back to article PM urged to protect data flows post-Brexit ahead of Munich speech

Security experts have warned that Brexit could lead to data flows between the UK and European Union being "substantially curtailed". The community is amping up the pressure on government to ensure there is a legal basis for data transfer ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May's speech at the Munich security conference …

  1. John G Imrie

    Be carful what you ask for.

    The UK, meanwhile, would be "largely excluded from future developments in EU policy and practice".

    Isn't this what BoJo and his Brexit friends wanted?

    1. Teiwaz

      Re: Be carful what you ask for.

      Isn't this what BoJo and his Brexit friends wanted?

      Not exactly, Cake, Eat, and still have

      They still want to be in the Country Club, just not obey the rules or pay the membership fees.

    2. codejunky Silver badge

      Re: Be carful what you ask for.

      @ John G Imrie

      "Isn't this what BoJo and his Brexit friends wanted?"

      Actually this is what the EU wants. Its pretty easy to read that the UK would still like to share intelligence with the EU but the EU is the problem. It is the EU who are happy to reduce cooperation.

      Of course its up to the EU if they want to do that. There is nothing we can do if they want to be like that. Just make no mistake that it is the EU who are doing this.

      1. strum

        Re: Be carful what you ask for.

        >Just make no mistake that it is the EU who are doing this.

        The delusion continues; the UK is leaving the EU, not the other way round. The UK has to adapt to deal with the consequences; the EU doesn't.

        1. codejunky Silver badge

          Re: Be carful what you ask for.

          @ strum

          "the UK is leaving the EU, not the other way round"

          Well done for noticing. What does that have to do with shared intelligence for mutual protection?

          "The UK has to adapt to deal with the consequences; the EU doesn't."

          Now that is delusional. Both sides have to adapt. And it is up to how both sides decide to move forward that produces the end result. If one side is willing and the other is not then it doesnt happen. And the UK is willing to continue sharing security information.

          @ stopthebollocks

          Wish I could give you more than one up vote

    3. stopthebollocks

      Re: Be carful what you ask for.

      The UK, meanwhile, would be "largely excluded from future developments in EU policy and practice".

      Oh how terrible that will be, what will we do? how will we cope? The world will come to an end. There are countries that cope very well outside the EU you know. We're Great Britain for goodness sake. Stop moaning.

  2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    The speech will already have been written. It's a bit late to be advising her about what to say.

    1. Pen-y-gors

      Written? By a human? I think you mean generated by a rather dim AI that just generates random, meaningless phrases.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        but it will be a strong and stable one never the less.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "I think you mean generated by a rather dim AI that just generates random, meaningless phrases."

        No. Worse. By a committee of political advisors.

        The phrases will be equally random and meaningless but the committee'll convince themselves they mean something.

        1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          Oh dear ...... the Booby Prize in Sight of Simply Complex Success

          No. Worse. By a committee of political advisors.

          The phrases will be equally random and meaningless but the committee'll convince themselves they mean something. ..... Doctor Syntax

          Crikey, Chaos guaranteed by political advisor committee, Doctor Syntax.

          Who/What Guarantees Order in Future Orders? Perfectly Shared Information for/from Advanced IntelAIgents?

          And that be Holy Grail Yin to Booby Prize Yang.

          1. Pen-y-gors

            Re: Oh dear ...... the Booby Prize in Sight of Simply Complex Success

            @amanfrom...

            No idea what you're on about, but have a +1 for weirdness

            1. billse10

              Re: Oh dear ...... the Booby Prize in Sight of Simply Complex Success

              @Pen .. i think our Martian friend is quoting a Boris Johnson speech.

              At least, I heard Boris speak back in Sept, it sounded remarkably similar ....

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Simply Complex Success

            Hi Doc,

            I'm pondering... the Grand Book Of Compliments that I open in an attempt to express anything unnesessary for the rest of the Universe, will soon be read through completely.... because the immaculate series of Lethall/Vital Surgically Sharp and Intelligently Targeted Answering Questions the mortals meet in some Blogspot places or Registers, are still live-scripting day by day: they enlist much more pages, than any known book, Book or a booklet do... and still they find a greeting word from the Unknown Reader, and may it last long.

