Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[garbon]

And on the day when the Royal announcement was breaking news?

Sorry, I don't have a time machine so I can't check. My point was that Brexit has hardly disappeared under the waves at the major media outlets. I guess you could be upset that the populace is distracted by the royals (as that would be harder to confirm or deny) but then they are the ones that voted for Brexit in the first place...

I wouldn't see it happening too much with this announcement. I don't think it was scheduled. But if there is a definite "we will get married on 5 June" known in advance then plans can be made

I don't know where you are going with this.

[Tamas]

I think he is right that the timing of the release of these doctored documents that's a slap in the face for Parliament  could not have been timed better. Sure, they could have just gotten lucky but it is at least a bit suspicious.

And yes, luckily it has not worked totally, but I think it does manage to dilute, since without Teh Engagement, there would be nothing else for newscasts to talk about, which WOULD make the scandal worse.

[garbon]

I think he is right that the timing of the release of these doctored documents that's a slap in the face for Parliament  could not have been timed better. Sure, they could have just gotten lucky but it is at least a bit suspicious.

And yes, luckily it has not worked totally, but I think it does manage to dilute, since without Teh Engagement, there would be nothing else for newscasts to talk about, which WOULD make the scandal worse.

I think that's just an extreme case of cynicism - though also combined with a strange bit of optimism that suddenly people would have cared and it would have mattered if the media was to devote its attention fully to Brexit. I don't really see the difference between the strong coverage we have now (as evidence by my review of said media outlets) vs. this "stronger" coverage had there been no engagement news.

What would have changed on the ground?

[Josquius]

For the record I was speaking more for the future than the current announcement.
Though yes.... Could apply to an extent with the brexit papers stuff.
Also the investigation into leave's spending "irregularities" seems to have vanished

[Valmy]

The government gets all the income from the crown estates, the Queen's personal holdings, 15% of this IIRC then goes back to funding the royals. It can rise and fall as needed but the money being firmly in the hands of the government has been established for centuries, ever since a short sighted king became broke.

It is a pretty good scheme by the Royals really. That means creating a Republic would cost the government far more than continuing this business where they get 85% of the Royals money.

[Tamas]

In other news, I am now officially tired of The Engagement.

The Guardian is especially tiresome, as they try to mesh together their "progressive" politics with the need to cover The Big Event. They already shot their big one yesterday with the opinion piece on how NOW (with the introduction of a mixed-race Canadian to the royal family) the notion of blacks not being British has truly must be put to rest.

I have spent 4 years in this country but I have not heard or seen any such remarks, even while most of the press has been very easy on blaming ethnicities (East Europeans specifically) for a whole lot of ills.
The article made it sound like its England, Alabama over here.

Today's article on how Miss Future Princess is the latest in the line of trailblazing female actors single-handedly transforming society for the better.

[Valmy]

The Guardian being tiresome? Incredible.

I have to say the British have some of the most insufferable media I have ever seen and I live in the same country as Sean Hannity.

[celedhring]

The government gets all the income from the crown estates, the Queen's personal holdings, 15% of this IIRC then goes back to funding the royals. It can rise and fall as needed but the money being firmly in the hands of the government has been established for centuries, ever since a short sighted king became broke.

It is a pretty good scheme by the Royals really. That means creating a Republic would cost the government far more than continuing this business where they get 85% of the Royals money.

They could get 100% with a Republic? 

Spanish royal family don't own anything by themselves, by the way. All the royal palaces and the kingly swag is property of the Spanish state.

[Valmy]

They could get 100% with a Republic? 

Spanish royal family don't own anything by themselves, by the way. All the royal palaces and the kingly swag is property of the Spanish state.

Sure. If they were into confiscating people's property for no reason but wanting it. Seems very un-British.

And given how the Spanish Monarchy was overthrown and returned multiple times that is not surprising but the British Monarchy made this deal way back when...um...it was George III right? Being reactionary can cost you.

[Gups]

The Guardian being tiresome? Incredible.

I have to say the British have some of the most insufferable media I have ever seen and I live in the same country as Sean Hannity.

Our print media, sure. The Times and the Financial Times are the only half-decent papers published in England. And there are no decent papers to read on a Sunday.

We can't compete with you guys on TV or radio.

[Josquius]

The Independent isn't bad.
...
Oh wait they stopped doing a paper version

[Valmy]

We can't compete with you guys on TV or radio.

Few can

[celedhring]

They could get 100% with a Republic? 

Spanish royal family don't own anything by themselves, by the way. All the royal palaces and the kingly swag is property of the Spanish state.

Sure. If they were into confiscating people's property for no reason but wanting it. Seems very un-British.

And given how the Spanish Monarchy was overthrown and returned multiple times that is not surprising but the British Monarchy made this deal way back when...um...it was George III right? Being reactionary can cost you.

Indeed, everything was confiscated during the Second Spanish Republic back in the 1930s. Franco fancied the palaces quite a bit himself and never thought about returning them after winning the civil war 

[garbon]

The government gets all the income from the crown estates, the Queen's personal holdings, 15% of this IIRC then goes back to funding the royals. It can rise and fall as needed but the money being firmly in the hands of the government has been established for centuries, ever since a short sighted king became broke.

It is a pretty good scheme by the Royals really. That means creating a Republic would cost the government far more than continuing this business where they get 85% of the Royals money.

Particularly once you add in all the tourism revenue that the royals generate.

[Zanza]

UK bows to EU demands with breakthrough offer on Brexit bill

Britain agrees to total liabilities worth €100bn but will aim to pay less than half

   Britain has bowed to EU demands and agreed to fully honour its financial commitments as identified by Brussels, removing one of the biggest obstacles to a Brexit divorce settlement.

According to several diplomats familiar with the talks, the UK would assume EU liabilities worth up to €100bn although net payments, discharged over many decades, could fall to less than half that amount.

Prime minister Theresa May is expected to formally present the breakthrough offer next week as part of package deal if agreement can be reached on the other issues of citizen rights and the contentious question of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

   Negotiators are working on how to present the settlement as a net estimate, with the UK side pressing for an implied figure of between €40-45bn once UK receipts and other deductions are taken into account. "They have promised to cover it all, we don't care what they say their estimate is," said one senior EU diplomat. "We're happy to help them present it."

Intensive negotiations are continuing, with the aim of reaching a declaring "sufficient progress" next week on the financial settlement, citizen rights and Northern Ireland. Discussions are delicately poised and negotiators have warned that all hold-up on any one element of talks could scupper a December deal to open trade talks.

Both sides say no final figure will be agreed on Britain's exit settlement next week. Significantly the UK plans to avoid a lump-sum settlement and instead will develop a system for regularly calculating payments in years to come, when specific liabilities come due.

Under this model, pensions of EU officials, for instance, could be paid on the basis of annual costs, meaning there will be no final figure for the so-called "Brexit bill" until the final eligible EU pensioner is dead, many decades from today.

So the EU got its will on the financials, I predict Britain will cave on citizens rights and the role of the ECJ in safeguarding them and in turn the EU will offer a transition period followed by a CETA like deal or EEA membership if Britain wants that. The former would leave Ireland as an issue to be solved.

Can Theresa May survive a 100 billion Brexit bill as PM?