BREXIT : a good lesson for other UE members

[Anthea]

Dairy losses: More than 1,000 farms close in three years

The number of dairy farms in England and Wales has fallen by 1,022 in three years

One in 10 farms has closed since June 2013, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

The board said farmers were being paid up to 10p a litre less than the cost of producing their milk.

As with ALL animal husbandry and animal produce - UK livestock is treated a great deal better that that in many EU countries

Sadly, the cheap imports are destroying our farming industry across the board

They should show the general public the horrendous conditions animals - including dairy cows - are forced to exist in

Another example are chickens - UK chickens are looked after better than in other countries - so much so that UK farms have eliminated salmonella in chickens and eggs

[Anthea]

How MPs voted in the Article 50 debate

Ministers were forced to bring forward the proposed legislation after the Supreme Court ruled that Parliament's approval is needed before the Brexit withdrawal process can begin

After a heated two-day debate this was the vote that brought Brexit a step closer.

Proposals to allow Theresa May to start formal Brexit talks have passed their first Commons test following overwhelming support from MPs.

The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill passed a second reading by

498 votes to 114

A majority of 384

The legislation allows the Prime Minister to decide when to trigger Article 50 and therefore begin the two-year process of negotiation on Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

A total of 47 Labour MPs defied orders from leader Jeremy Corbyn by voting against the Bill.

Mr Corbyn imposed a three-line whip on his MPs, which required them to support it.

An SNP-led wrecking amendment which attempted to stop the Bill from progressing was earlier defeated by 336 votes to 100, a majority of 236.

There were 33 Labour MPs who supported the SNP proposal, with six voting against, and 44 who opposed a motion outlining the future process for the Bill - which undergoes further scrutiny over three days from next Monday.

The votes came after more than 17 hours of debate.

Ministers were forced to bring forward the proposed legislation after the Supreme Court ruled that Parliament's approval is needed before the Brexit withdrawal process can begin.

The Government wants this to start before the end of March.

What was the vote about?

MPs voted on the "second reading" of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill on 1 February 2017.

This is where MPs vote for or against the general principle of a Bill.

It is not the final vote. That will be taken on 8 February after further scrutiny.

The Bill was introduced after the Supreme Court ruled MPs must vote on activating Article 50 - the trigger for Britain's two-year exit from the EU.

It is just two sentences long, and gives Theresa May authority to invoke Article 50

Link to Full Article:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... t-12543325

[Anthea]

Britain must wake up to the power of Africa

BREXIT gives the UK an opportunity to deal directly and fairly with many other countries

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By dealing directly with Africa we will not only help ourselves but we will help the growing African economy and in so doing, help to provide more jobs for the fast growing economy and help to alleviate the need for so many Africans to leave their homes in search of employment

In fact trade deals with Africa may help by encouraging African countries to work together

Also, hopefully such deals will help to put an end to some of the internal conflicts, as they realise those conflicts will deny them their share of such trade deals - nobody will wish to deal with a country in the throws of a civil war

Trading with Africa is a WIN WIN for everyone

[Piling]

You'll be in competition with China.

[Anthea]

You'll be in competition with China.

Healthy competition is good as long as it is ethical and does not exploit the workforce

Sadly, those who are involved in manufacture are generally exploited by middlemen in so-called civilised countries - think child labour in India

[Piling]

Scottish Resistance :

SNP MPs sing EU anthem during crucial vote on whether Brexit should go ahead

Musical protest prompts Deputy Speaker to demand there is not 'a sing-off in the Chamber'

Video and story there :

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 70486.html

Scottish people have always been popular in France. Probably for that reason we are the main drinkers of whisky among the world.

[Anthea]

Scottish people have always been popular in France. Probably for that reason we are the main drinkers of whisky among the world.

I learn something new everyday

I had no idea that the French were great whisky drinkers

[Piling]

That's the paradox : we drink more whisky than Americans and Scottish, while our famous cognac is mainly drunk by Americans, Asians, Russians.