            Hence the Upvote (-:

            1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

              Re: Simply Complex Success

              are still live-scripting day by day: they enlist much more pages, than any known book, Book or a booklet do... and still they find a greeting word from the Unknown Reader, and may it last long...... Anonymous Coward

              Howdy, AC,

              Live-scripting 0Day after ODay, day after day, is something considerably SMARTR than Basic Cyber War Warefare for CyberWare Warfare. ......in Full Frontal Virtual Assault of SCADA Operating Systems .... and is not an altogether unknown feature regularly Registered and both harvested and servered by El Regers and Commentards here.

              And thanks for the encouragement. 'Tis Priceless.

  3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Improved data access

    Brexit will lead to improved data sharing.

    All those European security services who are constrained by riduculous notions of citizens rights will simply arrange to look the other way while a GCHQ tap is installed (next to the NSA one) and will in return receive access to 'UK held data'.

    BND caught spying on German citizens ? Nein we don't spy on our citizens

    1. Malcolm Weir Silver badge

      Re: Improved data access

      This is, of course, not exactly overly qualified in the truth department.

      First, the idea that the GCHQ tap might be installed next to the NSA one requires a mirror, because, err, they are one and the same.

      However, the core problem with YAAC's thinking is that it's exactly backward: right now, the BND et al. can gain access to data collected by GCHQ aka NSA once the UK walks it over to the other systems. Post Brexit, that will be harder. And while YAAC may think that will incentivize the BND et al to set up a data sharing deal (as the article mentioned), in practice that deal will be under much more of a spotlight than the old "invisible" boundary.

      (In ImEx terms: the data will have to be exported from the UK and imported into the EU, and that creates two points where awkward questions could be asked.)

      For those who think this is more a problem for the EU authorities than the UK ones, well, yes but... the thing about this sort of information is correlation. In trivially simplistic terms: no-one cares if someone buys a lot of fertilizer in the UK... but if the same person buys a tanker full of fuel oil in France, those two data points should make one go... Hmmm..!

  4. CJatCTi

    Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

    In all these stories just substitute US for EU and you see what rubbish it is,

    We are at the top table with the US for spying on people, and we are not part of the north american trade alliance.

    The EU & UK will still find a way to share info outside any currently being negotiated stitch up where we keep paying our money to subsidise life in Eastern Europe.

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

      Kindly fuck off if you're not going to say something sensible.

    2. Pen-y-gors

      Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

      But the difference is that the EU has these things called 'laws' to protect privacy, unlike USia

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

      I'm surprised you used "subsidise life in Eastern Europe", I would have pegged you as a "They took our jobs" kind of person.

      No matter which side you're on it's a balls up of the nth degree. I think the data sharing will continue because to not do so leave us and the EU open to potential terrorist that travel between countries, lets be honest the list on both side is huge, not that they ever follow it up. Therefore unless the border is going to be shut security data will still be shared.

    4. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

      where we keep paying our money to subsidise life in Eastern Europe.

      The biggest subsidy of life in Eastern Europe at the moment is Brexit.

      1. The money which the immigrants were going to spend in the UK is now exported out there in order to establish plan Bs and fall-back potions.

      2. The companies in the city which have failed to buy one of the few last train to Dublin tickets and have balked at the cost of tickets to Paris and Frankfurt are buying tickets to Sofia, Prague, Bratislava, Bucharest and Warsaw. I have some business down those parts so I was there this week. There was f*** congestion from business jets at the airport. Most of them were opaque (via holding companies). The two I managed to identify by their numbers were two large USA banks which have not moved their Eu HQ to Dublin and frankly, they no longer can - you cannot even get an appointment with a realtor there at the moment. Not that Eastern Europe is any better at the moment - all 3 bedroom+ properties are off the market - they are being scooped up by both "plan B" and city companies which are organizing evacuation.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

        Lloyds of London is making sure that it will be able to operate from Brussels. Sofia's airport is busy largely because of the chairmanship of the council. But, yeah, everyone is making contingency plans and lobbying like fuck for things to stay the way they are. This is just another example of the other 27 forcing the UK to say publicly want it wants and how cooperation and, hence, that "regulatory alignment" (such as ECJ and ECHR) is required.

        It would be funny if it wasn't so fucking pathetic.

        1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

          Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

          Sofia's airport is busy largely because of the chairmanship of the council.

          Correct guess. It was Sofia.

          It is the chairmanship which brings there 20-odd aircraft a day registered To hedge funds and banks which according to flight radar flew there predominantly to/from London.

          It is the chairmanship which magically provided a 2017 25% GROWTH of salaries in the construction sector in 2017 (according to official stats) while most other sectors scored 10-15.

