Itrytoplease Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) Australia has called for a free trade deal with Britain following its exit from the European Union. Theresa May described the move as "very encouraging" and insisted it showed Brexit can work for Britain. In a phone call to the new PM, her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull said he urgently wanted to open up trading between the two countries. Liam Fox, the new international trade secretary, said he was already "scoping about a dozen free trade deals". But Britain cannot sign any deals while it is still an EU member. Mrs May said: "I have been very clear that this government will make a success of our exit from the European Union. "One of the ways we will do this is by embracing the opportunities to strike free trade deals with our partners across the globe. It is very encouraging that one of our closest international partners is already seeking to establish just such a deal." "This shows that we can make Brexit work for Britain," she added. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36818055 ---------- Post added 17-07-2016 at 07:27 ---------- Edited July 17, 2016 by Itrytoplease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamston Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Surely they will have to be full borders with full border control. Otherwise there would be nothing to stop somebody going into Ireland, crossing into NI and then on into Britain. This also puts at risk a little known reciprocal agreement between the UK and Ireland. Irish citizens can freely live and work here, receive the same education & healthcare & voting rights. Likewise UK citizens enjoy the same benefits in Ireland. This agreement long predates the EC and in fact is nothing to do with the EU. We travelled into the EC together, joining at the same time in 1973 because the economies of the countries are so entwined it made sense. How we unravel this is impossible to guess, although in practical terms for us in Britain and the Irish it might make sense for Ireland to become one state, kind of like a federation of two countries. Interesting times ahead. It shouldn't be a problem to stop non UK citizens making a journey from Northern Ireland to the UK mainland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woahthere Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 It shouldn't be a problem to stop non UK citizens making a journey from Northern Ireland to the UK mainland. So there will still be free movement for NI and the EU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamston Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 So there will still be free movement for NI and the EU? It will be up to the UK and Republic of Ireland Governments what they decide to do about the border between the two countries. Free movement is not the same as not having a border control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woahthere Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 It will be up to the UK and Republic of Ireland Governments what they decide to do about the border between the two countries. Free movement is not the same as not having a border control. What about the rights of Irish citizens to to travel, work, live and trade across the border? Will they still have a separate deal to other EU citizens? Is that possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) It will be up to the UK and Republic of Ireland Governments what they decide to do about the border between the two countries. Free movement is not the same as not having a border control. Of course it is up to the two governments. The point you are missing is that change could be highly detrimental to the economy in NI. The imposition of a physical border for customs and passport checks would be highly disruptive. If you don't have physical borders between the Republic and NI then you still have free movement between the EU and the UK. If you try and impose border controls between Great Britain and the island of Ireland then you are imposing border controls between different parts of the UK, i.e. NI and Great Britain and that would be nonsensical. You would also be breaking the terms of the Common Travel Agreement between the republic and the UK. Brexiters just haven't thought this through. Edited July 17, 2016 by I1L2T3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASGOWOODS Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I know it's late but...........that is practically the weirdest thing I've ever read on here They fought for decades to be free from us. They are not going to hook back up and why would they? We're turning into a political and economic basket case! And in at number 2....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 What about the rights of Irish citizens to to travel, work, live and trade across the border? Will they still have a separate deal to other EU citizens? Is that possible? The only way to do that would be to lock down the entry/exit points to the whole of Ireland, both North and South. The border between the UK and the EU has to be somewhere. Irish business would not like that. Much of their exports transit across the UK to the EU by road, via the ferry ports. Approaching 50% of Irish exports to the EU go by this route, and are mostly goods were delivery has to be as quick as possible. The only way to facilitate this would be open borders between the UK and Ireland, and hey presto you have free movement between the EU and the UK. The NI/Republic border is important but possibly a bit of a red herring here. ---------- Post added 17-07-2016 at 10:21 ---------- And in at number 2....... So you think our economy will improve? Practically every analysis points to exactly the opposite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamston Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Of course it is up to the two governments. The point you are missing is that change could be highly detrimental to the economy in NI. The imposition of a physical border for customs and passport checks would be highly disruptive. If you don't have physical borders between the Republic and NI then you still have free movement between the EU and the UK. If you try and impose border controls between Great Britain and the island of Ireland then you are imposing border controls between different parts of the UK, i.e. NI and Great Britain and that would be nonsensical. You would also be breaking the terms of the Common Travel Agreement between the republic and the UK. Brexiters just haven't thought this through. You are looking for problems. There will be no physical border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Just because there is no physical border between the two countries, it will not allow a German to travel from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland, live there permanently and then to start looking for work there after BREXIT legally. Anyone travelling from the UK to the Channel Islands have to show proof of identity before they can complete the journey or enter the Channel Islands, so it's not rocket science to follow the same procedure between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 You are looking for problems. There will be no physical border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Just because there is no physical border between the two countries, it will not allow a German to travel from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland, live there permanently and then to start looking for work there after BREXIT legally. Anyone travelling from the UK to the Channel Islands have to show proof of identity before they can complete the journey or enter the Channel Islands, so it's not rocket science to follow the same procedure between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland. That is a big change actually. The Channel Islands are not part of the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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