Some days, I truly understand the need for a monarchy in Great Britain. It must be a small relief to many Britons to know that worse comes to worse, at least you have the constitutional constancy of the Windsors. Because the political class in Britain seems especially f–ked these days. I’m not going to pretend to know everything about Brexit and the ongoing Brexit shenanigans. But I do know “palace intrigue” and utter shambles when I see it. So, Theresa May is trying to do what “the people want,” which is find some way for Great Britain to exit the EU. Only it’s utter chaos, more than two years after the disastrous Brexit vote.
Her government in open revolt, British Prime Minister Theresa May did her best on Thursday to project confidence during a hastily scheduled press conference to discuss her controversial Brexit deal. “I understand fully that there are some who are unhappy with those compromises, but this deal delivers what people voted for,” she said. “If we do not move forward with [the] agreement, nobody can know for sure the consequences that will follow.” The British people, she added, “just want us to get on with it.”
Even with all the political chaos since June 2016, when Britain voted to separate itself from the European Union with no plan for how to do so, the past 24 hours have been a shambles. On Wednesday, May had tabled a five-hour meeting with her cabinet in order to build support behind the 585-page draft agreement—the result of 18 months of fraught talks with the E.U.—that would establish transitional relationship between the two economies until the end of 2020, while a permanent arrangement is reached. Appearing outside 10 Downing Street after the meeting, May announced she had secured the necessary backing. The following morning, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who helped draft the plan, resigned in protest…. An hour later, he was followed out the door by Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, causing the British pound to plummet.
Reflecting anxieties that the U.K. could crash out of the E.U. with no deal ahead of a March 29 divorce date, BMW released an ominous statement: “As a responsible employer, we must therefore continue to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is what a no-deal Brexit would represent.”
Indeed, as the Brexit deadline draws closer, a nightmare “no-deal” seems increasingly likely—an outcome that would throw the E.U. into chaos, and likely end May’s own career. The Labour, Scottish National, and Democratic Unionist Parties, as well as multiple Tories, have all said that they will not endorse the current deal. And when May spent three hours trying to sell the draft to a hostile House of Commons on Thursday morning, she was met with fierce resistance. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn denounced the agreement as “a leap in the dark, an ill-defined deal by a never-defined date,” and argued that the ongoing Brexit uncertainty will accelerate the migration of businesses and cash. “Parliament cannot, and I believe will not,” accept the arrangement, he added.
Vanity Fair’s article was a lot longer, and full of even more details about how utterly f–ked everything is. Here’s my question: if Brexit does happen without a “deal” with the EU, does that mean… the UK has to individually negotiate and renegotiate every single trade/business deal with every single European country? I thought that was going to happen anyway, but it sounds like May was trying to work some sort of backdoor half-Brexit, where the UK would have some sort of overarching deal with the EU, but the EU was holding British feet to the fire. I don’t know. I only know that’s it chaos and I wouldn’t be surprised if Theresa May does get thrown out. What would trigger a vote of no confidence? Or would she resign before then?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
One can only hope.
She might as well start packing now. The knives are out
As crticial as Corbyn and Boris Johnson have been of May and these deals, they have run and ducked at every opportunity . What really is the alternative at this point? EU pretty much holds all the cards. The folks who wanted to leave never really examined what it meant and the impact. Wait until the Northern Ireland border mess flares up .
ITA – never of those 2 twats actually want that job, what they want is for her to do all the hard leg work and then they can swoop in at the last min to ‘save us’ by closing it thus taking all the credit for Brexit.
Boris will NEVER be Prime Minister – the entire country see’s he wants it bad and we all hate him anyway.
Yes, Boris and Farage made this mess, they should be held accountable and help clean it up. At least May has the courage to try to find solutions. With her gone it will not get better. I really don’t understand why they just don’t do a new vote.
As a non Brit with very limited knowledge of Brexit, I agree that Johnson and others are liars, opportunists, and obstruction ists of the same level as drump. They make me sick.
Don’t blame Corbyn!
Theresa May is the worst. That’s all I got. (No wonder she and 45 get on so famously)
No, they do not get on. Dump keeps berating her every chance he could get. I am no fan of hers but she has my sympathies.
45 and May don’t really get on very well at all.
They don’t, he doesn’t like strong women in power and she’s not very good at flattering egomaniacs.
I stand corrected. I was thinking of the hand holding at the beginning of his administration.
