If Ireland and US can do it then for god sake you would have thought they could work it out with the near neighbours. In my opinion you are absolutely right re Ireland dancing to the EU's tune, ive said before why on earth can Ireland and Uk get their heads together as so sovereign nations and put it to the EU.

Both halves of Ireland are happy with how things are (in terms of the border). Unfortunately, the DUP, who are propping up Mrs May, have their own ideas and despite being the only part of the UK that has a physical border with the EU (Eire), dont want to be "different" from the rest of the UK, which is impossible.

yep they are, the problem with then DUP was the border issue and they would have ended up with a closer relationship with the EU than the rest of the UK.

I agree we do need to keep the status Quo as much as possible, I was listening to a guy on tv he was saying that the Nationalists feel part of Irish Republic because of the lack of a border, just as the Loyalists (DUP) don't want any border that would make them feel detached from the UK which must be maintained for both sides

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-47102708 Cannot wait to get back to Sunderland I said when the racist mackems all voted to leave the EU it would put Nissan at risk. Over 30,000 jobs depend on Sunderland Nissan. Well they can now say we control our own borders but we will soon have no proper jobs. Chickens coming home to roost. Whoop whoop

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-47102708 Cannot wait to get back to Sunderland I said when the racist mackems all voted to leave the EU it would put Nissan at risk. Over 30,000 jobs depend on Sunderland Nissan. Well they can now say we control our own borders but we will soon have no proper jobs. Chickens coming home to roost. Whoop whoop

WHY ????

WHEN Britain voted to leave the UK the EUhad a 10 %tax on Japanese made cars going into Europe Nissan and Honda etc built plants here so they could avoid that tax.

18 months ago the EU signed a free trade agreement with Japan which ended the 10% tax.

The net result is that 10% margin is now no longer important to Nissan. the uncertainty and problems now with the supply lines means that other than selling cars in the UK Nissan and Honda etcc are as well building them in another EU country or even keeping the jobs in Japan and then shipping them over.

I see what your saying, that they may now have to pay import charges into this country (say 10%) which the no longer have to pay in the EU, ok I get it. But, and I may be totally missing the point here. The article points to the recent drop in sales of the Diesel cars, if they now decide to put petrol engines in they are not sure it would be financially viable to ship the engines over from Japan. I know they got some kind of assurances from the govt over Brexit 2016 (what ever that was, surely discussions are to be had). But the only person in the article saying that Brexit is partly to blame is a Labour MP.

Whatever. There's about as much chance of you walking into a pub in Sunderland and gobbing off to a load of Mackems as there is of Diane Abbott passing GCSE Maths. Let me know when you've done it, I'll start a GoFundMe for your dentist bill. Actually, from the glee you've displayed I've changed my mind, you probably deserve it. Go and tell them Mackems lad, with my best wishes.

Fact is, the crash in diesel demand is having a massive impact on most car manufacturers and their strategies. I could have told you this from my days dealing with Volkswagen via Bentley. I have no doubt Brexit is also being considered but there appears to be no threat to existing jobs in Sunderland.

I think the SNP, Plaid Cymru, SNP & Green Party (4-5 times more MPs than Libs) might disagree.

Are you really suggesting that Nissans decision to pull the X-Trail isn't a direct consequence of the Brexit debacle?

Of course, it's definitely a factor, which is what I alluded to. Uncertainty is not great in business. But if diesel sales hadn't been in a steep decline as they have been since a high around 2010/11 (down over 10% in Europe I believe), then perhaps this decision wouldn't have been reached.

But let's be clear, this isn't Nissan pulling out of Sunderland because of Brexit. It's Nissan taking a look at sales trends, their supply & distribution model, Brexit uncertainty and market projections, and deciding it's more cost-effective and probably makes sense right now to build the X-Trail in Japan.

A year or two ago I had to swap company car twice (leased as my fleet car hadn't come in yet) because the car hire company were selling off their diesel stock and no longer offering diesel cars. Eventually I was given a brand new petrol Mini Cooper a belting car but not ideal with a family (I'm no longer working there, the car fiasco was one of a few issues). The company was Thrifty, part of Hertz. I have no idea whether Hertz are ditching diesel and vans are probably still diesel, but Thrifty were definitely getting rid of their diesel car stock. A sign of the times.

If May's next statement, which iirc is due next week, indicates she is to continue to pursue a deal by reaching an accommodation with the ERG, I think it will be time for some low key no-deal personal prepping. Bit of extra tinned food and the like.