Brexit, the economy and house prices (Part 3)

setmefree2

It's the Sun but it is also Tom Newton Dunn

Theresa May hires ex-heavyweight MP Sir John Randall as senior advisor in attempt to win favour with Tories

The former deputy chief whip - who served in the Commons for 18 years - is the fourth grandee ex-MP recruited to government since June's disastrous general election

THERESA May has recruited another former heavyweight MP as a senior No10 advisor to bolster her fight against Parliament.
Ex-deputy chief whip Sir John Randall has been hired by the PM to be her new special adviser on the environment, The Sun can reveal.

Mrs May is preparing for major showdowns in the Commons this Autumn having thrown away her majority.
Highly respected Sir John’s knowledge and guile is seen as a major boost to the PM’s chances of talking round rebels and out-manoeuvring Labour.
A long-standing expert on the environment, Sir John will play a key role in forming post-Brexit policy on farming and fishing after the UK pulls out of the Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4349235/john-randall-theresa-may-advisor-mp/

setmefree2

A_Medium_Size_Jock wrote: »

Especially when senior Eurocrats maintain their stance of immovable implacability:

https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://retenews24.it/eu-wont-give-a-millimetre-on-brexit-tajani-2/&prev=search
(Widely reported.)

That is not negotiating, it is an uncompromising demand.

Those Eurocrats want the gravy train to keep on rolling....the heck with trade....

setmefree2

Slumping Sterling or Euro strength? One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Slumping sterling now a clear danger for Irish exporters

Cliff Taylor: Even if euro parity isn’t on the cards, the exchange rate is hurting business

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/slumping-sterling-now-a-clear-danger-for-irish-exporters-1.3202598

setmefree2

Macron Draws Ire From Poland in Push on `Social Dumping'

French President Emmanuel Macron campaigned across eastern Europe last week to end “social dumping,” which he says happens when people from less expensive European Union countries travel to work in more expensive ones for salaries closer to what they’re paid at home. Nations like the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria have shown willingness to compromise, but Poland, the biggest source of foreign workers in the 28-member bloc, is fiercely opposed. Its prime minister accused Macron of seeking to split the EU and vowed to continue defending the rights of Polish workers abroad.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-29/macron-draws-ire-from-poland-in-push-on-social-dumping-chart

The Polish PM said on August 24 that Macron’s plans are little more than veiled protectionism, and that Poland would not drop its opposition to the overhaul.
In response, Macron told reporters in Bulgaria on August 25 that Warsaw would not derail his plans. “Poland is not the country that will determine the direction of Europe. It is a country that today is choosing to go in the opposite direction to Europe on a number of subjects,” he said.
“Poland will not define the direction of Europe today, nor the direction of Europe tomorrow… Europe is a region created on the basis of values, a relationship with democracy and public freedoms with which Poland today is in conflict.”
He added: “I don’t think at all that the position of a state which has decided today to isolate itself in the current workings of Europe will damage the construction of an ambitious compromise. On the contrary… I am totally confident”.
As reported by The Financial Times, Macron described Warsaw’s refusal to budge on the directive as a “new mistake”.
He said: “The Polish people deserve better and the prime minister will struggle to explain that it is good not to pay Poles well.”
“Europe was built to create convergence, it’s the goals of structural funds that Poland receives,” he warned.

https://www.neweurope.eu/article/poland-takes-macron-eu-labour-reform/

setmefree2

Decline in UK tourists visiting Ireland due to weaker pound

The number of UK tourists visiting Ireland has declined as the weaker sterling currency has resulted in increased holiday costs for British travellers, new figures suggest.
Data published by the government indicates that between January and July this year, the number of British tourists visiting the country dropped to two million, down from 2.2 million in the same period last year. This amounts to a 6.2% decrease.
It is believed that this may be in part due to recent currency fluctuations which have seen the price of the pound sterling drop compared to the euro.
This has resulted in a weaker exchange rate for travellers from the UK, subsequently making Ireland more expensive to visit.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/decline-in-uk-tourists-visiting-ireland-due-to-weaker-pound-803809.html

LIMERICK hoteliers have expressed serious concern about the significant drop in British visitors during the first seven months of the year.

The latest CSO figures show a decrease of 6.2 per cent in trips from our largest market compared to the same period last year.

He notes that Ireland is extremely reliant on visitors from Britain, which accounts for over 40 per cent of overseas visitors.

http://www.limerickpost.ie/2017/08/29/limerick-hoteliers-concerned-latest-british-visitor-numbers/

Arklight

Why on earth are there now three different threads for this?

Conrad

Tromking wrote: »

Brexit is still quite prominent in the news I suppose. As regards the general populous, hardly anyone I know is talking about it anymore. Most want it done and dusted quickly now.

I wonder whether the general population would wish to entertain the idea of a referendum all over again, opening up all the old heated debates and disagreements?


Chuka Umoona, Clegg and the rest are convinced the public will want this all over again, but I strongly suspect you are right, if it really came to a choice the majority just want Brexit done and dusted.

Conrad

setmefree2 wrote: »

http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/decline-in-uk-tourists-visiting-ireland-due-to-weaker-pound-803809.html

http://www.limerickpost.ie/2017/08/29/limerick-hoteliers-concerned-latest-british-visitor-numbers/

Haven't you heard, EU business is as one, happy to sacrifice UK business in order to selflessly achieve some abstract notion of togetherness. Irish Landladies and French farmers happy to sacrifice their earnings... which is curious given Remoaners here tell me they are terrified about personal loss.

Conrad

Weak pound boosts export hopes as a record number of London's fast-growing businesses are confident about the future.

Half of the UK businesses surveyed, more than at any point since ECI began its annual study in 2010, predicted sales growth of 20 per cent or more over the next 12 months.

Plans to export more were behind much of this shift in attitude, as 72 per cent of UK growth businesses planned to trade more overseas. A hefty 69 per cent of companies which saw benefits from Brexit said the weak pound was behind their plan to export more.

“You can see how these businesses are really just getting on with it. There's always another political crisis or something going on, and actually they're not interested in sitting around worrying about that,” said Charlie Johnstone, partner at ECI.


http://www.cityam.com/271009/weak-pound-boosts-export-hopes-record-number-londons-fast/amp

A_Medium_Size_Jock

Others too recognise the stance that senior Eurocrats are taking:

The E.U. appears to be driving a hard line and there is the sense that only an acceptance of the E.U.'s position will be acceptable for talks to progress, particularly when the views of figureheads such as Verhofstadt and Juncker are accounted for.
Therefore, how much can be truly negotiated in these negotiations is questionable.

The E.U. have boxed themselves into a corner by staggering the talks - they insist the Irish border, rights of E.U. citizens and the exit bill be settled before progressing to talks on the trade relationship. But, the Irish border is itself a question of trade, and seperating the two is nigh impossible.
The question of the final bill - a notable sticking point for negotiations - can also only be realisticly settled once the final relationship regarding customs and market access is established.

https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/gbp-live-today/7423-biggest-risk-to-pound-sterling-outlook-is-e-u-intransigence-in-brexit-negotiations-could-be-the-ticket-to-parity-vs-euro

You will read concerns regarding the value of the GB£ in this report. Note if you would though that the future direction of our currency is by no means certain and indeed many believe a so-called "hard Brexit" has already largely been factored-in.