^ She looked really uncomfortable with that, and she let him do it to flatter him.
May is making the best of a misogynistic, psychopath president by trying to flatter him. I think she treats delicately like the nut job he. I don’t see any warmth or friendship there.
Probably. Looks like it’s going to be a sh*t show, honestly. Albeit, I will give her a modicum of sympathy in the sense that she was tasked with eating the damage caused by the poorly planned Brexit movement so the men who actually prompted it could weasel their way out of the consequences.
Kaiser, from what I’ve been reading about the trade agreements (I was curious about this, too), all trade with EU members has to go through the union itself. You can’t really trade with a single member because that would undermine the whole system – and what’s more, it would get them into trouble with the UN for preferential trade. So Britain will essentially find itself stripped of its negotiating power if there’s no deal because the EU will be at the advantage.
Yes, exactly. That’s why the UK can’t make any deals with other nations for after Brexit, because it is still a member of the EU. EU makes trade agreements only as a whole. So when the UK leaves they loose all the trade agreements they have. Everything has to be re-negotiated. Not only with EU countries, but with every other country in the world.
Without a deal the UK is stripped totally bare.
Not something the EU threatens them with, because that was always clear when they signed up. That was always the whole deal of the EU. They are basically throwing a tantrum that the EU doesn’t give them special treatment, but says “if you want out you’re out”.
Which is…what they kind of have to do? Realistically, the UN trade regulatory bodies will probably be scrutinizing how this goes down very carefully. The EU has to know that, and Britain’s Parliament has to know that, so I’m not sure how they exactly thought this would go down.
I think the initial idea is that the Brexit-agreement would be way faster. With that in place the UK would be allowed to negotiate deals for after Brexit. As the Brexit deal takes so long, the UK needs the transition period to get everything else in place. With hard-Brexit becoming more likely they end up with pre-EU deals (if they are still in place) or basic WTO rules.
Yes, it can be really complicated, I think the CETA agreement (Canada-EU trade agreement) is a good example. I just refreshed my knowledge reading the Wiki article. The EU can negotiate trade on behalf of the bloc, but depending on the content of the deal, every country individually may need to individually ratify the agreement as well in order for it to go entirely into effect. So our minister in charge spent a week wrangling with the Dutch after the trade deal was already negotiated in order to get them agree to the dairy aspects, for instance, but Italy has withheld because of how Parmesan cheese was defined (origin issues for regional food specialities, essentially). It is not going to be straightforward or easy for the UK to get a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, it will take years.
CETA took 7 years to conclude, IIRC.
@The Other Katherine: Wow. So these “backstop” provisions will almost certainly come into effect, which is what the Brexiters are so hung up on. But considering how long it could take for trade negotiations, it sounds like maybe “backstop” is not so terrible for the UK. Sure, they won’t have any say over EU trade/agriculture/etc. laws for the time it takes to negotiate, but at least they will still have access to the EU market as though they were still members, rather than be stuck outside it as supplicants, facing tariffs and trade restrictions for years. (If I understand backstop correctly)
@Livvers under the backstop, the UK will have access as though they are members but won’t actually have any say over anything as the UK loses its representatives/commissioners etc on 29th March. From then onwards, UK has to accept every rule change that happens until a new trading relationship is negotiated. UK also can’t set tariffs and is restricted as EU has to consent to any trade negotiations with non-EU countries.
Exactly. That’s something that Merkel has been trying to explain to Trump a gazillion times but he’d always come back and say he’d want to make a deal with Germany…
At this point, I think that May will be happy to be out. Brexit was bound to be a mess and all the ones that were really pushing to leave aren’t the ones that have to actually do something about it (yes, Boris, I’m looking at you). The EU holds all the card and the UK will have to negotiate every darn point individually if they can’t reach a deal. I really hope that all those Brexiters “expats” enjoy their last winter in Spain, cuz it’s going to become a lot more difficult to do that once the EU has had enough
That’s what I don’t understand – the current deal is not at all terrible from what I’ve read, particularly where the visa use is concerned. It’s remarkably flexible, in fact. I honestly don’t know how they think the EU could possibly negotiate that better without enormous expense to itself and risking outcry from its member states.
The EU can tell the UK when to take a dump and what toilet paper to use when they are finished. This is why the US should not get involved in these types of deals.
