back to article Oh snap! Election's made Brexit uncertainty worse for biz, says BT CEO

The outcome of the general election has created greater uncertainty over the impact of Brexit on the telecommunications sector, BT chief exec Gavin Patterson has said. "It is pretty uncertain. What we were expecting this time last week and where we are now.. if it was unstable and uncertain this time last week, it’s gone up a …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If only BT could manage strong and stable connections.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "If only BT could manage strong and stable connections."

      Oh they are, they are. As with politics, everything would be fine if they didn't have to deal with the general public.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Abs Bullshit: "ultimately get to a situation where the whole of the country is fibre.”

      "ultimately get to a situation where the whole of the country is fibre.” In a word, absolute Bullshit (esp, when you give no timeframe).

      Obviously he's not read the memo from Ofcom in explicitly describing what "fibre" you mean when describing/advertising your product.

      Pure Fibre? or that half arsed, copper carcass obsolete "up to" Pointless G.fast "fibre", in the loosest sense of the word, that BT keeps talking up it's technical merits, like snake oil.

      BT really are a bunch of vultures that circle round the copper carcass local loop, more worried about somone breaking up their monopoly, which ultimately is still on the cards unless they improve their lot.

      1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: Abs Bullshit: "ultimately get to a situation where the whole of the country is fibre.”

        You've got glass fibre, all we had was that aluminium fibre. Pretty much stuffs any fibre to the cabinet system over the "last mile".

        1. Pen-y-gors

          Re: Abs Bullshit: "ultimately get to a situation where the whole of the country is fibre.”

          Aluminium?

          When I was having some problems with ADSL2+ the engineer told me there was a bit of Aluminium between me and the exchange that was causing trouble with speeds over about 10Mb, but he'd put in a request to get it replaced, and I believe that went ahead. (He may well have been bull-shitting of course!) I suspect their willingness to replace things depends on whether it's 20m or 20km!

  2. Pen-y-gors

    Stability, certainty?

    Not difficult:

    1) ditch May and the Tories

    2) ditch Article50

    3) Try and repair the damage already caused.

    4) preferably buy next Wednesday.

    1. Pen-y-gors

      Re: Stability, certainty?

      buy=> by

      I need a new set of fingers...

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: Stability, certainty?

        "I need a new set of fingers."

        I was going to ask you if next Tuesday was already reserved.

    2. Kane
      Coat

      Re: Stability, certainty?

      "4) preferably buy next Wednesday."

      I'll give you a fiver for it, but that's as high as I can go.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Stability, certainty?

        Last minute (well, 23:15 Tuesday) offer for Weds?

        Give you ten euros (although probably worth about the same by now, haven't checked for an hour), but Donald Trump is coming to dinner, and he's bringing Nigel Farage and Paul Dacre. The group of them are going to tell May what her negotiating strategy is. Oh, and Piers Morgan is coming along to write it up.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Stability, certainty? v2.0

      Even less difficult with my plan:

      1) Ask Trump whether we can be annexed to the US as a semi-autonomous state. I like the sound of Trumpania as a name.

      2) Drop the pound, take the dollar. Conversion exchange rate: parity.

      3) Take the US constitution as our law. Rename the Queen as Chief Mrs Lady Boss. In particular adopt US food standards, and let Monsanto run our farming.

      4) Katie Hopkins as European negotiator. Show Jonny Foreigner who's boss.

      5) Ban all media except the Daily Mail. Paul Dacre in charge of press and internet regulation, with the telecoms companies to police internet traffic profiling.

      6) TSA to patrol all our borders. They have clearly demonstrated their worth time and time again.

      7) Melania. Everywhere.

      8) Stop those constant DFS adverts for sofas and that bloody 'added plusness' one (not strictly necessary, but I thought I'd get that in whilst I could).

      1. sebt
        Coat

        Re: Stability, certainty? v2.0

        "Even less difficult with my plan:..."

        Oi! Who leaked Theresa May's new policy platform?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Happy

          Re: Stability, certainty? v2.0

          Oi! Who leaked Theresa May's new policy platform?

          You mean she had an old one?

      2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

        Re: Even less difficult with my plan:

        Not bad at all. Needs a bit of work on the details, though.

        1) Ask Trump whether we can be annexed to the US as a semi-autonomous state. I like the sound of Trumpania as a name.

        Britain would have to get in the queue behind Puerto Rico.

        3) [...] In particular adopt US food standards, and let Monsanto run our farming.

        Monsanto has just been bought by Bayer.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: Even less difficult with my plan:

          Monsanto has just been bought by Bayer.

