All eyes now turn to Brexit.

Yes ?we did Kandinski this is a transition period whilst we arrange a trade deal. Or not.

do you have an actualy answer Kandinsky- about which (if any) cards we now hold? That would be useful.

Shall we drop all the card stuff....? The EU want/need a trade deal and we would like one too! The German car manufacturers will not take kindly to the EU not doing a deal with us for a start.Am quite sure that both sides will come to an agreement soon, both sides are pragmatic and will do what’s in their collective best interests with a modicum of give and take.

Kandinsky

Didn’t we leave the EU in January?

We did, and we are in a further transition phase until 31st December 2020. Which was meant to be for negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the EU. Which hasn't yet happened.

That is the 'deal' that is going to the wire at the moment, in which we hold no cards...

We don't notice that we've 'left' the EU because everything has stayed the same since the the invoking of A50 as we were in a transition period.

Oh no, those German car manufacturers have always been going to ride to our rescue, haven't they

Well, they're leaving it very late, aren't they?

Both sides will come to an agreement. The U.K. has no choice unless it goes for suicide.

The EU always leaves making the actual deal until the last minute Maizie ( but you know that already.)

I’ll give you one guess as to where this letter ended up

t.co/bqQc8i3YQF?amp=1

I'm quietly confident we'll get a deal. It's in our interest and the EU's.

This article was written pre-Covid

www.personneltoday.com/hr/job-losses-no-deal-brexit-europe-leuven/

I guess some of us get more upset than others about this. The only place I see Brexit discussed is on GN.

The most ridiculous letter ... ever. I am sure that will help ... not

The modicum of give and take depends very much on who holds the best cards who is in the strongest position, and whether one side can be trusted, or not.

So, who has the 'upper hand' at the moment? And that is NOT the UK- and we all know it. Barnier and Johnson too, and Biden, and everyone else. There will be a deal- but ...

Well perhaps we'll all end up living in caves then.

?

“The EU always leaves making the actual deal until the last minute Maizie ( but you know that already.)”

It’s not a better deal that is the problem it’s a deal that guarantees that we are not going to cheat the rules and get an advantage over the other EU members. A level playing field has always been their aim, with no cherry picking.

As for German cars, the U.K. putting a 10% import duty on cars out of 100 plus countries that a company like Mercedes sells to
is unwelcome but a pinprick. BMW would hurt most.
For U.K. producers JLR, Nissan and Honda it is a big issue Toyota less so, they are massive.

To complete my week I am hoping for a level playing field deal and keeping to the WA and GFA

Oh joy!

Thank goodness that this vaccine announcement did not come a week ago or Trump would have claimed credit for it.

Don,’t forget that your citizens rights of the ability to freely move around your continent has been stripped from you today.

Vaccine- great news indeed.

But ...
Pfizer vaccine.
Made in Germany.
To be signed off by the European Medicines Agency.
Which we chose to leave and which then moved its headquarters from London to Amsterdam.
Has to be transported in special refrigerated trucks at below 80 degrees c.
Which from January will be sat in chaotic queues miles long while paperwork is found, filled in and processed.

Pfizer is a large US company with HQ in New York and establishments in many countries worldwide. They probably moved the European division, easier to move the office than work around changing rules.

MaizieD

Oh no, those German car manufacturers have always been going to ride to our rescue, haven't they

Well, they're leaving it very late, aren't they?

They're waiting for the Italian Prosecco manufacturers

varian

Thank goodness that this vaccine announcement did not come a week ago or Trump would have claimed credit for it.

Spoke too soon varian

The Pfizer vaccine, produced by two Turkish immigrants Priti Patel would not have let in, very probably.

Nos let's hope ..... that there won't be any disruptions in Dover and other UK entry points in January (but ... I am not sure about that).

... or flights

Whitewavemark2

Someone just said that the days of giving a hearing to untrue statements and outright lies should be over.

They are beginning to refuse to allow the president of the USA to tweet and broadcast lies.

We need to do exactly the same in this country.

Sadly Politicians have lied ever since time began. I feel that deliberate lying should be an offence resulting in barring them from office. However if a politician make a promise in good faith that they cannot enact when elected does taht mean lying , incompetence or a victim of circumstance.

So what did Matt hncock mean by 'Mommoth logistical problems' ?

There are fears that Brexit could hold up the coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom, as the transition period comes to an end on December 31.

At present, there is an agreement with the European Union to keep the same rules in place until the end of the year, but the country needs a deal to keep many of the existing arrangements in place.

A deal that drops many of those agreements, or no deal at all, could cause significant disruption both for Europe and the UK.

Now there arereal fears this could have an impact on the coronavirus vaccine, which is expected at the end of this year, or start of next year after health secretary Matt Hancock insisted there would need to be "mammoth logistical operations" to transport the vaccine from the manufacture bases in Germany, Belgium and the US to the patient.