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David Henig @DavidHenigUK
, 14 tweets, 5 min read Read on Twitter
On detailed examination the PM's speech was far worse than it sounded at the time, and it sounded bad. Inaccuracies and dubious interpretations abound. First - on what the EU is offering - it is due to her red lines not the EU 1/
On the EEA, you don't follow all EU rules, there are possibilities to control migration (though this remains a potential problem), and you can do trade deals. So that's virtually completely inaccurate 2/
Note then the language here - a "basic" free trade agreement, "permanently separated economically" - not if the rest of the UK remained in the same arrangement perhaps, but that is not stated 3/
Even this, which more people would probably agree with, is not technically correct - as others have noted there have been proposals made for free trade zones which have the same effect - by the same people opposing this in Northern Ireland 4/
This next section is disingenuous. The EU has been sending signals about why Chequers proposals are unacceptable since the day of their publication. But were trying to be gentle, as they'd been asked to be. Then got angry the UK Gov briefed this was acceptance 5/
This bit appears to be getting angry on the basis of the EU not listening to proposals the UK government has yet to make. And which allegedly they said wouldn't be ready by the next European Council 6/
Some deafness here. The PM may always have been respectful. But you can't possibly argue that the UK government has always been respectful (for the avoidance of doubt also vice versa). But chance missed to acknowledge it 7/
This bit is just cobblers in negotiating terms. We have a couple of months, isn't is better to find things that work rather than insist on hugely detailed rebuttals? 8/
This paragraph begs the question, have you tried listening to the EU? I mean I think I've understood, and I don't have thousands of civil servants to help me. 9/
The silver lining. Good 10/
This I found oddly lacking in reassurance at the time - this sounds like preparing people that there will be a border (which we know is almost certain if there's no deal with the EU) 11/
Hyperbole. We don't measure elections by turnout, with the highest turnout the most important. Many things can undermine public trust, and do. And the meaning of the referendum is not nearly as clear as is asserted here 12/
There is little evidence for either of these statements 13/
Verdict: This speech doesn't reflect well on the PM, or the officials who appear to have written it rather in haste. It is a leader doubling down on 'toughness' in negotiations, and forgetting 'judgement' and 'a calm head' - equally important 14/
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