Thread by @TheScepticIsle

So there has been no significant progress in UK/EU Brexit negotiations.

SHOCK.

Senior politicians & civil servants all focused on the global pandemic. People are dying. Economies are collapsing.

Here's why we MUST extend the #Brexit transition period.

THREAD

BREXIT WAS DONE ON THE 31ST JANUARY. IT’S OVER. Stop fighting the old war now & think about the health and economic security of the nation amidst this pandemic. BREXIT. IS. DONE.

Less than 1 year was always a restrictive timeline. Now, the Covid-19 pandemic is taking up all the government’s time and the businesses that aren’t fighting to survive are certainly unable to adequately prepare for conditions outside the single market and customs union.

Govt said it wants more flexibility to help businesses once the transition period ends & state aid rules no longer apply.

Nobody in government has been able to give a single specific example

Also, the EU has relaxed its state aid rules in response to the pandemic.

There will be benefits from being free of EU regulations in the future, but the disadvantages of leaving the single market and customs union amidst a global pandemic and recession clearly outweigh the advantages.

Neither British business nor the government are remotely ready to leave the single market and customs union and operate under new arrangements. This is especially true if no deal is reached and the UK then trades under WTO rules in the manner of a developing country.

Extending the transition period would require further payment, but must be mutually agreed through the joint committee. The UK would not contribute to anything it would not be directly benefit from. It's transactional.

The fact of the matter is that British businesses already regarded it as extremely difficult to fully prepare for the 31 December deadline and now it is simply impossible.

As for the government, it is not and will not be ready. Where are the thousands of newly hired and trained customs officers and border guards? At what stage of development are the vital new IT systems we need to deal with the huge upsurge in customs declarations?

Do we have the regulatory agencies ready to produce our all of our own technical regulations? Have we built the physical infrastructure required for the new regulatory and customs checks? Are we in a position to implement the Northern Ireland protocol? Is the Home Office ready?

Without satisfactory answers to these questions, which are not forthcoming, then we are not prepared for the outcome of a set of difficult negotiations which are currently not progressing.

Tick. Tock. All while our economy goes down the drain.

There is a theory that as we already in the middle of a huge disruption, a bit more disruption will go unnoticed. But that’s just saying it’s already a terrible situation so no harm in making it worse. The consequences are unpredictable but nearly all bad.

On our current course we risk deepening our recession, disrupting supply chains and hindering our ability to procure medical equipment.

FOR NO GOOD REASON. WE DO NOT NEED TO.

Extending means extending the uncertainty, but the alternative is taking a huge and UNNECESSARY risk at a time while the economic health and the wellbeing of the nation is already taking a battering from the… GLOBAL PANDEMIC.

Another idea floated is a face-saving exercise. Negotiate as many issues as possible in the limited time left, bundle into a basic treaty & commit to continue negotiations on a wider agreement and a 12-month implementation period in which the new arrangements are phased in.

Feasible? Unsure, but sounds dubious.

What I am sure of is that we don’t need any more potential turmoil. Neither do are neighbours in Europe.

Lets be sensible.