BC POLITICS
Saved by @jacobhtml

Ok, it's high time to look at the REAL effects of Brexit. As the Tories implode & Labour sits on its hands, companies are executing contingency plans, shifting jobs & assets, slashing investments, or redomiciling (accounting exercise). Happening NOW, not in a fantasy future. 1/95

 Barden Corporation is closing down its Plymouth factory after 51 years, putting 400 jobs at risk, as its parent company Schaeffler shifts production to various sites outside the UK due to Brexit. 2/95
https://t.co/x0OJalVm6d
8 health providers have warned of medicine shortages in the event of a no-deal Brexit: "we do not believe that the current medicine supply plans will suffice, and we will have widespread shortages if we do not respond urgently." 3/95
https://t.co/iXMaCdww00
Pfizer - $100 million on Brexit prep: "Pfizer’s preparations are well advanced to make the changes necessary to meet EU legal requirements after the U.K. is no longer a member state, especially in the regulatory, manufacturing and supply chain areas." 4/95
https://t.co/zv8xUEVC2W
The Government has spent £4.2 billion pounds on Brexit preparations (£2.2 billion in previous Budgets, plus an additional £2 billion in the most recent Budget.) 5/95
https://t.co/fn47z63mEp
HSBC announced in its 2017 annual report that it had incurred $28 million of "costs associated with the UK’s exit from the EU". 6/95
https://t.co/JymuegrR6I
Chubb (world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company) is redomiciling from the UK to France. It has already received permission from the french regulator, and aims to complete its move on 1 January 2019. 7/95
https://t.co/LcGNUOoyoF
Schaeffler, a car parts company, is closing its factory in Llanelli, Wales, because of Brexit, affecting 220 jobs. The factory opened in 1957. The decision was described in the Welsh Assembly as "the tremor that will lead to the Brexit earthquake". 8/95
https://t.co/o3ChuNxb8w
Columbia Threadneedle switched £6.2 billion worth of assets from UK domiciled funds to Luxembourg domiciled funds. 9/95
https://t.co/2XrQQYUGrf
Standard Life reported having incurred £12 million of "Brexit related costs" in its 2018 half-year results report. 10/95
https://t.co/oyxXhAYOaE
Lloyd's of London (company with 15% of business done with EU27 counterparts) officially opened Lloyd's Brussels, its post-Brexit EU headquarters, in early November 2018. The new operation has 50 staff, and plans to service customers across the EU27. 11/95
https://t.co/gbvX5188wr
A ferry company has brought in 2 new ships, including the "Brexit Buster" ship Celine (600 truck capacity, world's largest short sea roll-on roll-off ferry). Idea is to bypass the UK and send freight directly from Ireland to Belgium and Spain. 12/95
https://t.co/S7IgpggYwj
The annual cost to the NHS of securing all necessary visas and other documentation for its overseas staff post-Brexit (i.e. under the new immigration regime) is estimated at £490 million. 13/95
https://t.co/lGDzw7MA1c
SwissQuote cancelled its expansion plans in London after Brexit, and instead bought a bank in Luxembourg. Chief Executive: "With the coming Brexit we needed to have strategic options and Luxembourg is a very good place for these." 14/95
https://t.co/9JpxriubwR
Haulage companies face a lottery for scarce permits to continue doing business internationally post-Brexit, after the Government admits there are less than 10% of the needed number of permits to go around. 15/95
https://t.co/rVXAk9S3eH
Bank of America has spent between $300 and $400 million preparing for Brexit, including establishing new subsidiaries in Paris and Dublin, moving staff etc. Final cost not yet clear as project is ongoing. 16/95
https://t.co/dROzbJx2Xv
Brexit is killing a crucial source of early-stage tech funding: "Funding for UK tech firms by the European Investment Fund (EIF) fell by 91 per cent during 2017 to €61.1m (£53m) compared with €708.8m the previous year." 17/95
https://t.co/3e7UznPEbi
DEXEU (the Brexit Ministry) has spent over £100 million (estimated) on staffing costs since the referendum. That figure's just for the people in the department, and doesn't account for any other costs... 18/95
https://t.co/WVQ4fvlnTy
Insurer Hiscox spent US$15 million (£11.5 million) in preparations against a no-deal Brexit. 19/95
https://t.co/3oVC9eFHUg
A $15 billion hedge fund specialising in distressed debt is gearing up to profit out of Brexit chaos. (You just *knew* the vultures would be circling...) 20/95
https://t.co/q7AneHKMUp
