O/T Priti Patel

[sidders]

I'm willing to adjudicate. I'm nothing if not honest!

[Elite_Pie]

Hmmmn ........ Admittedly there is that way of looking at it which may well be factual. However I'm still happy to let the first bet ride (if I win) and see what transpires regarding the amount of the settlement. Of course it probably won't be in a one off payment and as you say will be spun so no side appears to lose face. Probably no one outside of Parliament will ever know the final figure but I'm happy to continue the bet and accept the "official" figure put out, which has to happen. So to reiterate, I think the final settlement will be below £30 billion and anything over that - you win!

Fox Norton apparently has been training well.

I reckon we will end up paying something like 50 billion euros so I would happily accept your 30 million or less bet. I just don't see how there can be an "official figure" to judge it on. There is so much detail involved that ludicrous claims (like we pay them £350 million per week) are bound to surface which are nowhere near the truth. I've searched around to see if any bookies are offering odds on the pay-off amount. None are, presumably because we'll never get the actual result.

I'm interested to see what distance Fox Norton tackles this season. He's mostly raced over 2 miles, but he's entered in the King George over 3 miles on Boxing Day, if he gets the trip he could end up going down the Gold Cup route.

[seriouspie]

I reckon we will end up paying something like 50 billion euros so I would happily accept your 30 million or less bet. I just don't see how there can be an "official figure" to judge it on. There is so much detail involved that ludicrous claims (like we pay them £350 million per week) are bound to surface which are nowhere near the truth. I've searched around to see if any bookies are offering odds on the pay-off amount. None are, presumably because we'll never get the actual result.

I'm interested to see what distance Fox Norton tackles this season. He's mostly raced over 2 miles, but he's entered in the King George over 3 miles on Boxing Day, if he gets the trip he could end up going down the Gold Cup route.

Correct on Fox Norton - the owner's daughter optimistic.

Glad you took the bet, Kier (Sidders) Hardie can adjudicate as he's also in my betting circle. He says he's also known as 'Honest Sid' so I've no qualms about his integrity - only other factors not related to betting!

Not disputing BFP classifying me as thick, all I would ask is that the amount published to allow the trade talks to commence is the one we work on. Fair enough? Personally I have a sneaking feeling that no agreement will be reached on this whole Brexit caper and we will just walk away and forge our own destiny - we will see. The existing bet will be held in abeyance.

[Elite_Pie]

I reckon we will end up paying something like 50 billion euros so I would happily accept your 30 million or less bet.

It seems from reports tonight that Mrs May has upped her second offer to 40 billion euros.

What do you think seriouspie, is it true or as your mate Mr Trump would say, merely "fake news"?

[BigFatPie]

It seems from reports tonight that Mrs May has upped her second offer to 40 billion euros.

What do you think seriouspie, is it true or as your mate Mr Trump would say, merely "fake news"?

I think you may have won that one Elite. And just because they’ve upped their offer, there’s no guarantee Europe will accept it.

Your guess of £60bn won’t be far off. If Ireland can be sorted out. Bargain.

[Mapperleypie]

Europe has never had so much control over the future of the UK as it does at this very point. Even as a 'remoaner' I didn't want that.

Time for those that backed Brexit to take some actual responsibility for the mess they are creating and come up with something that might actually resemble 'a plan'.

[sidders]

The entire Brexit issue is a terrible mess, whichever side of the fence you're coming from. Jobs in finance and commerce are vanishing at a rate of knots to Amsterdam and Frankfort.
Ireland - as I predicted at the start of all this - is a sh*tstorm. A hard border is as likely as Trump's Mexican wall and an invisible border means that enforcing different duties will be on a par with cat-herding. Indeed, I would venture the opinion that Ireland is on the road to becoming one country in the next 20 years.
Even with a strong government this would look like the most challenging time in British history since 1939-45. As it is, it is likely to be seen as a watershed moment for both the continent and the UK and not a good one for either.

[Elite_Pie]

Winning the vote was the easy bit - just tell better lies than the other side and it was enough to gain a slim majority. The problem is the government didn't expect to lose the vote and didn't want to lose the vote - the majority of Tories wanted to remain in the EU. Because we have no solid plan, we will have to pay a hefty price to leave. I hope it's worth it to "take control of our own destiny", but just remember that destiny now passes into the hands of a government who have made a complete pig's ear of everything so far!