Boris Johnson puts his foot in it and sparks US sock trade row The Prime Minister made some odd - and unprompted - claims about struggling British sock exporters
Boris Johnson has put his foot in it after he sparked a row over British sock exports to the US. The Prime Minister claimed British hosiers were getting a raw deal from the United States - and struggled to deal with import tariffs and restrictive safety regulations.
Mr Johnson pledged to raise the thorny issue of soft under-footwear when he meets President Donald Trump tomorrow in the sidelines of the UN General Assembly tomorrow. He launched into the sock-based rant during the flight to New York for the summit. Mr Johnson said: “If you try to sell British socks in North America, they currently attract a 19 percent tariff. And the Americans insist, before they allow British socks to be sold on the U.S. market, that they must try to set fire to them twice.”
But sock boffins hit back, saying Johnson’s claims of barriers to trading their garments in the US were untrue.
Rueven Fletcher, owner of the Sock Council, a UK retailer and membership organisation that ”celebrates good socks,” told Politico: “My opinion is that if it comes out of Boris Johnson ’s mouth it’s likely not to be true, you may quote me on that if it helps. And leading sock maker Corgi Socks said US regulations didn’t hamper their trade.
He told Politico: “Duty tariffs are a bit of a barrier, regulations are not. We have no problem with regulations selling in the USA.”
What a complete and utter mess this country is now in. So Boris resigns and a new leader elected,how will that solve anything? It's already cost two prime ministers and countless MP's their jobs without solving the problems.Also is it not rather hypocritical of the people giving interviews after the supreme court ruling,spouting and shouting about democracy when it suits them,while they're adamant that the referendum result should not be upheld?
You can only blame the leave voters, if they had voted remain, we wouldn't be in this mess.
So after 1.4k views,261 replies on this thread,32.2k views,5.7k replies,285 pages & one and half years on the Brexit thread,the conclusion is that it's the people who voted in a referendum who are to blame.That is an absolute classic response,it deserves to be voted post of the year but then again I know some people won't accept the result of that vote either.
What a complete and utter mess this country is now in. So Boris resigns and a new leader elected,how will that solve anything? It's already cost two prime ministers and countless MP's their jobs without solving the problems.Also is it not rather hypocritical of the people giving interviews after the supreme court ruling,spouting and shouting about democracy when it suits them,while they're adamant that the referendum result should not be upheld?
You can only blame the leave voters, if they had voted remain, we wouldn't be in this mess.
So after 1.4k views,261 replies on this thread,32.2k views,5.7k replies,285 pages & one and half years on the Brexit thread,the conclusion is that it's the people who voted in a referendum who are to blame.That is an absolute classic response,it deserves to be voted post of the year but then again I know some people won't accept the result of that vote either.
My tongue was very much in my cheek, when I wrote that.
I was betting with myself that your response would have been much quicker.
This shows just how pathetic the majority of voters (in this case Tory voters, but it could be anyone) are.
Scotland leaving-massive permanent effect. Significant damage to economy-Conservatives will lose their role as the Party of Big Business NI leaving-this is supposed to be the conservative and Unionist party Conservative party being destroyed-really? Are these people mad?
Jeremy Corbyn being PM. This is the one they fear. A temporary (5 year max, though i doubt his health would cope even that long).
What is the worst he could do in 1 term of office? Ruin the UK? Ruin the economy? Stop the Conservatives being in power? No-all these things seem a price worth paying according to this survey.
Any Party member who believes it is better to permanently ruin their party than lose 1 election is a cretin. Sometimes I despair, I really do.
No sign of it getting better.
What next?
More votes on the Withdrawal Agreement?
Our fourth PM since the referendum?
The third of which wouldn't have been properly elected?
I did at first assume it was a joke and was actually laughing about it but it then crossed my mind that you might be serious,so I thought I'd better respond even if my predictable response was half expected,but in these times you've got to expect the unexpected from anyone.
What a complete and utter mess this country is now in. So Boris resigns and a new leader elected,how will that solve anything? It's already cost two prime ministers and countless MP's their jobs without solving the problems.Also is it not rather hypocritical of the people giving interviews after the supreme court ruling,spouting and shouting about democracy when it suits them,while they're adamant that the referendum result should not be upheld?
You can only blame the leave voters, if they had voted remain, we wouldn't be in this mess.
So after 1.4k views,261 replies on this thread,32.2k views,5.7k replies,285 pages & one and half years on the Brexit thread,the conclusion is that it's the people who voted in a referendum who are to blame.That is an absolute classic response,it deserves to be voted post of the year but then again I know some people won't accept the result of that vote either.
