Daydream Belizers: Brexit, big sugar and the bad boys from Belize.

Pin Prick

In June 2016 a perfect storm of ‘interests’ managed to convince the British people to vote to Leave the EU.Among those ‘interests’ was “big sugar.”

Little known fact: The European Union is the largest beet producer in the world churning out 17 million metric tons per year. The Common Agricultural Policy has long been protectionist towards EU produced beet – even as it (often very reluctantly) reformed other areas. Cane sugar importers pay a tariff of€339 per ton and naturally they do not like it. Would you?

There are only two big players in the UK sugar industry.British Sugar uses beet in its production process and EU (mostly British) suppliers and thus manufactures its commodity tariff free. Tate and Lyle Sugars is a cane importer and is thus obliged to pay tariffs on imports. Unsurprisingly, the company has been opposed to British membership of the Union from the very start.

View original post 962 more words

KCTMO – Playing with fire!

Source: KCTMO – Playing with fire!

John Oliver on British election chaos and the Brexit disaster to come (video)

John Oliver reviews the UK’s general election clusterf*ck and the implications for Brexit. “The United Kingdom, the country that’s been saying ‘yas queen!’ for centuries, held a national election this week. There wasn’t actually due to be one for three …

Manchester bombing: don’t blame the New York Times for printing leaked information (video)

An editor’s first instinct is always to publish. And the news executives at the New York Times will not have had to think too long and hard about the ethical issues when images from the investigation into the Manchester bombing …

Ian Hislop’s right: Murdoch’s cosy relationship with Tories should be investigated (video)

The reciprocal closeness in the relationship between journalism and power is a prominent feature of British political history. In times of war or national crisis, media organisations are expected more often than not to behave as if they were an …

Shout loud, Remainers – democracy means giving the majority a hard time (video)

As the Brexit debate deteriorates in quality at an alarming rate, it appears that any hope of Britain returning to its democratic senses is receding fast. The most recent cases include Ian Duncan Smith dismissing Kier Starmer, shadow Brexit minister …

The Battle for Labour: Is the Party Over? (video)

Last night saw an unusual broadcast media double from the BBC’s Panorama and Channel 4’s Dispatches teams – two documentaries, both predicting the death of the Labour party, on the same night and almost the same time. Here are both …

Nigel Farage’s school friend exposes Britain’s ‘Little Hitler’ (video)

One of Nigel Farage’s school friends has written an open letter about Farage’s schoolboy fascism, and it is damning. “Dear Nigel, I won’t give my name – my family isn’t even aware I’m writing this and I wish to protect …

Trump’s Angry America meets Brexit’s Racist Britain (video)

It is famously said that the United States and Great Britain are two nations separated by a common language, but when it comes to the vocabulary of racism it seems we are not that different at all. Of course, it …

Uruguay’s victory against Big Tobacco is more than just a local triumph (incl John Oliver video)

Uruguay recently won a landmark case against the tobacco firm Philip Morris International. The company sued the Latin American state after it introduced two measures affecting tobacco packaging: that graphic health warnings cover 80% of cigarette packets, and that tobacco …

Brexit: what does the US think of what we have done? (video)

Being British means that, for most of my life, I have been able to share in that certain level of condescension that we have when it comes to our American cousins. You know the one. The one that sneered at …

John Oliver vents his spleen over UK’s Brexit vote (video)

“John Oliver, already known as a vocal opponent of Brexit, has delivered a furious monologue attacking the British prime minister and key figures in the campaign for the UK to leave the EU. “The United Kingdom,” the British host of …

Exposure: Abused and Betrayed by Clement Freud (video)

“Sir Clement Freud, the late politician and broadcaster, has been accused of abusing two girls in the late 1940s and 1970s. Two women have told ITV Exposure of the abuse they suffered at the hands of Freud, who died in …

The Big EU Reality Check: whatever you do, don’t rely on your gut (video)

Last night the BBC finally decided that it was time that the great British public was given some actual facts about the EU referendum instead of the usual ding-dong political head to head style shouting match. In The Big EU Reality …

John Oliver destroys the case for a Brexit (video)

John Oliver’s epic take-down of the case for Brexit, “Brexit the Movie” and UKIP is a thing of great and hilarious beauty. If you have a vote this Thursday, but still have no idea what a Brexit is or why …