The United States has a completely different set of geographic and socioeconomic factors at play than the U.K., so something like the EU isn’t really necessary. It still benefits us to have trade deals with our neighbors, hence why despite all the fanfare over changing NAFTA, much of the original function is still in place.
The United Kingdom just overplayed it’s hand by buying into its own hype and didn’t approach Brexit with any meaningful plan in place. Attempting to negotiate from the inside would’ve been smarter than inducing Article 50 so quickly and forcing the EU to take a hard stance to protect itself.
Veronica I agree the UK didn’t approach Brexit with a plan but they wouldn’t have been able to negotiate from inside. Cameron attempted a negotiation before the Brexit vote and didn’t really achieve anything, then EU said Brexit negotiations would only happen once Article 50 had been triggered, so couldn’t really do any negotiating from within.
Hope so.
What an unnecessary mess.
She’s always said she’d stick it out to get a deal and then leave. Brexit was always always going to be an effing car crash (thank Boomers) whoever the PM was going to be. No deal is the worse worse case scenario, May has threatened to turn the UK into a tax haven if there is no deal which I can see her doing.
As for Corbyn, he’s a useless muppet – he’s not our savour and he will not stop Brexit. He’s a hard core leaver and has been anti-EU his whole political career. Even if there is another Gen Election Labour will not win -he is not as popular as his PR and sheeple think he is. Polls are showing the May is more popular than he is.
If there is a vote of no confidence she’ll get through by the skin of her teeth as no one wants Boris as PM and I don’t think Jacob Rees-Mogg has as the support he needs to pull it off.
It’s such a shame that Labour doesn’t have a strong, anti-brexit leader because this could be their time. Corbyn is horrible.
The party itself is anti-brexit, that’s the party official line but he has made Labour un-electable. Labour has soo many younger and more modern thinking leaders in their ranks (who ARE anti-brexit) – why can’t they elect someone who represents the future of the country? Instead they keep electing white men who are stuck in the past and full of their own privilege. There are some amazing women in that party who are not getting the support they need to rise up.
I agree that this is the time for Labour to step up and take the lead but sadly Corbyn is too busy in his allotment to GAF about actually doing the job he was elected to do WHICH IS TO PROVIDE A STRONG OPPOSITION TO THE GOV.
ITA, Digital Unicorn. Also men of color like David Lammy. It’s pretty clear that Corbyn not-so-secretly wants Brexit because he thinks that’s how Labour can get a free hand to enact more sweeping changes, but he will never be able to command the votes he needs to form a government if he doesn’t start actively opposing the Brexit train wreck. He is NOT an effective opposition leader, at a time when one is desperately needed.
At this point, I just don’t see how a no-deal Brexit gets averted unless an extension of the leaving date is somehow agreed (not likely) or the Article 50 notice is withdrawn (also not likely). When TMay had to go into coalition with the freaking DUP in order to form a government, a nightmare scenario became inevitable. Watching it unfold is excruciating.
@DigitalUnicorn I see so many parallels in your comment to the sh!tshow in the US. It is truly scary how it seems like there are no reasonable adults left in charge ANYWHERE anymore.
I hate being so cynical but it really feels like we are all screwed.
They want all of the benefits and none of the requirements is the problem. And the people running the EU aren’t foolish enough to value the United Kingdom over the integrity of the entire union. The Trump administration is doing the same thing here in the States, assuming that America held all of the economic cards when it decided to play tariff war games. While we certainly have the advantage of being significantly larger than the UK, the reality is that globalization has increasingly limited the ability of the superpowers to claim imperialistic control over trade (which is a good thing). Americans are about the learn that the hard way when the long-term costs of this trade war and the tax cuts come home to roost in a few years.
Veronica S – agreed! I know Trump significantly damaged the US’ relationship with Canada. It’s one of the things that freaked me out the most (as it’s the one thing that directly impacts me, I suppose). Our countries have always been good friends and neighbours and a world where that wasn’t so is quite scary. I think it fostered a lot more nationalism up here, too, which isn’t ideal.
When it comes to trade, the US has been screwed by the entire universe – including Canada – for decades. I am glad the current administration decided to make public these stupid deals that put the taxpayer in the hole while subsidizing the economies of other countries. It is unfortunate that some feelings are hurt but, oh well. They were feeling great when they were mowing us down.
Yes! A lot of people I know don’t vote for labour because of Corbyn, also our labour council here keeps blaming the Tories for policies that they themselves have implemented. Such a joke. Also, hell no to Dianne Abbott.
