Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

Japanese companies will disinvest from the UK if Brexit means they cannot make sufficient profits, the country’s ambassador to the UK said.

The blunt warning from Koji Tsuruoka came the day after the UK government was confronted by a Japanese government memorandum urging Britain to retain maximum contact with the EU single market and ensure free movement of workers between the EU and the UK after Brexit. Both demands are at odds with Tory MPs who support a hard Brexit in which the UK seeks to forge trade deals primarily outside the EU.

Theresa May to propose better way of controlling arrivals to the UK after critics say she is going back on Brexit promises

Downing Street has ruled out a points-based immigration system promised by the official Brexit campaign but insisted Theresa May would put forward a better way of controlling arrivals to the UK.
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A spokeswoman said: “One of the opportunities of Brexit is that we will be able to control the number of people coming to Britain from the EU. The precise way in which the government will control the movement of EU nationals to Britain after Brexit is yet to be determined. However, as the PM has said many times in the past, a points-based system will not work and is not an option.

“When Labour introduced a points-based immigration system, the numbers went straight up. In Australia, they have a points-based system, and they have higher immigration per capita than Britain. A points-based system would give foreign nationals the right to come to Britain if they meet certain criteria: an immigration system that works for Britain would ensure that the right to decide who comes to the country resides with the government.”

A points-based system of immigration applying to migrants from across the world was first suggested by Ukip and quickly championed by the leave campaign spearheaded by May’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson.

It would have seen equal access to the UK for citizens from across the globe based on certain criteria such as skills and qualifications, without giving any special access to those from the EU.
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Theresa May has claimed that five of the countries at the G20 summit are interested in trade talks with the UK, after the US and Japan issued warnings about the negative consequences of Brexit.

The prime minister named India, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore and Australia as countries that would welcome initial discussions about enhancing free trade with the UK.

However, later, answering questions, Mr Davis did say that Article 50 would not be triggered “until the New Year” – hours after the prime minister declined to confirm that timetable.

And he went further than Mrs May’s careful tightrope-walking on the issue, by describing membership of Single Market as “very improbable” without firm restrictions on immigration.

Mr Davis said securing free trade – not Single Market membership – was the crucial issue, arguing that some countries outside the EU bloc were more successful than the UK in trading with it.

Many business leaders argue differently, worrying that a crucial common framework for trading regulations will be lost outside the Single Market.

Leading British universities are considering opening campuses in Europe in order to keep crucial research funding and partnerships, amid uncertainty over the consequences of the UK leaving the EU. The idea, which is already proving controversial among university heads, comes as universities wrestle with how to reassure students and academics across the world that they will not close their doors to Europe.

Universities are playing their cards close to their chests, and it is not yet clear where they intend to set up overseas operations. Senior figures say that although these campuses would probably take students, the main motivation would be research money.

A senior Australian cabinet minister has said any free trade deal with the United Kingdom will only be possible once the timeline for leaving the European Union is settled.

Steven Ciobo said a trade deal with the UK could only happen “when the time is right”, adding that it may not be for another three years if, as has been suggested, article 50 of the EU treaty is not triggered until 2017.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My formal advice is that, and this is from the UK side, the UK is unable to negotiate or sign an agreement prior to the formal exit from the EU.

“We can certainly have preliminary discussions and that’s part of what I’m doing here this week. Preliminary discussions around what a post-Brexit Australia-UK trade deal might look like.

“Some discussions about what our ambitions and aspirations are and there’s been good alignment in terms of those conversations.”

The remarks introduce a more cautious tone from the Australian end as the government in Canberra has previously enthusiastically promoted the idea of a bilateral trade deal with a post-Brexit Britain.

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The SNP Westminster leader asked May twice whether she planned a Brexit deal to include full access to the EU’s single market in goods and services, as hoped for by many businesses.

May dodged the question both times, saying only she would seek “the right deal for the trade in goods and services with the European Union in a new relationship we will be building with them”.

Amid some jeers in the Commons, she added: “That new relationship will include control of the movement of people from the EU into the UK, and it will include the right deal for the trade in goods and services. That is how to approach it.

“It would not be right for me or this government to give a running commentary on negotiations.”

Immediately after prime minister’s questions, May made a statement to the Commons on this week’s G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, beginning with an update on the Brexit process.

While giving no more details, she promised a specific British variant on non-membership association with the EU, one that would be “ambitious and bold”.

She said: “It is not about the Norway model or the Swiss model or any other country’s model – it is about developing our own British model.

“So we will not take decisions until we are ready. We will not reveal our hand prematurely and we will not provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiation. And I say that because that is not the best way to conduct a strong and mature negotiation that will deliver the best deal for the people of this country.”
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"It's not because we're annoyed or anything with the UK, but we have much more political certainty in continental Europe than we have in the UK while they're all running around trying to work out what Brexit looks like."

I think Britain is going to pay dearly for their "independence."

And, if Britain did not leave the EU, it might just be a matter of time before they weren't Brits. Britain survived WWII, WWI to melt into continental self-indulgence? Too sad, if that happened.

Britain survived WWII, WWI to melt into continental self-indulgence? Too sad, if that happened.