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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/04/brexit-weekly-briefing-no-real-progress-during-summer-of-squabbles
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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Brexit weekly briefing: no real progress during summer of squabbles | Brexit weekly briefing: no real progress during summer of squabbles |
| (2 months later) | |
| Welcome to the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing, back after a summer break during which – after the excitement of those early summer resignations – the UK’s efforts to leave the EU returned to normal: a lot of noise, no real action, and complete uncertainty as to the outcome. | Welcome to the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing, back after a summer break during which – after the excitement of those early summer resignations – the UK’s efforts to leave the EU returned to normal: a lot of noise, no real action, and complete uncertainty as to the outcome. |
| We’ll do our best to bring you up to speed and prepare the ground for what should prove a critical few weeks. If you’d like to receive the briefing as a weekly email, please sign up here. You can catch up with our Politics Weekly podcast right here. | We’ll do our best to bring you up to speed and prepare the ground for what should prove a critical few weeks. If you’d like to receive the briefing as a weekly email, please sign up here. You can catch up with our Politics Weekly podcast right here. |
| Also: producing the Guardian’s independent, in-depth journalism takes time and money. We do it because we believe our perspective matters, and it may be yours too. If you value our Brexit coverage, please become a Guardian supporter. Thank you. | Also: producing the Guardian’s independent, in-depth journalism takes time and money. We do it because we believe our perspective matters, and it may be yours too. If you value our Brexit coverage, please become a Guardian supporter. Thank you. |
| Top stories | Top stories |
| There was one concrete (well, sort of) development over the summer: both sides agreed that the original deadline for the final withdrawal agreement – the EU’s 18 October summit – may no longer be set in stone, and November is now more likely. | There was one concrete (well, sort of) development over the summer: both sides agreed that the original deadline for the final withdrawal agreement – the EU’s 18 October summit – may no longer be set in stone, and November is now more likely. |
| Rees-Mogg: Barnier agrees that Chequers proposal is 'rubbish' | |
| A special EU summit looks likely to be called to wrap up the deal. Assuming, of course, there is one: Theresa May’s Chequers proposal for a UK-EU free trade area under a “common rulebook” on goods looks pretty much dead in the water. | A special EU summit looks likely to be called to wrap up the deal. Assuming, of course, there is one: Theresa May’s Chequers proposal for a UK-EU free trade area under a “common rulebook” on goods looks pretty much dead in the water. |
| The de facto deputy prime minister, David Lidington, insisted it was “precise, pragmatic” and the only alternative to no deal, but neither pro-Brexit hardliners nor the EU27 (nor, indeed, some of May’s allies) agree. | The de facto deputy prime minister, David Lidington, insisted it was “precise, pragmatic” and the only alternative to no deal, but neither pro-Brexit hardliners nor the EU27 (nor, indeed, some of May’s allies) agree. |
| The former Brexit secretary, David Davis, said it was just the start of May’s concessions to the EU; he could not vote for it because it was “worse than staying in”. The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, too, was “strongly opposed”: Chequers would be “the end of the single market and the European project”, he said, and the UK’s mooted “facilitated customs arrangement” was “not legal … and impractical”. | The former Brexit secretary, David Davis, said it was just the start of May’s concessions to the EU; he could not vote for it because it was “worse than staying in”. The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, too, was “strongly opposed”: Chequers would be “the end of the single market and the European project”, he said, and the UK’s mooted “facilitated customs arrangement” was “not legal … and impractical”. |
| The Tory party, needless to say, remains hopelessly split. The new Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, was upbeat as he unveiled 24 technical notices on the often alarming consequences of no deal, but the chancellor, Philip Hammond, infuriated leavers by saying it would cost £80bn. | The Tory party, needless to say, remains hopelessly split. The new Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, was upbeat as he unveiled 24 technical notices on the often alarming consequences of no deal, but the chancellor, Philip Hammond, infuriated leavers by saying it would cost £80bn. |
