Joe Biden (JB) OVERHEARD DISCUSSING THE UK with his new Secretary of State (SOS)
JB: I know about the Ireland idiocy, I've told them what they risk with GFA. I'm more concerned they hurt us and EU?
SOS we agree, they're undermining the whole treaty by shifting blame to allies
SOS: It's stubborn ideology they're way beyond a Brexit definition. UK stopped all cross border cooperation, not just political or legal under the ECJ, I mean everything
From intelligence sharing to tourism. Even cancer treatment!
Without exaggeration sir, the Koreas do better
JB, so we've effectively lost our main ally in Europe?
SOS it's beyond that sir, they're an active detractor.
Europeans don't even want to be in the same room with them, so mendacious and manipulative have they become.
JB What about #Covid19. Surely they're working together?
SOS (sighs).
When the EU warned about the risk of
Care home deaths in Jan,
and
airport contagion in Feb
they disbanded the links with both agencies and sunk the reports. You know what happened next
(JB nods, sadly)
SOS: rejected all PPE & other purchasing cooperation then lied
JB: But why. The UK was even less prepared than Trump, they need friends?
SOS: We don't know. It's so pig headed and they say our politics is polarised!
It's not external. Best guess they're infiltrated. A sort of crypto fascist elite has taken over their Conservative party.
SOS continues:
Either way, we can no longer rely on them to be a rational player.
In Europe they're rogue. Just on Government purchasing corruption, nepotism & rule of lawbreaking.
JB. So do we call off Nuke cooperation?
SOS: They've become untrustworthy. Do we have a choice?
[Spoiler
Just to make sure I do not in any way mislead, this thread is fictional, and was lampooning our Government. Satire. Any similarity with reality is entirely accidental...
...and completely predictable.]
Postscript 1
This was a fictional scenario, but if you think it's exaggerated you'd be wrong.
Outside unreportable private conversations which were made up, the facts mentioned are real.
I've warned about difficulties Brexiters will face with their current stance if Trump fails to win the election.
Their difficulties can be reslved, but only by rational strategic thinkers.
Do we have any of those in Government?
I'll explain⏬
A few things that you need to accept to run with this thread.
1. No Deal is the worst negotiation option we had. It reveals our walk away and shows we have no leverage. Plus it give up trade deals not only with the EU but all the deals with the rest of the world through the EU.
2. Brexiters claimed it was the only option.
Folly.
The obvious alternative was a beauty contest where we ruled nothing in or out on trade terms, exclusive or shared, waiting on the best bid.
Played well we could even have been a useful ally to US and EU in cross Atlantic Trade.
You may have missed this fifth anniversary. On October 8th, 2015, Vote Leave launched.
I thought I'd take a quick look at its 5-year achievements.
1. Strategy & Plan
Those leading Vote Leave have, in political terms, had an enormous amount of time to figure out a plan that would secure a promising future for the UK outside the EU.
Objectively what will historians conclude?
Was there a plan?
Was it realistic?
It's hard to find any evidence to answer yes to either of those questions.
Compared to the EFTA/ETA model offered in 2016 #Brexit is in its 10-13th iteration (depending on how you count)
With 2.5 months to go, the two architects have no better idea for a settlement than 2016.