The Government estimates that it will cost the chemicals industry £450 million to reregister chemicals under a post-Brexit regime. (That's just to replicate the status quo.) 21/95
https://t.co/08GeliwW1g
So many firms are stockpiling food against the disruption of Brexit that a specialist cold storage company has now completely run out of room...
https://t.co/WDx2dxwA51 22/95
Recardio is halting clinical trials in the UK of a new heart drug because of concerns over Brexit, and drug approval regimes. 23/95
https://t.co/tKWUc3zp8Y
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the UK's richest person (and a Brexit supporter) decided to leave the UK for Monaco in mid-2018. 24/95
https://t.co/bovzn9Jv9c
Scotland Yard is having to spend £2.4 million on setting up a no-deal Brexit "safety net unit" after Government ignored its reasoned warnings over how Brexit would make the UK less safe. 25/95
https://t.co/IwblsN0tlk
European Medical Agency (EMA), Europe's medicines regulator, is moving from London to Amsterdam. It used to employ close to 900 people in London. It's had to cut its short-term service offering as it will lose at least 30% of staff during the move. 26/95
https://t.co/zN8lndkpgm
HSBC is transferring legal ownership of its Polish and Irish subsidiaries from the UK to its French unit. 27/95
https://t.co/6eQQfCFjmq
The Government has 7000 civil servants working on Brexit, plus Treasury funding for 9000 more. (Easy to imagine the mountains of red tape - and paper - they're generating as a result!) 28/95
https://t.co/raCEY7Sybg
New Look (fashion retailer) are closing a further 25 stores (85, up from planned 60 store closures) citing "significant headwinds and uncertainties, including Brexit". 29/95
https://t.co/Dm28ydz1p1
Investment in UK renewables fell 46% year-on-year because of Brexit concerns. 30/95
https://t.co/ZLqaBmewxb
Deutsche Bank moved about half its new euro swaps business away from LCH (UK-based clearing house) and onto Eurex (based in Germany) in August 2018. 31/95
https://t.co/HUV5teBQOW
Broadcasters have begun to move licenses to EU27 countries, since channels licensed in the UK will no longer have the right to broadcast cross-EU after Brexit. Viacom and Viceland have secured licenses in the Netherlands. 32/95
https://t.co/XRk3RQQSJh
GSK Brexit prep spend: "We currently anticipate that the cost to implement these and other necessary changes could be up to £70 million over the next two to three years, with subsequent ongoing additional costs of approximately £50 million per year." 33/95
https://t.co/eRh3K7nc15
Barclays is moving €250 billion of business to Dublin ahead of Brexit, making it Ireland's largest bank. It has already secured a huge gleaming new office building there in preparation. 34/95
https://t.co/YKrpkin44E
Home Office private beta of EU citizen registration system took 2 weeks to process just 1,053 people (despite testing relatively "easy" batches of applicants). Full system will have to work 36x faster to cope with *3 million* people in 3 years. 35/95
https://t.co/BFE9dGdGWq
Standard Chartered has applied to turn its Frankfurt branch into its EU subsidiary. It initially expected to move 20 jobs, but recently announced that more would go. 36/95
https://t.co/ISzniwsknG
The Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is a major new HMRC IT system meant to replace existing customs systems. Supposed to be ready by January 2019. Delays mean it won't be ready by Brexit Day. Old and new systems will have to run in parallel. 37/95
https://t.co/QosWrerJ5h
Daiwa Capital Markets established a new subsidiary in Frankfurt on 3rd September 2018 "so that Daiwa can continue to provide a full service to its EU-based clients post-Brexit." 38/95
https://t.co/Mban2WcWXb
Steris PLC, a company with $2.6 billion in annual revenue, has redomiciled its HQ from the UK to Ireland due to Brexit. 39/95
https://t.co/pSCw7Hin91
Veterinary drugs producer Dechra Pharmaceuticals decided to move ahead with its contingency plans for a hard Brexit in September 2018, at a cost of £2 million. 40/95
https://t.co/wyLibtme04
A major financial firm, CME Group's BrokerTec, is leaving London for Amsterdam because of Brexit, taking its $240 billion/day repo market with it. 41/95
https://t.co/5Bazyd7EMS
Marshall Wace, one of the biggest hedge funds in the UK, has obtained a license to run management companies in Ireland & plans to grow its Dublin presence as a protective measure against Brexit. (Its chairman and CEO donated £100,000 to Leave) 42/95
https://t.co/lcXSeZyjwe
