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Originally Posted by Sephiroth

I was impressed with yesterday's BBC Newsnight wherein Mark Urban analysed the UK's relationship with the EU and vice-versa: "our friends in Europe" or a "competitor"? His conclusion was that the EU sees the UK as a competitor and if the UK diverges from their rules not to their liking, the EU can invoke penalty clauses in the treaty.

He also considered it likely that the Guvmin will indeed make us more competitive by chipping away at EU red tape and speculated how much of that the EU will "allow" before triggering treaty clauses.

My takeaway from the segment was that Brussels, backed by 27 countries, was afraid of the UK becoming too successful at the EU's expense. "Level playing field" - except with 27 countries they've got a screwed up idea of what that means.

Sod 'em. Btw, if Scotland goes its own way, we'll be even more competitive.

We'll save more money.