our country and they’d be threatening the peace and security that we’ve built up over decades.

“It would be the most reckless act that a British government, and they’ve made many reckless acts in Ireland … in a long, long time and if they do this their international credibility I think would be shot to pieces.”

Eastwood said he hoped the reported manoeuvrings by the UK government were “just posturing, because if they try to do this at the same time as trying to convince people in Scotland and Northern Ireland about the future of their Union, well they may as well forget about that as well, because people here will see this as a tremendous act of bad faith”.

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh said: “It beggars belief that the Government is – yet again – playing a dangerous game in Northern Ireland and sacrificing our international standing at the altar of the Prime Minister’s incompetence.”

The suggested move, along with Johnson’s comments about no-deal, is likely to pile the pressure on as negotiators prepare to meet tomorrow for another round of crunch talks in London.

[xxxxxy] 07/9/2020 07:22

No deal is better than a bad dealBy JOHNREDWOOD | Published: SEPTEMBER 7, 2020Mrs May had the right approach and the right slogan when she first embarked on negotiations over the UK's exit from the EU. "No deal is better than a bad deal." If she had stuck to that we would now either be completely out with no deal, or more likely out with a Free Trade Deal to protect EU tariff free entry to the UK market and vice versa.Once she dropped this important statement and revealed a continuous wish to give in to most demands the EU made she left the UK unable to get any kind of decent deal. The EU perceived the UK as weak and willing to recreate many features of its membership without the votes or voice. This was all much chronicled here as elsewhere, as delay followed concession and concession followed delay.UK voters showed their massive disapproval in the European elections which should not have been needed had we simply left as planned, and went on to confirm their clear wish to leave the EU with or without a Free Trade deal in the General election of 2019.The new government has rightly insisted on three things . They do not wish to stay in the single market and customs union which we are still in during transition. They are not trying to recreate something like membership of the EU through a comprehensive partnership or Association Agreement. They will leave without an agreement if the EU does not want a Free Trade Agreement. As they say in vivid language, they do not want the UK to become a vassal state. The UK is not seeking any special privileges from the EU and and is only suggesting similar trade arrangements to other independent countries like Canada and Japan.It is crucial to success that the government adheres to this sensible position. It was rightly reminding the EU of it in statements by both the Prime Minister and the Chief UK negotiator this week-end. Brexit means taking back control of our laws, our borders, our fish and our money. The UK is offering a Free Trade Agreement which is of more benefit to the EU than to us, though both would benefit from it. Instead of continued posturing and refusal to discuss this issue the EU should take advantage whilst the offer is still there. The UK government this time does have to get on with No deal if the EU does not want to talk about proposals that are mutually beneficial.

[maxk] 06/9/2020 23:50

Yep, and take Min and fellow travelers with you.

[minerve 2] 06/9/2020 23:41

No respectable international company can work in the U.K. with this government in charge. Time to leave, Nissan, you know it makes sense. Why prolong the pain. Do it now!

[maxk] 06/9/2020 23:27

The party's over, it's time to call it day ...




EU will have just 38 days to strike a Brexit deal, warns Boris Johnson

The UK 'cannot compromise on the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country'


By
Christopher Hope,
CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT ;
Amy Jones,
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT and
James Crisp,
BRUSSELS CORRESPONDENT
6 September 2020 • 11:17pm






Boris Johnson will give the European Union just 38 days to strike a Brexit deal, warning that if there is no breakthrough by October 15 Britain will accept a no deal scenario and "move on"

The Prime Minister will make clear that the UK "cannot and will not compromise on the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country" to get a trade deal as he insists failing to sign a trade deal would be “a good outcome for the UK”.

Mr Johnson moved decisively to break months of deadlock between negotiators over the terms of the UK's trading arrangements with the EU after the end of a Brexit transition period in December.

His strongly worded statement will fire the starting gun in a five-week period of negotiations about two areas of disagreement over fishing rights in UK sovereign waters and state aid rules in the UK.

Lord Frost, Mr Johnson's chief Brexit negotiator, is due to meet with his EU opposite number Michel Barnier for the eighth round of talks in London on Tuesday. A ninth round is planned for Brussels later this month.

Mr Johnson will say on Monday: "We are now entering the final phase of our negotiations with the EU. The EU have been very clear about the timetable. I am too.

