“No Deal” sounds like it’s becoming ever more likely? That seems to be the prevailing thought on Twitter at the moment, and the media aren’t far behind when it comes to reporting Twitter as fact; something I’m not sure we should all be too happy about.
At Conference today, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is going to reiterate that if the EU doesn’t start taking Britain’s Brexit demands seriously, we could walk away with no deal. Personally, I don’t see that as a bad thing because WTO Rules (what “no deal” actually means) work out just fine for many countries.
I’m not as convinced as some people are that we should be working toward No Deal as our best outcome, however. There’s still a decent chance that we could work out a better deal with the EU and we should definitely try for that (because a Good Deal is better than No Deal; which is still better than a Bad Deal). As Independence Day draws ever closer, I have good feelings that the EU’s position will soften and we’Il start seeing more eagerness to compromise, which is a good thing.
A lot of people have been saying “this has gone on too long, just get on with it” and to some extent they are right but let’s face one major fact: a long, drawn-out negotiation process was inevitable. Article 50 gives a 2-year timeframe. Did anyone really expect the EU (who don’t want us to leave, let’s be honest about this) was going to do anything early? I didn’t – I wouldn’t in their shoes, I’d use the time to sweat out the other side, because it might soften up their position.
As long as we stay focussed, a good deal is still possible even at this late stage; and there’s always WTO Rules to fall back on either way.
Brexit is going to happen; and we are going to make the best of it.