Hiscox are transferring some aspects of their business to Luxembourg, and expect the Part VII transfer to complete by 1 January 2019. "The Transfer will move £421.5m of liabilities (and the corresponding assets) from HIC to HSA." 43/95
https://t.co/pcLtyC6B7m
Panasonic is moving its European HQ from the UK to Amsterdam (the legal aspects of the move were completed in October 2018, as the £200 million capitalised UK company was absorbed by Panasonic's Dutch entity). 44/95
https://t.co/O3FXaqYAVL
Volex PLC is looking for new arrangements for approx $7 million in sales: "We have already begun looking for an alternate dock on mainland Europe to take delivery of the half of sales destined for EU end customers." 45/95
https://t.co/t6TQud66pQ
AstraZenica estimates its Brexit-related costs at £40 million for duplicate drug testing requirements, and building up product stockpiles. 46/95
https://t.co/vmeA5RcbVg
The London Stock Exchange is implementing its hard Brexit contingency plans: "These contingency plans include incorporation of new entities in the EU27 and applications for authorisation within the EU27 for certain group businesses." 47/95
https://t.co/MStMy5xj3U
MS Amlin receives the green light to redomicile Amlin Insurance SE from the UK to Belgium. 48/95
https://t.co/mpfhA03ySc
Once we're out of the EU, we'll be cut out of the pan-EU transport strategy (which unlocks billions of euro in grants and other funding). Indeed, EU transport maps will be redrawn (policy-wise, not literally!) so that the UK doesn't appear any more. 49/95
https://t.co/8mus4tyCqj
The latest September 26 version of the UK Government's OFFICIAL list of remaining "Brexit Unknowns" runs to 63 pages. (That's despite the fact that its very first assumption is that we will get a Withdrawal Agreement.) 50/95
https://t.co/lp90ejxrcY
Halford Group Plc stated in its FY19 interim results that: "The weaker pound since the Brexit vote has increased our cost of sales by a cumulative circa £40m by the end of FY18 compared to FY16." 51/95
https://t.co/aNOwkI09gz
A new work order for the "Galileo Control Segment" ground infrastructure monitoring the Galileo constellation of satellites was won by GMV Aerospace and Defence of Spain. Up until now, GCS had been provided by Airbus in Portsmouth. 52/95
https://t.co/EnzOkm73bK
UK companies with a .eu domain name will no longer be eligible to renew them after Brexit, nor will they be entitled to register new .eu domains. This affects an estimated 300,000 domain registrations. 53/95
https://t.co/GzpBvJsbrF
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says in its 2018/19 business plan that they "have identified total EU withdrawal demand [costs] of around £30m", and that part of that will have to be funded by raising the fees they charge firms. 54/95
https://t.co/XMc5HsW1hu
France's top banks are moving 500 jobs out of London due to Brexit. 55/95
https://t.co/m9LTzOdLDd
Markel Corporation announced in July 2018 that it had been granted a license to establish an insurance company in Germany so as to be able to continue servicing EEA clients after Brexit. 56/95
https://t.co/ayVvP85QbW
GoldCore opened Ireland's first institutional-grade gold storage vault in October 2018, anticipating that investors will move gold bars from London to Dublin due to Brexit. The firm's initial target is 0.5% of the $300 billion of gold held in London. 57/95
https://t.co/qdCPGuVC3y
The UK Government spent £700,000 on the tables and chairs for an office in Leeds being set up to deal with Brexit. The office will be fully kitted out by the beginning of December, and 1,000 staff dealing with Brexit issues will be based there. 58/95
https://t.co/soye6FQYFk
The DHSC wrote to hospitals re potential shortages of imported foods under no-deal Brexit: "Instructions will be given to major producers of patient meals to put in place contingency arrangements, to account for short supply of certain ingredients." 59/95
https://t.co/koIi5AKG4c
In October 2018, the CEO of Mercedez-Benz revealed to Paris motor show attendees that the company had been investigating the prospect of building cars in the UK, but killed the project after Brexit. 60/95
https://t.co/aCMyCUqyuO
Liberty Specialty Markets is redomiciling its insurance company from the UK to Luxembourg 61/95
https://t.co/SDwotkuknM
The European Banking Agency (EBA) - the banking regulator for the EU - moved its operations from London to Paris, affecting 160 staff. 62/95
https://t.co/5EhyWElCeg
JPMorgan and other leading US banks are getting ready to shift over 250 billion euro in assets from London to Frankfurt. 63/95
https://t.co/35eYFWMoVD

