The UK Politics and EU Referendum thread - merged

[TightEnd]

"Stop talking Britain down, Remainers: We hold the aces, and the EU is desperate for a deal"

something pro-leave!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/14/stop-talking-britain-remainers-hold-aces-eu-desperate-deal-us/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

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[TightEnd]

Jeremy Corbyn retains a solid net favourability lead over Theresa May in our latest survey Corbyn -13 May -27

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/08/17/jeremy-corbyn-remains-more-popular-theresa-may/

one of the odder political approval graphs you will see

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[TightEnd]

very interestng

Britain built a national myth on winning WW2 - but it’s wrecking our politics.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2017/08/britain-has-built-national-myth-winning-second-world-war-it-s-distorting-our

[TightEnd]

"Someone, sometime soon, is going to have to admit that leaving the EU is something that’s beyond the UK’s ability"

hard hitting

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2017/08/18/someone-sometime-soon-is-going-to-have-to-admit-that-leaving-the-eu-is-something-thats-beyond-the-uks-ability/#sthash.yrgqaIQT.uxfs

[TightEnd]

Theresa May should reshuffle the cabinet to give the Tories the greatest chance of survival when she departs

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/a-fake-tory-leadership-war-has-begun/

[TightEnd]

May and Trump

""May is now no better than the weedy sidekick, holding the coat of the playground bully"

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-donald-trump-refuse-to-condemn-sajid-javid-twitter-britain-prime-minister-step-down-a7896381.html

[TightEnd]

By this calculation GE2017 had the second highest aggregate volatility since 1931 (the highest was 2015)

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(What the index means "The net change within the electoral party system resulting from individual vote transfers")

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

[neeko]

very interestng

Britain built a national myth on winning WW2 - but it’s wrecking our politics.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2017/08/britain-has-built-national-myth-winning-second-world-war-it-s-distorting-our

I can recommend reading the silk roads by Peter Frankopan - takes you through a fascinating 2000+ years of history first but gives a totally different perspective of WW2, and almost everything you though you knew about history. (Hitler invaded Russia after wheat had been planted in the Ukraine but before it had been harvested so that Germany could take all of it, leaving NE Russia starving as the Ukraine is / was their bread basket.)

[TightEnd]

Click to see full-size image.

[TightEnd]

Opinium finds Remain 3% ahead If another EURef referendum were to be held

Remain 47%
Leave 44%
9%

[TightEnd]

Opinium/Observer:

CON 40 (-1)
LAB 43 (=)
LD 6 (+1)
15th-18th August
N=2,006

[TightEnd]

With little sign of fading, Labour's rise from 26% mid-April to 42% now

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[TightEnd]

Brexit: Davis urges Brussels rethink on holding withdrawal and trade talks at same time

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/20/brexit-davis-urges-brussels-rethink-on-holding-withdrawal-and-trade-talks-at-same-time?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[RickBFA]

BBC been leading with this earlier today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40972776

[doubleup]

Minford should be sacked.  If a student wrote this they would be laughed at

But the threat that the UK could abolish all trade barriers unilaterally would act as "the club in the closet".

The EU would then be under pressure to offer Britain a free trade deal, otherwise its producers would be competing in a UK market "flooded with less expensive goods from elsewhere", his introduction says.

He argues UK businesses and consumers would benefit from lower priced imported goods and the effects of increased competition, which would force firms to raise their productivity.

So the threat to destroy domestic production and jobs will pressure the EU?  And the increased competition will force UK firms to increase productivity, but won't force EU firms to compete in the UK market?