Brexit - Post Match Reaction

[shurlock]

When things are 'hard to reconcile' it's usually - and in this case - because someone is trying to have it both ways, appealing to leavers and remainers. Again, that's the point; I wasn't quoting the manifesto to show how clear things are, but actually how messy they are. There are contradictions in virtually every iteration of soft Brexit. It's likely in practice that the only way a soft Brexit can be done is with no Brexit at all - even the Norway version is fraught with contradictions for the UK. The Swiss model with 10,000 or more individual bilateral agreements is also troublesome, given that the Swiss have just lost a huge battle with the EU on FoM.

 

As for the suggestion that I've said Labour is 'mimicking' anything the Tories are saying, I've no idea where you get this. What's certainly the case - and I hope this is clearer - is that there are soft-Brexit/remain factions in the Tory party who are waiting for the political tide to turn, just as there are in Labour. The tide may just keep going out, of course, and the UK might fall out of the EU in just the way the BJs hope. The fun - if that's what it is - is in watching it all unfold.

 

The mimic reference was to Benji, not you

[Lord Duckhunter]

So tell me, Pony, how 'retaining the benefits' is actually incompatible with retaining membership. That's the point - it's a very deliberate fudge. You read it as hard Brexit because you've been Pavlov-conditioned by Ukippery to see everything that way. So Labour have suckered Brexit Jihadists (aka BJs) like you and they've suckered remainers into thinking they're on their side. That's politics.

 

Most careful politicians in Westminster are watching the political tide and will be watching it closely over the next two years - two years in which the EU will repeatedly trounce the woeful Davis, but more importantly two years (or less) in which the impact on the economy and especially jobs - Labour's red line - will be laid bare.

 

And it's not only Labour who's playing this game. Large sections of the Tories are doing the same thing. As I've said many times now, you BJs should be very worried that May, Davis et al are the ones tasked with delivering Brexit.

 

My fear was that the remain establishment would contrive to give us a Brexit that wasn't really one at all. That they would try to pretend that we'd left, but by retaining SM membership, we'd done no such thing. Luckily, instead of just getting on with this "Brexit" and presenting us with the fait accompli of a Norway style deal, they started talking pony about "hard" & "soft" Brexit. This meant that the differences were explained to people & it's clear to everyone that it's not really leaving. Had Cameron stayed, got a cross party group together & the remoaners shut up, I've no doubt they'd have presented us with " we've enacted your wishes & left the Eu. Here's the deal, in the CU & in the SM". A total stitch up.

 

Why I believe that Corbyns move yesterday was significant (and McDonnell's interview on Marr 3 weeks ago) is that they have effectively ruled out a SM stitch up. They have conceded that remaining in the SM is not leaving. It is now harder for people to argue that you can leave the EU & remain in the SM. Labour's position when the deal comes back can only be, "accept the deal or stay in". We may still stay in, but there's no ambiguity about it. The danger of people being suckered into thinking they're leaving, when in reality we haven't, has gone.

 

Corbyn & Mcdonnell have spent their whole lives opposing the EU. It was only because leaving was a red line to so many of the PLP & membership & that position would have threatened his leadership, that he half heartedly backed remain. He's still fudging & waking a tight rope, but he's boxed off the SM stitch up and by doing so has done us leavers a great service. Alister Campbell is spitting feathers, he understands what Corbyn has done & Nige is praising him. It's now out or in, not out, in , or half in ( with people thinking we're out) & we've got Jezza to thank for that.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[buctootim]

It's a decent point well argued, although I don't necessarily agree with it. Corbyn doing well in the election has really complicated things and changed the maths. You could end up with the Tory and labour leadership allied on leaving the SM but being challenged by a cross party alliance of their own backbenchers.

[Lord Duckhunter]

It's a decent point well argued, although I don't necessarily agree with it. Corbyn doing well in the election has really complicated things and changed the maths. You could end up with the Tory and labour leadership allied on leaving the SM but being challenged by a cross party alliance of their own backbenchers.

