The EU won’t grant us a long extension for fear of what European elections here would produce. If we hold our nerve, the UK will Brexit on WTO terms in April.
Instead we need “a short extension, seven or eight weeks…to prepare for a No Deal outcome.”
Their high-handed dismissal of Cameron helped deliver Brexit. The insults of Tusk and Verhofstadt show nothing has changed.
The Morley and Outwood MP says that her constituents want the Brexit they voted for – and asks why Downing Street accuses Leavers but not Remainers of “bullying”.
To listen to some commentators a few weeks ago, you’d have thought it was only EU membership – not shared interests and values – that brings allies together.
That means commissioning physical and digital infrastructure and recruiting necessary personnel. It also means offering tangible reassurance to business.
“We think that the future relationship with Britain needs to be about more than trade and economics”.
A bit of romantic rhetoric from Brussels cannot change the fact that their only offers – before and after we voted Leave – have been provocatively unacceptable.
Each one of us will have a vote on any deal – and 73 MEPs may well be crucial to passing it.
Plus: We’ll never know the truth about the rebels’ motives. If you have fewer MPs, you must also have fewer Ministers. And: doesn’t Steve Baker have a fine head of hair?
The run-up to the European Council meetings next week could decide the future of the negotiations.
A sensible solution is achievable, but unnecessary brinksmanship and over-the-top rhetoric helps nobody.
The Prime Minister is right to be optimistic about our future relationship with the EU, but we must be ready for every eventuality.
The famous photo of the EU’s negotiator sitting with a pile of papers was misinterpreted. Those were the order that limit his scope.
The policy paper provides welcome clarity, but it’s time the Treasury gave up on the fiendishly difficult model it prefers.