Welcome back to the EU!

[Josey Wales]

QFirst time poster here. Only joined last year, but for years had logged on for the chainsaw wisdom of @spudulike and ADW, the giggles from Wirral Boy and Logdaft and the free for all of 'Making the news today', so aware of the minefield I am entering.

Mine is probably not a popular opinion, but I see no problem with this 'reset' with the EU, nor anything alarming or controversial.

The Security & Defence Partnership is fairly typical for a EU - third country partnership, whereas the extension of the current fisheries agreement within the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) originally negotiated by Johnson and Frost for the Conservatives, is merely that. An extension. More importantly for the fishing debate is the alignment to SPS standards which should make exporting to the EU easier. Around 80% of what is caught in British waters was exported to the EU, but out of the Single Market and Customs Union , the shellfish industry specifically was hard hit. New Zealand is aligned with the EU as regards SPS standards for importing meat into the EU. As a third country, if you want to trade with one of the worlds big trade blocks, this is normal.

The Youth Mobility Scheme? A work permit for 18-30 year olds similar to the model already available to young Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and South Koreans. Why is it controversial if some Europeans want to work in London or Manchester as our Commonwealth friends do? This is not a return of Freedom of Movement (FoM). The free movement of people, goods, services and capital has been ruled out and would require rejoining the Single Market. The movement of people  to Europe and the UK not native to the region nor citizens of an EU state is completely different to FoM 'within' the EU that we had as members. There is much misunderstanding around migration, and rising immigration levels to this country are nothing to do with the EU and FoM as we ended it, but irregular immigration from outside the EU has risen both due to government policy and that in leaving the EU we left the Dublin Regulations whereby those seeking asylum could be returned to the first EU country they arrived in.

I neither want to rehash old arguments about Brexit, it happened, we have left the EU, nor engage in the immigration debate, it is discussed endlessly elsewhere, but as a country I feel that sometimes we lack accountability for our choices. The vote to leave the EU was carried out, the mandate fulfilled, but as a trade block on our doorstep with whom we have extensive trading ties I welcome a reset of relations in comparison to recent years whereby our politicians and media banged on endlessly about the Second World War and the Fourth Reich like an embarrassing drunk trying to start a fight at a party, or the annoying friend that constantly reminds you of a great favour they did you once and will never, ever, let you forget it no matter how many times you say thankyou.

[sime42]

2 hours ago, openspaceman said:

I would definitely cook it but the preparation puts me off, cuttlefish fillets?

 

 

 

I dunno, if it's anything like Squid then the preparation is a doddle. Much easier than doing a fish. You just pull the central cartilage out, the guts come with it, then peel off the skin. I'm sure I've eaten Cuttlefish years ago but someone else must have cooked it. I'd like to have it again, but you so rarely see it for sale here. Might have to try some of our UK cuttlefish when we go to Majorca in a couple months!

 

 

 

 

[Big J]

9 hours ago, Mike Hill said:

 

Sweden needs all the workers it can get.

 

Try getting a tradesman to do anything near a population center and I think you might have different ideas.

 

Stockholm,Göteburg,Lund,Malmö, kin anywhere your going to struggle getting a reputable Swedish tradie.  Unless you want to hire "Blocket Hassan" and pay him reddies.

 

 

 

I don't have any experience of urban Sweden really, so can only comment on my locality. The economy here is quite largely based in manufacturing, forestry and timber industries, so folk tend to be pretty practical.

[Johnsond]

4 hours ago, Big J said:

 

I don't have any experience of urban Sweden really, so can only comment on my locality. The economy here is quite largely based in manufacturing, forestry and timber industries, so folk tend to be pretty practical.

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/sweden-immigrants-crisis/ 
 

Id stay in the countryside J if you don’t want your bubble burst. 

[Squaredy]

15 hours ago, sime42 said:

Bonkers isn't it?! Such is the absurdity of global trade sometimes.

 

To be fair though, a lot of that is due to the very narrow tastes of the UK when it comes to seafood. If it ain't Cod or Salmon then people generally won't touch it. All the more interesting stuff gets exported to Europe and beyond where they love it. Like the Cuttlefish . Meanwhile we're so desperate for boring old whitefish that we import farmed Basa and the like all the way from Vietnam.

 

 

Agreed.  In fact it is even worse than you state.  Much of the salmon we produce is flown to the USA.  And most of the salmon we eat is from Norway.  
 

With cod it is even more bizarre.  The best cuts go abroad, the cheaper cuts stay in the UK.

[Steven P]

We get a lot of Canadian Salmon in the supermarket here - passing the Scottish salmon US bound mid atlantic flight

[Big J]

8 hours ago, Johnsond said:

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/sweden-immigrants-crisis/ 
 

Id stay in the countryside J if you don’t want your bubble burst. 

 

That is an opinion piece, so not exactly objective.

 

But of course, large scale immigration is problematic. I would argue that the Swedish state has done a lot to aid with integration though. SFI (Swedish for immigrants) is a government funded language learning course, which is comprehensive, and at the latter stages, they pay you to learn. 

 

It's obviously different in the cities, but here, our immigrant population is largely European, so culturally closer. We have plenty of folk from the middle east and further afield, and I'm glad for the diversity at the school - my children are now bilingual, but there are loads of kids that speak 3-4 languages fluently. Hard to imagine a better start in life really.

 

[Mike Hill]

35 minutes ago, Big J said:

 

That is an opinion piece, so not exactly objective.

 

But of course, large scale immigration is problematic. I would argue that the Swedish state has done a lot to aid with integration though. SFI (Swedish for immigrants) is a government funded language learning course, which is comprehensive, and at the latter stages, they pay you to learn. 

 

It's obviously different in the cities, but here, our immigrant population is largely European, so culturally closer. We have plenty of folk from the middle east and further afield, and I'm glad for the diversity at the school - my children are now bilingual, but there are loads of kids that speak 3-4 languages fluently. Hard to imagine a better start in life really.

 

The difference being that the European migrants are in Sweden to work. The asylum seekers are there to do precious little. It's a shame but it really is the case. I don't think Sweden will be as candid as Norway where the crime rates and employment statistics of various ethnic groups are in the public domain.

[Johnsond]

3 hours ago, Big J said:

But of course, large scale immigration is problematic. I

Ok J

That’s some understatement

I know you love diversity 

I know you hate the UK

I know you love multiculturalism 

Kids being multi lingual is good ( As mine are) but there are many elements of a good start in life not just that. 
All very commendable but Sweden has been literally criminally complacent at the numbers and character of immigration it allowed to happen. 
How’s that for diversity J

Edited 22 hours ago by Johnsond

[Mike Hill]

I like the Swiss system where the locals get to vote on wether or not the new arrivals get to stay. I think it's sensible that the people whom the new immigrants will live amongst get a say.

 

Curiously in under a year 600 Palestinian refugees have established themselves as the greatest criminal group per capita in Noway,Somalian second,Iraq and Syria taking third and fourth place.

 

New Zealanders make up the smallest number of Norways population,also the lowest statistic offenders with just one prison term and one court ordered fine.