Trump

[barney]

The Donald is a bit of a wind up merchant, isn't he.

When Sadiq Khan said very publicly that trump wasn't welcome in London, I don't reckon he thought he'd get a personal response.

I had need to into the big city (Barnstaple) first thing, to go to the bank.
I couldn't believe that there was an anti Trump protest in the town square, and another tomorrow ??

Have these people got nothing better to do with their time?

I was handed an anti Trump leaflet (yep, someone had paid to have them printed)

The lady asked me if I would sign their petition, so I reminded her that I wasn't American so therefore, had no skin in the game.

I recognised her from the anti brexit protest and the anti austerity protest.

Have we bred a generation of professional protesters ?

[david63]

Have we bred a generation of professional protesters ?

Would they have any connection to the professional benefit scroungers and/or the professional layabouts?

[screwy]

So Labour are not going to attend,God forbid they may get elected and have to possibly deal with Trump,what does that say about our politicians.?

[Mervyn and Trish]

I'm not a Trump fan but as far as I'm concerned this visit is by the President of the US, an important ally, and we are honouring the office, not the man.

We don't have a say in who they elect. He's their problem.

And as for Sadiq Khan, he seems to have forgotten he is the Mayor of one city, not the PM. It' a bit like Brexit (sorry to mention the word here) but some Londoners seem to think they are the centre of the universe and everyone else is irrelevant

[Happydays]

I don't agree with everything he says but at least he tells it like it is a lot of the time and as he has also said he's putting America first..... Wish our lot would put UK/GB first!

[oldbluefox]

So if we leave the EU and Labour get control how will that affect our future trading relationship with the US? Could be a tad awkward.

I find it rather hypocritical of Corbyn when you consider some of the shady characters he has associated with that he finds the current President of the USA so distasteful he refuses to have any truck with him.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Yes, Trump is so much nastier than those nice Hamas and IRA people!

[oldbluefox]

I find all of these protests rather pathetic and immature, largely led by professional protesters, political activists, layabouts, those with nothing better to do with their time and those selling the Socialist Worker. As has been said before he has been elected President of the USA and we should respect that office
There was an American being interviewed this morning who was joining the protest. When asked, they had voted for Hilary. Hmmmm!!

[barney]

I asked the lady in Barnstaple why she voted for him if she despised him so much.

"I didn't vote for him", she replied.

"That's because you are not American, dear", I said in my best, well practiced patronising tone. ( I am rather good at that, if do say so myself )

"You have no input into it, and neither do I."

She did look at bit 'soapy' to be honest, so I didn't want to hang around for a long discussion.

[CaroleF]

If Corbyn gets to be PM God help us! Can't he get it through his head that we are welcoming the President of the United States, not Donald Trump the person. As to what would happen if he was Prime Minister - is he going to refuse to meet any head of state he doesn't like - well what a way to conduct affairs of state. Is he going to refuse to go to anything he may be invited to by the Queen if it means he has to dress according to a dress code - there a whole new discussion of dress codes!

Carole

[barney]

I think that The Labour Party missed a trick here, and it could have been a publicity coup for them.

They could have shown that they were a genuine Government in waiting, with the maturity to meet and discuss issues with a world leader that they had little in common with.

Instead, they have resorted to 'student politics' publicly calling out Trump, then being horrified by his replies.
To be honest, what did they expect from him?
He is just being true to form.

So, are going to see the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition standing on a platform with the Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Shadow Home Secretary, publicly slagging off the President of the USA.

That's great for the UK's standing in the eyes of the rest of the world, isn't it.

What on earth will they do if they are ever elected to high office?

[Mervyn and Trish]

Back to dress codes. I hope I never meet Corbyn and Abbot on a cruise!

[Manoverboard]

More chance of meeting them at a TUC conference …. just saying

[Mervyn and Trish]

So now it seems Corbyn, who turned down every invitation he received as part of the visit, and instead spent his time demonstrating against Trump, has demanded a one to one meeting with him. Which Trump has declined.

Two words you'll never see in the same sentence. Corbyn and statesman.

[towny44]

If Trump wore a Kufiya and carried a Kalashnikov maybe Cornyn would show him more respect.

[towny44]

Even my predictive text does not recognise Corbyn.

[Kendhni]

He has put the cat among the pigeons by openly stating that parts of the NHS will be up for grabs as part of any anglo-american deal - not exactly a secret but for the POTUS to openly state it requiring Teresa May to jump in and pretend that Britain will have a choice.

[david63]

He has put the cat among the pigeons by openly stating that parts of the NHS will be up for grabs as part of any anglo-american deal - not exactly a secret but for the POTUS to openly state it requiring Teresa May to jump in and pretend that Britain will have a choice.

He appears to have back tracked on that today.

[Kendhni]

He has put the cat among the pigeons by openly stating that parts of the NHS will be up for grabs as part of any anglo-american deal - not exactly a secret but for the POTUS to openly state it requiring Teresa May to jump in and pretend that Britain will have a choice.

He appears to have back tracked on that today.

