CG1 Blue

I've listened to the debate on this for the past couple of days. I have some sympathy with the argument that 15 year old girls can be brainwashed by cults such as ISIS. And I suppose there is a remote possibility she could be persuaded to give up her hatred for the West and become a good citizen. This would require a huge effort in terms of monitoring, counselling and general rehabilitation over a number of years. Ok, so she wasn't an actual ISIS fighter, but I was surprised to hear an Iraqi lawyer explaining how he spent months in Syria and learnt that the Jihadi brides carried out atrocities themselves, beating women with sticks on the streets of Raqqa in Syria, and carrying out FGM on all the local females. He was almost in tears while describing the brutality of the Jihadi brides. Let's face it - if she comes back to the UK the human rights lawyers will keep her out of prison and she'll be on our streets, possibly even bringing up a kid who will no doubt pick up on her views of western society. Almost 400 'Brits' who fought for ISIS have already returned to the UK. Only 1 in 10 have been prosecuted. There are hundreds more ISIS fighters with British passports yet to return to our shores. On balance I think the safety of our citizens takes priority over bringing this woman back to the UK. Bringing this woman back to the UK to live among us only increases the possibility of another Manchester Arena atrocity.

Not sure what you mean. I just showed you how the THB has strengthened significantly since 2015, resulting in less baht for your pound (accepting that the Brexit vote also contributed).

The total EU budget is around £128bn, and the UK net contributions is around £9bn. Without the annual UK contribution (post Brexit) I'd say that £39bn is pretty important to the EU. But we can agree to disagree!

I agree the pound fell after the referendum - I don't dispute that. The pound was over valued and was due a fall. The Leave vote fast forwarded that fall, and made it more severe. I don't deny that. There is 'uncertainty' priced into the current GBP rate, and once certainty returns Sterling will be a bit stronger. But you're missing the THB performance globally, which I'm sure you know is measured versus the USD. Here is the THB since mid 2015:

You're neglecting the fact that the THB has been growing in strength over the past 5 years or so. The recent correction of the pound (it was over valued) has added to the difficulties for UK expats in LOS, but it is not the main cause.

You could actually be right. Which is all the more reason why it was ridiculous to agree to pay £39bn to the EU without a guaranteed trade deal. I disagree that the UK would have no negotiating power on a trade deal though. If the withdrawal agreement goes through your EU masters will be satisfied they achieved a sort of victory, and then give us a FTA because it's in both sides' interests.

Ok, so can you explain how that scenario would play out post Brexit please. Are you suggesting a company like IKEA would have furniture manufactured in NI and have it transported to the RoI? I don't see the benefits of that for an IKEA.

Again your focus there is on monetary and 'necessary' operational arrangements. I think peace is higher up on the EU's list of priorities - or at least it should be. What is nonsense about a war? Please explain. There will be no hard border.

All conjecture. "We'll probably end up 10 - 20% poorer". That's just a guess from those who don't want us to leave. "little laws and regulations will make it too expensive to base a multinational company here." On the contrary, we'll be free to make the UK more competitive for multinationals once we're no longer constrained by EU laws.

I've already dealt with the food angle - won't happen for the reasons I stated. As for other goods, it's highly unlikely the UK standards would be materially lower than EU standards. I say again, do you think the EU would risk causing a war over these minimal trade risks?

There have been plenty of counter arguments to the Remain economic armageddon propaganda. You just choose to ignore / disbelieve it.

So let me get this straight. Those fleeing from Syria, Somalia etc., risking all to get to the UK - they're alcoholics, and those alcoholic refugees get £17 per day and a new house? Thank god for the educated remainers on here. They give us the chance to learn something new every day!

Vote Leave may have overspent by something like £500k, but the Remain campaign effectively got an extra £9m of taxpayers money through that leaflet drop. That should have been illegal.

Give us some actual examples of what risk there is to the EU if the border stays open after Brexit. Somebody said previously that sub-standard beef could be exported to the UK, then re-labled, then transported to RoI and then into EU countries. The cost of doing all that would wipe out the profit, and also the whole process would eat into the beef's sell by date. So this is not going to happen. If the EU were to install a border the troubles would start again. It would re-start a war. People will die. Which option do you think the peace loving EU will take - leave the border open and risk a few fast boiling kettles making their way into Dublin, or install a border and start a war? There will be no border!

Listening to LBC yesterday / today I'm hearing a lot of commentators close to the action suggesting the EU will eventually agree to make the necessary changes to the backstop. This despite the public statements to the contrary from the men in Brussels. Just Brussels brinkmanship? This might explain why May is telling MPs to hold their nerve. Maybe she isn't banging her head against a brick wall after all!