Topic: Brexit: "Vultus inanis est et mori in fossa ego sum!"

[ShakaHislop]

Ministers spend £100m on Brexit consultant contracts

The government has agreed contracts worth £104m for outside help on Brexit, according to analysis for the BBC.

Since the EU referendum, Whitehall has hired companies to do consultancy work to prepare for the UK's EU exit.

Companies with the most valuable Brexit contracts include Boston Consulting Group, PWC and Deloitte, according to analysis firm Tussell.

Departments drawing on the advice of external specialists was "standard", a government spokesman said.

Six companies each received a contract worth £10m for "Cabinet Office Consultancy Support for EU Exit".

These contracts for "strategic programme management" run for a year until 1 May 2019, and give government the option of extending them for another year at the same price, according to letters from the Crown Commercial Service to the suppliers.

The US-based Boston Consulting Group has received five contracts, worth £14.2m, to work with the Cabinet Office, Departments for Environment, Exiting the European Union and Business.

Defra awarded 13 contracts for research services.

Gus Tugendhat, the founder of Tussell, a data provider on UK government contracts, told the BBC: "Even in the best of circumstances, the civil service alone would never have had sufficient capacity to pull off a project like Brexit in the time available".

"Due to the sheer breadth of issues the government is having to grapple with, it was pragmatic to engage the expertise of consultants - even if it is has led to extra cost for the public sector and a windfall for consulting firms," he said.

The final amount of money handed to suppliers may be lower than the value of the published contracts.

It is possible this analysis has not included Brexit-related contracts where the title or description do not reference it explicitly.

"It's no surprise they have let a lot of contracts," said Jill Rutter from the Institute for Government.

"But for the public to be confident about what they have let, it's important that, despite the rushed timescales, [the contracts] have been let through a proper process and government should be transparent about whom they have contracts with and what they are getting for them."

Two of the research contracts are to monitor news and social media reports about Brexit for the Department for Exiting the European Union.

One stipulates it wants "accurate media monitoring data from across the 27 EU countries".

IT contracts valued at £10.2m were awarded by government departments, led by the Home Office, which inked four deals, all relating to EU citizens currently living and working in the UK.

These include an agreement with Worldreach for facial recognition software for the EU Settlement Scheme app and Fujitsu for ID document scanning work.

The lowest value contract made public, worth £12,500, was between the Department for Education and a law firm for "legal analysis on the status of EU national children in the UK and British national children in the EU".

Others covered more specialist areas.

Defra agreed a £15,000 deal on research to assess "the impact of Brexit on the milling wheat and malting barley supply chain".

"The whole of government is preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit from the European Union, and we are equipping ourselves with the right people and the right skills across government to make this happen," the spokesman said.

Tamzen Isacsson, the chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, said: "Brexit has created an unprecedented workload for the UK government with the need to set up and plan new systems to cover border control, trade, agricultural policy and immigration as well as many other complex policy areas."

But Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA, the professional association for civil servants, said: "The eye watering figure of over £100m being spent on consultants will come as no surprise to civil servants who have been asked to prepare for Brexit following almost a decade of austerity that has seen the civil service shrink by almost a quarter."

"Britain's exit of the EU, on whatever terms, will require new skills and greater resources for the civil service for decades to come," he added.

PWC and Deloitte said they do not comment on client work.

Across the public sector, 23 different contracting authorities have awarded Brexit deals - 85 of them, worth a combined £107.3m.

Many smaller bodies, including Visit Britain, the BFI, and local authorities awarded Brexit-related work.

The Arts Council commissioned research "to quantify the extent of European and international working relationships by arts and cultural organisations in England".

The BFI asked for research to, in part, "establish lines of work for future research topics to ensure that the economic and cultural value of the UK's screen sectors is preserved and continues to grow over the coming years".

In December, the Treasury said it had provided more than £4.2bn for Brexit preparations since 2016.

At the time, the Chancellor Philip Hammond said, "A responsible government prepares for all contingencies and that is why we're stepping up no-deal planning".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47338534

[Skeeve]

Fox. And how he qualified as a doctor is one of life’s great mysteries.

