Post by Norman WellsPost by R. Mark ClaytonPost by Norman WellsPost by pamelaPost by MM"A damaging culture of 'extraordinary secrecy' inside government
is blighting its ability to plan for Brexit, according to a
comprehensive study of Whitehall.
"Officials are being forced to look at key documents in special
reading rooms, while some papers are confined to the offices of
the most senior civil servants. The installation of a network of
secured computers that can only be accessed by officials with very
high security clearance is also being accelerated, to keep the
documents under wraps.
"Meanwhile, the number of documents being restricted is going
'well beyond' those containing sensitive details of the
government’s EU negotiations. Even basic planning and guidance
documents are kept locked away, largely inaccessible to civil
service teams that need to see them."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jun/09/whitehall-secrecy-
cripples-brexit-plans-says-thinktank
Makes you wonder what they've got to hide.
MM
David Davis started a lot of this hush-hush stuff when he wouldn't
release the industry sector impact analyses. At first he even
claimed they didn't exist.
I also recall there was some weird idea put about that the public
should not be allowed to know what was being negotiated on their
behalf in case it helped the EU. We were supposed to compromise our
right to know
What makes you think you have a 'right to know' anything?
Where is that enshrined in law?
Here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36
Post by Norman WellsPost by pamelain the name of something a minority of the electorate
voted for! What nonsense.
Yes, that *is* nonsense. According to the Electoral Commission, we
elected to leave the EU, and by a majority of 1,269,501.
Wafer thin majority of those who voted, clear minority of those who could, however it is those who vote who decided the issue.
I'll say it again. The majority was 1,269,501. For every 100 people
who voted to Remain, 108 voted to leave.
It's not 'wafer-thin' unless you're blind to the facts.
Besides, it doesn't matter what you call the majority. It was a
majority, and that's what counts.
Post by R. Mark ClaytonPost by Norman WellsPost by pamelaBrexiteers seem to have much to hide.
Negotiators do not reveal their hand. It's Negotiation 101.
Especially if it is seven high! They just bluff, which is what the government is doing to the electorate.
Still as predicted the chickens are starting to come home to roost now and maybe the electorate will fully twig they have been conned when we tip into recession again.
The electorate chose to go down this path towards the sunlit uplands.
They were told and knew full well there might be bumps in the road.
Anyway, Look East had an interesting news item today where they showed a
clip of some Remainer predicting gloom and doom just after the
referendum, preceding the news that inward investment into the east of
England has in fact doubled.
The future is the curse of all futurologists who predict things. That's
why they get it so wrong so much of the time.
I must have been watching the wrong channel, I understood massive investment was being shifted from the midlands to eastern Europe, not eastern England: -
https://news.sky.com/story/jaguar-land-rover-moves-discovery-production-to-slovakia-11401771
I think this is because the volume sales vehicle will avoid EU tariffs if built in Slovakia, whereas the prestige Range Rovers mostly sell in the UK / RoW and their profit margin is high enough to absorb tariffs on EU exports.
Plenty more of this to come as the UK falls even further behind the EU economically on the slippery slope it has been on since the referendum: -
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-manufacturing-latest-april-worst-five-years-office-national-statistics-gdp-bank-england-a8392891.html
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/11/no-excuses-slump-in-uk-manufacturing-is-dismal-news
https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/economics/9248-uk-trade-deficit-widens-in-april-as-uk-eu-goods-balance-deteriorates
whereas
http://business-review.eu/business/romanias-industrial-production-rose-3-6-pct-in-april-turnover-up-15-pct-172941
damaging our own economy is one way of getting the East Europeans to go home I suppose