Re: Getting Brexit done
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:00 pm
Yes.El Pollo Diablo wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:38 pmIs the house a part of the process for agreeing trade deals?
Yes.El Pollo Diablo wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:38 pmIs the house a part of the process for agreeing trade deals?
Does this 'lawyer' know that the man he was talking to has been tweeting the entire thing, including the conversation in which the lawyer appears to imply (to a total stranger) that he won't be giving his 'clients' accurate advice about their prospects of getting what they want? Have I misunderstood that bit?sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:21 pmOh, there are lots of great points about Brexit in the thread, and I have been trying to contribute background information to those who have asked (in good faith, but also to Julia Hartley-Brewer) what the problems are.Woodchopper wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:39 pmIts common in parts of teh interwebs to change parts of a story in order to protect people's privacy. So the idiot son could be an idiot sister etc.sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 1:30 pmI really want to know if that Twitter thread is real. I'm currently leaning towards it being fake, perhaps based on a couple of crumbs of truth. The author tweeted earlier that it was indeed real (having had some pushback in the comments), but I am skeptical. He seems to be a professional writer and the amusing anecdotes are coming rather thick and fast (oo-er missus). The thread has 50,000 likes and has presumably been seen by people who live nearby and would know exactly who these individuals are. The "idiot son", in particular, might object to that description.
I don't really care whether its true or not. There are lots of voters who don't pay much attention and believe people like the current Prime Minister who explicitly told them that after Brexit "British people will still be able to go and work in the EU; to live; to travel; to study; to buy homes and to settle down."
But the author has insisted twice now that every detail is true, even though it's just amazing how every character is so colourful: The lawyer (new today) who is paranoid about Skype, the mayor who comes round chummily for an apéro and laughs about how all his staff are going to be taking the piss out of the idiot son, the idiot son's boss WhatsApping with titbits about the idiot son falling off a bridge in Hemel Hempstead... the guy is good, the story is full of laughs, it reminds me of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin in places, but the whole thing is clearly at least 95% fictional. I'd guess the only thing that happened is the neighbours discovered they will need a long-term Schengen visa and private health cover to retire there, and everything else took off in the guy's imagination. Apart from anything else, if he really is who he says he is, someone will have worked out what town it is by now, and the mayor would not take kindly to it being reported that he behaved in such an unprofessional way.
Anyway, he doesn't seem to take kindly to even the gentlest suggestions that it might not all be true, as he has blocked me for saying so.
Ah, great.dyqik wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:00 pmYes.El Pollo Diablo wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:38 pmIs the house a part of the process for agreeing trade deals?
I wonder if he also blocked the person who says his profile pic is a stock photo and everything about him appears to be made up.discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:06 pmDoes this 'lawyer' know that the man he was talking to has been tweeting the entire thing, including the conversation in which the lawyer appears to imply (to a total stranger) that he won't be giving his 'clients' accurate advice about their prospects of getting what they want? Have I misunderstood that bit?sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:21 pm... Anyway, he doesn't seem to take kindly to even the gentlest suggestions that it might not all be true, as he has blocked me for saying so.
Well, quite. The thread assumes that none of the "characters" are aware of the thread or their participation in it, which is starting to get implausible. It's now a bit like EastEnders, where nobody ever watches EastEnders (and where the whole of the spring of 2020 was free of any concerns about the coronavirus). The whole thing jumped the shark when the lawyer was introduced as being paranoid about Skype, which got hastily rolled back, presumably after poor reactions from early screening audiences. (That said, it would be quite funny if it were true, and the "idiot son" turned up tomorrow having found out what the author is saying about him and his family on Twitter.)discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:06 pmDoes this 'lawyer' know that the man he was talking to has been tweeting the entire thing, including the conversation in which the lawyer appears to imply (to a total stranger) that he won't be giving his 'clients' accurate advice about their prospects of getting what they want? Have I misunderstood that bit?sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:21 pmBut the author has insisted twice now that every detail is true, even though it's just amazing how every character is so colourful: The lawyer (new today) who is paranoid about Skype, the mayor who comes round chummily for an apéro and laughs about how all his staff are going to be taking the piss out of the idiot son, the idiot son's boss WhatsApping with titbits about the idiot son falling off a bridge in Hemel Hempstead... the guy is good, the story is full of laughs, it reminds me of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin in places, but the whole thing is clearly at least 95% fictional. I'd guess the only thing that happened is the neighbours discovered they will need a long-term Schengen visa and private health cover to retire there, and everything else took off in the guy's imagination. Apart from anything else, if he really is who he says he is, someone will have worked out what town it is by now, and the mayor would not take kindly to it being reported that he behaved in such an unprofessional way.
