Brexit.

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Sid]

Seems more and more start to understand that the Brexit was not the best thing since the invention of sliced bread.

 

[Fionalein]

Seems more and more start to understand that the Brexit was not the best thing since the invention of sliced bread.

They were told so before, they had chosen not to listen...

 

[Sid]

Things seem to go just fine in The Kick The Can Down The Road Department.

Time-wasting UK makes post-Brexit deal unlikely, says Barnier

Brussels’ chief negotiator says talks often go backwards as UK fails to grasp EU red lines

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sid]

Germany scraps plans for Brexit talks at EU ambassadors summit

Exclusive: Brussels laments ‘completely wasted’ summer as Berlin takes Brexit off agenda due to lack of ‘tangible progress’

www.theguardian.com

Germany has scrapped plans to discuss Brexit at a high-level diplomatic meeting next week because there has not been “any tangible progress” in talks, the Guardian has learned, as Brussels laments a “completely wasted” summer.
EU officials now believe the UK government is prepared to risk a no-deal exit when the transition period comes to an end on 31 December, and will try to pin the blame on Brussels if talks fail.

The German government, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU council, had intended to discuss Brexit during a meeting of EU ambassadors on 2 September but has now dropped the issue. “Since there hasn’t been any tangible progress in EU-UK negotiations, the Brexit item was taken off the agenda,” an EU diplomat said.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

It is cherry picking time again, dear friends!

The withdrawal agreement signed between Boris Johnson and EU leaders last October preserves the status of food and drink protected under the EU’s geographical indications (GI) policy. A top priority for EU trade negotiators, these rules bar English or Spanish vintners from calling their sparkling wine champagne, for example, while only crumbly cheese from Greece can be labelled feta. Under the withdrawal treaty, the protection applies “unless and until” a new deal can be negotiated.

According to EU sources, the UK is attempting to water down protection for EU geographical indications, while keeping the special status for British produce, such as Scotch whisky, Melton Mowbray pork pies and Cornish pasties.

The return of the proposal, floated in the early stages of trade talks last spring, caused astonishment. “The asymmetry was met with open mouths. Why would you even suggest that in a serious negotiation?” said the EU source. Barnier was “a little bit flabbergasted”, the person added.

Barnier 'flabbergasted' at UK attempt to reopen Brexit specialty food debate

Bloc sources say Britain is trying to water down EU geographical protections

www.theguardian.com

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

When Scotland leaves the UK he can quit worrying about the whisky.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The sad fact of the matter is that Johnson and most of his government simply aren't up to the job

Thread (and a very uncomfortable couple of minutes for Matt Hancock) -

Labour urges UK government not to hire Tony Abbott as trade envoy

Australian ex-PM’s views on women and equal marriage make him ‘wrong person for job’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Specifically, the danger of a food shortage seems restricted to Northern Ireland rather than the whole of the UK (and, in practice, I think it would mean people went across the border to shop, at considerable expense and inconvenience, rather than that there would be food shortages) but what a shambles.

 

[Sid]

I guess it is all part of the piece of cake the Brexit is for conservatives.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

I guess it is all part of the piece of cake the Brexit is for conservatives.

Well, probably more an indication of what they think of the northern irish....

 

[Arkady Arkright]

Brexit border plan ‘unmanageable’ says leaked government document.

 

[Arkady Arkright]

Brexit: Dozens more lorry parks to be built across England to cope with trading chaos

The "we're fucked" factor creeps ever higher...

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

The sad fact of the matter is that Johnson and most of his government simply aren't up to the job

Thread (and a very uncomfortable couple of minutes for Matt Hancock) -

Labour urges UK government not to hire Tony Abbott as trade envoy

Australian ex-PM’s views on women and equal marriage make him ‘wrong person for job’

www.theguardian.com

eXpErTs

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Arkady Arkright]

I like the first comment -

Advisors advise, Ministers decide, civil servants get sacked if Raab would like to complete the sentence."

 

[Sid]

The situation can quickly get grim, if this is what BoJo wants to do.
The man still seems to believe he holds the better cards at the negotiation table.
Barnier should present him a shovel as an answer.

Brexit: Johnson to override EU withdrawal agreement

Boris Johnson is drawing up legislation that will override the Brexit withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland, a move that threatens the collapse of crunch talks which the prime minister has said must be completed within five weeks.
Johnson will put an ultimatum to negotiators this week, saying the UK and Europe must agree a post-Brexit trade deal by 15 October or Britain will walk away for good.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The situation can quickly get grim, if this is what BoJo wants to do.
The man still seems to believe he holds the better cards at the negotiation table.
Barnier should present him a shovel as an answer.

Brexit: Johnson to override EU withdrawal agreement

The speculation among the EU law and treaty specialists I follow on Twitter is that a great deal of this is theatre intended for UK consumption, so that, after he's had face-to-face talks with the Heads of Government, and they then make some minor concessions that will enable Johnson to accept whatever deal they want to offer, he can tell his outraged supporters back home that this represents a victory for his tough bargaining position.

The huge concern, though, is that he'll bungle it, and we'll end up with no deal. But whatever is going to happen will do so regardless of my worrying over it, so I'm trying not to.

 

[Sid]

UK on collision course with EU and Ireland over unilateral powers for British ministers

Downing Street defends Brexit plans for Northern Ireland

UK on collision course with EU and Ireland over unilateral powers for British ministers

www.theguardian.com

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European commission, warned Boris Johnson not to break international law and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, also reiterated that the EU “demand quite simply, and calmly, and until the end, that the political commitments in the text agreed by Johnson be legally translated into this treaty”.

Catherine Barnard, a professor of European law at Cambridge University, said: “This is politics over law. I think they are trying to make it clear to the EU that they need to make some movement in the talks and they are using something as sensitive as the Northern Ireland protocol in order to precipitate that. But it is a very high-stakes gamble.”

As far as I am concerned, the EU should pull the plug.
No more negotiations until the BoJo government makes totally clear that the withdrawal agreement that was reached last year, will be totally respected now and in the future, until both parties agree on something else.
BoJo is not the only one who can use the pressure cooker method.
Somehow the clock is ticking harder on the UK side. It would be a way of explaining that BoJo seems to understand.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Ignore Boris Johnson's bluster – he still wants and needs a deal with the EU | Mujtaba Rahman

The threat that Britain could walk away from talks next month is just brinkmanship. The prime minister needs a success story, says Mujtaba Rahman of Eurasia Group

www.theguardian.com

I just hope Mujtaba Rahman is right. He normally knows what he's talking about when it comes to the EU and Brexit.