 

The interesting thing for me is how the hung parliament affects Labours final Brexit position . Had May won a 50 majority Corbyn could stick to his policy of appealing to both Leave & Remain, being all things to all men. Just oppose, oppose, oppose, safe in the knowledge that he could tell Remainers that the Tories rammed Brexit through, & leavers aren't going to care once we've left. What happens now, when his votes matter? How does his delicate policy of facing both ways fare when it'll decide the outcome. How are his Glastonbury fans & Remainers going to feel when it's his votes that confirm the exit. Equally, how will the leavers in his heartlands going to feel if his votes stop Brexit. In a strange way doing so well, may actually cause him a real dilemma on this issue and split his delicate balancing act

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited 30 June, 2017 by Lord Duckhunter

[Seaford Saint]

The issue was Greece wanting to be in the club with the wealthier nations. They thought, wrongly, just by being the same club they would end up as rich as them. It was a bad choice for Greece by Greece, the EU didnt force them into it. Remember only 19 of the 28 countries are in the euro the rest made the free choice to stay out.

 

It was just a few Greeks who were bribed...not the millions of Greeks, who started the demise of Greece.

[John B]

The interesting thing for me is how the hung parliament affects Labours final Brexit position . Had May won a 50 majority Corbyn could stick to his policy of appealing to both Leave & Remain, being all things to all men. Just oppose, oppose, oppose, safe in the knowledge that he could tell Remainers that the Tories rammed Brexit through, & leavers aren't going to care once we've left. What happens now, when his votes matter? How does his delicate policy of facing both ways fare when it'll decide the outcome. How are his Glastonbury fans & Remainers going to feel when it's his votes that confirm the exit. Equally, how will the leavers in his heartlands going to feel if his votes stop Brexit. In a strange way doing so well, may actually cause him a real dilemma on this issue and split his delicate balancing act

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

How are you going to feel when Parliament says enough is enough and Brexit is stopped when most sensible people realise it is going to be an economic and social disasteri

[aintforever]

The Tories are making a complete mess of it. It's like it's been hijacked by the hard Brexiteers and it's just going to be forced through.

 

Boris has said all along that we will still be in the single market: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-eu-referendum-single-market-brexit-a7104846.html

[John B]

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I voted Remain too because of my concerns with the economy if we left the EU

 

Batman was not worried if I remember but I think he was wrong

 

Household income falling at fastest rate since 1976 as UK savings rates crash as Economic growth e has come to an abrupt halt as consumers raid piggy banks to battle rising inflation and stalled wages

 

629

 

The consumer-driven momentum that has kept the British economy afloat since the Brexit vote is declining rapidly, with new data showing households in the grip of the most protracted squeeze on living standards since the economic crisis of the mid-1970s.

 

Against a backdrop of rising prices and stagnant wage growth, incomes adjusted for inflation have now fallen for three successive quarters, the first time this has occurred since the International Monetary Fund had to bail Britain out in 1976.

 

At the same time, the amount being set aside as savings has now slipped to just 1.7% of disposable income – the lowest level on record, and a fraction of the near-10% average for the last 50 years. Just a year ago, it was more than three times the current rate.

 

 

 

The new data from the Office for National Statistics shows that in the first three months of 2017, the mounting financial pressure on consumers brought the UK’s strong performance following last summer’s Brexit vote to an abrupt halt.

 

On Thursday, separate figures showed an unexpected jump in consumer credit. Households borrowed an extra £1.7bn in May - £300m more than had been expected – on credit cards, personal loans and car finance. A survey of consumer confidence also showed a steep decline.

 

Despite saving less and borrowing more, consumers still reined in their spending, contributing to economic growth confirmed today at just 0.2% – the lowest of any of the major G7 industrial nations.

[Lord Duckhunter]

 

Boris has said all along that we will still be in the single market: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-eu-referendum-single-market-brexit-a7104846.html

 

Do you understand the difference between access & membership?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aintforever]

Do you understand the difference between access & membership?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah but it's becoming increasingly obvious we won't have either.

[CB Fry]

Yeah but it's becoming increasingly obvious we won't have either.

Who cares as long as it's one in the eye for big business and management consultancies, am I right? It's just them what will suffer ha ha ha ha screw them ha ha ha.

[shurlock]

Do you understand the difference between access & membership?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Seems you don't have a scooby either.

[Verbal]

Yeah but it's becoming increasingly obvious we won't have either.

 

Everyone has access to the single market. If Kim Jong-un has access to the single market, why won't we?