Anyway, he doesn't seem to take kindly to even the gentlest suggestions that it might not all be true, as he has blocked me for saying so.
It was me in that discussion with the 'retired American lawyer', in case you hadn't realised (although given I brought up the same thing in two places...). He was a bit of a prick.sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:25 pmWell, quite. The thread assumes that none of the "characters" are aware of the thread or their participation in it, which is starting to get implausible. It's now a bit like EastEnders, where nobody ever watches EastEnders (and where the whole of the spring of 2020 was free of any concerns about the coronavirus). The whole thing jumped the shark when the lawyer was introduced as being paranoid about Skype, which got hastily rolled back, presumably after poor reactions from early screening audiences. (That said, it would be quite funny if it were true, and the "idiot son" turned up tomorrow having found out what the author is saying about him and his family on Twitter.)discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:06 pmDoes this 'lawyer' know that the man he was talking to has been tweeting the entire thing, including the conversation in which the lawyer appears to imply (to a total stranger) that he won't be giving his 'clients' accurate advice about their prospects of getting what they want? Have I misunderstood that bit?sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:21 pmBut the author has insisted twice now that every detail is true, even though it's just amazing how every character is so colourful: The lawyer (new today) who is paranoid about Skype, the mayor who comes round chummily for an apéro and laughs about how all his staff are going to be taking the piss out of the idiot son, the idiot son's boss WhatsApping with titbits about the idiot son falling off a bridge in Hemel Hempstead... the guy is good, the story is full of laughs, it reminds me of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin in places, but the whole thing is clearly at least 95% fictional. I'd guess the only thing that happened is the neighbours discovered they will need a long-term Schengen visa and private health cover to retire there, and everything else took off in the guy's imagination. Apart from anything else, if he really is who he says he is, someone will have worked out what town it is by now, and the mayor would not take kindly to it being reported that he behaved in such an unprofessional way.
Anyway, he doesn't seem to take kindly to even the gentlest suggestions that it might not all be true, as he has blocked me for saying so.
Another thing that is annoying me about that thread is that people are reacting with "Well, maybe it isn't true, but that doesn't matter because this is exactly what Brexiteers are like". Which to me is indistinguishable for blaming an explosion on Muslim terrorists and then when we find out it was a gas leak, saying "Well if could of [sic] been Muslims, so that justifies me blaming them for it".
I don't think that the story is 100% verbatim truth. But i don't agree with that. Over half the UK population has never been on Twitter, and the story thread only has 131k likes. Seems a lot but its a tiny proportion of the UK population. Far less than a prime time UK soap.sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:25 pmWell, quite. The thread assumes that none of the "characters" are aware of the thread or their participation in it, which is starting to get implausible. It's now a bit like EastEnders, where nobody ever watches EastEnders (and where the whole of the spring of 2020 was free of any concerns about the coronavirus).discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:06 pmDoes this 'lawyer' know that the man he was talking to has been tweeting the entire thing, including the conversation in which the lawyer appears to imply (to a total stranger) that he won't be giving his 'clients' accurate advice about their prospects of getting what they want? Have I misunderstood that bit?sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:21 pmBut the author has insisted twice now that every detail is true, even though it's just amazing how every character is so colourful: The lawyer (new today) who is paranoid about Skype, the mayor who comes round chummily for an apéro and laughs about how all his staff are going to be taking the piss out of the idiot son, the idiot son's boss WhatsApping with titbits about the idiot son falling off a bridge in Hemel Hempstead... the guy is good, the story is full of laughs, it reminds me of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin in places, but the whole thing is clearly at least 95% fictional. I'd guess the only thing that happened is the neighbours discovered they will need a long-term Schengen visa and private health cover to retire there, and everything else took off in the guy's imagination. Apart from anything else, if he really is who he says he is, someone will have worked out what town it is by now, and the mayor would not take kindly to it being reported that he behaved in such an unprofessional way.
