Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Well, you clearly have this mindset that every problem is insurmountable and nothing can be done to achieve what is wanted. You carried on like that throughout the Brexit process, but hey....it all worked out and we've left. I am not underestimating anything. You are simply trying to create insurmountable problems where there are simply issues to be resolved. The fact that this is not easy does not mean they cannot be achieved, but your posts all seem to indicate that if this was up to you, you would give up even before the first hurdle.

I don't get why you think a tariff free trade deal is so impossible to achieve in a year. The negotiations are continuing, and you have not provided any information that verifies your apparent view that they are not making good progress. We meet all the specifications for products sold to the EU because we have actually been a member of the EU, so complications such as were the case in the Canada deal don't arise.

The only reason I say that the active participation of Boris is crucial is because Boris himself will want to keep the negotiations going in a particular direction. He might want to take personal charge of that. He knows how easy it is for people to want to backtrack and make unacceptable concessions to the other side, and he believes that he's the man who can hold his nerve. He's probably right about that.