BobKowalski
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 17 May 2007
- Messages
- 21,511
I don't think they are anywhere near a solution. The EU will not want to go into talks based on this as it has fundamental flaws - moving customs checks inland makes them ineffective, having them in first place makes the GFA redundant. They would have to move to the Irish sea which is back to where we were about 3 years ago. This proposal has not really moved things on.
I don't think they are a soloution either. No one does. When you title a position paper with the words ‘A fair and reasonable solution’ you know from the off it won’t be.
But it does ackowledge the problem. It kills the unicorns of frictionless and tariff free trade. We now accept there will be friction in our trade, tariffs, barriers to the movement of people and the impact it will have on our service based economy, the need for a border of some kind in Ireland etc. Brexit is a losers game and we have now accepted that. Apart from Liz Truss we barely even pretend anymore that there will be benefits.
So as an opening gambit it has something for the EU. Not enough to go into intensive talks but open to discussion about its flaws and which bits are unacceptable. Like setting up a default that the DUP likes and giving them the only effective veto as a price for their support. That was dumb and will be the first thing to go along with DUP support for the deal I imagine.
I mean we have 27 days left. No one seriously imagines this will get sorted in 27 days so does presenting proposals change the thinking over tactics for Johnson? The take it or leave it element wasn’t made to the EU. Johnson even said they were open to further discussion. So how do they play the obvious need for an extension to A50?