Does anyone believe BJ has any intention of negotiating a Deal with EU?

They could forsee it the moment the word pandemic was uttered

Well, yes MaizieD but not until it was up close and personal!

''You?''

well there are very solid, good reasons that those of us who have studied the alternatives and the reality of WTO- are extremely concerned.

the trade unions in Glasgow paid the legal fees for the then Labour administration to fight against equal pay for women.The legal battle lasted years ,it was only resolved when the SNP took over as leaders of the council.The claims have all been paid now,as far as I'm aware /There was an issue with the amount of the payments as the women had to sign a NDA about how much they had received .Again down the the lawyers paid by the unions and labour .

No he is not bothered about a deal. He has achieved what he set out to do, get us out, so I think as far as he is concerned his job is done and god help us all if we leave with a no deal.

Deal or No Deal is in the lap of the gods now. Personally, I think it will be A Deal as otherwise it’s bad for BOTH sides. Money talks.

I know you think BJ is a god Urm so I suppose your post makes sense putting the deal in his lap. Won’t happen

Urmstongran
money talks How true. The French wine growers are in meltdown. Because of the US tariffs they have lost 44% ( in value) on their exports since last November ?
Is it a coincidence that the US trade negotiator arrives at No 10 on the day that our negotiators start talks with the eu. It surely must be ?

Well, yes MaizieD but not until it was up close and personal!

They'll have done all the modelling of different scenarios as soon as it looked as though it was likely to be a pandemic. That's how forecasters work. Do you really think that they just sit back and say 'Let's see what happens'? It must be lovely to be so naive...

I just think Boris is determined for us to leave the E.U. sw - nothing godlike about him, just not an appeaser like Theresa May!

I can’t believe how fixated the E.U. is over fish & chicken!

David Frost is a details man apparently. Boris is fortunate to have him on his team. Better than Ollie Robbins this time around. These negotiations aren’t going to be nicey-nicey this time around.

Oh no, they are not- how right you are this time.

We have left Urm I thought you knew that.

This today from the Telegraph (paywall):

“The EU still seems to treat the UK like an exiting country trying to negotiate the terms of its withdrawal. It has not quite clocked that the UK has already left.

We are a third party wanting to do a deal with the EU, not applying to remain in its legal orbit.

When Japan, the US or any other country has negotiated with the EU, they are treated as independent nation states. There is never any question of those countries having to follow EU rules and regulations – so why is the EU demanding the UK does just that?

The UK will approach these talks as the constitutional equals of the EU, not some subservient entity. We have the political will and the mandate to hold firm on our three guiding principles – to determine our own rules and regulations, to control our own fishing waters and to make our own laws.

The EU has offered these terms to other countries as part of a quota-free and tariff-free relationship. So why not us?

The EU argues the UK is different because of its proximity and the volume of our trade but this misses the point: the existing provisions in other agreements would be sufficient. They would allow the EU to restrict trade if the UK engaged in unfair competition.

The EU should dispense with the pretence that it is trying to safeguard our environmental standards and workers’ rights – we have those covered. This is about safeguarding its own institutions and principles. It is a political choice by the EU to try and gain some competitive advantage – perfectly valid in trade negotiations but not a necessity to have a fair deal.”

Ah The Telegraph.

The US, Japan and any other country doesn't need the close trading relationship which the UK will need with its nearest geographical neighbours.

The EU certainly has "clocked" that the UK has left. It's a load of nonsense to claim otherwise. Maybe Telegraph journalists should try reading foreign media.

The UK is behaving like a spoilt child, which has been given plenty of chances, but now wants to have all the perks without sticking to its side of the bargain.

Exactly, the UK has left, signing a Withdrawal agreement with terms which now Johnson and his team refuse to honour.
It has left- but all the work is now to be done. If the UK does not honour what it has signed up to- all will lose, all will be damaged- but the UK 10000 (and some more 0s) more than the EU who will stick together, support each other- and sign deals which the rest of the world which the (very small) UK won't be able to on its own.

They won't be selling wine to us, and it will hurt- but they won't be buying anything from us ...but from each other and outside.

How anyone can not see that is beyond me, truly.

As someone I trust just said elsewhere ''So you walk away from a deal to covering 45% - 48% of your trade, no access for financial services and tariffs on all exports to the EU and if we believe in Boris, they will set WTO tariffs on imports to zero... and you expect they will soften.....

In such circumstances why would any other WTO member be in a hurry to negotiate a trade deal with the UK while they can have zero tariffs on their exports to the UK, while imposing tariffs on UK imports. So long as they UK and the EU can not come to an agreement, they can enjoy the free ride. ''

common sense FGS.

One of the biggest lies was "They need us more than we need them" yet unbelievably this was parroted over and over again.

... and still is by some, right here.

And also the 'oh we can just walk away and trade on WTO' !!!

I do not believe the Torygraph hacks are that dim, so they must be choosing to misrepresent what the EU is saying.

They are writing what their readers want to hear. They have jobs to hang on to.

This is a really interesting (and chilling) blog post about Johnson. What does he really want to achieve?

An extract, but worth reading all of it.

In the aftermath of the general election, many commentators predicted that Johnson would soften his Brexit stance and seek to develop a ‘deep and special’ partnership with the EU. A range of factors seemed to lend credence to such a view. With Brexit done, and the referendum mandate (at least arguably) exhausted, would he not choose the least economically disruptive path, ensuring that he would have the ability to deliver on his pre-election spending promises? Does he not have to appeal to ‘red wall’ voters, and the new tranche of Conservative MPs who represent them in Parliament? Wasn’t he, and I’m not quite sure what people are reading into this one, rather more liberal than expected during his time as London mayor?

It now seems clear that he has no intention of softening his Brexit stance. His actions as Prime Minister can best be understood through the lens – again – of power.

He has sought, in a range of ways, to minimise Parliamentary scrutiny of his actions. He has plans for the judiciary, both in terms of its composition, and its ability to hold the government to account via judicial review. He attacks the BBC and the civil service. He treats the devolved governments with barely disguised contempt. Institutions which serve as ‘checks and balances’ against executive power are systematically undermined, because they might object to things he might want to do. It seems that we are dealing with a Prime Minister who is interested in power for power’s sake.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/02/25/power-for-powers-sake-johnsons-profoundly-alarming-premiership/

The blogger, Phil Syrpis is Professor of EU Law at the University of Bristol Law School.

I do suspect that much of this is Cummings, rather than Johnson, but he is the enabler.

I’d take a punt that that blogger, Phil Syrpis (Professor of EU Law at the University of Bristol Law School) voted Remain.
?

His viewpoint in that case is no great surprise.

Punt away as much as you like, Ug. He's a well educated and intelligent man so he probably did.

Which does not invalidate his analysis of Johnson based on the man's actions since being elected PM.

What if he did vote to remain in the EU?

He's a professor of EU Law, so I would imagine that he knows how things work. He's guaranteed a job for life because so much needs doing by people who know what they're talking about.