Very quick thread on why Hunt's frustration with EU is understandable, but ultimately counter-productive /1
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/…
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/…
Let's be clear, there has been some silly stuff from both sides - @EmmanuelMacron should know better that talking about "liars" and @eucopresident trolling May on Instagram is also pretty daft. /2
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident But divorces get like this: both sides know the mud-slinging it is counter-productive, "bad for the kids" but still can't help themselves.
Jeremy Hunt's speech was pretty much student union level stuff, as has been pointed out. /3
Jeremy Hunt's speech was pretty much student union level stuff, as has been pointed out. /3
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident Rhetoric aside, both have a point. The Brexiteers did tell some porkies; the UK are indeed trying to cherry-pick and the EU27 are driving a hard, binary bargain that risks back-firing on everyone.
And yes, I know, "May started it" with her October 2016 speech. /4
And yes, I know, "May started it" with her October 2016 speech. /4
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident But look past the noise, and May is buggering on... the bull-in-a-china shop approach didn't go so well in Salzburg, but Chequers 2.0 is in the works. /5
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident The question will come whether, when confronted with a deeper UK offer, the EU side holds its ground, or does a 'deal'.
Or put another way, is current stance on four freedoms principle or just designed to screw concessions from Brits? /6
Or put another way, is current stance on four freedoms principle or just designed to screw concessions from Brits? /6
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident If not the latter, then the EU itself needs to answer the question of where a Canada-style FTA (which appeals as clean & manageable) leaves the Irish border if May won't accept a border in the Irish Sea? /7
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident The endgame - if both sides really prepared to take their positions to the wire - create a kind of mutually assured destruction.
It's not just the Brits who would have to hold their nerve, which is sometimes missed, given that the EU clearly hold the whip-hand. /8
It's not just the Brits who would have to hold their nerve, which is sometimes missed, given that the EU clearly hold the whip-hand. /8
@EmmanuelMacron @eucopresident It may come down to how far both sides are really prepared to take it....we'll know by Christmas :)
ENDS
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