Dear lord, can you imagine ending up with Borris Johnson as PM? Honestly I think that a lot of Brexit is a game of sorts, to set an example to other EU countries and to frighten the British public into trying to somehow back out; only backing out is pretty much impossible without another vote and that in itself is a huge problem because you can’t keep voting until you get your desired result.
It’s such a mess. We remainers are watching in horror as our house prices and job prospects deteriorate by the day. Not to mention access to French wine, etc at reasonable costs!
@Kaiser, to answer your question, the UK wouldn’t negotiate individual trade deals with every European country. But they obviously would have to negotiate a permanent trade agreement with the EU as a block, plus individual trade agreements with non-EU European countries like Turkey, etc to be able to sell UK-made goods and import the range of foreign goods we rely on. PLUS the UK will have to negotiate individual trade agreements with countries like Australia, the US, Japan etc, unless a multi-country agreement could be reached. But am doubtful about the UK’s ability to operate from a strong bargaining position for negotiation of individual trade agreements given the far greater buying power of the EU block compared to the UK makes it more of a priority trading partner for other nations.
She/Britain will not negotiate with every single European country buth rather with the EU and then with the countries that are not a part of the single market the EU created. They would like the option to negotiate with “single” countries but that sh#t don’t fly with EU members.
What a clusterf**. In some ways, it’s hurts worse because I CHOSE to move to the UK from India. I feel like Scotland is my second home now, but it’s impossible for me to envision what my immigration status will be in next few months. And there are so many people in same position, stuck in a nightmarish, bureaucratic limbo because a powerful, mostly xenophobic propaganda machine was able to convince enough people to “take back control”.
A petty part of me is happy to see May in this position now. Her positions, right from the time she was Home Secretary, have hurt immigrants like myself. So yeah, some of this is karma but it’s no solace. Her performance at yesterday’s press conference was pathetic. The same ole “the best deal”, “will of the people” drivel being repeated and nauseum – none of it actually seems to mean anything.
But I’m even more disappointed in Corbyn’s Labour. This should have been his time to shine, in the face of the most shambolic Tory government we have seen in ages. Instead, we see more delusional parroting of the same phrases, the same stubborn approach towards the cliff.
I had so many hopes for my move to the UK. I’m so sad to say it has been an utter disappointment.
I’m sorry Maya. I remember reading comments at the guardian right after the brexit vote. I happened upon an exchange between remainers who were lamenting the vote and what it meant for their futures. One of them said that maybe he could marry an american girl. And another answered “stick with canadians, the americans still have a trump card they may pull”.
It seemed something to chuckle over, but I didn’t. It really struck me. Even though, at the time, I didn’t think we were going to pull that trump card.
And now, look where we both are.
The day after the Brexit vote I lamented on FB that the next bat sh!t crazy thing to happen would be for Trump to get into the WH. Brexit was a catalyst for a lot of things.
Brexit really is Britain’s Trump. Everyone thought it was impossible so they didn’t worry too much about voting. It never would have happened if more people had voted. The fact that many places in the U.S struggled with the high voter turn out in the last election shows you how many people usually don’t bother.
I am so sorry, Maya. Every word you say resonates with me. Like you, I think May has earned every bit of the public humiliation she is undergoing right now. For me, the last straw was the Windrush scandal, which lies squarely at her doorstep — no sympathy for her ever again after the government’s despicable bungling and cruelty there. But, as you say, watching her get her comeuppance does nothing to fix the mangling that so many people’s lives are currently going through. It’s just appalling watching her and Corbyn both sprinting for the cliff edge, with neither admitting that ALL options for Brexit are TERRIBLE and will be incredibly destructive to the country for decades to come.
I hope that you will be able to make things work in Scotland. It’s a beautiful place that doesn’t deserve and didn’t vote for this.
“mostly xenophobic propaganda machine was able to convince enough people to “take back control”… Why does it always come back to race? Populations want some control over their circumstances without a billion people from other countries pouring over their border – usually with an attitude of entitlement and a look of bewilderment that anyone would have the nerve to kick them out.
this might be a stupid question – but what was the purpose of holding a referendum if, let’s be honest, “brexit” in and of itself wouldn’t and couldn’t truly be an option?
there wasn’t really an actual choice to make here, either way, so it just seemed like theatre. no way “brexit” in every sense of the word would actually be allowed to happen.
it was moreso a referendum on renegotiation of terms with the EU, and even that doesn’t truly seem possible.
so again, what was the point of holding an actual vote, making it seem like “the people” actually had a say in these things?
