UK & EU Agree Post-Brexit Trade Deal

[Carth]

Japan Deal

Rumours filtering through from the far reaches of the galaxy suggest it's the same deal the EU has with Japan.

Obviously these rumours could be caused by a cataclysmic event (i.e. one person posting something on twitter) and the ripples and echoes of this are spreading ever outward

The same deal with Japan would make sense since a lot of the work has been done and can be reused. I did hear (also on Twitter) that we're less stringy about people coming here to work temporarily in services than the EU deal.

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by Carth

Brexit talks will resume despite UK rejecting EU ultimatum

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54112973

a few quotes:



Now I'm not the brainiest chap here (although I can read without moving my lips), but it looks to me like a gentle nudge suggesting if no deal is what we end up with, changes to existing 'agreements' will be made to reflect this.

Yeah, that's a strange line as the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement is here to stay until at least January 2025 when it is due to be reviewed.

The only way I can see the Protocol going is either a mutual or unilateral abandonment which will throw the Good Friday Agreement down the drain or something that makes the Protocol redundant which could only be a whole UK solution. This would need to be as good (or as bad depending on how you look at it) as the interactions between Northern Ireland and the EU (Single Market, Freedom of Movement, etc)

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Damien

The same deal with Japan would make sense since a lot of the work has been done and can be reused. I did hear (also on Twitter) that we're less stringy about people coming here to work temporarily in services than the EU deal.

Let's hope this deal tips a few more into the bag. The stopwatch is ticking.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Damien

The same deal with Japan would make sense since a lot of the work has been done and can be reused. I did hear (also on Twitter) that we're less stringy about people coming here to work temporarily in services than the EU deal.

Whether it's broadly along the same lines as the EU deal is neither here nor there. Why wouldn't you use an existing document where much of the blurb has already been done. What we now have is the freedom to tweak such agreements to the mutual benefit of both parties on certain items. Which we can do quickly and with utility, and not have to take into consideration or have agreement from umpteen other nations.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Pierre

Why wouldn't you use an existing document where much of the blurb has already been done.

Possibly because you don't own the copyright to it?

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Possibly because you don't own the copyright to it?

I doubt that would be an issue. Besides it's as much Japan's document as it is the EU's.

[nomadking]

The NI Protocol says that certain matters have to be decided by the Joint Committee. As the committee has only had 2 meetings and hasn't decided anything, what else is the UK expected to do? Anyway, why should the IRA dictate what GB can and cannot ship to NI? If it's not the IRA determining anything, how come people keep saying that "X threatens the peace process"? IE We have to do what the IRA is happy with or they will "kick off".
If the EU block UK exports to the EU, then that is Ireland well and truly stuffed. Well they're the ones blocking everything, now and before.
Link

In a worst case scenario there could be huge number of job losses and a drop in living standards due to a loss of trade in the weeks after Brexit.
But one of the first things the pubic might notice is an acute shortage of medicines within days after Britain crashes out of the EU.
Around 4,000 or 60-70% of medicines in Ireland come from or via the UK and the Government has confirmed this supply will be threatened by a no-deal Brexit.
To make matters worse many of these medicines have a very short shelf life and have special storage and transportation requirements which means they can’t be stockpiled.
There are also growing fears that there could be fuel shortages as most of the petrol and diesel we use here comes from the UK.
...
While it is unlikely anyone will actually go hungry after a hard Brexit there will almost certainly be shortages of some foods in a matter of days.

[1andrew1]

Asleep at the wheel? Did BoJo not know what he signed?

The UK government was explicitly warned in January that Boris Johnson’s Brexit divorce deal would leave Brussels able to claim jurisdiction over “large amounts” of UK state aid policy after the end of the transition period, documents seen by the Financial Times have revealed.

A 10-page official briefing document shows the civil service issued clear warnings that Mr Johnson’s deal to avoid the return of a trade border in Ireland would impact not just subsidy decisions relating to Northern Ireland but could also “reach back” into the rest of the UK.

https://www.ft.com/content/de1af530-...c-905e86288c6c

I think the obvious answer to your question is that yes, he did know what he signed, because he was in receipt of a 10-page briefing document containing explicit warnings.

I suspect BoJo’s attitude towards that was, at the time, most likely summed up by “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it”. Now we’ve got to it, we see how they plan to cross it.

[Kushan]

"I'm just going to run into this burning house"

"But it's on fire"

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it"

What an amazing political strategist our PM is.

Depends on whether your analogy works or not though doesn’t it.

I don’t think your analogy works - Brexit is not a burning building. Obviously continuity remainers who still can’t accept the referendum result have a stake in promoting that view though.

[nomadking]

So what exactly was the alternative? A hard Brexit? The NI protocol is meant to be a backstop, ie something that shouldn't be needed, as long as the EU negotiate in "good faith".

[Kushan]

Originally Posted by Chris

Depends on whether your analogy works or not though doesn’t it.

I don’t think your analogy works - Brexit is not a burning building. Obviously continuity remainers who still can’t accept the referendum result have a stake in promoting that view though.

The analogy is simple: He was warned, he chose to ignore the warning and now if he gets burned it's his own fault. Not Brexit, just his actions over the last 8 months.

EDIT: Also - It's still (somehow) too early to tell if Brexit is a burning building or not. Give it a few years and we'll see if it's a success or if the economic downturn is COVID's fault.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Chris

I think the obvious answer to your question is that yes, he did know what he signed, because he was in receipt of a 10-page briefing document containing explicit warnings.

I suspect BoJo’s attitude towards that was, at the time, most likely summed up by “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it”. Now we’ve got to it, we see how they plan to cross it.

The concerns expressed about BoJo before he became PM were that he was was lazy, suggesting he wouldn't bother with reading such documents and would wing it. It's impossible to prove one way or the other. But it could explain why it was left in the Withdrawal Agreement.