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Originally Posted by GrimUpNorth
So what have we learned this past week or so?
We've learnt that "brexit means brexit" and "we've done shed loads of impact assessments" both seem to be phrases the government have plucked from their 'Conservative Big Book Of Things To Say When You're In A Hole'.
I would imagine some of our more hard-line Eurosceptic are sitting quietly in a darkened room hence why we've not heard much from them. Don't worry guys, just console yourselves with the thought of how much worse the deal would have been if we'd of had the soft swivel eyed lefties from Labour running the show instead of the hard as nails no nonsense no backing down Conservatives.
If it's true the PM had to ask the EU to cut her some slack so she could survive politically then the EU must be running their hands with glee about the upcoming talks next year.
Cheers
Dave
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Well, no! The documents the Conservatives were referring to and have made available are industry evaluation assessments, not impact assessments, as was made clear in the House of Commons on Wednesday. What the government should, and is, concentrating on is getting the best deal for Britain.
The fact that the 'hard line' Brexiteers have gone quiet is because Theresa has successfully managed to get the EU Commission to recommend we go to Phase II, with our red lines of exiting the customs union and common market in tact. That in itself is a good achievement. I would have thought that 'hard line remainers' such as your good self would have welcomed the prospect of getting a deal with the EU. Isn't that what you guys have been obsessing over?
There's still a lot of negotiation to go and interpretations on what has been 'locked in' under Phase I to deal with, but we are on our way.
I think people should stop bitching from the sidelines and give the government a chance to deliver what the electorate voted for.
The DUP has done the government a favour, because it has highlighted for the EU negotiators the difficult job TM has in bringing all the parties together. This will clarify for Juncker and Barnier that they cannot push too hard because that will end in a 'no deal', which is not the result they want.
---------- Post added at 11:08 ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 ----------
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Originally Posted by Damien
I think May has done well with the agreement she has got but as with the original post the customs union question does seem to be something she has moved on. The text promises that in the event a deal isn't reached there still will not be a harder border between Northern Ireland and Ireland or the island of Ireland and Britain. It's hard to square that with the idea we won't be in some version of a custom's union, that's sort of the point of it.
Phase 1 does so far seem to suggest a softer Brexit than we were expecting a week ago. While I think you can congratulate May on the deal struck it's a bit misleading to suggest that nothing has changed, it's there in black and white irrespective of what she said in the commons.
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Theresa May has not moved on the customs union issue and she would not be able to get Cabinet agreement on that. If there is a trade deal, there will be no need for a hard border. If there's not, the government has alternative plans to deal with that.