Same medical school as Dre perhaps? 

[Red Beret]

They're spending an awful lot of money for a government that only wants to be told what it wants to hear.

[ShakaHislop]

Ministers spend £100m on Brexit consultant contracts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47338534

£100m pissed away on the shit idea John "I'll accept Tory bribes" Mann supports.

[ShakaHislop]

Speaking to a representative to the WTO today, I hear that 18 countries (including several Commonwealth ones) have objected to UK rolling over the #trade deals it has with them as a member of the EU.

Another disaster on the horizon!

The #Brexiteers said it would be so easy...

https://twitter.com/RCorbettMEP/status/1099255333866926081

[oldfordie]

My guess is a softer Brexit will be the outcome. Which red lines get dropped all depends on what happens within the Tory party I guess.

You may well be right and the deal favoured is a customs union deal as it keeps most of red lines except having the right to sign our own trade deals, it will still bring chaos at our ports,no frictionless trading and it won't cover services or agriculture. we will also have to sign this deal after we have left the EU which won't go down well with the nutters.
Labour are arguing a strong relationship with the single market whatever that is. wishful thinking if we are not prepared to drop FOM+Rules and regulations.
A customs union deal is better than a no deal but it's not good enough. it will still mean companies moving and chaos.

[oldfordie]

https://twitter.com/RCorbettMEP/status/1099255333866926081

Wonder why? has got anything to do with 500 mill+ EU customers having more bargaining power than 60 mill UK customers.
Maybe rules of origin rules have to be changed and quotas cut. were a farting little country now after all.

[classycarra]

https://twitter.com/RCorbettMEP/status/1099255333866926081

It's ok, send Hunt over and I'm sure he'll get them all onside. First stop Buenos Aires. Probably the last stop too.

[Ghost Town]

£100m pissed away on the shit idea John "I'll accept Tory bribes" Mann supports.

I doubt they'll stick that on the side of a bus. Let's spend it on the NHS instead, etc...

https://twitter.com/RCorbettMEP/status/1099255333866926081

So that's where Ronnie Corbett went 

[oldfordie]

Why membership of the single market is so vital, the brilliance of the Single Market, 15 min video by Prof Dougan, explains how the single market works.
https://twitter.com/Rachel5742/status/1099326188940611584

[Alan_X]

His links to the people who made millions off it certainly needs investigating.

Honestly, I think he was just trying to get into Joanna Lumley's knickers.

[The Gulleysucker]

Honestly, I think he was just trying to get into Joanna Lumley's knickers.

I once worked with a lad who at least claimed to have managed to see them for free as part of his job.

He worked in a computer room in a place I was employed at in the late 70's and early 80's and it was used to film an episode of the New Avengers sometime in the late 70's.

He had to lie down out of camera shot on the floor typing into a terminal in order to make things appear to happen on the computer system, tapes turn etc, and according to him, he had a full on view in some of the shots...

[Dr. Beaker]

Honestly, I think he was just trying to get into Joanna Lumley's knickers.

Not a chance with his arse.

[Willi]

Why membership of the single market is so vital, the brilliance of the Single Market, 15 min video by Prof Dougan, explains how the single market works.
https://twitter.com/Rachel5742/status/1099326188940611584

This is quite good in that it explains that items produced in the EU have to conform to EU standards. They are then sold to the rest of the world where normally these standards will be enough.
However, when not partner to the EU, you have to show that the standard of goods meet the requirements of the country involved.
Doesn't really matter much because Britain doesn't manufacture much anyway. (Is manufacturing about 15% of GDP?)

[BobOnATank]

This is quite good in that it explains that items produced in the EU have to conform to EU standards. They are then sold to the rest of the world where normally these standards will be enough.
However, when not partner to the EU, you have to show that the standard of goods meet the requirements of the country involved.
Doesn't really matter much because Britain doesn't manufacture much anyway. (Is manufacturing about 15% of GDP?)

Terrific so only 3 in 20 jobs will be lost, time for celebration I suppose?