Yea, but that is nothing more than diplomacy. The Whitehouse has made no secret that the NHS will form part of the negotiations in any trade deal.

Fortunately we know how good the UK is at negotiating - so I am guessing the NHS is safe.

[allatc]

Back to dress codes. I hope I never meet Corbyn and Abbot on a cruise!

No chance. Cruising will be shut down by Jezza's labour government "to save the planet environmentally" and because "only the rich can afford it"

[towny44]

What is the concern about the NHS and a US trade deal, is someone suggesting that we could be forced to privatise it as part of a trade deal? I doubt that very much, so what could they do, since most NHS trusts run a large deficit there would be little support for anyone taking over their running. I suppose drugs and medical supplies from the USA would become duty free putting UK suppliers under more competition, but that's what free trade deals do anyway. So just what is the concern?

[Kendhni]

What is the concern about the NHS and a US trade deal, is someone suggesting that we could be forced to privatise it as part of a trade deal? I doubt that very much, so what could they do, since most NHS trusts run a large deficit there would be little support for anyone taking over their running. I suppose drugs and medical supplies from the USA would become duty free putting UK suppliers under more competition, but that's what free trade deals do anyway. So just what is the concern?

What will happen is that NHS costs will rise, not drop. The US pharma companies will force the use of their drugs instead of cheaper generic drugs. Similarly the insurance companies will squeeze the NHS on how much will be paid for treatment. Both of those are very bad news for the NHS and the British tax payer. If these companies get that foothold then it will only be a matter of a few years before we start seeing a two tier NHS between the haves and have nots (which sort of already exists) that will not be free at point-of-service.

Do not under-estimate the possible impact of this. There are a lot of senators in America with a vested interest in both Pharma and Medical insurance (not forgetting the farming, manufacturing and other industries) that have pretty much already spelled out exactly what they expect from an anglo-american trade deal.

[barney]

You do realise that the USA is the UK's biggest export market Ken, don't you ?

The US companies will never be in a position to FORCE products on the UK.

The buyer always has a choice..
It's the same with the much quoted and now famous chlorinated chicken issue.
If there is no market here for such products because folk won't buy it, then no one will import it.
The business of supply and demand is really quite simple.

They will want the opportunity to sell their products here, without the current punitive EU restrictions.
Nothing more, nothing less.

There is a good reason why some American products like say, cars, cheese & chocolate don't sell great in the UK.
It's nothing to do with tariffs or availabilty, it's because the average UK shopper doesn't like them.

I'd expect an intelligent guy like you to understand that.

[towny44]

What is the concern about the NHS and a US trade deal, is someone suggesting that we could be forced to privatise it as part of a trade deal? I doubt that very much, so what could they do, since most NHS trusts run a large deficit there would be little support for anyone taking over their running. I suppose drugs and medical supplies from the USA would become duty free putting UK suppliers under more competition, but that's what free trade deals do anyway. So just what is the concern?

What will happen is that NHS costs will rise, not drop. The US pharma companies will force the use of their drugs instead of cheaper generic drugs.
Why would this happen Ken? As an ex buyer why would the NHS no longer be allowed to source their drugs from the most competitive source?
Similarly the insurance companies will squeeze the NHS on how much will be paid for treatment.
I thought the government (or we taxpayers) paid for all NHS services, why do you believe that a free trade deal would allow insurance companies to squeeze NHS costs?
Both of those are very bad news for the NHS and the British tax payer. If these companies get that foothold then it will only be a matter of a few years before we start seeing a two tier NHS between the haves and have nots (which sort of already exists) that will not be free at point-of-service.

Do not under-estimate the possible impact of this. There are a lot of senators in America with a vested interest in both Pharma and Medical insurance (not forgetting the farming, manufacturing and other industries) that have pretty much already spelled out exactly what they expect from an anglo-american trade deal.

I am hoping for a negotiated deal which should allow the status quo, or at least something very close, to continue for all our EU imports and for any ROW imports that we currently import under EU trade deals; and although I hope we will be able to negotiate our own new free trade deals, these would need to consider any impact they might have on existing trade.
If you have hard facts that support a different point of view I would really like to hear them.

[Kendhni]

Barney, I would also expect an intelligent guy like you to understand how trade agreements work. Once we leave the EU the market will be there with great big holes just waiting for the Americans, or whoever, to take advantage of. This will be particularly obvious with the likes of the pharmas that are looking to limit (or curtail) the use of generic drugs and break up the NHS's buying power- naturally at a significant higher cost to the UK. The Americans see the NHS as being cash rich and a market that they can profit from - likely to be much more punitive than any EU restrictions.

Not only that but proposals from various senators could seriously hamper the ability of the UK to do trade agreements elsewhere in the world, including Europe. Whether they come off is a different matter. The information is on the Whitehouse web site - at the minute it is very much one sided, but nobody within the UK government seems to be doing anything meaningful to provide answers to the questions being asked . We have seen how (in)effective UK negotiators have been, and that was for the easy part - the tough part of the negotiations hasn't even started yet - I just wonder how much of a sell out there is going to be to keep the UK in business.