          Yes, but Bayer is bound by pesky EU regulations about pesticides and GMC whereas in the US you can run ads encouraging people to ask for things like organodineutron. Or, for a real example, opioid pain killers.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Re: Stability, certainty?

      > 4) preferably buy next Wednesday.

      I'd quite like to own Wednesday too. I'd declare 'Wexit' and negotiate a trading alliance with the weekend.

    5. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: Stability, certainty?

      1) ditch May and the Tories

      May, certainly, but you don't really want to see how quickly the country would go titsup under a Corbyn labour administration. Too many of us remember the last time we had that sort of government.

      2) ditch Article50

      That would be an even bigger disaster than not triggering it would have been. Imagine the next time we objected to some new EU rule like mandatory Euro membership, or abolition of the rebate. The answer would be "You don't like it? How sad, what are you going to do, leave? We've heard that before HarHarHar, screw you."

  3. JakeMS
    Thumb Up

    It took them over a month to get my phone line activated when I moved house (didn't even have a dial tone!)

    In that time I was told it'll be active "soon", four BT engineers and a month later it finally became active..

    Lots of uncertainty around when the line would be active....

    I guess now they know how the uncertainty feels they will improve their service(s)?

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      It took them over a month to get my phone line activated when I moved house (didn't even have a dial tone!)

      And yet some people pine for the "good old days" of the nationalized GPO, when it would only have taken 6 months, and you'd have had a party line.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

    Oh boohoo. The people voted against the globalist corporate takeover.

    1. smartypants

      Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

      Did they? Honestly, Brexit is a gift. It means a million different things to a million people...

      Our stupid government triggered article 50 before it even decided what it was (correction - Brexit means Brexit! Silly me). Then it decided to hold a general election for a laugh, just days before the negotiations which they triggered were due to start.

      So we're a year down the line, and *STILL* Nobody in either Labour or the Conservatives can agree on what the hell this Brexit thing is about and what to ask for at the negotiations. And it looks like we'll be no closer to knowing in another year.

      We'd all have been better off with no government at all for the last 5 years.

      1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

        Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

        "We'd all have been better off with no government at all for the last 5 years."

        Coincidentally, that's what's about to happen.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

        "We'd all have been better off with no government at all for the last 5 years."

        It seemed to work OK for the Belgians.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

          "It seemed to work OK for the Belgians."

          The Belgians are pretty intelligent, and they don't have our newspaper owners telling them lies.

        2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

          "It seemed to work OK for the Belgians."

          Looks like the Netherlands are ready to give it a try as well.

          1. Dominion

            Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

            If "Yes Minister" is to be believed, the Government does nothing anyway. It's the Civil Service that wields the power?

      3. codejunky Silver badge

        Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

        @ smartypants

        "So we're a year down the line, and *STILL* Nobody in either Labour or the Conservatives can agree on what the hell this Brexit thing is about and what to ask for at the negotiations."

        To be fair nobody could agree what remaining in the EU is or was either. An entire history had to be rewritten and the aims of the gov/BoE had to be entirely rewritten/re-framed to make the remain cause. The EU was some wonderful capitalist hope, a socialist wet dream, a trade utopia and the defence against the rest of the world. The sacrificing of Greece had to be re-framed as their fault and the EU being a saviour and it was simultaneously going to be the loose collection of countries with no further integration and a federalising superstate to challenge the world.

        At least by the end of the campaigning the remain view settled on the EU being a steaming turd but we should remain to reform it into *again insert the many contradicting views*.

      4. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

        Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

        So we're a year down the line, and *STILL* Nobody in either Labour or the Conservatives can agree on what the hell this Brexit thing is about and what to ask for at the negotiations. And it looks like we'll be no closer to knowing in another year.

        So you'd have published your negotiating strategy in advance?! The golden rule for any negotiation is never to let your opponents know what your final position is. The only way to get a good deal is to convince them that you're prepared to walk away, anything else and you get screwed.

        When you go into a car showroom, if the dealer sees that you really want the car then he knows he doesn't have to try, just offer you a little sweetner to make it seem like he's playing the game. Only if you convince him that "no deal" is a likely outcome will he really try.

        That's what all this hard Brexit nonsense was about, posturing to convince the EU that tearing up the treaty and walking away really was an acceptable outcome. I doubt if it was ever likely to happen, and certainly wasn't the actual final position of the government negotiators. Now, of course, thanks to May's almighty cockup she's possibly blown any chance of a decent settlement. Bloody stupid woman.

        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: So you'd have published your negotiating strategy in advance?!

          Oh come on. Everbody knows what Theresa's negotiating strategy will be like. She has read Donny's book on the subject.

        2. This post has been deleted by its author

        3. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

          So you'd have published your negotiating strategy in advance?! The golden rule for any negotiation is never to let your opponents know what your final position is.

          This is nonsense in multi-lateral situations and has been debunked many times. But it does sound good.

          That's what all this hard Brexit nonsense was about, posturing to convince the EU that tearing up the treaty

          Which is great because my German friends who get to vote in the election September are starting to say: "as much as we like the Brits, there's no way they should get a special deal".

          1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

            Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

            "as much as we like the Brits, there's no way they should get a special deal"

            I'm glad to hear it, we don't need a special deal, just an ordinary fair deal will do fine. Unfortunately Tusk, Juncker & co undoubtedly have plans for a very special deal, inserted into the most painful place they can manage. Especially now that May has dropped our pants & bent us over ready for them.

      5. TkH11

        Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

        I really don't think it's a case of knowing what to ask for from the EU, it's a question of what they will give us! They are going to do everything in their power to not give us what we want (in order to discourage other countries from voting to leave the EU).

        If you tell them what you want in advance, and give an indication of how important it is to you, then you're negotiating hand is automatically weakened.

        1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge
          Mushroom

          Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

          "I really don't think it's a case of knowing what to ask for from the EU, it's a question of what they will give us!"

          Exactly. All we want is the upsides we currently have with none of the downsides. Simples.

          We're just got to wait for those pesky Europeans to come to their senses and see how reasonable that is. We may need to remind them we have nukes and that Donny is looking for an excuse to rebalance American-German trade in America's favour.

          1. codejunky Silver badge

            Re: The gargoyle’s mouth is a loudspeaker

            @ Brewster's Angle Grinder

            "All we want is the upsides we currently have with none of the downsides"

            I keep hearing this and not from the leavers. Is this the new position of the remain goal line or something? Leave was based on the basis that no deal is an improvement on being in the EU. Funny enough this lines up perfectly with the worst case position of the EU so if the talks fail we win anyway. Of course that does not rule out a trade deal if they are interested but if they 'want to punish us' then we can walk away no trouble and no hard feelings.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If I hear anything from anyone at BT who's not an experienced engineer, my first though is to wonder what the lie is this time.

  6. fnusnu

    I'd rather he focus on rectifying the share price than gob off in the press

  7. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    TL:DR "I'll keep sweating the Copper

    and you'll pry Openreach out of our cold dead hands."

    BT will fight Openreach independence every step of the way.

    They know who controls the ducts controls the market.

  8. thribb

    It's the searing insights like this that make one realize that Gav's well worth his £4.6 million pay packet.

  9. werdsmith Silver badge

    The difference between for the for and remain vote is not a lot different from the difference between the Labour and Tory vote count.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doom & Gloom, cue price rises in 3.2.1....

  11. Pen-y-gors

    Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

    Some weeks ago I posted the results of some very rough evidence of opinion on Brexit based on the response to various flagrantly pro-Remain postings on this esteemed organ (Fnar, fnar - he said 'organ')

    At the time of the referendum up and down votes were split about 50-50

    A few months ago up was leading down about 2-1

    It's now more like 4 or 5 to 1

    Does this reflect (as that 'nice' Mr Heseltine has recently suggested), that public opinion is now swinging strongly against the whole daft idea? Obviously commentards aren't particularly representative of the population at large (we're much too intelligent and have absolutely no social skills), but it's an interestingly trend.

    1. codejunky Silver badge

      Re: Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

      @ Pen-y-gors

      "Does this reflect (as that 'nice' Mr Heseltine has recently suggested), that public opinion is now swinging strongly against the whole daft idea?"

      That is a tough call. Even against all the facts people assumed remain would win the referendum. It was only when the polls started to wobble a little that the remain campaign kicked off with its propaganda efforts. And interestingly even long after the result the ridiculous propaganda efforts continue. Look at the recent news crying about inflation. Something the BoE and gov have been trying to get up since 2008! Something we need to rise so the base rate can rise and prepare us for the next recession.

      I am amused that the German finance minister is again saying we can change our minds and they will let us come back. The desperation of the EU to avoid brexit is obvious and telling but the worrying part is the stupidly wrong arguments repeated to just ditch democracy by people here thinking they know best. I expect a lot of them to be the arrogant fools who wanted to adopt the Euro here and called everyone else eurosceptics. A word that vanished quickly when we were proved right.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
        Stop

        Re: Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

        Something the BoE and gov have been trying to get up since 2008!

