This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/05/deal-or-no-deal-latter-is-on-the-brexit-cards
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Deal or no deal? Latter is on the Brexit cards | Deal or no deal? Latter is on the Brexit cards |
| (4 months later) | |
| Letters | |
| Thu 5 Oct 2017 19.01 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 15.53 GMT | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| View more sharing options | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Close | |
| What neither the media nor those in the Conservative and Labour parties arguing for a soft Brexit seem to have realised is that we are heading inexorably towards no deal (Editorial, 2 October). The Irish border problem alone seems nigh insoluble if we are not in the customs union, a solution the government has rejected. It promises instead “a friction-free border” achieved by some brilliant IT innovation which has never been tried and whose details have not yet been revealed. Well pigs may fly! In any case, if by some miracle the problem is solved and the 27 approve a start of the trade negotiations by December, how can a unique new deep and special relationship – infinitely more complicated than the Canadian free trade agreement, which took seven years to reach – as well as a transition agreement, itself no simple matter, be negotiated by the end of next year, in time for the parliaments of the 27 to ratify it? | What neither the media nor those in the Conservative and Labour parties arguing for a soft Brexit seem to have realised is that we are heading inexorably towards no deal (Editorial, 2 October). The Irish border problem alone seems nigh insoluble if we are not in the customs union, a solution the government has rejected. It promises instead “a friction-free border” achieved by some brilliant IT innovation which has never been tried and whose details have not yet been revealed. Well pigs may fly! In any case, if by some miracle the problem is solved and the 27 approve a start of the trade negotiations by December, how can a unique new deep and special relationship – infinitely more complicated than the Canadian free trade agreement, which took seven years to reach – as well as a transition agreement, itself no simple matter, be negotiated by the end of next year, in time for the parliaments of the 27 to ratify it? |
| On 29 March 2019 time runs out under article 50. Stopping the clock is a forlorn hope. Before then parliament will have to decide whether to accept no deal, which nearly all British industry and most ministers except the extreme Brexiters acknowledge would be a disaster, or give the people the final choice. This would be in a new referendum: to accept Brexit or remain, but this time knowing what Brexit actually means.Dick TaverneLiberal Democrat, House of Lords | On 29 March 2019 time runs out under article 50. Stopping the clock is a forlorn hope. Before then parliament will have to decide whether to accept no deal, which nearly all British industry and most ministers except the extreme Brexiters acknowledge would be a disaster, or give the people the final choice. This would be in a new referendum: to accept Brexit or remain, but this time knowing what Brexit actually means.Dick TaverneLiberal Democrat, House of Lords |
| • It would be news to Liam Fox that the first rule of negotiation is to understand the other side. He shows a failure to do so, plus the crude mercantilism of rightist thought, when he complains that the EU is giving priority over economic considerations to its political integrity. Of course it is. Its primary aim is the cancellation of article 50 by a sobered British public, following the EU’s planned cremation of every Brexiter promise. As for prosperity and trade, a Brexit would affect only 8% of total EU exports against the UK’s 44%, and an EU market minus Britain would remain massively more magnetic to external traders and investors. No wonder David Davis doesn’t want to show his hand. He is holding a bag o’ nails.Rod TippleCambridge | • It would be news to Liam Fox that the first rule of negotiation is to understand the other side. He shows a failure to do so, plus the crude mercantilism of rightist thought, when he complains that the EU is giving priority over economic considerations to its political integrity. Of course it is. Its primary aim is the cancellation of article 50 by a sobered British public, following the EU’s planned cremation of every Brexiter promise. As for prosperity and trade, a Brexit would affect only 8% of total EU exports against the UK’s 44%, and an EU market minus Britain would remain massively more magnetic to external traders and investors. No wonder David Davis doesn’t want to show his hand. He is holding a bag o’ nails.Rod TippleCambridge |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |
| • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |
| Brexit | |
| Article 50 | |
| European Union | |
| Foreign policy | |
| Liam Fox | |
| letters | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Reuse this content |