David Cameron promised a referendum as part of the 2015 election manifesto to stem the tide of racist, xenophobic voters who had defected to UKIP. He really should have just told them to STFU and be grateful for all the benefits being a member of the EU has bought us, instead he caved in to their demands and now the lunatics have well and truly taken over the asylum.
Yup, he was trying to prop up his position as the Conservative PM by promising to give every old racist in the UK a chance to vote on leaving the EU, not expecting to get an outright majority and be called on to actually deliver it. Cameron was not a terrible PM in some other ways, but this Greek tragedy of a political miscalculation is the only thing he will be remembered for.
I think Putin also had a hand in the Brexit vote — anyone know anything about that? Seems like another gambit of sowing distrust and xenophobia and chaos… I have family in England and feel so bad for everyone there…
Oh my. I guess the Russians have a hand in everything?
Incredible how much people would screw over themselves voting against their own interests. Racism, xenophobia, and nationalism are a hell of a drug.
Amen.
+1
+1
I don’t respect May’s politics at all, but it doesn’t require liking Theresa May to be able to see that she is a classic case of the “glass cliff”: “the glass cliff is a phenomenon in which women are more likely to be put into leadership roles under risky and precarious circumstances. By taking the helm during difficult times, their odds of failure are often higher.” (grabbed from an article on the PBS site)
I totally agree with what you’ve said. I don’t like her politics or her that much but she is doing the job she was asked to do in very difficult circumstances with ZERO support from her party/gov who are mostly men. Corbyn, Johnson and now Rees-Mogg are all circling like vultures waiting to swoop in at the opportune moment when all the leg work has been done so they can claim credit for it.
I agree. I remember when she took the position after Cameron resigned and said to myself, “Of course they’ll let the woman take the fall for their mess, the cowards.” If anything, she strikes me as the only one attempting anything productive while her fellow Cabinet members and opposition leaders pretend that an entire nation isn’t on the line – and that’s saying a lot considering I don’t agree with her political stance.
Yeah, I know the barest amount about her time as Home Secretary, and what I know is, I think, reprehensible (just thinking about the Windrush issue alone), and so I really resent that I actually feel some sympathy for her.
So true. I think the only other contender, alongside May, for the Tory leadership role (and, thus, being the PM) was also a woman. The men all quickly made their excuses and stepped aside, especially the main Brexit instigators.
Even if she leaves, this Brexit thing is still moving forward, right? I’m not English, so I’m unfamiliar with the options—is there anyway it can be stopped at this point? Could they have another vote on it? The whole thing sounds like a disaster for the UK that was forced on them by a bunch of racists because normal people didn’t get out and vote. Can they get a do-over?
I am not english, but working for a company exporting to england from the european continent.
If the UK and Europe do not agree on a deal, there are several options.
The “hard brexit” falling back on the WTO trade regulations. (The worst option)
Long term “muddling through” UK keeps accepting the european regulations on a temporary basis to avoid a hard brexit and the temporary agreement stays in place indefinitely. It means practically Britain stays a Eu member just without representation.
The UK government pedals back and cancels the brexit (the brexit vote is not legally binding).
Another brexit vote with a different outcome.
Or the unlikely miracle of an agreement.
The EU says that they would stop Brexit the moment the UK wants it. So it is totally up to the people and politicians in the UK.
We could (please god) have another referendum. They had a rerun in Ireland and then got the result they wanted, but that wasn’t after this type of shit show. Unfortunately , it would take the government (Teresa May) to put the legislation in place for a second referendum to happen. A lot of the Tories and Labour want that but obviously the Brexiteers don’t. Corbyn doesn’t want a rerun he wants an election. What we could really do with is for the centrists of both parties to form a coalition. The country is a total mess, taxes are too low and we can’t sustain public services. They need to put party politics aside for a while to sort this out. People that voted to leave did so for many reasons, and they weren’t all racist xenophobes some of them just felt completely ignored. I think people that were charmed by Boris, Nigel and co have seen that they were lied and that they are a bunch of cowards and would probably re think their vote.
I sadly feel that the DEPLORABLES would vote the same exact way they did the first time (if we were ever able to have a “do over”). They were “charmed” (wtf?!?!?!) by dump, hated Hillary, felt they were being left behind or a combination of all of the above.
