Quote:
Originally Posted by Sephiroth
You're mixing it all up, though I understand that you purport to think that the government is not sufficiently competent to handle both Brexit and CV adequately.
But the political dimensions is very important. Any extension would unnecessarily shuffle even more dosh the way of the EU, on their terms and would strengthen the EU's negotiating position. That's enough ground for not extending. Indeed, going to the wire is a basic principle for this type of negotiation.
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I think the evidence has shown and indeed you have acknowledged that the government has not handled the Covid 19 crisis as well as it might. Track and trace, exams fiasco, PPE purchasing, non-working app, late lockdown, nursing homes scandal, high excess death rate...just one of these alone proves the point.
We can't win a good deal with the EU by going to the wire as the balance of power is held by the EU, as it is eight times larger than us. Only the EU can win by this tactic as we have more to lose so will blink first. We saw it with Ireland. The amount of money paid to the EU in 2021 would be outweighed by the disruption and reduced trade. Either pay more as universal credit and last-minute government contracts to airlift medicines and food and face Sir Keir in power in No 10 in 2024 or pay less to the EU and get a good, chaos-free deal with a chance of re-election.