 

On the broader point, I'm not sure what's so obvious. We have a hung parliament rather than the one that was going to gallop into the EU negotiations with a thumping majority and demand the earth. We have a department, Dexeu, and its head, who are regarded within Whitehall as wildly dysfunctional (it even lost half its ministerial team in the wake of the election, one of whom resigned because of the rampant incompetence in the department). And we have continuing frustration from the EU side that the UK seems incapable of spelling out its position coherently on anything. And we have serious splits in the two main parties between soft Brexiters/remainers and Brexit Jihadists.

 

So the only thing that's obvious right now is nothing.

[shurlock]

Theresa May’s Brexit red lines have left UK ‘hamstrung’

 

Former David Davis adviser laments inflexibility of position on ECJ

 

https://www.ft.com/content/e1dc9558-5db2-11e7-b553-e2df1b0c3220

 

Another point of difference with Corbyn's Labour which still wants the UK to participate in many of the EU's regulatory agencies and would countenance the ECJ playing a role in some areas.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

According to this poll - published in a Brexit supporting newspaper - if the EU referendum were to be held today then the "Remain" side would actually win: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/02/remain-would-win-brexit-referendum-held-now/

 

The main argument politicians employ to justify the damage Brexit policies will almost certainly cause our nation is that they are democratically implementing the "will of the people" and that is the end of the matter. Well all this "will of the people" stuff was always a somewhat problematic line I think when you remember that the referendum vote was as close as 51.9 to 48.1% - this society has in-effect been split right down the middle on this question in truth. But if a (growing) majority of the people are now experiencing some degree of "buyers regret" and come to realise that leaving the EU is indeed the historic error of judgement it always seemed to many of us, then pursuing Brexit in the face of that realisation is just a bloody minded exercise in human folly that only a minority of eurosceptic extremists really desire is it not?

 

For that matter I don't really believe there was ever a true majority among the British people to leave the EU anyway because so many voters (in their wisdom) decided to employ the referendum more as a means to express their dissatisfaction with their lot in life, and perhaps to give the establishment a bloody good kicking, rather than cast their vote only on the issue before them. The veritable phalanx of lies much of the Press and "Vote Leave" employed to mislead the British people before the referendum is hardly a shining example of democracy in action either methinks.

 

It seems to me that the British people require a second vote on this matter when whatever God awful Brexit deal the politicians can manage to cobble together has been agreed.

[aintforever]

Who cares as long as it's one in the eye for big business and management consultancies, am I right? It's just them what will suffer ha ha ha ha screw them ha ha ha.

 

What are you on about? Weirdo.

[aintforever]

Regardless of which side you are on (I was mainly favouring leave), the situation is completely bonkers. Exactly how dogmatically do we pursue the result of the refurendum?

 

It like we're in charge of a ship, the captain didn't know which way to go so everyone on board had a vote. The waters looked a bit choppy West so a narrow vote to East won despite no one really knowing the best direction. Now we are sailing towards what looks like some rocks and are powerless to change course because the captain blindly insists on carrying out the "will of the people". Instead of simply just asking again (wow, that would be common sense) we are sailing to what appears to be certain death.

[Batman]

Regardless of which side you are on (I was mainly favouring leave), the situation is completely bonkers. Exactly how dogmatically do we pursue the result of the refurendum?

 

It like we're in charge of a ship, the captain didn't know which way to go so everyone on board had a vote. The waters looked a bit choppy West so a narrow vote to East won despite no one really knowing the best direction. Now we are sailing towards what looks like some rocks and are powerless to change course because the captain blindly insists on carrying out the "will of the people". Instead of simply just asking again (wow, that would be common sense) we are sailing to what appears to be certain death.

 

can I be honest. you have turned into a genuine hysterical tart on these sort of matters.

[aintforever]

can I be honest. you have turned into a genuine hysterical tart on these sort of matters.

 

To be honest, I don't really value the opinion of a grown man who pretends to be Batman on a football forum.

[Batman]

To be honest, I don't really value the opinion of a grown man who pretends to be Batman on a football forum.

 

that is exactly what I do.

well done

 

do give us more of your faux outrage and despair on how Brexit/government are doing

Edited 2 July, 2017 by Batman

[CB Fry]

What are you on about? Weirdo.