That’s what’s so sickening/disheartening-they are unwilling to re-think and realize the consequences of their votes.
Why refer to people as DELORABLES if they do not agree with you? They just don’t agree with you. MANY people dislike Hillary for various reasons. This doesn’t make them bad people they just have their own point of view. I wish people would stop doing this, especially Hillary.
Clearly I’m not the only one to see that while May is a bit of a disaster, she has been saddled with a near impossible task especially by a few guys who pushed for Brexit and then pissed off when the consequences were realized.
There appears to be no option where Britain comes out with some sort of immediate win v Europe. So with that optic no-one’s going to be happy and hey, they are British (joke!, just….) but at least May is, as she has said, just trying to get on with it.
Most people I know have the same view – they don’t like her and think that yeah she’s a disaster but she is doing what she said she’d do and is trying to get on with it. The men like Johnson and Corbyn are sitting in the sidelines b!tching and generally doing nothing else.
In a warped way its like Trump and the deplorables – they love him as he is doing what he said he would. With May we didn’t like her and even though she’s doing what she said she would and we still don’t like her we kinda give her some props for it. You can’t deny that she is at least trying.
It’s a s..t show. Many NHS nurses are from outside of the UK what if they all decided f..k it I am gone. What about flights in/out of the UK isn’t there some situation with air space? Brits can’t get to sunshine the hoooraaaah. I live in London and I can’t vote as I am American with an ILR and to get naturalized is £1500 so no thanks now. Everyday is a nightmare.
One problem with Corbyn, apart from the company he keeps – Abbott and O’Donnell for two, is that he was an mp for over 20 years and during that time he was never considered to be ministerial or shadow ministerial material ‘et along leader of the party
no the uk can’t deal with individual eu countries – they’re a trading block, they deal as the eu. it’s like when drumpf kept wanting to make a deal with merkel and she kept telling him that he has to deal with the eu, not germany.
No. Who’d seriously want her job? Nobody can look good in her position. The knives are out but no rats are actually putting themselves forward. They’re playing the long game – gathering base whilst waiting for her to do the dirty job and ruin the country for them. After March 29, when the country is in chaos, it’s time to sweep in and play saviour. And they can use her as an excuse for inefficiency and lack of results for years to come.
Oh yes, the old white gits in her party and the gov are setting her up to take the fall for them as afterall it was they that caused this. It takes a lot for me to say that I feel somewhat sorry for her, she is trying to get the job done but is being setup to fail by the very men who wanted this. The are ignoring that fact that the people see that she is trying, regardless of how they view her and her politics. I know hardcore Labour/Corbyn supporters who have begrudgingly given her that. The people will not forget or forgive those who put themselves/their own agendas’ before the country – looking at you Johnson, Corbyn, McConnell, Rees-Mogg, Farage, Gove et al.
David Cameron should be locked up in the tower for his part in this sh!tshow.
Unfortunately, May is hostage of the DUP. But the thing is, here in Northern Ireland, the people voted remain, we don’t want a hard border, we trade a lot with the South and therefore the deal she presented sounds pretty good, to the point that all business associations expressedly said so in a public statement. Scotland is furious they won’t get a deal as good as this, but that is because they didn’t have the Troubles and the Good Friday Agreement, which sets special provisions for Northern Ireland. I honestly think that the only way the UK has to keep NI in the Union is to make it convenient for Catholics (soon to be the majority in few years) to be a part of the UK. If the Brexit doesn’t take NI into account, the UK won’t have NI for much longer. As a person who voted Remain but is a (soft) Unionist, I think this is a pretty good deal for us.
I haven’t read all the comments so this may have been covered, but the EU has exclusivity to negotiate external trade treaties with non-EU members. So the UK wouldn’t have to negotiate with all the individual countries, just the EU!
The thing is even if we were allowed to negotiate trade deals outside of the EU or took the no deal route and had to negotiate with everyone, we don’t have the negotiating staff in place to get the deals done. We are just not equipped to leave. It’s all very well the Brexiteers stamping their feet about leaving but as any well brought up child or Stones fan knows you can’t always get what you want.
We’re all about to lose our jobs because of Brexit.
Different subject. Is May a big Frida Kalo fan girl? I love her bracelet with portraits of Frida. Interesting, since Frida was not a conservative.
Even with the horrendous mess of Brexit in the U.K., I wish I had the money to go live there rather than endure more of Trump.