On a serious note.
I think it is more about the choices that people aren't prepared to make.
Too many want the penny and the bun.
Most remain voters would be prepared to accept a Norway deal with a customs union.
This would be just about the closest we could remain to the EU, without being members.
Therefore the deal that would cause the least damage to our economy.
It would solve the Irish border issue.
So far so good, frictionless, tariff free trade, no Irish border, or backstop needed.
This relationship would be so close as to prompt Dominic Raab, a fanatical Brexiteer into claiming that he would prefer to remain rather than do this deal. As he, despite being a fanatical Brexiteer, sees it as pointless leaving, if we were to do a deal where we remained so close.
Get into it a bit deeper and you realise that you would have to accept freedom of movement. That's where you part company with all the racist Brexiteers.
A little deeper and you realise this option would not allow you to pursue an independent trade policy. This is where you part company with Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG, and the like.
If you had realised that leaving would involve an Irish border, and consulted the DUP as to whether they would prefer one on the island of Ireland, or in the Irish Sea, the only two real options available, "neither" would have been their reply. A position that they haven't moved from in 3 years.
The backstop was designed to be a temporary measure, until the trade deal came into play.
In my view there is only any point in having a temporary measure if the long term agreement didn't need the temporary measure.
So if you intended to do a Norway plus a customs union deal. Then the backstop would come into play until the deal took effect.
That would be sensible as when the new deal took effect, the temporary measure is no longer needed.
Yet Boris wants a Canada type deal.
A Canada style deal needs an Irish border.
This would mean that we had implemented the backstop, a temporary measure, and when the new deal was put in place, we would still need the temporary measure.
Therefore stuck in the backstop forever.
Not a good plan.
Having all the benefits of membership after leaving was never going to be possible.
Neither was maintaining most of the benefits with no obligations.
Not that many people are aware of the choices we have to make.
Many are losing patience, and just want us to leave, without considering the repercussions.
I did at first assume it was a joke and was actually laughing about it but it then crossed my mind that you might be serious,so I thought I'd better respond even if my predictable response was half expected,but in these times you've got to expect the unexpected from anyone.
I did at first assume it was a joke and was actually laughing about it but it then crossed my mind that you might be serious,so I thought I'd better respond even if my predictable response was half expected,but in these times you've got to expect the unexpected from anyone.
I did at first assume it was a joke and was actually laughing about it but it then crossed my mind that you might be serious,so I thought I'd better respond even if my predictable response was half expected,but in these times you've got to expect the unexpected from anyone.
I did at first assume it was a joke and was actually laughing about it but it then crossed my mind that you might be serious,so I thought I'd better respond even if my predictable response was half expected,but in these times you've got to expect the unexpected from anyone.
This shows just how pathetic the majority of voters (in this case Tory voters, but it could be anyone) are.
Scotland leaving-massive permanent effect. Significant damage to economy-Conservatives will lose their role as the Party of Big Business NI leaving-this is supposed to be the conservative and Unionist party Conservative party being destroyed-really? Are these people mad?
Jeremy Corbyn being PM. This is the one they fear. A temporary (5 year max, though i doubt his health would cope even that long).
What is the worst he could do in 1 term of office? Ruin the UK? Ruin the economy? Stop the Conservatives being in power? No-all these things seem a price worth paying according to this survey.
Any Party member who believes it is better to permanently ruin their party than lose 1 election is a cretin. Sometimes I despair, I really do.
Labour Democracy on Display?
The Daily Telegraph and the Guardian both agree the Labour conference vote to decide the party's Brexit policy was "chaotic". Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn successfully saw off an attempt to force Labour to back Remain should there be another referendum. The Telegraph hears accusations from within the party that what happened was "a total stitch up", with the conference chairwoman, Wendy Nichols, appearing to change her mind about the show of hands after having a conversation with one of Mr Corbyn's closest allies, Jennie Formby. The Times hears a claim that the conference hall had been packed with supporters of the pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group Momentum, who helped reject the Remain motion, even though they didn't have the right to vote.
Divisions within the Labour Party - laid bare at the conference in Brighton - also make front page news in many of the papers. The Daily Telegraph says Jeremy Corbyn is facing a "full scale revolt" by those who believe the party should campaign at a general election for Britain to remain in the European Union. The "i" says "civil war" has broken out in the party, while the Guardian says Mr Corbyn is risking the fury of Labour members and that rebellious MPs are privately threatening to stage a leadership challenge.
"Independent schools will be abolished by Labour" is the front page headline in the Times, which reports Sunday's vote by delegates at the party's conference. The paper sees the proposal to redistribute private schools' investments and facilities as "a chilling threat to expropriate private property".
