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1628-Days Since the 2016 Referendum and Still No Deal!
Well, I told you so.
And I’ve been writing since 2016, telling you that politicians on both sides of the English Channel haven’t got the horsepower to get a trade deal done that would benefit citizens, industry, and governments in both countries. And I was right!
Former Prime Minister Theresa May was ready to ‘sell the farm’ to the EU — virtually handing the entire UK over to the EU in a deal worse than what the UK already had with the European Union! — and even that wasn’t good enough for Brussels.
Which should’ve been the first warning sign. Don’t you agree?
The EU Doesn’t Want a Deal, They Want Things ‘Their Way’ or No Way at All
And I understand that. Nobody likes to be dumped. And there’s no rule that anyone is required to be happy about being dumped.
The EU had things ‘their way’ since 1999 when the UK joined the EU without Britons getting any say on the matter, and British taxpayers have paid £10 billion more per year into the EU annually (on average) than the UK received back from European Union in the form of ‘entitlements and benefits’. Some may use the term ‘subsidy’ but when you pay it to yourself (overpay) it really isn’t a subsidy, is it?
Certain EU politicians have been more petulant about the UK leaving the EU than has been seen in the entire history of world politics. It’s been an embarrassing spectacle. So un-cool. So un-European.
Not that some UK politicians have done better. Either they were ready to betray their country for 60-pieces of silver, or they were actively trying to destroy the UK so that it would have no choice but to stay in the EU, or they were making ridiculous assertions against the EU’s right to exist.
But what politicians and citizens on both sides of the Channel must realize is that the UK has already left the EU — and it’s in the best interest of citizens, industry and governments that both sides arrange a trade deal by January 1, 2021.
Run, Boris, Run!
But any deal the EU would agree to sign Britain’s Prime Minister would be wise to avoid — because the only deal the EU might sign would be so skewed in the EU’s favour that it would be detrimental to Britons, to UK industry, and to it’s trade relationships with other countries.
Therefore, Boris… Don’t Sign any deal with the EU!
Life will continue, tariff levels will be adjusted to WTO standards (the default trade standard between nations) and the UK will have the ability to sign trade deals with other countries/blocs without EU regulatory interference.
Snowflakes on both sides of the English Channel will be bleating that ‘The sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling!’ but in reality, little people, it’s just snowing.
Oh, the trauma!
So, rather than despair, get yourself some outdoor time, take some long walks in the winter wonderland, enjoy the holiday season, and stop trying to arrange a trade deal that (for different reasons) neither side wants. And let’s get ready for a No Deal Brexit, just as I predicted would happen since 2016. And people, let’s make our 2021 slogan ‘Live and Let Live’.
Happy Holidays!
Written by John Brian Shannon
72-Days from Brexit & Still No UK/EU Trade Deal
After years of on-again, off-again negotiations, the UK and the European Union still haven’t been able to sign a viable trade deal allowing uninterrupted trade between the two countries.
But the UK has faced far bigger challenges in the 20th-century and in every previous century, and wound up victorious every time — therefore, in regards to Brexit, it’s time to cut our losses and move-on, and Leave the European Union just as UK voters instructed their politicians to do back on June 23, 2016.
In fact, all the years of back and forth negotiations, all the friction that’s occurred between the two blocs since 2016, and the billions the UK has handed over in the meantime to continue paying more than their fair share of the EU budget, has resulted in even more needless emotional trauma to all sides.
It’s now patently obvious that a WTO-style Brexit in 2016/17 would have been better for the UK, it’s business community, and for ordinary Britons too, had Britain just ‘up and left’ without a deal and went straight to a WTO trading relationship (beginning January 1, 2017) with the European Union.
Had UK MP’s followed both the letter and spirit of those instructions, the UK would’ve left the European Union on January 1, 2017 (probably on WTO terms) and gotten straight to work on what matters most to Britons — and all of it without a 1389-day delay!
Think about it. 1389-days later (and counting) we’re no closer to a Brexit trade deal with the EU than in January 2017!
After all the gyrations, after all the negative publicity, after all the name-calling, and all that grief — and nothing to show for it 1389-days later. Which I many times predicted throughout the entire Brexit saga.
It isn’t good enough; It isn’t what citizens are paying their politicians for in either bloc. The entire shambolic escapade of (former UK Prime Minister Theresa May) trying to get a deal — while the EU was seemingly trying to not get a deal — has been a colossal waste of everyone’s life. And that translates into a lot of wasted time and money for everyone.
