zerkalo

I second malumbu's recommendation, that is a good route that avoids a lot of traffic. Strava will also give you suggested routes as well as Cycle Travel. Have fun! https://cycle.travel/map

Does the Ivy House show any of the Euro matches?

It goes (fairly) well, with one caveat - that's only if you voted Leave or Conservative.

This hasn't aged very well. Who would have thought?

The treatment of EU citizens at the UK border is very alarming to see however it should not come as a surprise to anyone paying attention. The UK government repeatedly refused to issue paper proof of settled status despite campaign groups advocating for it and raising concerns. As a EU citizen myself I felt like I had to get British citizenship precisely to protect myself from this kind of treatment. It's like Windrush all over again. Very angry about this.

Droid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > zerkalo Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > > On a side note, I find the government plans to > > introduce mandatory voter ID and change the > system > > for local elections to FPTP very insidious. > > Please explain your basis for this considering it > insidious. The current system is easily open to > large scale abuse because it is based on a > voluntary (and unverified) declaration of names > living at an address. No cross check with any form > of ID is required. There you go, have a look. This is effectively voter suppression out of the Trump playbook. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/our-views-and-research/our-research/electoral-fraud-data

That was definitely the case for me as I found out too late that I had to register again to vote in the local elections (although I thought I was already on the electoral roll). Strange. Wouldn't have necessarily given Khan my first preference though. On a side note, I find the government plans to introduce mandatory voter ID and change the system for local elections to FPTP very insidious.

Some might find this interesting: COMFORTABLE LEAVERS: THE EXPECTATIONS AND HOPES OF THE OVERLOOKED BREXIT VOTERS https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Comfortable-Leavers-1.pdf NB. The UK in a Changing Europe promotes rigorous, high‑quality and independent research into the complex and ever changing relationship between the UK and the EU. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and based at King?s College London.

Some other EU citizens, like myself, who were able to afford it and willing to go through the stressful Home Office process, have chosen to apply for UK citizenship. Not because that's a proof of how great living in the UK is, as Michael Gove would probabaly like to argue, but because many have build lives and families here and want to safeguard their rights and prevent another Windrush-type situation from ever happening to them.

@TheCat - There are complex reasons for this. Without deviating from the topic of this thread too much, the analysis below provides some evidence as to why many Greeks still think membership of the Euro has been overall positive. This is from a few years ago but after the EUzone crisis of 2015 so I think the findings are still very much relavant today. Look at table A5. Unless you have lived under the misery of the drachma it's hard to imagine what a massive difference the common currency has made for so many. https://www.dianeosis.org/en/2017/04/greeks-believe-in-2017/ TheCat Wrote: > Interesting. I personally find it quite > extraordinary that a Greek national would suggest > that Euro has been okay for Greece (not suggesting > thats not a valid perspecive, just strongly > disagree with the information I have focussed on). > Sure...I can agree that membership of the EU has > seen accelerated development over the past 40 > years as (particularly in the early years of > membership as inbound investment, lending and > support from EU membership was significant. But > the adoption of the Euro has been a disaster for > Greece. > > More specifically...EU membership allowed Greece > to borrow heavily at low interest rates and then, > when it ran into difficulty, its use of the Euro > meant it could not devalue its own currency to get > out of trouble (had they been able to do this, the > greek debt crisis could have been largely > averted). Consequently, the country?s eurozone > partners (I.e. Germany), along with the > International Monetary Fund, moved in and, in > return for more, low-interest loans, demanded > steep cuts in public spending. That austerity > helped tip Greece into a deep recession, and over > the past 10 years or so the economy has contracted > by around a quarter....

As a Greek person who has been living in the UK for many years, I can honestly say that Greece has overall benifited massively from being part of the EU (since 1980) and adopting the Euro despite even the EUzone crisis in 2015. JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I suppose the argument is that people have moved > within the EU to where the money is - countries > like Greece, Italy and Spain are losing their > populations. Maybe that would have happened > anyway and also maybe that's what happenes in > large states ?

This, exactly. People will need to own the consequences of their decisions. diable rouge Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Seeing polls saying 60+% of Tory voters were > prepared for the break-up of the Union if it meant > delivering Brexit, didn't go down well...

This is another real life example of the devastating impact Brexit has already had to many businesses just like Seabag's. I can only hope that politicians will be held accountable one day for all their lies that paved the way to this calamity.

I highly recommend this podcast about cognitive dissonance to The Cat and everyone else who might be interested in such topics. (disclaimer: it's by a Guardian journalist but the points made are valid across the political spectrum) https://politics-on-the-couch.zencast.website/episodes/dissonance-theory-why-no-one-says-they-were-wrong My original question was 'how things have changed for you?' and I provided a personal example. It's often easier to double down on our rhetoric when we hold views that are very important to us rather than admit that the other person has a valid point. If the response was 'sorry mate, Brexit is not perfect, but I think the opportunities are going to be better in general as a whole' I would accept that. For me it might just be the inconvenience of a delayed parcel and an unexpected cost, but for many others their livelihoods are at stake.

On the plus side, how could I forget that we are now free to make our own rules! What's not to like? Brexit: No plans to dilute workers' rights, minister says https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55656593

It's been a few weeks now since the UK-EU trade deal, described as cakeist by our PM, was signed following the glorious departure of the UK from the EU block earlier last year. How have things changed since then for you, if at all? Are there any signs that point towards a brighter future for this country that we were all promised? Here's a selection of what I've noticed in the press so far: UK firms told 'set up in EU to avoid trade disruption' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55786974 UK accused of 'petty' behaviour in EU diplomat row https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55753669 Union in crisis as polls reveal voters want referendum on Scottish independence and united Ireland https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/union-in-crisis-as-poll-reveals-voters-want-referendum-on-scottish-independence-and-united-ireland-wwzpdlg7b On the other hand there are some, dare I say tangible, benefits apparently realised already. Fish are better and happier now they are British https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/fish-better-rees-mogg-brexit-british-b899228.html From my personal experience, my package from Germany is still being held at UK customs for over a week now. I fully expect that the courier will demand an additional cost to deliver it.