It says one of Jeremy Corbyn's closest aides, Andrew Fisher - the author of the party's last manifesto - has resigned, claiming Mr Corbyn will not win the next general election. In a memo seen by the paper, Mr Fisher reportedly criticises the leader's team for a "lack of professionalism, competence and human decency".
On day two of the Labour party conference in Brighton, much is written about the party's internal squabbles. The Sunday Telegraph says Jeremy Corbyn's allies have begun triggering succession plans after concluding that Labour has "passed the high-water mark of Corbynism". It quotes a shadow cabinet minister as saying Mr Corbyn appeared to be ready to "pack in" his job.
The Sun on Sunday says, in its lead editorial, "the botched coup to oust the party's deputy leader Tom Watson was like a Communist purge during the Stalin-era mixed with a Carry On farce".
"It is now clear that Jeremy Corbyn's fanatical comrades are serious about inflicting Soviet-style socialism on Britain and will brook no opposition," the tabloid adds.
But even if a Brexit agreement could be reached with the EU, Labour would block it, according to the Daily Mirror. In an interview with the paper the shadow chancellor John McDonnell says any deal is likely to fall short of Labour demands, so the party will try to force an election.
His cabinet colleague Emily Thornberry tells the Guardian that Labour should back a Tory Brexit deal in exchange for the promise of a referendum.
The Labour Party's attempt to scrap the deputy leader post held by Tom Watson came too late for most of the first editions. Huffpost UK says the move by the Momentum founder Jon Lansman has "dramatically reignited" Labour's civil war
So a quick summary of what's happened,the court ruled Boris acted wrongly,Boris is still determined and adamant that we're leaving come what may,Labour are still delusional about winning a general election,nobody is any the nearer to knowing a way out of this mess but most telling is Anna Soubry still cannot give an interview without shouting over or interrupting someone. Same old,Same old.
So a quick summary of what's happened,the court ruled Boris acted wrongly,Boris is still determined and adamant that we're leaving come what may,Labour are still delusional about winning a general election,nobody is any the nearer to knowing a way out of this mess but most telling is Anna Soubry still cannot give an interview without shouting over or interrupting someone. Same old,Same old.
Labour's neutral Brexit policy is unpopular with both Leavers and Remainers, warns Sir John Curtice
Labour's latest compromise position on Brexit risks not doing anything to stop both Leave and Remain voters abandoning the party, according to pollster Sir John Curtice.
The party voted to back leader Jeremy Corbyn's policy of remaining neutral during a three-month negotiation with the EU if it triumphs in a general election, during its annual conference in Brighton.
Sir John Curtice said Labour's position risks alienating voters. (Photo: BBC) The professor at the University of Strathclyde told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: "sure there is no doubt that the Labour Party faces challenges, how does it keep the coalition that it has together. But at the end of the day, the arithmetic doesn't lie." "For every one voter who voted Labour and Leave there were two in 2017 who voted Remain, and the difficulty about believing that Labour's latest variation of its compromise designed to appeal to both groups is going to work is that the party has lost ground heavily amongst both Remainers and amongst Leavers.
"It lost that gound essentially by the end of May it was only running at around 25% in the polls across the electorate as a whole. There is no evidence at all of any recovery in that figure, and so, therefore, it's not clear why yet another compromise, a compromise that looks unlikely to appeal to either Labour Remainers or Labour Leavers is actually going to succeed in repairing the damage. "Remember that around two thirds of those people who are Labour leavers say that actually, their preferred policy is Boris Johnson's policy of 'let's just get out by the 31st of October.'
Meanwhile, Labour Remain voters are, if anything, closer to Jo Swinson's view of 'let's just revoke article 50' than wanting another referendum?" "So how either of these groups is going to get attracted back by the policy is not immediately obvious."
Labour vote People hold up "Stop Brexit" posters during a on the conference floor (Photo: Getty Images) The Labour leadership fought off attempts by some in the party to push it towards a more pro-Remain position in a vote on Sunday. The party has long tried to maintain a compromise position on Brexit, with many voters in traditional Labour areas in the north of England backing leave in the 2016 vote. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC that he was disappointed with the result and he personally felt Remain to be the best option for the UK. "Would I have liked us to have gone a bit further and won that vote? Of course I would - but I don't want to take away from the fact that it is quite considerable movement."
Collapse of 'Boris Bus' maker puts 1,400 jobs at risk
One of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers, coach-builder Wrightbus, is expected to go into administration this week, putting 1,400 jobs at risk. The Ballymena-based company is best known for making London’s double-decker Routemaster bus, known as the “Boris bus” as it was commissioned by prime minster Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London in 2007.
