Boris has written in the Telegraph about the state of the Brexit negotiations, and this is commented in at the FT. The FT leads with the timing, as Mrs. May is planning a big speech in Florence on the EU shortly. Many Tories are also drawn into commenting on loyalty and timing.
On the issue of substance, Boris repeats his usual drivel including contradicting Government policy and re-committing to the £350m/week on the NHS from saved fees. It worries me that the Tories are still looking at avoiding payment of our outstanding fees.
Of the three issues that EU insist are initially dealt with, citizenship rights, outstanding dues and the border with Eire. It’s the money that’s the easiest to comprise on. I believe that short of single market/customs union membership there is no good answer to the border question, but if the Tories want a deal, then they’ll have to compromise on the money even if only to get some room to be awful on citizenship.
Tom Watson MP picked this up and one of his correspondents pointed my at the Nolan principles. I think these should be better read.
Jon Worth tweets to ask if there is a viable answer to the UK/Eire border issue short of the Customs Union, I say it needs the single market too; the customs union is for goods, and the single market for people. Without these agreements, we’d need border points between the UK & Eire and the danger is that the Tories will fall back on using the already existent border controls in Great Britain to manage immigration, requiring UK citizens to provide identity papers as they travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Personally I can’t see an answer.
This has been written with great care in using the names of the component parts of the UK correctly. This might help, from wikipedia
From a campaigning comrade’s Facebook feed,
now this is interesting re Brexit & the single mkt – via a good buddy on here ….
‘I learned some very interesting information yesterday from an encounter with a government official involved in the Brexit negotiations for another member state: high up enough to have monthly briefings with Barnier and contacts with Whitehall officials right up to Davis. It threw an interesting bit of light on things.
According to this official, they know they’ve cocked up (with the exception of Fox, who’s in denial), but what is really worrying them is not Brexit as such, it’s the result on the constitutional UK. When the line ‘taking back control’ was delivered, it was Westminster in mind. Only most of the areas in which control will be taken back fall to the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and NI (if it ever has one again). So it is quite conceivable that Scottish regulations on fisheries, agriculture, etc will begin to diverge from England, and Wales the same. They may even mirror EU law in a way England’s does not. The government is shitting itself in London not about the break up of the EU’s single market, but the break-up of the UK’s own internal one. It’s partly the reason their eye is off the ball. They are trying to contain the unexpected domestic constitutional fall-out. This official is convinced the UK government will eventually climb down and ask to stay in the single market, if only to preserve the British one.’
I add for clarity, that the EEA has 96 areas of competency.