I understood the EU’s position perfectly, it’s just that others didn’t.
The European Union doesn’t want a sudden exodus of countries from it’s bloc and therefore, making the UK’s exit from the EU seem like the biggest ordeal in the world might deter some EU-member nations from leaving.
My point is, UK politicians should’ve known that. They shouldn’t have fallen for so many false narratives/red herrings/obfuscation. But they did — and that’s the problem.
And that disability is called naivety.
European Union leaders shouldn’t be blamed for trying to make Britain’s exit from the EU as difficult as possible; I can relate to that, because if my 2nd-best economic contributor was trying to leave my bloc/organization/family, I’d be tempted to make life difficult for them. But I would hope that I didn’t get too carried away with making them PAY, PAY, PAY! for wanting to leave and skip to the infinitely more important point of trying to arrange a workable new arrangement, ASAP.
And that ability is called maturity.
Therefore, I respectfully call on UK politicians to become much less naive with regard to the European Union’s position (a bloc now proven to not be working in the best interests of the UK — and why would it? It’s in business for the EU) and I respectfully call on EU politicians to begin thinking in much more expedient terms for the remainder of the year so that a viable trade deal can be arranged between the two parties — to benefit citizens and businesses on both sides of the English Channel.
Screenshot from Dictionary.com
Will there be a UK/EU Trade Deal?
One would hope there will be a UK/EU trade deal signed by 2021, but there’s no reason good enough to give away the entire country as a way to obtain a trade deal — a deal that should be as important to the EU as it is to Britain.
The EU mindset seems to be to stridently ask for everything and if the Brits are incompetent enough to grant everything, then the EU won’t mind taking it.
But it seems that every time the UK government stands up for UK business and for Britons, the cries of being treated unfairly reach another record-setting crescendo.
Listen to the rhetoric that the EU side is using to force the UK to agree to their terms:
“The UK needs to take “significant steps” in the coming days to secure a trade deal with the EU, the European Council president said.”
“Charles Michel said talks were approaching a “moment of truth” ahead of a crucial EU summit…”
“The Irish PM, Micheál Martin said “movement” was required before “end-state negotiations”…”
“…Mr Michel said… the UK side needed to take “significant steps”…”
“The coming days are crucial,” he added.” — Excerpts from BBC
There’s nothing like putting all the pressure on the UK side hoping they panic and agree to sign everything away at the last minute! That’s obviously the EU tactic here.
The EU (so far) has Taught the UK that Polite Diplomacy Doesn’t Work
“Everyday, we teach others how to treat us.”
The UK side has played the entire Brexit thing very politely. In fact, too politely.
Former British Prime Minister Theresa May flew to Brussels dozens of times (often on very short notice) with no way to prepare as she wasn’t always told what was to be discussed — only to return later that day, disappointed, frustrated, empty-handed and beat-up after listening to another EU browbeating.
On top of all that, she was forced to face the then-cowed UK Parliament (not all of them, but enough to add more misery to her day) and face the then mostly pro-EU media.
She deserved better than she got.
I still feel sorry for Theresa May who was the UK’s diplomatic champion yet got nothing but disrespect from all sides. She deserves an OBE for her perseverance and for displaying almost superhuman goodwill towards the Inquisition panel over in Brussels.
Now we have Prime Minister Boris Johnson fighting for the UK and with a very capable team. Good luck, Boris! You’re going to need it.
More than anything else, were I advising UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, I would suggest he hire several of the UK’s best psychologists to explain to Boris and his team what is going on in the EU heads.
And I’m happy to inform you as to what those psychologists might say…
‘Mr. Johnson, there’s no agreement that will ever be good enough for the EU. They are suffering because their best example of what the EU is trying to attract to their bloc decided to leave and they are embarrassed and upset. And to add further pain, the UK was their 2nd-best economic contributor to the European Union annual budget.’
‘Nothing you can offer them Boris, will ever be good enough, no matter what! Therefore, trying to give them a sweet deal on fishing rights, automobile trade, energy, or anything else in an attempt to soothe their hurt feelings represents the worst kind of political folly.’
‘Therefore, please walk away Boris if they’re going to put a higher priority on their bad mood than on their future relationship with the UK and The Commonwealth of Nations.’
Let ourselves never fall into the trap the EU has set for itself.
Letter to Britain 