Finally arguably the worst president in US history is out. It's worth remembering some of those in the UK who, for their own reasons, thought highly of him and his presidency. https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ddb820aa10e3321e5978416f58b49279e89c7d56/1109_1533_5630_3379/master/5630.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=908301a74f9abde7fcee6547a4bf0aed https://media.newyorker.com/photos/59097c452179605b11ad9086/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Nigel-Farage-PoI-2.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErZVCJfXcAAhPyy?format=jpg&name=medium https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/20/trumps-flaws-many-better-britain-biden/ This is just a selection...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EruKGRSW4AANDD_?format=jpg&name=large I see the Brexit dividends will actually start paying off soon, won't they? As if deregulation was not the real agenda all along.

The same argument about bias would apply to the Daily Globe link posted above. That's from their website. Obviously not an independent organisation. About Us The CRCC was founded in April 2017 to offer a united front for the numerous Pro-Commonwealth, Realms and CANZUK groups that had greatly expanded and blossomed following the UK?s vote to leave the EU. Based off an idea of Isaac Anderson of the Daily Globe, the project expanded to gain the support of the largest and most influential CANZUK group, CANZUK International, The United Commonwealth, a Canadian based group aiming to spread the word and expand public knowledge of the Commonwealth. The group?s membership includes the historic and newly resurgent United Commonwealth Society, an offshoot from the Imperial Federation League, which had so greatly contributed to the creation of the Commonwealth in the late 19th Century. tomdhu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JohnL Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > "True sovereignty is reflected not in the power > of > > making laws ? as a legal definition would have > it > > ? but in the ability to control outcomes and > > respond to the fundamental needs of the people: > > what John Locke defines as their ?peace, > safety, > > and public good?.[3] The ability to make > > independent decisions does not guarantee > countries > > such control. In other words, independence does > > not guarantee sovereignty." > > > > > https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2019/html > > > /ecb.sp190222~fc5501c1b1.en.html > > Well, the ECB is hardly an unbiased commentator, > is it. > > It is complicit in the erosion and ultimate demise > of sovereignty for individual nations.

Too right! Here is an example of brexit dividends all of us can already reap from leaving this lethargic bureaucratic EU mess! Trinnydad Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Glad to be shot of the lethargic heaving > bureaucratic mess that is the EU

Because for many people (not for everyone, perhaps not for yourself) this means a loss of tangible, real rights and opportunities in exchange for something abstract and vague such as sovereignty. It's so much more than mere annoyance. Young British people can't do Erasmus in Australia. TheCat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Blah Blah Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > leave voters just took away the > > dreams of generations of people who might want > to > > live, work or study in any one of 27 other > > nations, > > > I just want to pick up on this point....UK > citizens dreams of one day moving to live in an EU > nation are now crushed? This does get trotted out > a lot as a major downside of Brexit...and it > strikes me as amore of a minor annoyance in the > grand scheme of things, rather than a major > criticism. > >

This sounds a bit like Project Fear to me - does anyone remember that? : ) Using a purely economic agrument to support this idea when previously such arguments have been flatly rejected in favour of something more pure and abstract (see Sovereignty) does not make much sense. Anyway, it appears that a majoriy would disagree with your view as "support for independence has hit record highs again, with Yes seeing 58 per cent support for the second time". https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/poll-shows-scottish-independence-support-surging-joint-record-levels-snp-set-majority-3070791 Trinnydad Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > zerkalo Wrote: > The EU in its > > current form, despite all the challenges it is > > facing, internal and external, is far more > likely > > to continue long after the UK may be broken up > > following a Scottish independence. > > Interesting point about Scotland. As a Scot who > moved to England 50+ years ago to get a job, I > would advise fellow Scots to think more carefully > about independence. All it would take would be for > England to declare that Scots need a work permit > to work and live in England and that would scupper > dreams of Scots independence. This is akin to > what will happen for the English in the EU soon. > > For centuries the Scots have had to migrate to get > jobs - just like the Irish. My fellow countrymen > in Scotland need to get real and see how their > bread is buttered. Forget dreams of independence.

Trinnydad Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Whatever the outcome of the current hiatus, the EU > is unlikely to exist long term in its current > form. > Quite the contrary I would argue. The EU in its current form, despite all the challenges it is facing, internal and external, is far more likely to continue long after the UK may be broken up following a Scottish independence.

It is not the LTNs that are causing increased delays and pollution when they are installed. That is a convenient fallacy in support of a certain narrative. It is the drivers who choose to use their cars who do so, particularly when other means are available.

I placed my order over the phone and then I went to collect it in person. They don't do a home delivery service yet but I understand that this will be coming soon. I tried one of their filled breads (not the cheesy khachapuri), a selection of cold starters and the pork & beef dumplings. northernmonkey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How did you order please - directly or via > deliveroo or similar? > > > zerkalo Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I tried some take away from this new Georgian > > restaurant last night. First ever customer > > apparently. Food was very tasty. Prices were > OK, > > perhaps slightly high. I'd like to visit when > > their restaurant is properly open (it's only > take > > away for now). Seemed to have a good selection > of > > wines as one would expect from such a > restaurant.