          It is the Eu chairmanship which has reduced the TTL of a 3+ new build bedroom apartment on the Sofia housing market from 6 months down to sub-2 weeks.

          It is the Eu chairmanship which has suddenly stuck a halapeno pepper up the builders' arses to complete in 2018 the office complex around the Piza tower replica on the main road near the airport - the one which has been sitting in a dilapidated unfinished state since the real estate slump in 2007.

          It is all the magic of the chairmanship you know. It magically changes macroeconomic variables by sprinkling them with magical chairman dust.

          Sorry, there is no bucket emoticon so cannot help it, please use tissues to wipe out any surplus sarcasm which poured out of the screen onto the keyboard (I apologise in advance for that).

          Chairmanship - my a***. Now BrExit and related contingency money flows seem considerably more plausible.

          As far as the rest of 27 asking Britain, if Bulgaria(*) is to be used as an example it has given up on that. It is simply working based on hard BrExit in its own selfish interest now. So are all other Eastern European countries because the harder the BrExit outlook the MORE money they get - both from immigrants and from corporates. I do not see anything funny or pathetic here. That is the way the world works and that is something the idiots on the lie-stickered bus had to take into account before claiming anything.

          (*)I have some travel elsewhere in Europe coming up, it will be interesting to compare. I would not expect it to be any different though

          1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

            Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

            Chairmanship - my a***.

            Fair enough but my information comes from someone living and working in Sofia who said that the Chairmanship of the EU Council did wonders for a lot of public works committees. The various things you list are now incompatible with the chairmanship: they could be flying to set up offices and lobby about MIFID 2 or tax havens or lower duties on Crystal champagne or Bolivian Trading Powder.

    5. codejunky Silver badge

      Re: Project Fear is still alive and well at camp remoan.

      @ CJatCTi

      "In all these stories just substitute US for EU and you see what rubbish it is,"

      You will upset fragile minds by suggesting such sense. Thumb up

  5. BebopWeBop
    Facepalm

    But surely rhe three Mouseketeers had considered this (along with everything else coming out of the woodwork). On the other hand, possibly they didn’t have the time - full economic forecasts (still to be delivered or eaten by the dog) and all of that

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      No, they have not.

      The reality is that nearly anything you can think of regarding mutual recognition of documents, insurance, rights, deeds, whatever which Britain was part pre-Eu with any country in the world has been superseded by Eu agreements. Most of these agreements also have VOIDED any prior agreement and Britain as a part of the Eu has agreed to that at the time.

      As a result Britain either has to fall back to prehistoric treaties like the idiocy about the international driving license and the original car insurance "green cards" or in some of the worst cases has nothing to fall back onto as the original treaties have been obsoleted by the other side as no longer needed. This is especially the case as far as UK and Eu countries are concerned. All pre-Eu individual agreements UK had with let's say France and Germany are null and void now.

      This is is in all areas and driving licenses are the least of them. It will take a DECADE to churn through all the admin on this and this is an optimistic estimate as UK will have to redo the work Eu has been doing for the last 50 years (so much for it being useless). While signing a deal with the Eu is a big deal for most countries (even USA), signing a deal with a single country is something that is not going to get any priority in the legislative queue.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sacrosanct

    I thought security cooperation was sacrosanct and nobody would stoop so low as to use it as a grubby bargaining chip! That was the bleating I heard at the start of negotiations when the UK gov suggested it could curtail data sharing on eurotrash scum balls...oh...it's a diktat from Junker et al...oh, so...er...see what Brexit will do?! Our amazing friends in Brussels won't be able to share vital data on terrorism suspects anymore because of Brexit...fucking BoJo and his band of ...er...stuff etc.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sacrosanct

      Tell that to the Kiwi's

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Sacrosanct

        The Kiwi's what?

  7. Woodnag

    5 eyes

    Since UK is the only EU member of 5 eyes, any agreement should explicitly exclude UK being used as backdoor for getting EU citizen data to USA.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: 5 eyes

      "any agreement should explicitly exclude UK being used as backdoor for getting EU citizen data to USA."

      We all know it won't.

      1. Malcolm Weir Silver badge

        Re: 5 eyes

        Well, quite. That is the point: if the EU refuses to share Useful Stuff with the UK because they don't trust the UK not to share it with the US, this doesn't help the UK. Right now, the EU can't refuse... and the UK can share it with the US who can give it to the Israelis (obviously, "share" is not a word used for the US/Israeli relationship).