[ShakaHislop]

Brexit must not be frustrated, Theresa May vows

Mrs May's speech to the National Conservative Convention (NCC) in Oxford on Saturday evening came as MPs prepare for a series of votes on Wednesday which could see Parliament take control of the Brexit process if the prime minister cannot secure an agreement with Brussels by mid-March.

Mrs May told activists: "Our focus to deliver Brexit must be absolute.

"We must not, and I will not, frustrate what was the largest democratic exercise in this country's history. In the very final stages of this process, the worst thing we could do is lose our focus."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47346630

Well, that's her on course for another Commons defeat this week.

[BobOnATank]

the worst thing we could do is lose our focus

haaaaa ahaaaaa haaaaaa, breath, haaahaaaaaaa - what focus?

[oldfordie]

This is quite good in that it explains that items produced in the EU have to conform to EU standards. They are then sold to the rest of the world where normally these standards will be enough.
However, when not partner to the EU, you have to show that the standard of goods meet the requirements of the country involved.
Doesn't really matter much because Britain doesn't manufacture much anyway. (Is manufacturing about 15% of GDP?)

I think you missed the main point of the aim of standardisation and rules and regulations within the EU.
If all the countries standards in the EU are the same then theres no need for customs checks to see if goods imported conform to standards. to check if they are safe etc, if we can sell something and it's legal in the UK then it's legal all of the EU as our laws are the same. it means we have frictionless trading only members of the EU enjoy.
No other country outside the EU has frictionless trading , it's the reason so many companies around the world have set up here. we are the gateway to Europe and we are about to blow that edge.
Many of the foreign companies only came to the UK so they could export to the EU, many of these companies also export around the world, so if we loose these companies it will not only mean less goods sold to the EU it will mean less goods sold around the world. the realty is many of the companies we have today will not be around to export to the rest of the world if we leave the EU, why would a company from the other side of the world invest in the UK to export to the other side of the world, the world doesn't work like that, you naturally trade mostly inside your region, our region being Europe. so when you make GDP arguments on manufacturing your not really giving us any information to make a decision, what about services, they make up 80% of our trade as members of the EU, how many jobs does manufacturing employ so we can export into the EU considering 45% of our trade is done with the EU. how many jobs does it create exporting on good trade deals with the rest of the world, nobody really knows the exact figure of how much we trade on EU terms but it's probably around 70%. Stats can be manipulated to tell the story you want. if we want to make a decision then look at the stats that really matter, how many jobs will be lost if we have a no deal, 3 mill+
How will a no deal affect us personally, it will mean big price rises in the shops and higher inflation which will hit interest rates. it means lack of investment meaning lost jobs will not be replaced.
Then theres the problem of being able to compete with the rest of the world who can sell goods far cheaper than we can, the only solution is pay cuts and more jobs loses to keep the company competitive.

[Alan_X]

I think you missed the main point of the aim of standardisation and rules and regulations within the EU.
If all the countries standards in the EU are the same then theres no need for customs checks to see if goods imported conform to standards. to check if they are safe etc, if we can sell something and it's legal in the UK then it's legal all of the EU as our laws are the same. it means we have frictionless trading only members of the EU enjoy.
No other country outside the EU has frictionless trading , it's the reason so many companies around the world have set up here. we are the gateway to Europe and we are about to blow that edge.
Many of the foreign companies only came to the UK so they could export to the EU, many of these companies also export around the world, so if we loose these companies it will not only mean less goods sold to the EU it will mean less goods sold around the world. the realty is many of the companies we have today will not be around to export to the rest of the world if we leave the EU, why would a company from the other side of the world invest in the UK to export to the other side of the world, the world doesn't work like that, you naturally trade mostly inside your region, our region being Europe. so when you make GDP arguments on manufacturing your not really giving us any information to make a decision, what about services, they make up 80% of our trade as members of the EU, how many jobs does manufacturing employ so we can export into the EU considering 45% of our trade is done with the EU. how many jobs does it create exporting on good trade deals with the rest of the world, nobody really knows the exact figure of how much we trade on EU terms but it's probably around 70%. Stats can be manipulated to tell the story you want. if we want to make a decision then look at the stats that really matter, how many jobs will be lost if we have a no deal, 3 mill+
How will a no deal affect us personally, it will mean big price rises in the shops and higher inflation which will hit interest rates. it means lack of investment meaning lost jobs will not be replaced.
Then theres the problem of being able to compete with the rest of the world who can sell goods far cheaper than we can, the only solution is pay cuts and more jobs loses to keep the company competitive.

