Enda

Not quite. This is pedantic but important as Mic has some decent questions but needs a bit of information. Post-Brexit UK cannot strike a trade deal with Germany or Italy or any other EU member because the EU is a customs union. This means tariffs are the same no matter what the port of entry is, so if you're importing a specific product (e.g. brown shoes from China) you might as well bring it into your nearest port. If the EU tariff on brown shoes from China is 20% and Italy strikes a deal to cut that to 15%, then all brown shoes will come through Milan and we're in a race to the bottom. So Italy can't strike its own trade deals. There's more to it than taxes though, there's also standards. For a silly example, the shoes can't be made from radioactive materials. A little bit more realistically, shoes can't be made with slave labour, and beef can't come from cows pumped with hormones. These are rules all customs union members can debate and negotiate but have to accept. If you want a trade deal with China, you'll have to haggle with them about slave labour laws. Currently the EU negotiating team does this centrally for all of us. There are thousands and thousands of these regulations, but the vast majority of them are sensible. The EU also has the single market. This means if anything is legally produced in the EU, it can be sold anywhere in the EU. So if a chicken sandwich is legally made in Poland, or if a dentist is legally trained in Estonia, the sandwich can be sold in Berlin and the dentist can work in Paris. This is where more rules come in. We don't want rancid chicken sandwiches and we definitely don't want dodgy dentists so the EU sets minimum standards on all goods and services. Thousands of them, but the vast majority of these will be replicated by the UK (food safety and dentistry exams) outside of the EU. A few (56, apparently) annoyed the UK but they have to accept it anyway. Or they can leave the single market. But you can't be in the single market and not stick to the rules, because the EU doesn't want your dodgy chicken sandwiches. The UK currently wants to have its cake and eat it. It wants to leave the customs union (fine in theory) and also strike a sort of single market deal (fine in theory). The problem is the Irish border. If you can import dodgy Chinese shoes into Belfast, they can sneak down into Dublin (and then anywhere in Europe, via the single market) unless there's a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. (Friendly reminder than NI strongly voted Remain.) The Irish government have made it clear we won't stand for a hard border. A hard border is a blatant violation of the Good Friday Agreement you agreed with us in 1998. So your choice is "stay in the customs union" or "violate existing treaties and threaten the political stability of Northern Ireland." That's your call, but you lot seem to be leaning strongly on leaving the customs union. Cool, you're entitled to revoke the GFA and strike a trade deal with China. But for that you lose market access. It's not even spite -- we can't pretend we're in a single unified market if your actions result in border checks. So, no, it's not the EU undemocratically restricting Italy's trading options. It's the basics of international trade.

Yeah, totally fair.

In fairness, we don't see him in training. He might be getting skinned. I'm not saying that's the explanation, but we've only seen him in friendlies, and the manager/coaches see him every day.

Kodjia clearly off the pace, but is a good player. Defence a bit of a shambles, but if there's one thing Steve Bruce can do it's get a defence into a solid unit. Just have to stop square peg to accommodate players nonsense.

New keeper not exactly inspiring faith at the moment.

YES! Get in!

N-A-G-B. Bang out of order.

Small changes would make us so much more solid. Back four of Hutton-Axel-Chester-Elmo would be so much better than what we have at the minute. Have Adomah out wide, giving us much more of a threat. Very frustrating.

Feels like 2009.

Oh, crap.

He should have buried that.

Very shaky on the second corner; ball bouncing around the box.

Elmo clears off line after Wigan get a good header from a corner. Made up for having given away the corner in the first place. You'd think Bruce would have us a bit better prepared for the basics.

Hutton on one of his trademark runs into the box

James Chester 1-0, from a cross.

I'd call it 4-1-4-1. Yes Hutton at left back. Axel - Chester - Jedi - Hutton Iceland Elmo - McGinn - Grealish - Green Codger

McGinn lively. Axel at RB, the Australian ManBeard partnering Chester. We've two recognised right-backs on the pitch, neither of whom are playing RB.

In the shirt, on the YouTubes.

It said a lot when he switched his allegiance from Ireland U-21 to England U-21, i.e. he'll be off when a nicer offer comes around. Good luck, Jack.

Ye first applied to join the EC three years after the Treaty of Rome took effect. You saw the benefits and wanted in immediately.

Right so.

Its companies also love unbroken supply chains and access to the single market. Do not invest in the FTSE if you think there's going to be a crash.

No... because the UK decided not to join the Eurozone or the ESM, so the ECB/EU couldn't do much with your banks.

That's fair. What I meant by "worse off" wasn't just economic though. You can worse off if they don't let you go to Villa Park, even if it saves you money. (TBF we'd all be better off not watching Villa this year, but that's another point.)

Okay, we're on different sides, so help me see things from your view. Can you give me your best example on an EU decision or regulation that the UK were outvoted on, and that affects your life?