  8. Pen-y-gors

    Complex problem

    I am very clear that this is potentially a very serious problem. One way to solve it is to spend months and months on very complicated negotiations to ensure the the UK retains data protection laws that comply 100% with the EU laws, and which are subject to oversight by the ECJ.

    Or we could just exit Brexit, which seems the simplest answer to a long, long list of problems that Brexit will cause. Anyone for medical radio-isotopes, driving licences that are valid in the EU and the right to fly to Europe?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Complex problem

      I wonder, with all the talk of non-eu countries taking their factories elsewhere that workers in these factories are thinking, did I make the right choice?

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: Complex problem

        that workers in these factories are thinking, did I make the right choice?

        Seeing as they think they were voting to reduce immigration, the answer is probably "yes". Any job losses are somebody else's problem.This is the result of a wholly unncessary referendum that was badly run.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Complex problem

      driving licences that are valid in the EU and the right to fly to Europe?

      Nothing would suggest that either would be impacted by Brexit, given that most of the the 151 countries that aren't in the EU don't seem to have problems. :rolleyes:

      1. Pen-y-gors

        Re: Complex problem

        @AC

        Nothing would suggest that either would be impacted by Brexit

        Actually, quite a lot states in black and white that they would be impacted by Brexit.

        Driving licences: Even the Daily Express has reported that UK drivers will, in the absence of a new agreement, have to apply for international driving permits to drive in the EU after Brexit. And a recent EU notice states "“A driving licence issued by the United Kingdom will no longer be recognised by the member states.”" Regulations for goods vehicles are even nastier, and legislation is already in the Lords to try and do something.

        Aircraft rights:Very messy. Leaving the EU means we lose the existing agreements for landing rights, which are horribly complicated. To quote the Financial Times "One route is to retain membership of the European Common Aviation Area, which spans the EU as well as some non-EU countries. This would provide unrestricted access to all EU destinations. But it requires acceptance of all EU aviation law and European courts..." So that's not possible. No ECJ jurisdiction!

        1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

          Re: Complex problem

          A driving licence issued by the United Kingdom will no longer be recognised by the member states

          That's nonsense. EU countries accept driving licences from the US, Australia, etc. without problem. The only time an international driving licence is advised is when the original isn't in a western alphabet. Suggestions that GB or NI licences would be treated any differently is just FUD. Don't be so gullible.

          1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

            Re: Complex problem

            EU countries accept driving licences from the US, Australia, etc. without problem.

            Sure. There are mutual recognition agreements between them. This is the exact reason why UK license will NOT be recognized. There is NO mutual recognition agreement. It will be in the "yet to be signed" queue and (surprise, surprise) UK has not signed and ratified the relevant conventions to get an automatic recognition (at least Vienna convention of 1968, probably more).

            By the way, the recognition of licenses is the LEAST of the worries for a driver post BrExit. Private drivers have the workaround of getting an international license so there is a way around it (albeit annoying and painful).

            The big Bugbear is the insurance. There is a mutual recognition agreement for 3rd party liability insurance in Europe which is beyond Eu. Non-Eu and non-EEA countries like Serbia, Monte Negro, etc participate in it and agree to the same final arbiter. That arbiter is the same as for Open Sky agreement. It is called ECJ. According to stated policy by UK government this is red line. So based on current red lines, any car with a UK registration stops being street legal in the rest of Eu on BrExit date. No ifs, no buts, no coconuts.

            In addition to that, at least several European countries mandate access to MOT databases and ability to check that a car has a valid MOT as an additional requirement. If UK fails to agree data equivalence with Eu _AND_ associated states/states in the process of a joining application after BrExit any British car is non-street legal and non-legal to cross a number of borders in Europe.

            And so on and so fourth. As a driver who traverses all of Europe multiple times a year (mostly for fun - go and see places) I can summarize it. The executive summary is - ROYALLY SCREWED.

            1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

              @Voland's right hand Re: Complex problem

              It is disappointing to see how credulous people can be, in believing (and transmitting) the nonsense published in the papers (the Daily Express, of all things), all in the name of protesting about Brexit. It's easy to see why the term "remoaner' was invented.