More from Edwin Hayward

Edwin Hayward \U0001f984 \U0001f5e1
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡...
@uk_domain_names
THREAD: Here are the essential points from the EU's time-limited, limited effect no-deal Brexit mitigation offer.

(Most concessions are unilateral measures it will implement. Some require UK cooperation - not clear what happens if we refuse to do

Air travel
"Unless there is a contingency measure in place on air transport at the end of the transition period, air traffic between the EU and the United Kingdom will be interrupted."

The EU is proposing 6 months of reciprocal concessions to keep (most) planes flying.


However, they're not offering any concessions on airline ownership requirements, so BA for one may come unstuck here (depending on how its restructured shareholding is going). Its message: you already had plenty of time to prepare, including a grace period.


Road transport

A) Haulage
With no agreement, hauliers would have to use ECMT permits to provide any freight transport between the UK and the EU. But there aren't nearly enough of those to go around. So they're giving a basic grace period of 6 months, as long as we reciprocate.


B) Bus services
"Furthermore, in the absence of an agreement on a future partnership between the EU and the United Kingdom by 1 January 2021, regular bus services to and from the United
Kingdom would have to be interrupted"

Here too, offer is 6 months of continued connectivity.
BREXIT
Edwin Hayward \U0001f984 \U0001f5e1
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡...
@uk_domain_names
A few thoughts in advance of seeing the Brexit deal, assuming it's not scuppered at the last.

1. It will save industries, in the short term. For all the problems it *won't* solve, there is at least that. Tariffs would have finished off some sectors like switching off a light.

2. Expect a lot of confusion (through ignorance, and deliberate obfuscation by certain segments of the media) between free trade and frictionless trade. Trade that is free can still come with plenty of friction. Those extra £billions in customs paperwork won't go away.

3. There may be a standstill or implementation period. If there is, that will be helpful because it will let us get further down the road of vaccinating against the coronavirus, and resolving one crisis before plunging into the rest.

4. Any standstill will trigger a huge wave of "you told us scary things would happen, but they didn't." If you're counting along, it will be the 3rd such wave. First was during the negotiations while we were still EU members. Second during transition when EU rules still applied.

