A bit of light dawns

[Suff]

I have been reading the total bloody intransigence of the Commission, council, Breixt overlord, with a fairly studied indifference. It's not new. However the sheer brass neck of it is fairly new. Normally they'll try it on every time but they're not normally totally self destructive and what the EU has been doing has been nothing more than self destructive.

However a bit of light dawns with this article about an ECJ decision which, essentially, removes the power of approving trade deals from the EU27 governments and only allows them specific veto in the case of certain areas. This, I am sure, is a negotiated outcome of the mess that was CETA.

So, thinking about it, with this decision in pace, it makes total sense for the EU to agree a Brexit deal as fast as possible then do a trade deal after. Why? Because if we insist on doing a trade deal as part of the A50 Brexit negotiations, then all of the EU27 will have a blocking veto on the trade deal too.

In short this hard line rhetoric coming out of Brussels is not, as we assume, to try and derail a trade deal with the UK. It is, in fact, looking at the ECJ decision, an attempt to facilitate a trade deal.

You can be damned sure that this trade deal is not for the benefit and greater good of the UK..

It does make very interesting reading. It also means, to me, that the UK has a much stronger hand in the Brexit A50 separation negotiations than the EU is letting on. Because if we refuse to agree separation terms without a trade deal, then we're going to leave the treaties by May 2019 with absolutely nothing agreed and that is going to hurt the EU, the EU budget and the trade of key EU budget funding countries, very much.

It's always good to know where putting the boot in will elicit the most pain, before sticking the boot in. To do that it's best to understand your adversary. For make no mistake, they are now our adversaries.

[Workingman]

Singapore is not leaving the EU so the ECJ ruling does not make a milliwotsit to Brexit, it is about a trade deal.

The EU has been consistent right from the off that any trade deal with the UK will not be negotiated until after the divorce settlement. If people this side of the channel do not want to listen it becomes their problem. If it is going to hurt the EU that is their problem and sod all to do with us. And if either or both sides want to change tack mid stream then it is their choice to do so.

Ever so many of us do not care any more. Brexit will end up as Brexshit no matter how "Strong and Stable" Mrs Mayhem turns out to be.

[Suff]

Ever so many of us do not care any more. Brexit will end up as Brexshit no matter how "Strong and Stable" Mrs Mayhem turns out to be.

And there is the problem. People think it's their job to just vote every now and again. The US, with the ability to impeach their representatives and also with classes at school to teach them how the government works and their position of responsibility within it, think very differently.

Brexit is not just about a vote. It is about holding our representatives to account, constantly, to get the best end result for the decision that has been made by the people.

This "I don't care any more"? Anyone who doesn't care what happens during the Brexit process deserves the worst possible outcome.

Brexit is here, it is now and we're having an election to elect a government to deal with it. The Labour manifesto is nothing more than a smokescreen for the simple statement that they want to keep us in the EU by any stealth means possible and that they are willing to cripple the country to do it.

Because people "don't care" about the most important decision taken in the UK since the Union of the Crowns; they will go and take their vote and flush it down the toilet.

My point about this post was that if you want to negotiate with someone it's usually a good idea to understand what their constraints are. There is no point in asking for something they can't give and there is no point in making their life as hard as it can possibly be (unless you want to punish them).

[Workingman]

Of course we care about Brexit, it is the most momentous decision this country has made since Chamberlain announced that we were at war with Germany on Sep 3, 1939.

What we do not care for is every article, from anywhere, and containing the word "Brexit", being used to lambaste the ultra consistent EU over how it views Brexit. This is particularly the case when we can do nothing, zilch, nada, sod all, naff all and SFA about how it is going to proceed.

It is also annoying when we consider that all we get from May is "strong and stable" and "no deal is better than a bad deal". Every government throughout history has wanted to be "strong and stable". I cannot remember any time when a party claimed: "Vote for us, we promise to be weak and ineffective". The same goes for "no deal is better than a bad deal", what on earth does that mean? We already know that "no deal" is hard Brexit, and one would think that is about as bad as it can get, The mind boggles at what a "bad deal" might be. Answers, anyone?

It is all soundbite crap, white noise, and that is what we don't care about.

As for one side pushing the other. The Tory manifesto has some things to say on immigration, especially the promise to reduce it to the tens of thousands. There are things to be done for those outside the EU; too little, too late. However, there is the line to reduce and control immigration from Europe after Brexit. That will effectively be the end of freedom of movement of people, which is one of the EU's red lines. So, remind us again, who is pushing whom? Who is painting themselves into a corner?