"There needs to be an agreement with our European friends by the time of the European Council on October 15 if it’s going to be in force by the end of the year.

"So there is no sense in thinking about timelines that go beyond that point. If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on."

In a rare interview on Sunday, Lord Frost made clear that Mr Johnson's government had learned the lesson of the mistakes by Theresa May's administration and would not "blink" in the talks.


The Government is also planning to publish the Internal Market Bill this week to formalise trading rules within the British isles after the end of the transition period so the UK can sign trade deals.

Sections of the bill will override key elements of the withdrawal agreement, eliminating the legal force of certain aspects of the agreement such as state aid and Northern Ireland customs, it was claimed last night.

The move would undermine the Northern Ireland protocol which was signed last October to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, according to The Financial Times.

Michel Barnier said last week a “precise implementation” of the agreement was crucial to the success of the negotiations.

On Sunday Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the Brexit negotiations faced a "moment of reckoning" this week, as he insisted the UK would not “haggle away” the issues of state aid and fisheries.

Mr Raab said the negotiations had “boiled down to two outstanding bones of contention”, with Brussels refusing to budge on state aid and fisheries.

He will say: "As a Government we are preparing, at our borders and at our ports, to be ready for it. We will have full control over our laws, our rules, and our fishing waters.

"We will have the freedom to do trade deals with every country in the world. And we will prosper mightily as a result. We will of course always be ready to talk to our EU friends even in these circumstances.

"We will be ready to find sensible accommodations on practical issues such as flights, lorry transport, or scientific cooperation, if the EU wants to do that.

"Our door will never be closed and we will trade as friends and partners – but without a free trade agreement."

He will add: "There is still an agreement to be had... Even at this late stage, if the EU are ready to rethink their current positions and agree this I will be delighted.

"However, we cannot and will not compromise on the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country to get it.”

On Sunday night, David Jones, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, threw his weight behind Mr Johson's intervention, telling the Telegraph: "We should be prepared to walk away and trade on WTO terms."


In his interview with the Mail on Sunday, Lord Frost insisted that the UK would not agree to being a "client state" to the EU and accused Mrs May's administration of caving in.

He said: "We came in after a Government and negotiating team that had blinked and had its bluff called at critical moments and the EU had learned not to take our word seriously.

"So a lot of what we are trying to do this year is to get them to realise that we mean what we say and they should take our position seriously."

That prompted Theresa May’s former chief of staff Lord Barwell to accuse Lord Frost of having a “brass neck” to make the comments because Mr Johnson’s withdrawal agreement was “95 per cent the work of his predecessors”.

Brussels reacted coolly to Mr Johnson's intervention, with one EU diplomat recalling previously optimistic remarks from the PM about how to get a Brexit deal.

The EU official said: "We all remember what happened the last time when someone wanted “to put a tiger in a tank” and 'add a bit of oomph in the negotiations'.

"Message spinning and posturing is all fine, but it doesn’t really bring us an inch closer to a solution.

“There has been absolutely no movement from the British side in the talks yet. If this approach doesn’t change quickly, we will be on a road to no deal with all its negative economic consequences."

An EU Commission official added: "We are working hard to reach a deal with the UK. We will do everything in our power to reach a deal, as Michel Barnier said last week."

The Telegraph understands that Brussels will call an emergency no deal Brexit summit in November if a trade agreement is not finalised by the end of October.

[alphorn] 06/9/2020 23:15

Nissan may agree and has pushed back UK production of its flagship new Qashqai model until the middle of next year, the latest delay to a project that was supposed to embody the Japanese carmaker’s commitment to Britain after Brexit.

[stonedyou] 06/9/2020 23:02

Boris Johnson is planning to rip up key parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement putting at risk trade talks with the European Union.

The Mirror has learned the Prime Minister intends to use domestic legislation to override the "oven-ready" Brexit deal he signed with the EU at the end of last year.


The high stakes move would be a breach of international law and could damage the UK's reputation on the international stage.

[minerve 2] 06/9/2020 22:41

Napoleon was right when he described the UK as Perfidious Albion. Breaking international treaties won’t go down too well with any potential new trading partners. The deal won’t be worth the paper they’re written on.

[minerve 2] 06/9/2020 22:39

Deeply ashamed to be British at this point.