Anyway, he doesn't seem to take kindly to even the gentlest suggestions that it might not all be true, as he has blocked me for saying so.
I agree, it does seem to be embellished at least. But whoever is behind it is a good writer, and the RS Archer account doesn't look like a classic fake. Its been active for months and the tweets and retweets are pretty consistent. So it doesn't look like something created in a Moscow office block. Also, whoever is behind the account couldn't have predicted the interest in the story.sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:25 pmThe whole thing jumped the shark when the lawyer was introduced as being paranoid about Skype, which got hastily rolled back, presumably after poor reactions from early screening audiences. (That said, it would be quite funny if it were true, and the "idiot son" turned up tomorrow having found out what the author is saying about him and his family on Twitter.)
I didn't realise. Yes, he was.discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:40 pmIt was me in that discussion with the 'retired American lawyer', in case you hadn't realised (although given I brought up the same thing in two places...). He was a bit of a prick.
A related thread has taken an amusing turn, where a staunch anti-Brexiteer has decided that I must be a fake account because I posted actual facts and figures about the issues caused by Brexit, rather than just repeating "Boris is a c.nt and everything is awful". I recently left an anti-Brexit Facebook group because it had become the mirror image of a Gammon-fest ("DOMINIC CUMMINGS LITERALLY WANTS TO KILL EVERY PENSIONER, NO, REALLY, LITERALLY, KILL THEM ALL", 300 likes).discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:40 pmIt's an 'entertaining' thread and if it had just kind of stopped early on it would probably have been OK but it is getting a bit out of hand...but on the other hand, people's prejudices are all fully confirmed so I'm not sure what more damage it could do in that respect.
Every country has different wealth and income requirements for third-country nationals. If you own property in Spain for more than €500,000 (unmortgaged) they will fast-track you to permanent residency. (This isn't quite as corrupt as Malta's "golden passport", because becoming Spanish requires renouncing your original nationality, ouch). Otherwise the figure I've seen quoted is €32,000 pa pre-tax, plus you need your own medical coverage; that figure might be reduced a bit if you have a decent amount of home equity below €500,000. For France I don't know. For Switzerland it's at least 50,000 CHF, but I wouldn't want to try and live on less than that in Switzerland anyway. (Fun fact: about 4 years ago the Swiss had a referendum on a national minimum wage of 4,000 CHF per month. Lidl campaigned in favour, on the basis that they already paid their staff at least 4,000 CHF a month. That's about £40,000 annual salary at the current exchange rate. But prices of everything in Switzerland are very high.)Woodchopper wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:36 pmOne thing that seems to be missing from the debate about the home owners’ wealth and income is that lots of working class people were able to buy their council house under the right to buy legislation.
If, say, a couple aged 35 had bought a London council flat in 1990, they’d now be approaching retirement and own an asset worth a lot of money even if their income or pension isn’t very high. It’s not hard to imagine people like that selling up and using the money to buy a home somewhere sunny.
From the link above it looks like the threshold for a couple in France is EUR 2 048 net income per month, and out of that they'd need to buy health insurance (which for pensioners isn't cheap).sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:49 pmEvery country has different wealth and income requirements for third-country nationals. If you own property in Spain for more than €500,000 (unmortgaged) they will fast-track you to permanent residency. (This isn't quite as corrupt as Malta's "golden passport", because becoming Spanish requires renouncing your original nationality, ouch). Otherwise the figure I've seen quoted is €32,000 pa pre-tax, plus you need your own medical coverage; that figure might be reduced a bit if you have a decent amount of home equity below €500,000. For France I don't know. For Switzerland it's at least 50,000 CHF, but I wouldn't want to try and live on less than that in Switzerland anyway. (Fun fact: about 4 years ago the Swiss had a referendum on a national minimum wage of 4,000 CHF per month. Lidl campaigned in favour, on the basis that they already paid their staff at least 4,000 CHF a month. That's about £40,000 annual salary at the current exchange rate. But prices of everything in Switzerland are very high.)Woodchopper wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:36 pmOne thing that seems to be missing from the debate about the home owners’ wealth and income is that lots of working class people were able to buy their council house under the right to buy legislation.