              You, like many people, seem to be confusing what the EU requires with what it makes possible. Take driving licences:

              There are mutual recognition agreements between them. This is the exact reason why UK license will NOT be recognized. There is NO mutual recognition agreement. It will be in the "yet to be signed" queue and (surprise, surprise) UK has not signed and ratified the relevant conventions to get an automatic recognition (at least Vienna convention of 1968, probably more).

              Wrong. Mutual recognition is defined by international agreements that have much wider scope than the EU. The UK is one of the 74 signatories to the Vienna convention on Road Traffic of 1968, and has both signed and ratified its predecessor, the Geneva convention on Road Traffic 1949. Those conventions define mutual recognition of driving licences worldwide and will not be changed by Brexit.

              Private drivers have the workaround of getting an international license so there is a way around it (albeit annoying and painful).

              Wrong again. An International Driving Licence (or more correctly Permit) is merely an internationally-recognised translation of your national licence in an agreed format, as proof that you have a valid national licence. It's no "workaround", you still drive on your national licence, under the aforementioned agreements, which apply inside and outside the EU. You can get an IDP by post for £5.50.

              The big Bugbear is the insurance. There is a mutual recognition agreement for 3rd party liability insurance in Europe which is beyond Eu. Non-Eu and non-EEA countries like Serbia, Monte Negro, etc participate in it and agree to the same final arbiter. That arbiter is the same as for Open Sky agreement. It is called ECJ. According to stated policy by UK government this is red line.

              More FUD. International car insurance in Europe is covered by the Green Card scheme, which has 47 members inside and outside the EU, as you say it is not an EU system. The EU directives simply lay down the rules that EU members must follow in terms of having insurance, making claims etc. For example it makes having insurance mandatory (something that was not always the case, for example it's been mandatory in the UK since 1930, but only since 1958 in France). Here again everything exists without the EU, the EU just says how its members must apply the rules. Post-Brexit it would certainly be possible for, say, France to pass a law saying that UK insurance wasn't valid in France (or vice-versa). That would be a very stupid thing to do given the tourism that would be lost, and again it would need deliberate action. Bexit won't, in itself, change the current situation.

              As for the ECJ, you are misrepresenting the situation. The UK's intention is to prevent the ECJ from being able to overrule UK courts on UK matters, the usual example being when a UK court decided to expel a hate-preacher and was prevented from doing so by an ECJ ruling that it would disadvantage his family. There's clearly no change in the ECJ's ability to rule on pan-European issues within its jurisdiction. The UK would still have to respect such judgements, just as it would respect US Supreme Court rulings on US issues, etc.

              MOT databases

              You're clutching at remoaner straws here. There are EU directives which require each EU member to enact national legislation on roadworthiness, Unless the EU or UK decides to change the rules in a non-compliant way this will remain valid. It won't magically evaporate after Brexit.

              Clearly there will need to be agreement on data exchange rules, but that is so fundamental to all trade between EU and non-EU countries that it will obviously continue.

              executive summary is - ROYALLY SCREWED

              Not even close, but it's up to you. If you want to cower in your little English garden behind your little English fence, planning your next holiday in Skegness because you're scared the big, bad, Brexit wolf won't let you go anywhere else you are entirely free to believe that.

              The rest of us will continue our travels around the EU, and the other 80% of the world, as before.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Complex problem

          > No ECJ jurisdiction!

          You really don't understand this Brexit thing you're so scared of, do you? Of course the ECJ will still have jurisdiction over European issues, Brexit won't change that or the UK acceptance of that. The intention is that it won't be able to overrule UK courts on purely UK issues. Get your knickers untwisted!

      2. Malcolm Weir Silver badge

        Re: Complex problem

        Ah, the ignorance of the Brexiteers!

        So here's the thing: currently, all flight services agreements are negotiated on an EU-wide basis. So the right for BA to fly from LHR to New York is part of a bilateral agreement between the EU and the US, not the old "Bermuda II" UK/US agreement.

        On March 30th 2019, therefore, there will cease to be a legal framework for anyone to fly from the non-EU UK to the USA. Now, of course, the US and UK can and will negotiate a new agreement... effectively carving the US/UK frequencies/routes out of the larger US/EU pool; but does anyone think that Air France/KLM, Lufthansa, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines won't be working to skew the agreement in their favor? Arguments like "oh, some of the traffic to London was heading to the European financial center, which is now not in London, so fewer frequencies are needed in London and more in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris.