The DUP MP Ian Paisley told the BBC that administration is now inevitable.
Comments
Boris Johnson puts his foot in it and sparks US sock trade row
The Prime Minister made some odd - and unprompted - claims about struggling British sock exporters
Boris Johnson has put his foot in it after he sparked a row over British sock exports to the US.
The Prime Minister claimed British hosiers were getting a raw deal from the United States - and struggled to deal with import tariffs and restrictive safety regulations.
Mr Johnson pledged to raise the thorny issue of soft under-footwear when he meets President Donald Trump tomorrow in the sidelines of the UN General Assembly tomorrow.
He launched into the sock-based rant during the flight to New York for the summit.
Mr Johnson said: “If you try to sell British socks in North America, they currently attract a 19 percent tariff. And the Americans insist, before they allow British socks to be sold on the U.S. market, that they must try to set fire to them twice.”
But sock boffins hit back, saying Johnson’s claims of barriers to trading their garments in the US were untrue.
Rueven Fletcher, owner of the Sock Council, a UK retailer and membership organisation that ”celebrates good socks,” told Politico: “My opinion is that if it comes out of Boris Johnson ’s mouth it’s likely not to be true, you may quote me on that if it helps.
And leading sock maker Corgi Socks said US regulations didn’t hamper their trade.
He told Politico: “Duty tariffs are a bit of a barrier, regulations are not. We have no problem with regulations selling in the USA.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-puts-foot-sparks-20157539
I was betting with myself that your response would have been much quicker.
You been out shopping?
What next?
More votes on the Withdrawal Agreement?
Our fourth PM since the referendum?
The third of which wouldn't have been properly elected?
A back to square one general election?
An extension to the extension?
I think it is more about the choices that people aren't prepared to make.
Too many want the penny and the bun.
Most remain voters would be prepared to accept a Norway deal with a customs union.
This would be just about the closest we could remain to the EU, without being members.
Therefore the deal that would cause the least damage to our economy.
It would solve the Irish border issue.
So far so good, frictionless, tariff free trade, no Irish border, or backstop needed.
This relationship would be so close as to prompt Dominic Raab, a fanatical Brexiteer into claiming that he would prefer to remain rather than do this deal.
As he, despite being a fanatical Brexiteer, sees it as pointless leaving, if we were to do a deal where we remained so close.
Get into it a bit deeper and you realise that you would have to accept freedom of movement. That's where you part company with all the racist Brexiteers.
A little deeper and you realise this option would not allow you to pursue an independent trade policy. This is where you part company with Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG, and the like.
If you had realised that leaving would involve an Irish border, and consulted the DUP as to whether they would prefer one on the island of Ireland, or in the Irish Sea, the only two real options available, "neither" would have been their reply. A position that they haven't moved from in 3 years.
The backstop was designed to be a temporary measure, until the trade deal came into play.
In my view there is only any point in having a temporary measure if the long term agreement didn't need the temporary measure.
So if you intended to do a Norway plus a customs union deal. Then the backstop would come into play until the deal took effect.
That would be sensible as when the new deal took effect, the temporary measure is no longer needed.
Yet Boris wants a Canada type deal.
A Canada style deal needs an Irish border.
This would mean that we had implemented the backstop, a temporary measure, and when the new deal was put in place, we would still need the temporary measure.
Therefore stuck in the backstop forever.
Not a good plan.
Having all the benefits of membership after leaving was never going to be possible.
Neither was maintaining most of the benefits with no obligations.
Not that many people are aware of the choices we have to make.
Many are losing patience, and just want us to leave, without considering the repercussions.
Maybe I need to get a life.
Labour Democracy on Display?
The Daily Telegraph and the Guardian both agree the Labour conference vote to decide the party's Brexit policy was "chaotic".
Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn successfully saw off an attempt to force Labour to back Remain should there be another referendum.
The Telegraph hears accusations from within the party that what happened was "a total stitch up", with the conference chairwoman, Wendy Nichols, appearing to change her mind about the show of hands after having a conversation with one of Mr Corbyn's closest allies, Jennie Formby.
The Times hears a claim that the conference hall had been packed with supporters of the pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group Momentum, who helped reject the Remain motion, even though they didn't have the right to vote.
Divisions within the Labour Party - laid bare at the conference in Brighton - also make front page news in many of the papers.
The Daily Telegraph says Jeremy Corbyn is facing a "full scale revolt" by those who believe the party should campaign at a general election for Britain to remain in the European Union.