If, say, a couple aged 35 had bought a London council flat in 1990, they’d now be approaching retirement and own an asset worth a lot of money even if their income or pension isn’t very high. It’s not hard to imagine people like that selling up and using the money to buy a home somewhere sunny.
Thanks - which link? There are lots...Woodchopper wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:03 pmFrom the link above it looks like the threshold for a couple in France is EUR 2 048 net income per month, and out of that they'd need to buy health insurance (which for pensioners isn't cheap).sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:49 pmEvery country has different wealth and income requirements for third-country nationals. If you own property in Spain for more than €500,000 (unmortgaged) they will fast-track you to permanent residency. (This isn't quite as corrupt as Malta's "golden passport", because becoming Spanish requires renouncing your original nationality, ouch). Otherwise the figure I've seen quoted is €32,000 pa pre-tax, plus you need your own medical coverage; that figure might be reduced a bit if you have a decent amount of home equity below €500,000. For France I don't know. For Switzerland it's at least 50,000 CHF, but I wouldn't want to try and live on less than that in Switzerland anyway. (Fun fact: about 4 years ago the Swiss had a referendum on a national minimum wage of 4,000 CHF per month. Lidl campaigned in favour, on the basis that they already paid their staff at least 4,000 CHF a month. That's about £40,000 annual salary at the current exchange rate. But prices of everything in Switzerland are very high.)
Here’s the post: viewtopic.php?t=499&start=650sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:25 pmThanks - which link? There are lots...Woodchopper wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:03 pmFrom the link above it looks like the threshold for a couple in France is EUR 2 048 net income per month, and out of that they'd need to buy health insurance (which for pensioners isn't cheap).sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:49 pmEvery country has different wealth and income requirements for third-country nationals. If you own property in Spain for more than €500,000 (unmortgaged) they will fast-track you to permanent residency. (This isn't quite as corrupt as Malta's "golden passport", because becoming Spanish requires renouncing your original nationality, ouch). Otherwise the figure I've seen quoted is €32,000 pa pre-tax, plus you need your own medical coverage; that figure might be reduced a bit if you have a decent amount of home equity below €500,000. For France I don't know. For Switzerland it's at least 50,000 CHF, but I wouldn't want to try and live on less than that in Switzerland anyway. (Fun fact: about 4 years ago the Swiss had a referendum on a national minimum wage of 4,000 CHF per month. Lidl campaigned in favour, on the basis that they already paid their staff at least 4,000 CHF a month. That's about £40,000 annual salary at the current exchange rate. But prices of everything in Switzerland are very high.)
2048 Euros net (not sure "net" of what, but income tax in France at that level is not huge) isn't perhaps an unsurmountable obstacle for a couple with reasonable pensions, but as you say, if they have to pay for private medical insurance, maybe with a pre-existing condition, the issue isn't going to be having that amount coming in, it's going to have enough left to live on.
There's a lot of hardcore FBPE twitter who behave that waysTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:13 pmI didn't realise. Yes, he was.discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:40 pmIt was me in that discussion with the 'retired American lawyer', in case you hadn't realised (although given I brought up the same thing in two places...). He was a bit of a prick.
A related thread has taken an amusing turn, where a staunch anti-Brexiteer has decided that I must be a fake account because I posted actual facts and figures about the issues caused by Brexit, rather than just repeating "Boris is a c.nt and everything is awful". I recently left an anti-Brexit Facebook group because it had become the mirror image of a Gammon-fest ("DOMINIC CUMMINGS LITERALLY WANTS TO KILL EVERY PENSIONER, NO, REALLY, LITERALLY, KILL THEM ALL", 300 likes).discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:40 pmIt's an 'entertaining' thread and if it had just kind of stopped early on it would probably have been OK but it is getting a bit out of hand...but on the other hand, people's prejudices are all fully confirmed so I'm not sure what more damage it could do in that respect.
