British finance minister Philip Hammond warned the European Union on Thursday that Britain would find other ways to remain competitive after Brexit if it did not strike a comprehensive trading deal with the bloc.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he stuck closely to the government's message that it wants to explore ways with the EU to ensure that decades of close ties are not broken - saying with goodwill, anything was possible.

But Hammond, who is keen to show Davos that Britain is "open for business", said while the government did not want to leave the economic mainstream and trigger a race to the bottom on tax, the decision was "not entirely in our gift".

"We have to remain competitive. The best way to do that is to have a comprehensive trading relationship with the European Union, our closest neighbours," the finance minister, known as the Chancellor, told Reuters.

"But if we can't achieve that then we will have to find other ways to maintain our competitiveness, because our first obligation of government is to make sure that our people are able to maintain their standard of living."

Hammond later said that this was not a threat, but German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Britain should not try to gain competitive advantage by cutting corporate tax rates after the G20 leading economies agreed not to do so in 2015.

Recalling a pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May to make Britain a global player post-Brexit, Schaeuble said: "A truly global economy has to stick to what's been agreed globally."

FAR APART

Britain and the EU have stuck fast to their opening gambits as May prepares to trigger some of the most complicated talks since World War Two by the end of March.

The prime minister said in a speech this week that Britain would quit the EU single market when it leaves the European Union.

She threatened to withdraw the bloc without any agreement with Brussels in place, unless she failed to win a good deal, in what aides say was a speech aimed at a domestic audience.

British officials however now hope to reassure businesses in Davos that there will be prospect of falling off a "cliff edge" into uncertain trading conditions.

On Wednesday, two of the world's biggest banks, UBS and HSBC, said they could each move about 1,000 jobs out of London to prepare for Brexit disruption.

In her speech on Tuesday, May did offer some comfort to those who want to see Britain retain close ties with the EU, saying that she is aiming to secure an agreement that "may take in elements of current single market arrangements in certain areas" and to have a customs agreement with the EU.

'WELCOMING SOCIETY'

Asked how such an arrangement could work, Hammond said Britain wanted to explore options to find ways in which businesses - including the financial industry, which fears losing the right to sell their services in the bloc - could trade freely.

"Obviously we can't be in the full customs union because the restrictions that implies goes beyond the political imperatives from a UK point of view," said Hammond, who had campaigned to stay in the EU ahead of the Brexit referendum in June last year.

"But we have a lot of reasons on both sides of this discussion to want to try and maintain the most frictionless border system possible," he said, pointing to fresh produce imports every day, which neither side would want to disrupt.

And he said Britain would always be an attractive investment destination because of "the high level of confidence in our institutions".

British economic growth would slow this year, but the government did not expect to have to borrow more to keep the economy afloat, said Hammond, adding that Britain was still a haven for foreign talent and entrepreneurs.

"We want to go on being that kind of open, welcoming society which people choose as a venue to do their business," he said.

Quote from: i cum in peace on January 13, 2017, 07:14:11 PM

Quote from: Flee on January 13, 2017, 07:11:45 PM

Quote from: i cum in peace on January 13, 2017, 07:06:47 PM

Quote from: Flee on January 13, 2017, 06:19:44 PM

Paid 25€ for great health care

>tfw you dont have to pay anything

Weren't you a fan of health care systems like the Netherlands and Belgium (which are to my knowledge basically identical)?

shhh

Of course, what I meant to say was "damn, if only I too had a system as majestic as the NHS. God save the Queen and Worcestershire."

Paid 25€ for great health care

Tough but not smart. A real bad ass knows better than to start a fight with four other guys.

contrasted Leviathan with a book written by another individual I think a century later

Our sense of belonging to the male or female gender is an inherent component of the human identity perception. As a general rule, gender identity and physical sex coincide. If this is not the case, one refers to trans-identity or transsexuality. In a current study, brain researcher Georg S. Kanz of the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the MedUni Vienna was able to demonstrate that the very personal gender identity of every human being is reflected and verifiable in the cross-links between brain regions.

 While the biological gender is usually manifested in the physical appearance, the individual gender identity is not immediately discernible and primarily established in the psyche of a human being. As the brain is responsible for our thoughts, feelings and actions, several research institutions worldwide are searching for the neural representation of gender identity.

In a study under the guidance of Rupert Lanzenbergerof the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the MedUni Vienna published in  the Journal of Neuroscience it was now possible to demonstrate neural correlates (analogies) of the identity perception in the network of the brain.

Trans-gender persons as well as female and male control subjects were examined by way of diffusion-based magnetic resonance tomography (MRT). The examination revealed significant differences in the microstructure of the brain connections between male and female control subjects. Transgender persons took up a middle position between both genders.

 It was furthermore possible to detect a strong relationship between the microstructure connections among these networks and the testosterone level measured in the blood. Lanzenberger: "These results suggest that the gender identity is reflected in the structure of brain networks which form under the modulating influence of sex hormones in the course of the development of the nervous system."

The study subsidised by the science fund FWF was conducted by the Dutch Institute for Neurosciences in Amsterdam in the context of a cooperation project between various clinics and centres of the MedUni Vienna and the brain researcher Dick F. Swaab. Researchers of the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Management: Siegfried Kasper), the Exzellenzzentrum für Hochfeldmagnetresonanz (Excellence centre for high field magnetic resonance) (Cooperation partner: Christian Windischberger, Management: Siegfried Trattnig and Ewald Moser), as well as the Universitätsklinik für Frauenheilkunde (University clinic for gynaecology) (Cooperation partner: Ulrike Kaufmann, Management: Peter Wolf Husslein) were involved.

the book goes on to say that man in inherently violent against himself

But there's a lot more to the Brexit than just that.

Can't say I'd agree, but both stand to lose.

I've always liked Worcester because it doesn't feel like a city.

Quote from: i cum in peace on January 12, 2017, 06:20:07 AM

Quote from: Ender on January 12, 2017, 06:18:33 AM

A human

GTA doesn't count, dork.

Do you think this is a fucking joke, dude?