What we couldn't have was "testing the waters". I'll see what the deal is, and if I like it, take it, and if not remain and be disruptive. It was the correct policy.
(Indeed, I would expand on it and remove within A50 the ability of an MS to withdraw A50 without unanimous MS approval.)
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(Indeed, I would expand on it and remove within A50 the ability of an MS to withdraw A50 without unanimous MS approval.)
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Comments
It was brilliant.
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Why the exceptionalists thought this would have been different for the UK is a mystery.
(But then, exceptionalists are prone to thinking things will be exceptional for the UK)
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-Brexit always meant leaving the treaties and institutions of Europe
-The UK's redlines, as voted for consistently by the public, made a closer relationship impossible.
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This should be abhorrent to every right-thinking Briton who values European unity as much as it is to us.
I am glad our side "won".
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But fundamentally, that was a factor of the disparity between the power of the two sides more than anything.
And Europe did not abuse this, offering extension after extension.
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SM with CU would be far far more complex. That would have required a standstill including CFP and CAP. Politically likely impossible.
It took care of the interests of those that actually wanted to remain a member of the club.
The exceptionalists are a disgrace and will remain a barrier towards a closer relationship. You can’t deal with this kind of entitlement.
If a nation rejects them, the Single Market turns into a mirage they can only observe from a distance, but not interface with directly in any way.
Mind you, the Minister for NI didn’t know they had different political parties there from England so it’s not just France that’s a foreign country.
The idea that the EU would not give a fig about how Daily Mail readers in Lancashire react to headlines didn't occur to too many British politicians.
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This is the problem with a political class so privileged that the idea of the world not bending to their needs feels foreign.
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Thus, the resulting attempts to achieve negotiation success by shouting loudly and making silly threats.
But as ineffective as the shouting and threats were, they were not the problem.
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Labour will need to recognise that being professional and polite will not be enough to get cake.
If its red lines disqualify it from EU frameworks, well, the EU isn't going to change just to suit domestic British political optics.
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