Yorky Bob wrote:

Meanwhile you can get a new blue passport that looks exactly like the old one now to be made in France

Back in the late 70's, when I did my work experience, I had the choice of British Leyland Cowley (home of the Ital), or Harrison's High Wycombe. I chose the latter, and the long established business (and major employer to the region) printed, amongst other things, Stamps, Bank Notes, Tax Discs and Blue Passports.

Fast forward 250 years from when it was originally founded, and the very viable business was sold to De La Rue, on a complete LIE by Mandelson and Byers (Liars) on instruction from Lord B'Liar himself that jobs would be protected and the factory would remain in the UK etc etc. The contract to produce all these items was awarded to the French by the aforementioned, and the site lay dormant from early 2000's until it was turned into a housing estate 5 years ago.

So yes, passports are now produced in France. And the architect of all that? (I'll give you a couple of clues - they did exactly the same to Vauxhall at Luton around the same time, it wasn't Margaret Thatcher, and it wasn't anything to do with Brexit either!)

And the answer is.........??

Honda going is great loss.

I believe it was Margret Thatcher who realised how important our link to the EU market was and as British Leyland died, she encouraged the Japanese Car Firms to set up shop in Britain and sell in Europe. I do wonder if she would have left the EU or continued to push for her aims from within, or indeed what she would have done to protect her legacy of jobs at Honda, Nissan, etc.


There is a good site to look at Margaret Thatcher's Qoutes

https://www.keepinspiring.me/margaret-thatcher-quotes/

One of my favourites being
“It pays to know the enemy – not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.” FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

According to the Head Honcho for Honda Europe on the radio this morning they are also closing the Turkish operation. Swindon produces 120k cars a year and Honda is looking at the US and China markets which are worth over 2 million so need to consolidate and build in one factory in Japan. Brexit wasn't the issue. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

The contract to produce all these items was awarded to the French

Under EU legislation do you not have to put out government work to tender across the EU ? Thas how the French got the job that way back then.

As we are leaving the EU why are the French now getting the job to produce UK passports is the question. Answers on the back of the postie stamp to be printed where ? FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Yorky Bob wrote:

The contract to produce all these items was awarded to the French
As we are leaving the EU why are the French now getting the job to produce UK passports is the question. Answers on the back of the postie stamp to be printed where ?

Probably because they have the grandfather rights to produce the aforementioned as part of the stitch-up by the Socialist government of the time? I still haven't had your answer to my earlier question.......

SouthamFL2 wrote:

Yorky Bob wrote:

Its what you do with money that counts - not counting it

Guess thats why I never became a Yuppie in the mid 80's....was far more interested in having a few beers on a Friday night with normal people than dining at La Gavroche like all the city boys at the time were.
As the old adage goes....nobody ever had money problems until they had money!

In the 80s I worked for that same IT company, and, as a senior systems support engineer, I had the job of checking those orders contained everything they should, and getting them installed.
It created lots of overtime, and I also decided to live normally and put a lot of my money into my pension, so that I could retire early.
My friend, who was a company secretary of a merchant bank, did even better, as the money was poured into financial sector by the government.

Moral of the story ….. think ahead ….. take every opportunity offered to you …. you never know what's ahead. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

[quote=" I still haven't had your answer to my earlier question....... [/quote]

Checked the cost of your utilities recently all now owned off shore

During the Thatcher years, more than 50 companies owned by us were sold or privatised – including the power and water industries.

You can argue until you go blue in the face but we have a larger welfare bill and more crime now by not keeping spotty faced youths in work be the companies at the height of efficiency or not. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Last edited by Yorky Bob on 19th Feb 2019 12:57 pm. Edited 1 time in total

SouthamFL2 wrote:

Yorky Bob wrote:

The contract to produce all these items was awarded to the French
As we are leaving the EU why are the French now getting the job to produce UK passports is the question. Answers on the back of the postie stamp to be printed where ?

Probably because they have the grandfather rights to produce the aforementioned as part of the stitch-up by the Socialist government of the time? I still haven't had your answer to my earlier question.......

IanMetro wrote:

Please start using real names and facts, otherwise it's not worth discussing anything with you.

Sorry, what is it you would like to know regarding the Harrison's/De La Rue stitch-up by Bliars Government of the day? The names Mandelson, and his successor, Byers surely shouldn't preclude your memory already?

Chuck Vauxhall Motors Luton into the mix (another stitch-up), or Rover (oh yes, ANOTHER stitch-up) and it must surely jog your memory, as I cannot believe that you of all people can be that forgetful? Now, what point exactly was it that you were trying make?

Edit: just watching the local news and some of the NFU Conference......Project Fear in full swing!! Hilarious

Yorky Bob wrote:

Checked the cost of your utilities recently all now owned off shore

During the Thatcher years, more than 50 companies owned by us were sold or privatised – including the power and water industries.

You can argue until you go blue in the face but we have a larger welfare bill and more crime now by not keeping spotty faced youths in work be the companies at the height of efficiency or not.

My utilities spend are less than I was paying 20 years ago, as I am utilising Renewables/Ground Source/Solar and still have a feed-in tariff arrangement, so am quids in.

Thatcher sold off the inefficient industries, and rightly so. They were holding both the country and overall growth back.

Welfare and Crime are indeed at record highs, largely due to uncontrolled immigration to, and I quote, "rub the Tories noses in it", as well as the mission of the former administration to encourage kids to have kids, the state paying thousands in welfare so that work became unattractive, the dumbing down of education in favour of Marxist thinking, the dismantling of any morals in favour of 'yuman rites init' without responsibility......indeed I could argue until I'm blue in the face......but what does any of it have to do with Brexit?

"Ha ha ha there's no money left".......now I wonder who left that note in the Treasury desk draw in 2010.....

Are you on drugs ?

In 1979, the business you have a fetish about was purchased by Lonrho . In February 1997 John Major was prime minister when it was sold to De La Rue by Lonrho. Blair was not Prime minister until May of 1997 - your point was about a privately owned company that was free to move production around UK and abroad outside Government control ?

Blair did commit some financial mismanagement, my example being closing the ROF unit in Cross Gates Leeds, the most modern engineering plant in UK making tanks to move its MOD production to his North East Constituency that had an ancient MOD facility. He was guilty of buying votes in the NE for sure. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Don't believe everything that you read on Wikipedia - the business wasn't sold to De La Rue until February 1998. As you well know, Wikipedia is and can be updated by anyone, and that information displayed is incorrect. De La Rue promised the Government (B'Liar) that production would remain in the UK and would be split between High Wycombe and Watford (another lie) in exchange for the contract to remain to print banknotes.

Your aforementioned friend B'Liar was steering the ship into oblivion at that time, busy letting terrorists out of secure prisons and deputising the trade deals to that other snake, Mandelson, who promptly jumped overboard after it had been rubber-stamped, and left Byers to carry the can. Facts, which unfortunately Socialists hate to be reminded of.

Financial mis-management and bribery indeed! Well, they're all guilty of that aren't they.....some more than others!

Now, back to Brexit.....where were we? Oh yes, Honda will be closing Swindon in 2021, and it has NOTHING TO DO with Brexit.....how queer?

I think the Honda question was answered, you have to be at the party to play the tunes. We have left the party and Honda and the likes are getting no more EU money to stay in UK. Game over.

As for your Bank notes
 FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Just thinking. I wouldn't like to be the purchaser of a new Honda Civic built on the Swindon production line today. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE