RotherhitheGill
Vital 1st Team Regular
Always took out (what I considered) adequate travel insurance in addition to my EHI, luckily never had to use it.
EU strategy to destroy the Chequers ‘agreement’...
- Thread starter Trashbat
- Start date
jokerman
Vital Football Hero
Canada / USA have some border peculiarities.
Point Roberts (south of Vancouver) being US territory ...because some map-maker didn't draw a peninsular.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_irregularities_of_the_United_States
There's an East/West road in Vermont with US houses on one side and Canadian on the other - and no divider.
Belgium / Netherlands is even more complicated.
Villages where outside some restaurants individual tables are in the other country.
(Not sure what they did about different Covid restrictions.)
I believe Baarle-Hertog may be the most bizarre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Hertog
Somehow, people manage to get on with their lives without the need to invent problems
I've actually been to Point Roberts! That's what you get when you go for straight line borders. There's a place up by Lake Champlain where the American military engineers built a huge fort and then realized that they built it on the Canadian/BNA side. Everyone agreed to "lift" the border to just north of the fort. Life, or sensible people at least, find a way.
jokerman
Vital Football Hero
Surely those are tomatoes assembled in Britain from components grown in a variety of non-EU countries?
ARFUR CONNELL
Vital Reserves Team
Mark, in earlier days Germany used to issue a temporary visa for Turks to go and work in their car industry. They could earn better money in Germany, but had to return home after a period. Nothing wrong in that, but I wonder if minimum wages would have a detrimental effect for workers coming to the U.K.?
jokerman
Vital Football Hero
Plus the Norwegian political elite wants to be in the EU. It's the pesky denizens of the fjords who keep saying "nei tusen takk" when asked.
GillsBluenose
Vital Football Hero
Visas and work permits - that is exactly the system we need to return to. Does not take long to process applications but we can then control the level of foreign workers and the amount of time they are allowed to work here, creating a fairer level playing field with non EU workers.
If UK unemployment heightens to problem levels, or the level of EU immigration starts putting undue strain on our resources, we can then turn on and turn off the tap accordingly. Control regained.
markinkent
Vital Football Hero
I agree nothing wrong with that.
I believe the brains behind the BioNTech company was the son of of one such car worker. He has since built a 21Bn company with his wife (daughter of an Immigrant).
I wonder how many people they employ and how much tax they pay into German Society.
I read once that foreigners can study for almost free in Germany. The view being that some will settle in Germany and create businesses that employ Germans and pay into the tax system. They call it an investment.
jogills
Vital Football Hero
The EHIC & E111 never guaranteed free access at the point of treatment. You pay and then obtain a form to claim the money back. It was tedious but it worked. Treatment in Bulgaria say before the fall of communism was free at the point of use. I wouldn't trust anything, including insurance, if things go wrong. Post covid probably a better idea to think about what might happen and how you might deal with it if it did. That applies to the rest of the world as well as the EU.
ThreeSixes
Vital Football Hero
That was Wayne Kerr's old argument - the money we give to Romania and Bulgaria would eventually find its way back to the UK coffers. Sadly we'll never get this "investment" back now
GillsBluenose
Vital Football Hero
Sounds a bit negative about their own nation. Why should they not have confidence in the own citizens to become innovators and entrepreneurs rather than just underlings to outsiders they have educated?
I know it is a bit of a generalisation, but Germans do not seem to be a race lacking in confidence and practicality so I do find that surprising.
markinkent
Vital Football Hero
You've got the wrong end of the stick. Their own citizens get the same deal.
The more who study and are highly educated the more successful their economy is likely to be. Having highly skilled people is an investment in their future economy.
Whereas we make it really expensive to study which may put those from less well backgrounds off.
My own view is that qualifications we need eg STEM should be as close to free as possible and those that we don't need e g. Football studies people can pay for if they wish.
We need to invest in this countries future.
LancsGordoRoad
Vital Champions League
Aha, the very essence of a Free Port, cleverly coalesced by way of metaphorical illustration.
#### me, where did you get that from?
I assume it is a piss take of Brexit made up by a 'Remainer'. Please tell me it's a joke and not something people actually take notice of.
mehmets_curlies
Vital Squad Member
I have seen that written a lot about "overseas aid", over the last few years, in that we get rewards back through all sorts of business deals as the "aid" is used as a sweetener. I guess, like most things political, whether you believe it or not depends on your political persuassion.
shotshy
Vital Champions League
I particularly liked the proposed Bill put forward by Andrew Mitchell yesterday.
For every doctor and nurse that we poach from developing countries, we will pay for the training of two more, from the foreign aid budget.
Now, that’s real and tangible aid.
Second reading is 8th January and has cross party support.
For every doctor and nurse that we poach from developing countries, we will pay for the training of two more, from the foreign aid budget.
Now, that’s real and tangible aid.
Second reading is 8th January and has cross party support.
Gilles Lingam
Vital Squad Member
666 !
Please define "FREELY".
How do you characterise ticket, passport and security checks whether at a UK or European Airport or the French checks currently at Folkestone Eurotunnel (and UK checks in Calais coming home) ?
Prediction:
You'll be able to visit such curiosities in Belgium, Germany or wherever without noticing much difference.
Checks will be much the same.
Once in France , you will be able to carry on to Belgium or Germany without any further checks....
(....unless Covid related applying to everyone.)
Any reason to expect much difference ?
In the FullFact piece, did you notice the woolly phrase "linked to" and "relationship with the EU" ?
Look at the orange panel.
Norway pays towards programmes it chooses to join.
For example, Norway could be in Europol but not the European Space Agency.
Payments to poorer countries appear to be direct - i.e. not via the EU.
(I'm pretty sure I've seen this info on a Norwegian Govt. website.)
Perhaps its Norwegian Fudge !
They promise to channel some of their Foreign Aid budget to other parts of Europe and get goodwill in return.
Does an "international driving license" mean much these days ?
IIRC UK plastic Licenses were designed to an international standard (much like machine readable Passports now).
Also, an English language License is often OK.