| Everyone, at least publicly, now seems to think no deal is possible – May said it “wouldn’t be the end of the world”. And just to round things off nicely for the PM, her former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, appears to be launching a leadership challenge. | Everyone, at least publicly, now seems to think no deal is possible – May said it “wouldn’t be the end of the world”. And just to round things off nicely for the PM, her former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, appears to be launching a leadership challenge. |
| May was conducting Brexit negotiations with a “white flag fluttering”, Johnson said, the EU had “taken every important trick”, and Britain would be handing over £40bn for “two-thirds of diddly-squat”. It’s going to be a fun autumn. | May was conducting Brexit negotiations with a “white flag fluttering”, Johnson said, the EU had “taken every important trick”, and Britain would be handing over £40bn for “two-thirds of diddly-squat”. It’s going to be a fun autumn. |
| Best of the rest | Best of the rest |
| No 10 slaps down Johnson over criticism of Chequers plan. | No 10 slaps down Johnson over criticism of Chequers plan. |
| Emmanuel Macron seeks clarity on trade deal to avoid “blind Brexit” and extended transition. | Emmanuel Macron seeks clarity on trade deal to avoid “blind Brexit” and extended transition. |
| Thinktank warns of “severe”, “chaotic” short-term impact of no deal. | Thinktank warns of “severe”, “chaotic” short-term impact of no deal. |
| UK’s green watchdog powerless over climate change after Brexit. | UK’s green watchdog powerless over climate change after Brexit. |
| Conservative party donor calls for second public vote. | Conservative party donor calls for second public vote. |
| Scallop wars show British seas exposed after Brexit, says former first sea lord. | Scallop wars show British seas exposed after Brexit, says former first sea lord. |
| Barnier stands firm on post-Brexit border in Irish Sea, says border checks issue a “matter of urgency”. | Barnier stands firm on post-Brexit border in Irish Sea, says border checks issue a “matter of urgency”. |
| People’s Vote seeks to sway EU politicians with “blind Brexit” poll. | People’s Vote seeks to sway EU politicians with “blind Brexit” poll. |
| Four in five civil service specialists dissatisfied with handling of Brexit. | Four in five civil service specialists dissatisfied with handling of Brexit. |
| Hunt downplays signs of Brexit progress as Poland offers support. | Hunt downplays signs of Brexit progress as Poland offers support. |
| No-deal Brexit: plan to maintain medicine supplies “could cost £2bn”. | No-deal Brexit: plan to maintain medicine supplies “could cost £2bn”. |
| Theresa May pledges Galileo alternative if UK locked out of satnav system. | Theresa May pledges Galileo alternative if UK locked out of satnav system. |
| EU citizens seek judicial review over access to Home Office records. | EU citizens seek judicial review over access to Home Office records. |
| No 10 refuses to say whether MPs will see full no-deal impact analysis. | No 10 refuses to say whether MPs will see full no-deal impact analysis. |
| No-deal Brexit thrusts UK into “legal vacuum”, warns Keir Starmer. | No-deal Brexit thrusts UK into “legal vacuum”, warns Keir Starmer. |
| No 10 slaps down Johnson over criticism of Chequers plan. | No 10 slaps down Johnson over criticism of Chequers plan. |
| Emmanuel Macron seeks clarity on trade deal to avoid “blind Brexit” and extended transition. | Emmanuel Macron seeks clarity on trade deal to avoid “blind Brexit” and extended transition. |
| Thinktank warns of “severe”, “chaotic” short-term impact of no deal. | Thinktank warns of “severe”, “chaotic” short-term impact of no deal. |
| UK’s green watchdog powerless over climate change after Brexit. | UK’s green watchdog powerless over climate change after Brexit. |
| Conservative party donor calls for second public vote. | Conservative party donor calls for second public vote. |
| Scallop wars show British seas exposed after Brexit, says former first sea lord. | Scallop wars show British seas exposed after Brexit, says former first sea lord. |
| Barnier stands firm on post-Brexit border in Irish Sea, says border checks issue a “matter of urgency”. | Barnier stands firm on post-Brexit border in Irish Sea, says border checks issue a “matter of urgency”. |
| People’s Vote seeks to sway EU politicians with “blind Brexit” poll. | People’s Vote seeks to sway EU politicians with “blind Brexit” poll. |
| Four in five civil service specialists dissatisfied with handling of Brexit. | Four in five civil service specialists dissatisfied with handling of Brexit. |
| Hunt downplays signs of Brexit progress as Poland offers support. | Hunt downplays signs of Brexit progress as Poland offers support. |
| No-deal Brexit: plan to maintain medicine supplies “could cost £2bn”. | No-deal Brexit: plan to maintain medicine supplies “could cost £2bn”. |
| Theresa May pledges Galileo alternative if UK locked out of satnav system. | Theresa May pledges Galileo alternative if UK locked out of satnav system. |