You voted leave because you wanted to do exactly what politicians and big business didn't want you to do. Go you.

 

Probably worth not cintinually pis sing and moaning about a situation you helped bring about.

[aintforever]

You voted leave because you wanted to do exactly what politicians and big business didn't want you to do. Go you.

 

Probably worth not cintinually pis sing and moaning about a situation you helped bring about.

 

I didn't even vote, dickhead.

 

Your inability to grasp the most simple of concepts never ceases to amaze.

[Batman]

That's the elephant in the room. Leaving the EU will mean another referendum for the Jocks and as it stands it would be a nailed on vote out of the UK. That would have ramifications for Northern Ireland as well.

 

I doubt many who voted for Brexit would want the UK broken up AND out of the EU. So if the government press ahead then they could be going against the will of the people and the majority of MPs.

 

A second referendum on Brexit would be daft if it was the same question but if the Jocks are going to have one anyway surely it is fair to let the people of England decide if they want to be in a UK in the EU or just England and Wales out - because that is effectively the choice.

 

If it's been perfectly clear them might as well activate article 50 and crack on with it. The people have made their choice, like you say perfectly clear.

 

It's no big drama, just keep the laws and regs as they are and change them as and when we see fit. It will take a long time but that's not a problem.

 

So when bad stuff happens after the vote it's because of Brexit, good stuff happens it's nothing to do with Brexit because the button has yet to be pressed.

 

So FTSE goes down it's bad, FTSE goes up it's bad.

 

**** me, no wonder the British public took no notice of these ****** bankers and stockbrokers when they decided to vote brexit.

 

Confidence seems remarkably high considering we will soon set the wheels in motion though. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort crisis in confidence or something? Emergency budget, world war 3, house prices through the floor?

 

The main reason I sided with out was because uncontrolled mass immigration means downward pressure on wages, pressure on public services and a housing problem that is impossible to resolve.

 

Hopefully now we are out these problems can at least be started to be looked at, wether they are or not is a different matter. At least if they are not we can elect a government with a different plan, at the moment whoever we elect are powerless to do anything about the above. You get situations like 'Call me Dave' getting elected on the promise to get immigration down to the 10s of thousands when he knew all along he had no control whatsoever.

 

But if we are going to change things for the better there has to be a period of uncertainty. They are just going to have to deal with it. The sooner we just crack on the better.

 

Well it's a completely pointless exercise then. But like trying to haggle for a good deal down the market when the seller knows exactly what you are willing to pay.

 

The EU will just insist it's hard Brexit or nothing knowing full well it won't get through parliament.

 

When did you turn into such an hysterical tart?

[aintforever]

that is exactly what I do.

well done

 

do give us more of your faux outrage and despair on how Brexit/government are doing

 

I'm not outraged at anything, just highlighting the idiocy of the situation. Or do you think it's clever to just blindly follow the referendum result to any sort of hard Brexit, regardless of consequences?

[aintforever]

When did you turn into such an hysterical tart?

 

When May started making a complete mess of everything?

[Batman]

When May started making a complete mess of everything?

 

we are leaving, we want to get a good deal with the best possible access.

we want to gain control of our own affairs.

 

The government has put if forward that EU nationals have the rights to stay and access everything (bar the right to vote) as long as that it replicated in the EU for brits (which is absolutely fair enough)

 

You even said there has to be a period of uncertainty

 

other than that, not a lot else has changed apart from Gina Miller and others muddying the waters. We are leaving, the two leaders want to leave and there is a fag paper between their required end states.

 

We will leave, there is no hard or soft form of leaving. When we leave, I doubt it will be to the total satisfaction of Farage and his followers and nor to Clegg and his ilk...it will be somewhere in the middle that is alright for everyone. but it will not stop tarts from moaning

 

not so sure why you need to be hysterical about it all...

[Lord Duckhunter]

Or do you think it's clever to just blindly follow the referendum result to any sort of hard Brexit, regardless of consequences?

 

It's clever to be democratic & enact the will of the people. The "consequences" were made very clear during the referendum by the Remain side, and the people still voted out.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shurlock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G0D28KV9TI

 

24m0s - with arguments like that, remain never stood a chance

 

#feelingsoverfacts

[shurlock]

People knew the consequences...

