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.