        The key for the Brexiteers to understand is that, yes, in an ideal world everyone would sit down and be terribly fair to everyone else. But there are literally billions of pounds/dollars/Euros at stake, so they won't, and if someone can rig the deck to favor their cause, they will.

        (Virgin Atlantic stands to be most screwed, of course, because no-one cares about them. BA is part of IAG, so they can become the small insignificant regional UK subsidiary of the giant EU airline based in Madrid, Barcelona, Dublin and Paris. United and Delta are happy driving traffic to their EU hubs (DL more than UA because of the scale of operations in London), and AA will be effectively neutral because if (say) LH boosts their traffic into the EU, AA will want to try to match to limit the domination!)

        1. Alt C

          Re: Complex problem

          @pen-y-gors and malcolm weir - look will you two just stop it please - throwing actual facts at brexiteers only confuses them (and they will just call you names) - they prefer to be concerned about made up bendy banana laws and other such things.They live in a world where unpicking 30 or so years of mutual agreements etc is a trivial task and we shouldn't worry our little heads about it as the brightest and best the Tory party have to offer are on the case - oh hang on....

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Complex problem

          Arguments like "oh, some of the traffic to London was heading to the European financial center, which is now not in London, so fewer frequencies are needed in London and more in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris.

          Classic remoaner scaremongering. There's no sign that the European financial centre is about to relocate from London after Brexit. It's not quite as simple as just filling in a change of address form.

          Hence the latest piece of good news...

          Hopes have been raised that the UK will strike a bespoke deal on financial services with the EU, keeping the vital cross-Channel trade open after Brexit.

          Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, is poised to launch the plan as the centrepiece of a key speech as soon as next week, proposing a system of mutual recognition in financial regulation – allowing UK and EU firms to trade freely, but crucially enabling Britain to set its own laws.

          The aim is to ensure both sides base their financial regulations on the same principles, so even as precise rules diverge after Brexit the laws in each market have similar effects.

          If the EU accepts the plan, it should mean both sides will be happy to allow institutions from the other access into their markets.

          The proposed system also requires some co-operation between politicians and regulators to ensure there are no surprise changes in the rules. An independent tribunal will be put in place to resolve any disputes.

          http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/02/16/city-cheers-plan-bespoke-brexit-deal-finance/

          You see that remoaners? A bespoke deal, also known as having your cake and eating it!

          1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

            Re: Complex problem

            A bespoke deal, also known as having your cake and eating it!

            Oh Jesus fucking wept… you forgot the slight rider on the whole thing:If the EU accepts the plan

            It's not going to happen. The EU has made the position clear and in December the UK signed up to it: regulatory alignment or third party status. All the rest is smoke and mirrors of a government desperate to avoid a confidence vote.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Complex problem

      Or we could just exit Brexit, which seems the simplest answer to a long, long list of problems that Brexit will cause. Anyone for medical radio-isotopes, driving licences that are valid in the EU and the right to fly to Europe?

      Nope, because there's no democratic mandate for an exit to Brexit.

      If you wet remainers could stop fretting you will see that the EU will fold like a cheap suit when it comes to all these threats over the coming months. They've already backtracked on the strong language about punishing the UK during the transition period. For all the talk about Britain not being able to cherry pick on things like trade deals, that is exactly what will end up happening. The alternative will be just as harmful for the EU as it is for Britain.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Complex problem

        I put it to you that the EU is in a stronger position to recover than the UK (sans Ecosse if they decide to leave)

        Discuss.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Complex problem

        Nope, because there's no democratic mandate for an exit to Brexit.

        I have said it before, I have said it again.

        The key differentiator between a democracy and a dictatorship fascist state is the fact that NOTHING IS FINAL AND ANYTHING CAN BE VOTED ON AGAIN. Sure, some countries put special provisions on stuff they consider sacred and require additional conditions to be met for a vote to be valid. It can however be discussed and voted again.

        The only "democracy" (quotes needed) to have a sacred referendum whose result is not to be challenged by any unbeliever scum under any circumstances was Nazi Germany and the referendum on changing the constitution of the Weimar Republic.

        As far as the mandate. In other countries referenda have special meanings. That is not the case in the UK. Parliament is sovereign and shall not be bound. So the parliament ALWAYS HAD, HAS and WILL HAVE the mandate to put BrExit in the proverbial place where sun does not shine.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Complex problem

          So the parliament ALWAYS HAD, HAS and WILL HAVE the mandate to put BrExit in the proverbial place where sun does not shine.