5. Those are just words. But the damage to the economy is real. So a standstill remains preferable, though teeth may have to remain gritted a while longer as a result.

6. Expect a few positive surprises. (Not compared to EU membership, but to what would otherwise have been.)
BREXIT
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Edwin Hayward
Edwin Hayward
@uk_domain_names
Handy guide for Dominic Raab and other Brexiteers, and for anyone keen to replace our EU trade with trade with the rest of the world on WTO terms...


You can't magic away the vast distances involved. Clue: we fly in only 1/192th of our trade compared to the amount that arrives via sea


But even if you invented a teleporter tomorrow, WTO terms are so bad, so stacked against us, that a no-deal Brexit will be a total economic disaster


And while the Brexiteers fantasise, real jobs are being lost, investments are drying up, companies are moving assets to the EU27 or redomiciling. All already happened and happening right now, not in some mythical


Of course, there are many, many myths that Brexiteers perpetuate that are total fiction. You've seen a couple of them already. The thread below busts a whole lot
POLITICS
Edwin Hayward \U0001f984 \U0001f5e1
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡...
@uk_domain_names
Here's how the UK's situation will change after the transition period ends, compared to our former EU membership...

(Come back to this thread. It will keep growing!)

- UK can negotiate its own trade deals
- No more automatic participation in new trade deals reached by the EU

- UK gets to keep fish equivalent to 25% of the catch EU boats previously caught in UK waters, staggered over 5.5 years
- Costly export health certificates for fishery products
- Inbound and outbound customs and regulatory checks (UK side will defer some of these temporarily)

- Stringent rules of origin and local content requirements
- Loss of freedom of movement for UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK (Ireland excepted)
- No Erasmus programme
- No equivalence decision for financial services

- A border down the Irish sea between NI & GB
- No access to the Galileo military
- Temporary agreement on data, which expires in 6 months
- 2 parallel trademark systems, requiring firms to file twice in the UK and the EU

- 2 parallel product conformity assessment systems (CE and UKCA), requiring firms to file twice in the UK and the EU. One year grace period (with exceptions).
- 2 parallel chemical regulatory systems (REACH and UK REACH), requiring firms to register twice in the UK and the EU
TRADING
Edwin Hayward \U0001f984 \U0001f5e1
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡...
@uk_domain_names
UK Government just released 70 pages of case studies today, showing how the borders will operate after 1 January 2021.

They're essentially hardcore porn for red tape fetishists.

Doomed, we are. Doomed.

(e.g. exporting fish; exporting mechanical goods)
https://t.co/zWpkdGJeim


This is exactly what should have been presented years ago so that firms could prepare.

Or, arguably, before the Brexit referendum. Just the 70 pages of case studies released TODAY could have tipped the result the other way. Not everyone is blinded by sovrinty & hating forrins.

Going back to the examples...

The person in France buying (say) UK mechanical goods will take one look at the procedures involved, and Google an alternative supplier inside the EU instead.

As for the fish, they could probably swim to their intended destination faster of their own accord than following the new process, if only they had water in between to traverse.

The purchasers will smell them coming a mile away.

Auto parts. I am practically weeping at my keyboard.
GOVERNMENT

More from Politics

Faisal Islam
Faisal Islam
@faisalislam
NEW - on @skynews shortly:
Reliable source tells me Withdrawal Deal text contains

- No unilateral exit from backstop

- Large annexe on level playing field

.... after reporting this on @SkyNews I get a call from a different senior source that this is “spot on” and further that the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has not pulled his punches in confirming in legal advice there is “no unilateral exit” from backstop ...

... furthermore I’m told (and this chimes with excellent Times splash this morning re Weyand) that the future partnership then takes its starting point as the activated backstop - ie UK-wide customs union-style arrangement and level playing field.