 

Investment in UK car industry plummets amid Brexit uncertainty

 

Total investment on track to be less than half of the spending recorded last year

 

https://www.ft.com/content/0c3427b2-5ce1-11e7-9bc8-8055f264aa8b

 

#projectfear

Edited 2 July, 2017 by shurlock

[whelk]

People knew the consequences...

 

 

 

https://www.ft.com/content/0c3427b2-5ce1-11e7-9bc8-8055f264aa8b

 

#projectfear

 

Don't worry it's horrible working with others. We're in debt. We used to be great

[John B]

Survation says UK would now vote 54-46 to REMAIN in EU! Exposes the sheer criminal folly of basing policy on one narrow referendum result

[OldNick]

People knew the consequences...

 

 

 

https://www.ft.com/content/0c3427b2-5ce1-11e7-9bc8-8055f264aa8b

 

#projectfear

but isn't that due to new models coming out? That is what I read on Hargreaves Lansdowns site

[John B]

Is there anybody now in any doubt? Labours position is that we will not be members of the single market post Brexit . Even though it was in their manifesto some didn't seem the grasp it. Perhaps tonight's vote & Corbyn subsequently sacking people who voted for SM membership, may finally convince them.

 

 

 

 

Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, will later today lay out Labour’s six tests for any deal – saying that it the new relationship between Britain and the EU must be based upon “partnership” and begin with a comprehensive trade agreement as well as continued cooperation on science, security, research and technology.

 

If his tests are not met, Labour will not back the deal in the commons.

 

He will warn of the danger of leaving Europe without a deal, which he fears is the preferred option of many Tory Brexiteers, saying: “The biggest danger currently facing British businesses, jobs and living standards is the chance of the Prime Minister exiting the EU without a deal.”

 

“This is the worst of all possible outcomes….The Prime Minister should end this unnecessary uncertainty now by committing to establish appropriate transitional arrangements starting on 29 March 2019 and lasting until a full and collaborative EU-UK treaty can be agreed.”

 

The deal must provide “exact same benefits” from Europe for the British economy Starmer says, quoting the Brexit secretary David Davis’s own words in the commons.

 

“All of us want the best for Britain. But the stakes are high and the Prime Minister’s approach so far does not bode well,” he is expected to add in his speech to Chatham House.

 

“Failure to meet the tests I have set out today will of course affect how Labour votes in the house of commons.”

 

“The prime minister should be under no illusion that Labour will not support a deal that fails to reflect core British values and the six tests I have set out today.”

 

Starmer’s six tests for the Brexit deal are:

 

1. Does it ensure a strong and collaborative future relationship with the EU?

 

2. Does it deliver the “exact same benefits” as we currently have as members of the Single Market and Customs Union?

 

3. Does it ensure the fair management of migration in the interests of the economy and communities?

 

4. Does it defend rights and protections and prevent a race to the bottom?

 

5. Does it protect national security and our capacity to tackle cross-border crime?

 

6. Does it deliver for all regions and nations of the UK?

[John B]

When are we going to f-ing wake up to the catastrophe our 'leaders' are taking us to through Brexit ?

[Verbal]

but isn't that due to new models coming out? That is what I read on Hargreaves Lansdowns site

 

So you went to one of the major donors of the Leave campaign to get a balanced view as to why motor manufacturing investment in the UK has crashed since June 2016?

[Trader]

Survation says UK would now vote 54-46 to REMAIN in EU! Exposes the sheer criminal folly of basing policy on one narrow referendum result

 

If Survation said so it must be true.

[Batman]

When are we going to f-ing wake up to the catastrophe our 'leaders' are taking us to through Brexit ?

 

another hysterical tart

[aintforever]

It's clever to be democratic & enact the will of the people. The "consequences" were made very clear during the referendum by the Remain side, and the people still voted out.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

True, but there was such a myriad of bull****e from both sides it's impossible to know what sort of Brexit people actually want and what they are willing to sacrifice to get control of our borders and laws. Over a year on and we still don't have a clue what it looks like and what the consequences will be. A vote on the final deal makes perfect sens to me. If May comes back with a great deal then it should all get voted through no problem. If she comes back with a pile of ****e why not give us a chance to say no thanks?

