#363

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#364

I don’t see how the gap between the two sides is filled without Johnson looking like he’s caved and loosing a fuckload of political capital - I don’t see him standing for it, and I don’t see what the EU are going to give him that he can spin as a win.

I also see the sudden resurgence of “taking the Australia Option” instead of “leaving without a deal” as significant - they’re no longer using no deal as a threat to the EU, but trying to make it palatable domestically.

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#365

Yeah I think this is spot on. They all want a deal, but it’s just impossible to reconcile the two sides’ red lines. [Just to clarify, that’s the EU’s perfectly sensible red lines to protect their existence versus the cheese dream red lines of the hardline Brexiters]

#366

This might happen within the circle of Tory MPs and to Johnson individually, but I think the press and spin machine would work overtime to sell any deal and to make sure that the Conservative party itself doesn’t suffer for it.

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#367

Yeah, it’s this that scares me. I’m still about 51-49 on thinking there’ll be a deal but it’s this turd-polishing that has shifted it from about 90-10 even after the grandstanding, Laura K-endorsed headlines the other day.

#368

Really hope you guys optimistic about some sort of deal are right. Even the most bare bones thing would at least provide some sort of platform for discussion about how to unpick the horrendous mess next year.

Personally though I’m pretty much 100% on no deal happening, not even antibantsing it here.

#369

Ha, even Malcolm Turnbull is coming out to say that an Australia-style deal is a fucking disaster. He’d know, given that he put considerable effort into trying to get a better trade deal with the EU. Brill.

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#370

as @Matt_was_taken mentions above, surely if they no deal on 1st jan then both sides would just have to get back round the table on 2nd Jan to start working on it again?

There’s too much at risk from the EU side of things (e.g Ireland) for them to just tell the uk to fuck off forever.

#371

Still, at least we’re not all toiling in PM Corbyn’s gulags now eh

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#372

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Cursed ratio

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#373

Can’t bet on there being a deal. Annoying

#374

Yeah absolutely, but if they’ve already agreed on “something” then there’s a basis for continuing engagement. If both sides walk away we could get weeks/months of them just shouting orders at each other across the channel. And for both sides the damage mainly gets done on 1st January, after that it’s living with it that’s the problem. And the EU are in a position where they can live with it.

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#375

There will obviously be some sort of deal in the future, but trade deals take years to negotiate usually - the Canada / EU deal that the Tories loved banging on about took seven years to sort. It’s what happens in the meantime that is worrying and also that the relationship between the UK and EU is now really strained because of the Tories absolutely fucking spooning it

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#376

Atm it’s not the EU that are saying talks can’t continue after Jan 1st. Last week they explicitly offered to continue talks even in the wake of an initial No Deal. It was the UK who said that was unacceptable and if they didnt work out a deal in time this year that was it effectively (which you have to hope was empty posturing)

#377

Can’t remember where, but something I read the other day said that usually the kind of gaps that are remaining are dealt with by letters of understanding or something between the two sides, but the EU are unwilling to do that after the Tories did all their grandstanding over the Northern Ireland protocol - they’ve no reason to believe that the UK will stick to the spirit of said letters any more and need everything tacked down in legalese.

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#378

Gonna be a no deal…sorry, ‘Australia style option’ or whatever we are rehashing the actual no deal as, because we have no deals but want to make it look less like we have no deals (because we have no deal).

Saw an amazing picture in a paperthatshallnotbenamed where they showed all the foods we wouldn’t be able to eat versus the ones we could and it was basically ‘chips and toast is in, fruit and veg is out’ lol jfc

#379

I saw that picture, on a website that is also terrible. Quite like going on said website these days the mental gymnastics is quite fun to watch.

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#380

I agree with you, although I would say that in light of pretty much no-one having a clue what we’re actually negotiating about anymore/caring, it probably wouldn’t take a lot to convince the public it’s a win.

#381

a no deal is a kind of deal, actually.

FUCK OFF BORIS

#382

Can’t spell ‘no deal’ without ‘deal’

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