It is insane that we’re still having to write posts like that a month before we leave the EU.
 

[Dr. Beaker]

I love this theory that May is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, having been kidnapped by the ERG. It does seem to explain her behaviour. At one point, I half believed she was a very devious remainer (I think I was just misinterpreting incompetence), but I binned that one quite a while ago.

[oldfordie]

It is insane that we’re still having to write posts like that a month before we leave the EU.

None so blind as those who will not see. it's shocking how millions can reassure themselves with simple arguments to dissmiss a mountain of evidence.

[Ghost Town]

I love this theory that May is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, having been kidnapped by the ERG. It does seem to explain her behaviour. At one point, I half believed she was a very devious remainer (I think I was just misinterpreting incompetence), but I binned that one quite a while ago.

There's also the theory that the best description of May is a 'technical remainer' for whom ending FoM (and preferably immigration per se, but let's start somewhere, right?) is far, far, far more important than any benefits of remaining.

If you could offer her full EU membership but with no FoM (and preferably no foreigners period, but let's start somewhere, right?) then I suspect she'd go for it and evangelise interminably for it.

Every benefit is worth giving up, every area of the economy worth impoverishing, every individual worth sacrificing and every reputational reversal and defeat and humiliation worth putting up with, to end FoM. Well she's got to start somewhere, right?

[Trada]

May delaying the Brexit vote again no vote this week.

[TepidT2O]

May delaying the Brexit vote again no vote this week.

Just absurd. Where’s the leadership?

[Zeb]

May delaying the Brexit vote again no vote this week.

Yeah. 12th March is the new date according to Sky's Beth Rigby.

Antoinette Sandbach was fuming publicly about it this morning, with support from Labour MPs. 'Contempt of parliament' was mentioned.

[Mutton Geoff]

Just absurd. Where’s the leadership?

Is this contempt of the political system?

[TepidT2O]

Is this contempt of the political system?

Is a flagrant neglect of the need of the nation.

Of course, she’s trying to push it as her dela or no Brexit and there is some evidence people are breaking bad coming out for her deal... but there’s a huge distance to go.

[Team Sleep]

Brexit could be delayed until 2021 under plans being explored by the EU’s most senior officials, at a time of growing exasperation over Theresa May’s handling of the talks, the Guardian can reveal.

“If leaders see any purpose in extending, which is not a certainty given the situation in the UK, they will not do a rolling cliff-edge but go long to ensure a decent period to solve the outstanding issues or batten down the hatches,” one EU diplomat said.

“A 21-month extension makes sense as it would cover the multi-financial framework [the EU’s budget period] and make things easier. Provided leaders are not completely down with Brexit fatigue, and a three-month technical extension won’t cut it, I would expect a 21-month kick [of the can]. It is doing the rounds in Brussels corridors. Martin Selmayr [the European commission’s secretary-general], among others, also fond of the idea.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/24/brexit-could-be-delayed-until-2021-eu-sources-reveal

Haven't seen the statement that he's referring to, but this from Jon Snow:

Institute of Directors issue statement saying they have ‘lost faith in the political process’ after May postpone yet another vote.

https://twitter.com/jonsnowC4/status/1099712734336352256

[Zeb]

Would make sense to delay longer term to be honest - because if we're not going to get it sorted with a short fix then we're going to have to do the EU elections anyway. (Dunt wrote a story confirming that not taking part was no longer an option.) However, what I'd really like to know is whether the extension would be, in effect, a replacement for the transition period.

Cooper's bill, should it pass and enter law, would allow the EU to offer that over the head of May and for Parliament to have a vote on it. Cooper's bill would actually kick into force the 13th March, so literally the day after May's meaningful vote.