        Ahem, inflation was well-ahead of target for years which is one of the reasons why most people have seen a decline in their standard of living since 2008 and one of the main reasons for understandable protest.

        1. codejunky Silver badge

          Re: Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

          @ Charlie Clark

          "Ahem, inflation was well-ahead of target for years which is one of the reasons why most people have seen a decline in their standard of living since 2008 and one of the main reasons for understandable protest."

          Its almost like something happened. Like a recession. And after the noise of a correction (where the living beyond our means is corrected) we want greater core inflation because then the BoE can raise its rates. Because unfortunately the base rate is abnormally low and would struggle to be lowered when the next recession hits (at any time now).

          Those people are protesting too late. They should have been protesting during the spending and demanding restraint. Instead they complain now they get the bill for all that overspending. Tough. What about the rest of us who opposed the overspend? We still have to pay the bill too.

          1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

            Re: Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

            Its almost like something happened. Like a recession.

            Inflation was above target for most of the recession as I pointed out in response to your original post. Having been shown to be wrong in your initial claim you proceed to change tack.

            The BoE doesn't want to raise rates, it is using expansive monetary policy to engage in "financial repression" to inflate government debt away.

            People have been protesting about falling standards of living for years. I contend that this was why many people voted to leave in last year's referendum and why many of those that did, voted for nationalisations and handouts last week. Which is another reason why referendums are bloody stupid things.

            1. codejunky Silver badge

              Re: Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

              @ Charlie Clark

              "Inflation was above target for most of the recession as I pointed out in response to your original post. Having been shown to be wrong in your initial claim you proceed to change tack."

              Change what tack? Low rates are a stimulus to try and produce inflation. Rising inflation is controlled by raising rates. Core inflation is the figure that matters otherwise your are measuring noise. Since core inflation is not blazing and the situation has only been improving since the brexit vote then there couldnt be rate increases because the inflation wasnt there to back it.

              "The BoE doesn't want to raise rates, it is using expansive monetary policy to engage in "financial repression" to inflate government debt away."

              Bang on! As I said low rates to stimulate inflation. Unfortunately since 2008 until the referendum vote core inflation was stuck low and only because the rate fell and QE. Get that inflation up and the rates can go back up which will please the BoE as they will have room to lower rates for the next recession. And yes the aim is inflation to inflate debt away and why the EU is still filling its pants in fear of deflation there.

              "People have been protesting about falling standards of living for years"

              Yup. People were happy with the endless overspending during the huge boom and then upset when the credit dries up but also having even less due to the bill that has been racked up. The funny thing is people demand stimulus in the recessions but refuse to prepare during the good times.

              "I contend that this was why many people voted to leave in last year's referendum"

              There is good news that once out of the EU it is down to our own government as to how well the country does. We will be in a better position out of the EU and even the signal of leaving has improved some of the problems we had been having.

              "Which is another reason why referendums are bloody stupid things."

              Well the 100% cause was the failure of the main parties to take the population seriously. Over and over offering a choice to get away from the EU but each time changing their mind. Which is why UKIP became a legitimate threat to the main parties and the Tories had little choice. Must admit I would have preferred UKIP to have been elected as they were the ones with the plan to leave the EU with none of this messing about.

      2. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Unhappy

        "German finance minister is again saying we can change our minds and they will let us come back. "

        Small detail.

        The UK is in the process of leaving the EU.

        It has not actually left. That happens in 22 months.

        1. codejunky Silver badge

          @ John Smith 19

          "The UK is in the process of leaving the EU.

          It has not actually left. That happens in 22 months."

          Yup. We have not even left and they are begging us not to go. The good news is they seem to be accepting we want out even if they are desperate to change our minds.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Latest El Reg Brexit opinion poll

      There is NO evidence that people are turning off Brexit , a hard Brexit and wanting a soft Brexit.

      That's you and Heseltine jumping to a conclusion. Brexit, and not even what form it would take were not on our general election ballot papers. As no survey of the general public has been undertaken to ascertain their current view on Brexit, everything is sheer speculation.

      Heseltine is a remainer, and he's assuming that people voted for Corbyn because they want a softer Brexit, we all know how bad May was during the campaign, so people could very well be voting on her performance and not actually on her policies. He has an agenda.

      Corbyn promised the world, he pulled in the young which hasn't happened before, so only natural he would capture more votes given what was on offer.

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