Slight derail just for the hell of it: the maximum standard state pension in Switzerland (the premier pilier) is something like CHF 2300 for a single person and CHF 3400 for a couple. This is decent by European standards but pretty much impossible to live on unless you own property and have resources. This is why everybody who can has a private pension plan (deuxième pilier) and if possible a further investment fund (troisième pilier). Conventional wisdom here is that to retire comfortably you would want CHF 2 million in a fund that pays out 5% a year without touching the capital. Or you retire to a pays low cost where your CHF goes a lot further.sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:49 pmEvery country has different wealth and income requirements for third-country nationals. If you own property in Spain for more than €500,000 (unmortgaged) they will fast-track you to permanent residency. (This isn't quite as corrupt as Malta's "golden passport", because becoming Spanish requires renouncing your original nationality, ouch). Otherwise the figure I've seen quoted is €32,000 pa pre-tax, plus you need your own medical coverage; that figure might be reduced a bit if you have a decent amount of home equity below €500,000. For France I don't know. For Switzerland it's at least 50,000 CHF, but I wouldn't want to try and live on less than that in Switzerland anyway. (Fun fact: about 4 years ago the Swiss had a referendum on a national minimum wage of 4,000 CHF per month. Lidl campaigned in favour, on the basis that they already paid their staff at least 4,000 CHF a month. That's about £40,000 annual salary at the current exchange rate. But prices of everything in Switzerland are very high.)Woodchopper wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:36 pmOne thing that seems to be missing from the debate about the home owners’ wealth and income is that lots of working class people were able to buy their council house under the right to buy legislation.
If, say, a couple aged 35 had bought a London council flat in 1990, they’d now be approaching retirement and own an asset worth a lot of money even if their income or pension isn’t very high. It’s not hard to imagine people like that selling up and using the money to buy a home somewhere sunny.
Yeah, my wife and I worked in Switzerland for a short time (6 years me, 3 years for my wife) and our Swiss State pension (pillar 1) is currently forecast to be 30% of our full UK state pensions and it pays out earlier. The way the current government is performing I expect by the time it pays out the exchange rate will mean the fraction of a Swiss pension will be worth more than the full UK pension.
The account has now been deleted.Brightonian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:11 pmGreat Twitter thread (assuming it's true) about British family who've only just now understood what Brexit means: https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/12 ... 86240?s=19
This thread looks a little more believable - https://twitter.com/abigailb/status/1278654608429244417Gfamily wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:24 pmThe account has now been deleted.Brightonian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:11 pmGreat Twitter thread (assuming it's true) about British family who've only just now understood what Brexit means: https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/12 ... 86240?s=19
The whole thing has become a meme now... https://twitter.com/Life_Disrupted/stat ... 6455321600dyqik wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:37 pmThis thread looks a little more believable - https://twitter.com/abigailb/status/1278654608429244417Gfamily wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:24 pmThe account has now been deleted.Brightonian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:11 pmGreat Twitter thread (assuming it's true) about British family who've only just now understood what Brexit means: https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/12 ... 86240?s=19
I just came here to post that.sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:38 pmThe whole thing has become a meme now... https://twitter.com/Life_Disrupted/stat ... 6455321600dyqik wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:37 pmThis thread looks a little more believable - https://twitter.com/abigailb/status/1278654608429244417
I know Abi really well.dyqik wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:37 pmThis thread looks a little more believable - https://twitter.com/abigailb/status/1278654608429244417Gfamily wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:24 pmThe account has now been deleted.Brightonian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:11 pmGreat Twitter thread (assuming it's true) about British family who've only just now understood what Brexit means: https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/12 ... 86240?s=19
Actually, you are one of the people I might believe could have a moon rocket in a garden shed. If she mentioned medieval armour, I'd have been certain.
How different are medieval armor and a spacesuit anyway?jimbob wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:39 pmActually, you are one of the people I might believe could have a moon rocket in a garden shed. If she mentioned medieval armour, I'd have been certain.bjn wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:34 pmI know Abi really well.dyqik wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:37 pm
This thread looks a little more believable - https://twitter.com/abigailb/status/1278654608429244417
small world.