[Lord Duckhunter]

Survation says UK would now vote 54-46 to REMAIN in EU! Exposes the sheer criminal folly of basing policy on one narrow referendum result

 

Instead of having elections why don't we just poll a few thousand people and run policy based on their answers. We may even get to bring back hanging.

 

You need to get a grip man. "Criminal folly", lol. Of course you need to base policy on a referendum result, what's the point in having it otherwise? It's not a bloody great focus group Parliament handed the decision over to the people, the people voted a way you didn't like, get over it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lord Duckhunter]

A vote on the final deal makes perfect sens to me. If May comes back with a great deal then it should all get voted through no problem. If she comes back with a pile of ****e why not give us a chance to say no thanks?

 

 

Im all for that. Seeing as we're leaving, a vote on leaving with May deal or leaving without May deal, makes perfect sense.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shurlock]

Im all for that. Seeing as we're leaving, a vote on leaving with May deal or leaving without May deal, makes perfect sense.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Perfect sense?

Edited 2 July, 2017 by shurlock

[buctootim]

Brexit might have been a mistake, other approaches should have been tried before resorting to a referendum and the Governments Brexit negotiating strategy is a farce.

 

Pretty bleak picture painted by the Director of the Vote Leave Campaign.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/04/man-behind-350m-brexit-bus-lie-just-said-leaving-the-eu-is-an-error-6754392/

[CB Fry]

A vote on the final deal makes perfect sens to me.

 

If we did have a referendum on the final deal, but all the politicians, management consultants and "**** stockbrokers and bankers" told you to vote against it, which way would you vote?

[shurlock]

Brexit might have been a mistake, other approaches should have been tried before resorting to a referendum and the Governments Brexit negotiating strategy is a farce.

 

Pretty bleak picture painted by the Director of the Vote Leave Campaign.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/04/man-behind-350m-brexit-bus-lie-just-said-leaving-the-eu-is-an-error-6754392/

 

And in some possible branches of the future, Cummings is a whiter-than-white truthseeker rather than a sociopathic slaphead.

Edited 5 July, 2017 by shurlock

[Verbal]

While the government refuses to publish its report on the funding of Islamist extremism in the UK - which reportedly says that most of those funds come from Saudi Arabia - the Henry Jackson Society has released its own analysis. This confirms not only that most of the money to fund Wahhabi-Salafist loons comes from Saudi, but that almost all of it comes from the Saudi government itself.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/05/report-calls-for-public-inquiry-into-gulf-funding-of-british-extremism

 

May is clearly fearful that in the UK's heavily Brexit-induced weakened state, it can't afford to alienate a huge market for British goods (mostly arms). Even if that market is the financial source of murder on British streets.

[aintforever]

If we did have a referendum on the final deal, but all the politicians, management consultants and "**** stockbrokers and bankers" told you to vote against it, which way would you vote?

 

It would obviously depend on the deal, I would make my own mind up not follow what other people say like a brainless sheep.

[buctootim]

And in some possible branches of the future, Cummings is a whiter-than-white truthseeker rather than a sociopathic slaphead.

 

I think we should stick with core projections...

[CB Fry]

It would obviously depend on the deal, I would make my own mind up not follow what other people say like a brainless sheep.

Or bottle out of voting completely.

[aintforever]

Or bottle out of voting completely.

 

Not sure what 'bottle' has got to do with it, I guess somewhere in your weird world that makes sense. But yes, if I am undecided I see little point in voting.

[Verbal]

Barnier has said bluntly today that the UK's position is 'impossible'. There will be no 'frictionless' borders without freedom of movement; there will be no 'sector by sector' negotiation (i.e. financial services, motor manufacturing, etc); and there will be no compromise on ECJ jurisdiction.

 

So much for having your cake and eating it - this is not having any cake and starving.

 

Which means the next set of EU/UK meetings are going to be interesting. I wonder when the penny will finally drop with May, Davis, et al.? Or are they playing this out like a whole season of House of Cards, and waiting for the public mood to catch up with a reality they understand all too well but dare not mention?

 

Either way, the choice between hard, economy-trashing Brexit and the not-really-Brexit-at-all of single market and customs union membership couldn't be starker.