Our country post Brexit

Do you think Brexiteers really thought it through?

www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/29/universities-abroad-headhunting-ucl-eu-researchers-brexit

I don't blame EU universities at all, but our universities will suffer.

David Davis definitely failed his.

rochdaleherald.co.uk/2017/08/29/david-davis-replaced-brexit-negotiator-short-planks/

Sounds like the government failed its exams over the summer, then. Not one of the position papers up to scratch.

"Yes, they are concerned with the Brexit processes to come and it is no secret the Japanese government and also as well as lots of Japanese companies preferred the situation in which the UK would remain within the EU.

However, what Japanese businesses are expecting in my view is the clarity and the predictability over the process to come, particularly the recent agreement within the UK government for the provisional period will be a very important factor because it will give the time and adaptability for the Japanese companies to adjust to a new environment after Brexit."

Japanese views on what they want from Brexit. I think they may have to wait for clarity and predictability.

I saw an article by an Australian newspaper talking about Johnson, it did not make pretty reading. He needs to go.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/29/theresa-may-sack-boris-johnson-britain

Good article by Owen Jones. Needless to say, I agree.

Many trade agreements with the US will be under threat post Brexit, unless the U.K. has been able to re-negotiate them before we leave the EU.

The pace at which the Brexiters are going this is so unlikely as to be zero.

It has certainly been said devon but hopefully parliament will prevent a cliff edge and subsequent econonmic disaster.

Or perhaps they secretly see it as staying with the status quo

Sorry if this has already been said - does the non-engagement of Davis with the 3 areas the EU want to discuss comprise a backdoor way to avoid reaching any agreement?

Maybot will be disappointed this week on her visit to Japan.

They have signalled very strongly ,that they are not keen to rush into trade deals with the UK any time soon - at least until we've finally left.

They have recently carried out a satisfactory deal with the EU.

Davis is looking his usual tired and emotional self.

Today's Rowson in the Graun just about sums it up!

Bit difficult for the 27 to agree to have flexibility.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-28/barnier-tells-u-k-to-focus-on-key-brexit-issues-as-time-scarce

Love the way Davis is demanding imagination and flexibility. --Er - who is leaving Europe??!!

Strangely enough, Murphy said this two days earlier.

"I have said it before and I will say it again now. At some time it is going to be appreciated that Brexit is not just not technically possible, which is why so many of the proposals made look so cosmetic as cover for keeping the only viable option, which is the status quo; but it’s not desirable either. There will be a long term prize for those admitting it. It bemuses me that Labour don’t want to claim it."

"As reported in this morning’s Observer, Keir Starmer has persuaded Labour to do three things. The first is to have a position on the single market and customs union after March 2019. Now Labour wants us to stay in both during a transitional period. The argument is not that we should now negotiate a complex transitional arrangement before a final deal is agreed with the other EU member states but that we should instead stay in the arrangement we have until such time as a final deal is agreed.

Second, this gives a clear indication that any final deal will be one that prioritises protecting the UK from the massive and dogmatically opposed economic and social shocks that Brexit threatens to impose, even if no further detail on what that might mean is disclosed.

Third this means that at long last Labour will be opposing the government on what has, unfortunately and wholly inappropriately, become the only issue of political significance in the UK.

Literally millions will be relieved as a result. Political sanity demands that Labour oppose a government so riven by incompetence, division and straightforward fear of what they’re doing. This policy lets Labour do that. It so happens it also makes sense.

Pragmatically there is no realistic chance of a bespoke transitional arrangement because there is not a hint of one being put on the table as yet. Indeed, no one has even got near the table. In that case what Labour is suggesting is the only viable option there is. But at least it’s claimed first mover advantage, at last, by claiming the only big political prize in town.

Then there is the obvious fact that it’s right to set no end date for a transitional deal. That’s not cowardice, or incompetence at work. It’s just that there is no way at present that anyone can know how long it will take to resolve issues. In that case Labour has claimed the consolation prize on this issue as well.

And there is a third factor. This policy lets Labour move over time, as Brexit becomes an ever bigger nightmare for the government, towards suggesting EU reforms that may well keep the UK in membership as other states begin to realise that compromise on some issues is also in their interests. Do not doubt the impact another economic downturn, which is surely coming, might have on this process.

Labour has taken a long time to get to a logical position. It may be, given that Brexit is such a disaster anyway, that the logic of the position remains only that it is streets ahead of anything the government has to offer. But that’s progress. And I’ll take that as cause for facing the day with a slight smile on my face. At least there’s going to be a debate now. Hallelujah. Raise a glass, mug or anything else. Tea will do. There’s some political progress this morning."

Richard Murphy on Taxresearch.
I've still got a glass of wine in front of me while I type.

Barnier seems to be the calm grown-up in this.

Maybe people will begin to realise we have set ourselves against 27 countries in a collective while we are one. We have put them in a position of strength - Barnier can wait until we put something forward and stop playing games. I doubt that we can.

I've said before, why don't they get some lawyers in the department to deal with it?
How many Tory MPs are lawyers?
It isn't a joke any more, putting the idiots in charge; we need more than bluff and bluster now.

Barnier had read and re- read the so called position papers produced by the U.K. Government, and can find neither position nor evidence that Davis has addressed the agreed areas of divorce bill, immigrants and NI.

We are paying this idiot far more than he is worth and appears that like his boss is promoted above his pay grade.

German exports to othe r countries have gone up more than the exports to Britain have gone down. What he was saying was to do with everyone knowing where they will stand ASAP so they can make the necessary plans.

Don't get too excited petra the timetable remains as stated.

Nothing can be changed without the 27 agreement.

If German exports to the U.K. are down this says more about the value of the pound and its 25% devaluation since the referendum.

And another one who's a bit worried.
Martin Wansleben chief exec of The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce has said " The first effects of the brexit vote are already being observed"
"German exports to the uk were down by 3% in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year"