Understand that a ministerial briefing on the draft Withdrawal Agreement meant to drum up support from some trade organisations due tonight has now been postponed
POLITICS
Matt Fuller
Matt Fuller
@MEPFuller
They’re shooting into the chamber.
POLITICS
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David Rothkopf
David Rothkopf
@djrothkopf
Pretending that voting for Trump or denying climate change or suggesting the solution to every problem is more guns is a legitimate point of view, worthy of respect is not "how America works." It is how it dies.

People in a free society are entitled to any point of view no matter how obviously wrong or outlandish or destructive provided they do not impose their views on others.

But suggesting that something ignorant or divorced from reality warrants the same kind of treatment in public debate as something based in fact or at least credible is absurd and when done on behalf of a society in public media or academic settings it is self-destructive.

We would not grant media coverage or much bandwidth at all to a group that argued that unicorns exist or that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet views like denying climate change or basing policy decisions on sweeping, obvious lies, are just as unsound.

Somewhere, somehow, judgments must be made. Some behaviors are wrong and must be condemned. Someone must challenge lies and demand facts. Coddling people who embrace idiocies does not help them no matter how loudly they demand to be coddled.
POLITICS
ClearingTheFog
ClearingTheFog
@clearing_fog
The Republican Party is an authoritarian power structure.

For decades, it embraced greedy nihilists in order to win elections.

In the last 10+ years, a well-funded insurgency has infiltrated and captured it.

They are now threatening & purging any remaining opposition.

We can’t address the threat they pose to democracy without addressing the methods by which they maintain popular support.

This requires action across multiple fronts.

In terms of public policy, we are working on the right things:

-Bills to eliminate the GOP’s counter-majorian control (voting security, eliminating vote suppression)

-Exposing dark money networks who are funding them (forcing transparency for anonymous shell companies)

-Addressing the immediate socio-economic pain that places people in anxiety-laden debt traps, makes them feel isolated, and makes them ripe targets for disinformation/authoritarian messaging appeals (fighting Covid with a plan, financial relief, genuinely empathetic leadership)

Biden and the Dem Congress are working on all of these things already.

This is moving us in the right direction, and shows that they get what needs to be done here. This is good.

There are three areas that still concern me, that I have been trying to call attention to...
POLITICS
\u211a\U0001d54c\U0001d53c\U0001d53c\u2115\U0001d54a\U0001d543\U0001d538\u2115\U0001d53b\U0001d53c\u211d * * Adam Logan **
ℚ𝕌𝔼𝔼ℕ𝕊𝕃𝔸ℕ𝔻𝔼ℝ * * Adam ...
@BenPugsley
I reckon a lot of you probably view me as a crazy left winger. And that may well be fair, but if you’re wondering how I got here , I’m gonna have a crack.
In my 20s I had pretty much zero interest in politics. I grew up in Central Qld, surrounded by conservative influences.

Towards the end of the Howard years I began to feel that what he was doing wasn’t right, probably starting when they changed the rules retrospectively in the wharfie dispute. But it was even more troubling when he began adopting Hanson’s racist immigration views, and children

Overboard was a shameful chapter in racist dog whistling. I was disappointed that he spent the proceeds of the mining boom on Johnny’s Battlers instead of future proofing our economy and building a sovereign wealth fund. His failure to implement any sort of climate policy was

His biggest failure though, in my opinion. Despite that, I admired his guts with the gun reform he achieved following Port Arthur.
It was with renewed hope that I rode the #Kevin07 wave to a change in government. I felt hopeful that Australia was going to be a world leader in

The fight against climate change. How disappointed I was, as Rudd and the Greens completely botched a golden opportunity. Then Rudd showed a streak of cowardice I still cannot comprehend after miners spent a few bucks on tv ads attacking the RSPT. Julia jumped in the hot seat
POLITICS

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Numberonepal
Numberonepal
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The Trump Card is being played. It's much simpler than you all realize. Some of you have gotten it right.
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Seth Abramson
Seth Abramson
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(THREAD) Pre-election Russia collusion may take down Trump. It's equally possible the Trumps' pre- and post-election collusion with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel will do it—a course of collusion also connected to the Kremlin. I explain here. I hope you'll read on and retweet.


