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Originally Posted by 1andrew1
Are you suggesting it's all choreographed and there was no plan to stop talking? I don't discount that theory, people will read no-deal horror stories in the Sunday newspapers today and will be happier with whatever deal the EU and BoJo sign up to than if the likelihood of no-deal and its implications hadn't been suggested as a strong possibility.
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No, I don’t think it’s choreographed, but neither do I think there was much chance of this morning’s phone call resulting in an end to negotiations.
And for what it’s worth I really don’t buy in to the theory that Boris is preparing for a “sorry but it’s the best we could do” moment over a naff deal signed some time next week. The rhetoric has been strident and continues to be so. He would have no reason to back himself into a corner like this if he had even an inkling that he might have to sign it all away.
No matter how understandable the EU’s demands are on their own terms, they are absolutely unacceptable to the UK based on the UK’s stated policy aims with regards to business and market regulation, and sovereign control of our maritime EEZ. If there is a deal (and I think it’s still unlikely), the EU is going to have to accept things are changing in the direction we have indicated, and the very best they are going to get is a negotiated transition period with a fixed end date, that can be terminated by either party with reasonable notice.