Thread by @AndrewChapman50

Farage proposes another Article 50 extension to 30 June 2020. The plan seems to be to negotiate a CETA type FTA during this period, to come into force on 1 July 2020. As an alternative, the UK and EU could agree to follow GATT Article 24 (!) telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/…

@KTHopkins has just asked whether @Nigel_Farage has taken some sort of psycho-active substance. Potential problems with his plan:

1) Will the EU grant an extension to 30 June for this purpose?

2) Will they be overjoyed to jettison the Withdrawal Agreement?

In particular,

3) What is his plan for the Irish border?

4) Is he cancelling the financial payment that the UK (probably wrongly) agreed to? Will the EU be fine with that?

5) Does he realise that all FTAs are GATT Article 24 agreements?

And so on. Oh and incidentally, Tusk's offer of an FTA

of 7 March 2018 was predicated upon acceptance of the terms of the Joint Report of 8 December 2017, complete with Irish backstop, and financial settlement methodology. Does Farage accept the terms of the Joint Report? If not, how would he get his FTA?

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And again, would the EU be willing to drop their position, accepted by the UK up to now, that they can only negotiate FTAs according to Articles 207(3) and 218 TFEU, that is with third countries, and so cannot begin negotiations until after we leave the EU, rather scuppering

@Nigel_Farage's plan?

@Nigel_Farage One probable effect of Farage's plan is that it would delay the start of FTA negotiations with the USA and other countries with whom the EU does not have FTAs. The transition period allows for such negotiations, whereas EU & UK have agreed that the withdrawal period does not.