          No, it has the power to do it, but a "mandate" is an instruction, and the UK parliament certainly does not have a mandate to cancel Brexit. There was an election after the referendum and the main anti-Brexit party (the LibDems) did not win, the majority of the votes went to the two parties that are committed to seeing Brexit though (inasmuch as Corbyn actually "commits" to anything).

  9. Hans 1
    Coat

    This means that once the UK leaves the bloc, there needs to be a new legal basis for data sharing

    No, F.* off, there does have to be ... listen, you cannot have the butter, the cost of the butter, AND the vendor's wife ... Brexit means Brexit, now F.* off!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    better keep a stif upper lip and soldier on then

    Hear that Britain, you will become a third country

    Freedom again !!!

    but seriously who expects sex let alone good and frequent communication with their ex after they split up having divided the spoils.

    1. Malcolm Weir Silver badge

      Re: better keep a stif upper lip and soldier on then

      I think that should say "fifth country", because the UK is already four countries....

      (I'll get my coat...)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: better keep a stif upper lip and soldier on then

      but seriously who expects sex ... with their ex after they split up

      Most people split up specifically to stop getting fucked by their ex.

    3. Tail Up

      Re: better keep a stif upper lip and soldier on then

      ID+IOT.

      That's some Nick!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The EU would be shooting themselves in the foot

    Britain is a big source of home-grown terrorists with the country's historical links to Pakistan et al. and an ever increasing Muslim population. It would be reckless of the EU to prevent the flow of intelligence on possible plots that could represent an existential threat to their citizens.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: The EU would be shooting themselves in the foot

      The limitations on travel should prevent it easily.

      Just an idea... Visas... Extreme vetting... You know...

    2. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      Re: The EU would be shooting themselves in the foot

      Like it or like it not, one cannot deny and disagree that Britain is a big source of home-grown terrorists with the country's historical links to their hosting and media presentation of decades worth of The Troubles

      And now in their Austerity Phase of Bullshitting Propaganda, they be playing the Prime Fool and Blunted Tool again with their continuing perverse and inequitable support of the payment of salaries/benefits* from the public purses to Squatter MLAs [Members of the Legislative Assembly] and departments in Stormont which are refusing to act as they be voted into office for, as a devolved open and transparent government tendering to the day needs and feeds of its own peoples.

      * Certainly considered perverse and inequitable support if you be one of the tens of thousands whose benefits are being sanctioned for non-compliance of expected criteria. But if you are on that free gravy train you'll not be shouting for immediate action to stop the farce, will you?

      That's the rotten quality of integrity and the true worth displayed by inept political classes today.

      Or do you see/are you watching a wholly different picture show being broadbandcast to you from there?

  12. Tail Up

    Missed a part of my habitual reading

    Looks serious. Not a word about Russia, hackers or Putin.

    Or, maybe, IT goes without saying?

  13. Jove Bronze badge

    Many are keen to present this as a a significant loss to the UK, but fail to mention that EU states would also loose access to critical data.

    It should also be noted that in several cases, what is on offer from across the English Channel does not amount to much of any value.

  14. FreeTard

    Lots of brexiteers on this, El Reg is not the place I ever thought they'd appear.

    Anyway, coming from an EU 27 country, I can tell you that brexit just doesn't matter as much to us as it does to the UK. The only place I ever read about it is in the guardian & FT - and now El Reg!

    Brexit is a total fsck-up. But I don't think there's any going back since the Maybot triggered article 50. I hope I'm wrong, coz we still love you guys.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Lots of brexiteers on this, El Reg is not the place I ever thought they'd appear.

      Well that would be statistically strange considering that more than half of the 33.6 million people who voted were Brexiteers.

    2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      El Reg is not the place I ever thought they'd appear.

      Then perhaps you don't understand why people voted for it?

      Anyway, coming from an EU 27 country, I can tell you that brexit just doesn't matter as much to us as it does to the UK.

      It will, your politicians are already trying to work out how to get you to cough up the money they won't be getting from the UK. The idea that they should adjust their budget to fit their income clearly doesn't appeal to them.

      The EU, run by politicians for politicians. The rest of us are just expected to pay the bills and do what we're told.

  15. Yes Me Silver badge

    At last...

    ...the first serious argument for Brexit. Marginally less risk to privacy. Not that it's enough to counteract all the Brexit lie and fantasies, of course.

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