The UK is a very unreliable partner.

We are beyond the days when a gentleman's word was his bond. But when the signature of a country's leader in a treaty is worthless you start to look a bit like a banana monarchy.

[covid 19 deal] 06/9/2020 21:49

By the way...if lloy breaks 30p ...it will create havoc for shorters...

[covid 19 deal] 06/9/2020 21:48

do we want to burn the country down for our bottom end shorts...wolfere in the disguise of cat...i can see some of them here...just a reminder...forget about praying for a second wave...there wont be one...we will give the toughest fight

[scruff1] 06/9/2020 21:44

mitchy
You are getting all morose again. It's not good for your health. It would be interesting to see a graph of tests carried out, a graph of hospital admissions due to C19, and a graph of admissions from other causes next to the new cases graph as well as deaths from flu. Its difficult to drawany valid conclusions from the little we are fed

[stonedyou] 06/9/2020 21:15

We need to fight back against bank branch closures, says former bank executive DEREK FRENCH


The devastating loss of banking services in Ware reflects a plague sweeping across the nation – which all communities must now fight against.

Our high streets are increasingly being blighted by empty and deteriorating former bank branches – as you find in this once thriving Hertfordshire town.

We can expect many temporarily closed branches to shut permanently over the coming months and I anticipate that other branches will follow suit and close for good.

The digital banking revolution was inevitable. But it now seems to have turned into a race about how soon banks can close the last branch in town.

In the past six years alone, 5,500 branches have been shut – and the bank network has shrunk by 40 per cent as a result.

An ill-timed Community Access to Cash Pilots initiative launched just as the coronavirus crisis was taking grip offers a last-ditch opportunity to stop the rot.

In bigger towns, this could include the option of running shared bank branches.

[jl5006] 06/9/2020 20:39

And BTW
Isnt d Abbot a shining example of what the labour party is?

[jl5006] 06/9/2020 20:35

Phps i have got it wrong- but I did believe that should the gov decide that state aid was needed that that was the right of the Govt. barnier says no
I thought that the waters surrounding these isles are British waters and the fish that live there are belong to us
barnier thinks not.
It seems that all we have should remain under EU control - as would have been under Treason May.
Why is she still in HOC?
On the other political stuff - the Heddlu will have lots to answer for.
Who allowed an on the spot fine of £10k - FGS The police the judiciary the press all think THEY HAVE THE RIGHT.
There will be trouble ahead - bad stuff unless we stop the unelected sosos ruling.

[cheshire pete] 06/9/2020 18:58

Don't restart the talks.
EU can't be trusted.
Crooks accounts not signed off by auditors.
No deal with crooks.
No deal far far better for UK.

[covid 19 deal] 06/9/2020 18:49

Last 3 months..all symptomatic virus patients went home getting well with simple treatment...under my care

[covid 19 deal] 06/9/2020 18:47

Those who are betting on second wave...just run ..its not virus...getting caught shorts down will kill...virus lost its killing power...by the way...direct observation treating patients with virus

[stonedyou] 06/9/2020 18:46

'Go back to work or risk losing your job': Major drive launched to get people returning to the office

Ministers warn that continuing to work from home could make staff ‘vulnerable’ to being sacked.





Coronavirus Article Bar with counter ..



Boris Johnson will launch a major drive to get Britain back to the office as ministers warn working from home will make people more “vulnerable” to being sacked.

A publicity campaign to begin next week will extol the virtues of returning to the workplace, making the “emotional case” for mixing with colleagues and highlighting the benefits to mental health.

It will also provide reassurance that “the workplace is a safe place”, while a new online tool will help people avoid the most crowded trains and buses.

While the media blitz – to be launched at the end of next week once schools in England have reopened – will focus on the positives of returning to the office, ministers are already warning of the negatives of home working as part of a carrot and stick approach.

They have sent out the message that bosses at struggling firms will find it easier to hand out P45s to people they never see than to colleagues who have been at their desks during the pandemic.

The Prime Minister is said to be increasingly concerned about empty offices and eerily quiet city centres as millions stubbornly refuse to heed his calls for them to return.

[maxk] 06/9/2020 18:20

The £quid a fish deal sounds good. But they wont go for that, as they would have to pay for the discards which is anything up to 50% of the catch.


Discards are the problem, it's huge.