1/ I must stress how unbelievably complex the "Grand Bargain" theory of the Trump-Russia case is—a different thing from saying it's not substantiated. It's substantiated in *almost every single particular*—it just *also* happens to be very confusing. Not byzantine—just confusing.

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Amit Schandillia
Amit Schandillia
@Schandillia
[THREAD: HISTORY OF THE HINDU TEMPLE]
1/102
Four hours south of Aswan in Lower Nubia, right by the Nile, is a region dotted with temple complexes built more than 3,000 years ago. Some like the temples of Amada, Derr, and Beit el-Wali go as far back as 1500 BC.


2/102
A little further south, not far from the border with Sudan, is another complex dedicated to Ramses II, Hathor, and Nefertari in the village of Ipsambul, better known locally as Abu Sunbul and internationally as Abu Simbel. These go back to the 13th century BC.


3/102
Djeser-Djeseru, also known as the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut in Upper Egypt also dates to 1400 BC. Over 500 years older is the nearby Mentuhotep II, also a mortuary temple. Both were dedicated to the cult of Amun Ra, besides their respective pharaohs.


4/102
Far older is the Ġgantija complex of Malta. Going as far back as 3600 BC, this one comprises of two temples entirely made of stone and enclosed in a stone wall. From the figures therein, it's understood to be a site of some kind of a fertility cult worship.


5/102
Dating from the same period are the limestone megaliths of Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra, both said to have once hosted ritualistic sacrifices as part of the same fertility cult worship as found in the Ġgantija complex. Malta has some of the oldest temple complexes in Europe.
RELIGION
Jonathan Ware
Jonathan Ware
@ReassessHistory
So when it first appeared in Normandy, the Sherman Firefly and it's meaty 17 pounder represented an ideal combo of reliable chassis, great gun and devastating firepower right?

Ummm...

Truth is a bit more complex. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History


Deliveries of Firefly to units only commenced in April 1944,
just a few weeks before Overlord & left minimal time for familiarisation.

Armoured Regiments mostly utilised Fireflies on a basis of 1 per troop of 4 tanks. /2


Finally each armoured regiment troop had access to integral, meaty, anti-tank firepower capable of dealing serious damage to any German AFV likely to be encountered. /3


The dual purpose 75mm gun was quite capable of laying down a reasonable HE shell or AP round for dealing with Panzer III or IV.

Firefly's 17 Pounder had.... problems with HE, but excelled at tank killing. So Tigers and Panthers would need to be wary. /4


Firefly's design history dated back to March 1943 when the General Staff published "Policy on Tanks" which effectively stated the majority of tanks should have a good HE weapon and...

[See image below] /5
HISTORY
Patrick Byrne
Patrick Byrne
@PatrickByrne
READ AND RETWEET AS THOUGH THE LIFE OF YOUR NATION DEPENDS ON IT. WHICH IT DOES. Citizens, I am going to add to the picture with more information. I am not going to let this pass while keeping information to myself. I am going to walk you through 2 narratives.

A printing shop in Michigan prints ballots for Delaware County, Pennsylvania and as Lancashire County, Pennsylvania (this is normal). But along with the ballots it prints on contract and delivers to those counties, it prints some ballots that get diverted to Bethpage, New York.

There, a boiler room of folks fill in "Biden" (often without even voting downballot). The ballots (which are forensically legitimate, given that they come from the same print shop as the good ballots, ) then get trucked into Pennsylvania and mailed. Hundreds of thousands.

We have all of that documented. Texts, statements, affidavits, everything.

We also know that this same ballot printing company (and other firms in the same family) also print for Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia.
POLITICS , LEGAL