The "i" says "civil war" has broken out in the party, while the Guardian says Mr Corbyn is risking the fury of Labour members and that rebellious MPs are privately threatening to stage a leadership challenge.
"Independent schools will be abolished by Labour" is the front page headline in the Times, which reports Sunday's vote by delegates at the party's conference.
The paper sees the proposal to redistribute private schools' investments and facilities as "a chilling threat to expropriate private property".
It says one of Jeremy Corbyn's closest aides, Andrew Fisher - the author of the party's last manifesto - has resigned, claiming Mr Corbyn will not win the next general election.
In a memo seen by the paper, Mr Fisher reportedly criticises the leader's team for a "lack of professionalism, competence and human decency".
On day two of the Labour party conference in Brighton, much is written about the party's internal squabbles.
The Sunday Telegraph says Jeremy Corbyn's allies have begun triggering succession plans after concluding that Labour has "passed the high-water mark of Corbynism".
It quotes a shadow cabinet minister as saying Mr Corbyn appeared to be ready to "pack in" his job.
The Sun on Sunday says, in its lead editorial, "the botched coup to oust the party's deputy leader Tom Watson was like a Communist purge during the Stalin-era mixed with a Carry On farce".
"It is now clear that Jeremy Corbyn's fanatical comrades are serious about inflicting Soviet-style socialism on Britain and will brook no opposition," the tabloid adds.
But even if a Brexit agreement could be reached with the EU, Labour would block it, according to the Daily Mirror. In an interview with the paper the shadow chancellor John McDonnell says any deal is likely to fall short of Labour demands, so the party will try to force an election.
His cabinet colleague Emily Thornberry tells the Guardian that Labour should back a Tory Brexit deal in exchange for the promise of a referendum.
The Labour Party's attempt to scrap the deputy leader post held by Tom Watson came too late for most of the first editions.
Huffpost UK says the move by the Momentum founder Jon Lansman has "dramatically reignited" Labour's civil war
Labour's latest compromise position on Brexit risks not doing anything to stop both Leave and Remain voters abandoning the party, according to pollster Sir John Curtice.
The party voted to back leader Jeremy Corbyn's policy of remaining neutral during a three-month negotiation with the EU if it triumphs in a general election, during its annual conference in Brighton.
Sir John Curtice said Labour's position risks alienating voters. (Photo: BBC)
The professor at the University of Strathclyde told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: "sure there is no doubt that the Labour Party faces challenges, how does it keep the coalition that it has together. But at the end of the day, the arithmetic doesn't lie."
"For every one voter who voted Labour and Leave there were two in 2017 who voted Remain, and the difficulty about believing that Labour's latest variation of its compromise designed to appeal to both groups is going to work is that the party has lost ground heavily amongst both Remainers and amongst Leavers.
"It lost that gound essentially by the end of May it was only running at around 25% in the polls across the electorate as a whole. There is no evidence at all of any recovery in that figure, and so, therefore, it's not clear why yet another compromise, a compromise that looks unlikely to appeal to either Labour Remainers or Labour Leavers is actually going to succeed in repairing the damage.
"Remember that around two thirds of those people who are Labour leavers say that actually, their preferred policy is Boris Johnson's policy of 'let's just get out by the 31st of October.'
Meanwhile, Labour Remain voters are, if anything, closer to Jo Swinson's view of 'let's just revoke article 50' than wanting another referendum?"
"So how either of these groups is going to get attracted back by the policy is not immediately obvious."
Labour vote
People hold up "Stop Brexit" posters during a on the conference floor (Photo: Getty Images)
The Labour leadership fought off attempts by some in the party to push it towards a more pro-Remain position in a vote on Sunday. The party has long tried to maintain a compromise position on Brexit, with many voters in traditional Labour areas in the north of England backing leave in the 2016 vote.
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC that he was disappointed with the result and he personally felt Remain to be the best option for the UK.
"Would I have liked us to have gone a bit further and won that vote? Of course I would - but I don't want to take away from the fact that it is quite considerable movement."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/labours-neutral-brexit-policy-is-unpopular-with-both-leavers-and-remainers-warns-sir-john-curtice/ar-AAHLSrw?ocid=spartanntp
One of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers, coach-builder Wrightbus, is expected to go into administration this week, putting 1,400 jobs at risk.
The Ballymena-based company is best known for making London’s double-decker Routemaster bus, known as the “Boris bus” as it was commissioned by prime minster Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London in 2007.
The DUP MP Ian Paisley told the BBC that administration is now inevitable.
https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/wrightbuscollapse-of-boris-bus-maker-puts-around-1400-jobs-at-risk-075349748.html