EU getting their fish in a row. Barnier making sure he knows exactly what room for manoeuvre there is. Perhaps a chance to squeeze some for a little more flex. No real signs of the EU walking away, or of the UK not running the clock for a few more days (weeks?).
Decades of over-priced and unreliable train services have left the county’s 100s of 1000s of commuters in a constant state of expensive and exhausted frustration.
This is absolutely excellent @DavidHenigUK. Perfectly summarises where we are, how we got here, and why a deal, no matter how thin is better than no-deal.
Interesting article from @jgforsyth on the geo-political impact of no-deal, but it’s been obvious for quite a while that the UK/EU relationship has been seriously wounded by Brexit & four yrs of insults (both petty & serious) and acrimonious negotiations. thetimes.co.uk/article/no-dea…
Deal, or no-deal, the UK and the EU are now set up to be economic rivals. The rushed negotiation on the future relationship ensures that there will be numerous loose ends come the end of the yr and disputes are almost inevitable.
At the beginning of the year, Pascal Lamy said that these negotiations would result in a “geopolitical and geoeconomic rivalry…[couched] in nice friendly diplomatic language”. He’s right, although the nice language is often absent.
This is really good. All eyes are on the EU FTA, but there's a lot to get over the line with third countries around the world just to maintain the status quo. We might get a deal with the EU, and still end up with no-deal with Mexico, Canada, Singapore and others.
To be fair to govt, there has been plenty of focus on continuity deals, but as with all things Brexit, the system has been given too little time, and some things might fall through the gaps.
Some continuity deals have also spent a long time in the "too difficult" pile in DIT. This was definitely the case with Turkey, a crucial market for automotive, food and drink, and textiles.