From the very outset the Government’s negotiations with the EU have been undermined by the presence of a vociferous element in Parliament sending the clear signal that, in effect, the UK would have to accept whatever terms Brussels offered, and that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ was merely a ‘paper tiger’ slogan.
The very worst outcome for the EU is a no deal BREXIT: it
denies them the substantial financial settlement and their businesses will be
saddled with the vast bulk of tariff payments –they, after all, have the £100
billion trade surplus.
This fact should have afforded us great negotiating leverage with the mere threat
of no deal. Alas, rightly they assessed that the PM had no parliamentary
majority to make that threat credible.
Last week Parliament voted for two things: first to send the
PM back to re-negotiate the deal; Second, it resolved that we should not leave
without a deal.
These are mutually exclusive objectives.
Why should the EU blink first?
They know Parliament won’t walk away. So they know that they won’t have make
any concessions.
Infuriating, isn’t it?