| EU citizens seek judicial review over access to Home Office records. | EU citizens seek judicial review over access to Home Office records. |
| No 10 refuses to say whether MPs will see full no-deal impact analysis. | No 10 refuses to say whether MPs will see full no-deal impact analysis. |
| No-deal Brexit thrusts UK into “legal vacuum”, warns Keir Starmer. | No-deal Brexit thrusts UK into “legal vacuum”, warns Keir Starmer. |
| Top comment | Top comment |
| In the Guardian, Anand Menon says everyone should calm down: a no-deal Brexit probably won’t happen because both the UK and EU have good reason to avoid it: | In the Guardian, Anand Menon says everyone should calm down: a no-deal Brexit probably won’t happen because both the UK and EU have good reason to avoid it: |
| The reality of no deal would be a ‘chaotic Brexit’. Whatever the merits of trading on WTO terms (and they are overstated by Brexiters) over the longer term, the WTO provides little or no shield against short-term disruption. The issues would be about day-to-day trading arrangements, about access to supplies of everything from blood to nuclear isotopes to the components needed for a variety of manufacturing processes. Not a glorious trading future under whatever rules we choose to adopt, but uncertainty and strained relations with our largest trading partner … Happily, we do not see a no-deal outcome as the most likely one. Clearly, there are still significant hurdles to be cleared. And it is far from a foregone conclusion that a parliamentary majority can be cobbled together for whatever deal is arrived at. Yet both sides have a vested interest in securing a deal – or at least postponing the day of reckoning. | The reality of no deal would be a ‘chaotic Brexit’. Whatever the merits of trading on WTO terms (and they are overstated by Brexiters) over the longer term, the WTO provides little or no shield against short-term disruption. The issues would be about day-to-day trading arrangements, about access to supplies of everything from blood to nuclear isotopes to the components needed for a variety of manufacturing processes. Not a glorious trading future under whatever rules we choose to adopt, but uncertainty and strained relations with our largest trading partner … Happily, we do not see a no-deal outcome as the most likely one. Clearly, there are still significant hurdles to be cleared. And it is far from a foregone conclusion that a parliamentary majority can be cobbled together for whatever deal is arrived at. Yet both sides have a vested interest in securing a deal – or at least postponing the day of reckoning. |
| Simon Jenkins argues that the “hooligan Brexiters” are offering a mad, dystopian future that nobody voted for – a hard Brexit would entail years of chaos, but no deal would be far worse: | Simon Jenkins argues that the “hooligan Brexiters” are offering a mad, dystopian future that nobody voted for – a hard Brexit would entail years of chaos, but no deal would be far worse: |
| Nothing I have heard or read since 2016 explains how hard Brexit is remotely in Britain’s interest. Special status – heads we win, tails you lose – was never going to wash with the EU. Hard Brexit would therefore mean shifting to WTO tariffs, a customs wall and detailed border inspection. The UK would have to find a surge in trade with the rest of the world that made up for lost EU business. This was glaringly, idiotically implausible … As the forces of soft Brexit prepare for the end game, mad Brexit is what cabinet Brexiters are seeking to sanitise, at a staggering cost. It’s a dystopian, Blade Runner Brexit. There was a case for Brexit to traumatise the politics of a hesitant and ill-led European community. There was no case to destroy the vitality of a common market that had served Britain well for decades. There is no other Brexit but soft. May must seize control of her party and lead it in that direction. | Nothing I have heard or read since 2016 explains how hard Brexit is remotely in Britain’s interest. Special status – heads we win, tails you lose – was never going to wash with the EU. Hard Brexit would therefore mean shifting to WTO tariffs, a customs wall and detailed border inspection. The UK would have to find a surge in trade with the rest of the world that made up for lost EU business. This was glaringly, idiotically implausible … As the forces of soft Brexit prepare for the end game, mad Brexit is what cabinet Brexiters are seeking to sanitise, at a staggering cost. It’s a dystopian, Blade Runner Brexit. There was a case for Brexit to traumatise the politics of a hesitant and ill-led European community. There was no case to destroy the vitality of a common market that had served Britain well for decades. There is no other Brexit but soft. May must seize control of her party and lead it in that direction. |
| Top tweet | Top tweet |
| Gulp. | Gulp. |
| Brexit is 207 days away. #brexit | Brexit is 207 days away. #brexit |
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| Brexit weekly briefing | Brexit weekly briefing |
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