Fading dreams of staying in Europe and the wrong sort of US climate change

I had to cancel an appointment today.  I was still affected by sneezing and light sensitivity to a minor degree. Till I went out into the garden briefly and was overcome again within a couple of minutes. Dastardly grass or weed pollens were still dominant, waiting to attack at any opportunity. Interspersed work with making a fruit and nut chocolate bar just before lunch. 100 g chocolate liquor, 100 g chocolate butter, 20 g maple syrup were melted and tempered. then added chopped dried cranberries, raisins and broken pecan nuts and cast into foil lined 20 cm square tin. Placed into fridge for 15 minutes to set then took out and stored in cupboard. Worked some more in-between baking bread.

MP Chuka Umunna had sought an amendment to the Queens Speech, suggesting the UK remain within the single market, against Labour policy. When this was put to the vote 50 labour MPs rebelled, including pro EU Daneil Zeichner, Cambridge's MP, who had stepped down from his post as Shadow Transport Secretary beforehand. The change was voted against by 322 to 101. Three front bench Labour MPs were also sacked for defying Labour policy. What does this mean?

Well, the single market, to which Norway and Liechtenstein belong. eliminates tariffs, quotas or taxes on trade, it also includes the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. The latter conflicts with both Labour and the Conservative aim to restrict immigration.

The next fall back position is therefore the customs union, on a par with Turkey who is also in the customs union. Here, countries agree to apply the same tariffs to goods from outside the union and allow shipping of goods that have been cleared in one country to be shipped to others in the union without extra tariffs. However, we could then still not negotiate with other countries on trade as the EU still does that. We'd still be governed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and would have to make payments to the EU. The advantage, there would not have to be a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This does not currently look like a realistic option within the current parliament.

Which leaves us with negotiating a Free Trade agreement, where there are no tariffs, taxes or quotas on goods and/or services from one country entering another. Negotiations for a free trade agreement take years to complete - we would need an interim transition period. This is a hard Brexit and the EU would want to ensure that there is a greater cost penalty to the UK than staying in the EU.

The Guardian has a gloomy article on the Brexodus of EU nationals from the UK beginning. It is still a trickle, but a definite trend, as people feel insecure and, quite frankly, unwanted in the UK.

President Trump demeans the presidency with a highly distasteful set of tweets this morning about "I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came......to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!" Even some Republican Senators (Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ben Sasse of Nebraska) tweeted remonstrations in reponse to the attack.

The environment also took a back seat to the Unleashing American Energy event where, according to the White House, "President Donald J. Trump has taken action in his first five months to remove unnecessary and burdensome roadblocks that would have prevented the United States from achieving energy dominance." Comments were made on the reserves of natural gas  and coal, capable of lasting 100 and 250 years respectively. That's a lot more carbon being irrevocably being pumped into the atmosphere if the policy is actually maintained.