Listening Trump and Arming Teachers. Scotch Producers See Brexit Clearly. Boxing for a Move.

A Listening Trump at a listening session at the White House today. The President  and Vice Presideent took time to listen to the survivors of school shootings, recent and from the past. Parents and fellow students who spoke with anger, or deep grief, or with a determination to not sleep until some action is taken.

As an outsider looking in, the free reign of the gun culture seems as incomprehensible to me as to the 18 year old Florida student who had lost his friend. But is there this time a glimmer of hope? Will President Trump actually be able to set actions in motion that defeated his predecessor, Barak Obama?

The proposed solutions, of more stringent mental checks and arming and training teachers to use guns in schools so that they can kill shooters who attack, seems a perverse logic. Especially when you look at the dramatic positive effect of Australian assault weapon ban after a horrific massacre in 1996, which caused such attacks to cease. However, even the defenders of the gun lobby, some gun shop and gun owners themselves are beginning to question whether automatic rifles really have a place in society.

Perhaps this time, there will be more action after a school shooting.

Scotch whisky accounts for 20% of the UK's food and drink exports with more than 30% going to the EU! So it is interesting to see that the producers have a remarkably clear eye of where they stand on Brexit. They are broadly against it and for staying in the EU. However, if Brexit does happen, they want a clean break and implementation of WTO rules on trade. This is because:

1. There are no tarifs on the import of scotch into the EU under WTO rules.
2. If and when we enter the transition period and follow this with a customs union, the UK will no longer have any say in regulations that affect the scotch industry!

With this crystal insight, it is particularly interesting to see HM Government's 'Draft Text For Discussion: Implementation Period' published today. It seems that there is significant agreement between the EU and the UK, though Northern Ireland, the rights of EU citizens during the transition period, and UK fisheries are still sticking points. Oh, and the UK will have little say in the EU during this time and will not be able to complete any trade deals during this time

I fully agree with the BBC's Norman Smith assessment that this document, that this makes Tory brexiteers uncomfortable. In fact, I'm surprised that so far the strongest action from hardline brexiteers has been a stiff letter from 62 MPs. 

Just as we find the US attitude on gun control seems incomprehensible to an outsider looking in, so is Brexit, where we are leaving the EU, to negotiate a trade deal with as good a relationship with the EU as at present BUT without any say in the EU's regulations and tarifs?

The UK cabinet will be meeting tomorrow to finally try and work out a consensus on Brexit. 

Family dominated the afternoon as we headed over to St Neots to help daughter and son-in-law pack up for their imminent move to a new home and job. To be honest, Jane worked helped harder than me as I was finalising the structure of my Friday talk and the accompanying slides for half the time.