[Dr. Beaker]

Institute of Directors issue statement saying they have ‘lost faith in the political process’ after May postpone yet another vote.



They've really got their finger on the pulse those boys.

[stoa]

So Britain would effectively be in the EU until 2023 or how does this extension work? It doesn't really make sense to me to extend the uncertainty for another 21 months when there's no different outcome in the horizon. As someone from Austria I'd say just get it over with even if that means a no deal on the 29th of March... I'd feel sorry for the people in the UK who voted remain, but this nonsense has to end now...

[Zeb]

So Britain would effectively be in the EU until 2023 or how does this extension work? It doesn't really make sense to me to extend the uncertainty for another 21 months when there's no different outcome in the horizon. As someone from Austria I'd say just get it over with even if that means a no deal on the 29th of March... I'd feel sorry for the people in the UK who voted remain, but this nonsense has to end now...

British press are reporting three options being considered - extension for 3 months, extension for 9 months, or extension for 21 months. One of the big advantages to the 21 months is that were a deal to be passed in the face of 'no deal' there'd still be a minimum 21 months of transition. Transition could end up being challenged in the courts because it's effectively Britain having to implement everything passed by the EU but without having any say in it.

Agree with you that it's a mess, and it's on Britain to sort this out and then go have whatever post-Empire crisis we need to have off in a quiet corner without bothering anyone else with it.

[Team Sleep]

Would make sense to delay longer term to be honest - because if we're not going to get it sorted with a short fix then we're going to have to do the EU elections anyway. (Dunt wrote a story confirming that not taking part was no longer an option.) However, what I'd really like to know is whether the extension would be, in effect, a replacement for the transition period.

Cooper's bill, should it pass and enter law, would allow the EU to offer that over the head of May and for Parliament to have a vote on it. Cooper's bill would actually kick into force the 13th March, so literally the day after May's meaningful vote.

Interesting thought on whether it replaces the transition period. May seems too bloody minded to change tack now, but maybe there is enough commonality between what the transition period offered and just extending anyway that it might just be doable.

If she's doing this for her "legacy" though, I doubt she expects to still be PM in 21 months time; for that reason I still think no deal is more likely than an extension she might not be able to see through. It's down to parliament now.

On the subject of her stubbornness, this is the full article from Matthew Parris. Paywalled unfortunately.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theresa-may-has-turned-conservative-discord-into-aschism-0btbdk80q

[west_london_red]

haaaaa ahaaaaa haaaaaa, breath, haaahaaaaaaa - what focus?

Maybe shes lost her car keys?!?!

I’ll get my coat.

[Gili Gulu]

The lack of criticism of May from the press is absolutely astonishing. Utter incompetence, the immovable object combined with the irresistible farce.

[Red-Soldier]

The lack of criticism of May from the press is absolutely astonishing. Utter incompetence, the immovable object combined with the irresistible farce.

Yep.

[Mutton Geoff]

The lack of criticism of May from the press is absolutely astonishing. Utter incompetence, the immovable object combined with the irresistible farce.

It is in one sense but it isnt that surprising really.

[Mutton Geoff]

Institute of Directors issue statement saying they have ‘lost faith in the political process’ after May postpone yet another vote.



They've really got their finger on the pulse those boys.

Be like the Four Yorkshiremen

[Team Sleep]

It is in one sense but it isnt that surprising really.

You know something's fucky when George Gideon Oliver Osborne, son of Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon and Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, educated at St. Paul's and Magdalen College, Oxford is one of the most vocal critics.

[Alan_X]

So Britain would effectively be in the EU until 2023 or how does this extension work? It doesn't really make sense to me to extend the uncertainty for another 21 months when there's no different outcome in the horizon. As someone from Austria I'd say just get it over with even if that means a no deal on the 29th of March... I'd feel sorry for the people in the UK who voted remain, but this nonsense has to end now...

As someone from Austria that's easy for you to say. Food shortages, people losing their jobs, communities devastated, people dying through shortages of medicine...