Brexit!! Yeah, it's a thing now..

Brexit has shafted the UK's space sector, lord warns science minister
We're off the team and everything is awful

Less than a month ago, the government shot a hurt look at its European neighbours when it finally realised that not being in the EU meant that, er, it wouldn't be a priority in EU plans for space.

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), went as far as to warn that the situation threatens the viability of his company.

During the committee's visit to Harwell, ESA representatives also confirmed that the agency had been instructed by the European Commission to restrict access by UK companies to EU projects with security implications.

It isn't all about Galileo, of course. ESA's Copernicus Earth observation programme is also being prodded with the Brexit stick. The witnesses observed that work would likely be shifted from the UK simply as a hedge against potential Brexit disruption.

The uncertainty is already having an impact and with UK companies potentially being hit by "Brexit clauses" in EU space programmes, government support may also be needed.

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The conclusions are, however, inescapable. Work that might have come the UK's way pre-Brexit and the skills required will go (and are going) elsewhere while uncertainty remains. The government needs to act quickly on agreements regarding space, customs and movement of people if it is to staunch the flow.
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Robert said:
Brexit has shafted the UK's space sector, lord warns science minister
We're off the team and everything is awful
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More on this from El Reg:

Reports that the government was surprised by EU plans to move Galileo work out of Britain emerged a week after the agreement was published.

Industry had also expressed grave concern about the future of the UK space sector before the agreement was published.

Airbus said yesterday that it planned to move all Galileo work to EU member states in order to preserve its role in the project, so it is clear that businesses have been taking steps to preserve shareholder value while the politicians argue.

Though the Select Committee concluded that, as a member of NATO, the UK was unlikely to be fully excluded from the Galileo project, it was always possible that Brit boffins could create an in-house navigation system.

The Financial Times (behind paywall) quoted a senior government official as saying: "We are scoping the possibility of launching our own system."

With Galileo costing more than €13bn (PDF), the UK government will need to rattle more than a few tins to fund such an undertaking, even if it can claw back some of its investment in the project.

Though it continues to have EU voting rights, the UK can also delay the Galileo programme by preventing the procurement of any more satellites.
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No guarantee his forecast would've been accurate anyway but interesting all the same:
Brexit vote has cost each UK household £900, says Mark Carney
Bank of England governor says real incomes are significantly lower than forecast
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British households are more than £900 worse off following the vote to leave the European Union, according to the governor of the Bank of England.

Comparing forecasts made by Threadneedle Street before the referendum, prepared on the basis of a remain vote, Mark Carney told MPs that household incomes were now significantly lower than expected.

“Real household incomes are about £900 per household lower than we forecast in May of 2016, which is a lot of money,” he said.
 
Robert said:
Not to worry, we didn't want to be in your gang anyway:
UK will build own satellite system if frozen out of EU's Galileo – chancellor
Philip Hammond says UK to ‘go it alone’ after Brexit if Brussels carries out access threat
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Update:
Bebb reiterated that the government was very disappointed that the UK would indeed be a third country in the glorious post-Brexit future. Evernden took on the role of handwringer-in-chief, explaining that the UK had expected to land about a quarter of the next round of juicy Galileo contracts, but following the Brexit referendum that figure had at least halved. Direct job losses would be measured in the hundreds.
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Vote Leave broke electoral law, Electoral Commission expected to say

The official Brexit campaign is expected to be found guilty of four charges of breaking electoral law, the BBC has been told.
The draft of an investigation into Vote Leave concludes it broke spending limits and failed to comply with some of the rules.
It also imposes fines as a result of its findings.

But the group's former chief executive claimed the Electoral Commission had not followed due process.
Matthew Elliott has submitted a 500-page dossier to the Electoral Commission rebutting the claims.
The commission said Vote Leave had taken the "unusual step" of going public having seen the draft report.

According to Vote Leave's dossier, the commission finds the campaign group:
  • made an inaccurate return of campaign expenditure
  • is missing invoices and receipts
  • failed to comply with a statutory notice
  • exceeded its spending limit
Crucially, the draft report is said to claim there was coordination between Vote Leave and a smaller campaign, BeLeave, which received a donation of more than £600,000 in the closing weeks of the referendum, after advice from the Vote Leave director Dominic Cummings.
 
Robert said:
I have to confess, TPP was not something I anticipated. This farcical farce gets more farcically farcical by the day:
What’s Liam Fox been up to? Clearing the way for chlorinated chickens
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In related news...

Rightwing thinktanks unveil radical plan for US-UK Brexit trade deal
A radical blueprint for a free trade deal between the UK and the US that would see the NHS opened to foreign competition, a bonfire of consumer and environmental regulations
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The authors argue for a free trade agreement that would loosen government controls on capital and data flows (...). It would remove tariffs and throw out the precautionary principle that has guided much EU regulation on GM foods, chlorine-washed chicken, hormones in meat, pesticides and chemicals in cosmetics.
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Robert said:
What a glorious future we have in store......
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You know - maybe the Labour Party needs to get some left-wing think tanky thoughts into the media. There's no point in having a Brexit if you don't own the government, so a more working class party needs to tell folks what they would do with a Brexit. All deals going forward should push a pro-people agenda.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
You know - maybe the Labour Party needs to get some left-wing think tanky thoughts into the media. There's no point in having a Brexit if you don't own the government, so a more working class party needs to tell folks what they would do with a Brexit. All deals going forward should push a pro-people agenda.
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Aye, you'll be waiting a while yet.

The Labour party is making a proper Jeremy Hunt of not only Brexit but politics in general. Corbyn was initially a refreshingly honest and forthright leader he has gradually morphed into just another waffling wanker who refuses to answer questions.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
You know - maybe the Labour Party needs to get some left-wing think tanky thoughts into the media. There's no point in having a Brexit if you don't own the government, so a more working class party needs to tell folks what they would do with a Brexit. All deals going forward should push a pro-people agenda.
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It is worth remembering that the UK has a comparatively small population of 65 million people and is merely the United States' 7th most important trading partner just below South Korea.

Honestly, how much leverage do you believe a left-leaning UK government would have in negotiations with either a Democratic right-wing or a Republican right-wing government in the US?

I have always found it puzzling that there are people who actually believed the argument that the United Kingdom would be able to negotiate all these incredibly favorable trade deals as soon as it leaves the EU, which collectively represents 500+ million people and far bigger trading volumes with the US and other nations.
 
JoBBo said:
I have always found it puzzling that there are people who actually believed the argument that the United Kingdom would be able to negotiate all these incredibly favorable trade deals as soon as it leaves the EU, which collectively represents 500+ million people and far bigger trading volumes with the US and other nations.
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I think there is a big difference between representing people and having to power to deliver a certain number of consumers. I don't think you actually need trade deals with nations per se, you just need to have some rules about the sorts of standards you expect and then you let people trade. That makes it up to the other nation to make rules to prevent their companies from trading with you.There was trade before the EU.If there is an after EU and people still exist then there will be trade after.
 
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