Britain says Brexit trade deal can be reached, but not at any cost

[snoop1130]

Britain says Brexit trade deal can be reached, but not at any cost

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak speaks on Spending Review 2020 and the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest economic and fiscal forecast at the House of Commons in London, Britain November 25, 2020. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union can clinch a Brexit trade deal and the shape of one is clear, but London will not sign up to an accord at any cost, Britain’s finance minister said on Thursday.

 

With just five weeks left until the United Kingdom finally exits the EU’s orbit, both sides are trying to reach a trade deal that would avoid a tumultuous finale to the five-year Brexit crisis.

 

“With a constructive attitude and goodwill on all sides we can get there,” finance minister Rishi Sunak told Sky. “It’s clear what the shape of the deal looks like.”

 

Sunak also told LBC radio that while it was preferable to clinch a deal, “we absolutely should not be stretching for a deal at any cost, that is not the right thing to do”.

 

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the EU was ready for the possibility of Britain leaving it without a new trade accord despite “genuine progress” in the tortuous Brexit talks.

 

An official involved in the negotiations said a deal was possible, but not likely before the weekend at the earliest. An EU diplomat said it was more likely to come next week.

 

The European Commission - where Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is leading talks with Britain on behalf of the whole bloc - is due to update national envoys to Brussels on the latest in the trade talks at 0800 GMT on Friday.

 

EU sources said Barnier himself may travel to London later on for more discussions with his British counterpart, David Frost, if there is a chance for a breakthrough.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-26

 

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[Loiner]

11 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

EU sources said Barnier himself may travel to London later on for more discussions with his British counterpart, David Frost, if there is a chance for a breakthrough.

The EU's breakthough hasn't happened for the past year, so is not likely to happen. While ever the Barnier's demands still include the UK's fish; the EU sloping field; ECJ governance; or any of the other points they have not published, nothing is going to breakthrough.

 

The EU's recent idea of being creative seems to be just a recyling of the repeat spin cycle. Roll on No Deal.

[oompie69]

UK is hat-in-hand in this one. Political blustering ad nauseam will not change the EU's position.  

[Scott]

Trolling graphic removed.  

 

[bartender100]

Says it all about the EU, when one man negotiates for 27 nations

[oldhippy]

7 minutes ago, bartender100 said:

Says it all about the EU, when one man negotiates for 27 nations

555

How many men negotiate for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Malvinas?

[RuamRudy]

I almost felt sorry for Liz Truss today when Emily Thornburry spent over 5 minutes in the commons documenting Truss's consistent lies and failures over the disastrous UK-Japan trade deal, and pointed out how the UK government's own figures show that the EU-Japan deal is superior. Then I remembered that she is Liz Truss and a Tory, and all sympathy evaporated instantly. 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by RuamRudy

[melvinmelvin]

my search for this Truss episode only gave me instructions about trussing turkeys

 

(had I only been a turkey consuming american it might have been uefull)

 

[RuamRudy]

35 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

my search for this Truss episode only gave me instructions about trussing turkeys

 

(had I only been a turkey consuming american it might have been uefull)

 

Enjoy it in all its glory. 

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

ta,

 

glory? wrong word

[Bruntoid]

8 hours ago, Loiner said:.

 

The EU's recent idea of being creative seems to be just a recyling of the repeat spin cycle. Roll on No Deal.

 and a 2% drop in GDP - I mean what country doesn’t want that in the midst of COVID ?! 
 

Brexiteer economics, got to love it ! 

[Bruntoid]

55 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

Enjoy it in all its glory. 

 

 

lol - busted !!! 

[pacovl46]

Will you finally just shut up and leave already?! It’s getting soooooooo boring! No deal Brexit and case closed! 

[Baerboxer]

10 hours ago, oldhippy said:

555

How many men negotiate for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Malvinas?

 

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are one nation. Gibraltar and The Falklands (this forum has rules that include using the English Language) both chose to remain British in democratic referendums.

 

The EU isn't a sovereign nation. Not even a federal state. But a trading bloc slowly moving to ever closer union as decided by bureaucrats.

[Baerboxer]

8 hours ago, Bruntoid said:

 and a 2% drop in GDP - I mean what country doesn’t want that in the midst of COVID ?! 
 

Brexiteer economics, got to love it ! 

 

Interestingly it was the EU who suggested. more than once and rather strongly, delaying Brexit due to Covid.

 

But of course, they're totally prepared and not the slightest bit worried about a No Deal Brexit!

[Baerboxer]

Same rhetoric over and over again - like 2 demented parrots!

 

Britain and the EU even use the same phrase " a deal can be done but not at any cost".

 

Case book negotiation failure. 

[JonnyF]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“With a constructive attitude and goodwill on all sides we can get there,” finance minister Rishi Sunak told Sky. “It’s clear what the shape of the deal looks like.”

 

That's the problem isn't it.

 

One side wants a mutually beneficial FTA.

 

The other side wants to punish the UK for having the temerity to reject their protectionist racket. Until the spiteful EU shows a more mature attitude, there is no point continuing. Barnier should stay where he is, no need to travel to London to repeat his ridiculous demands.

[Hi from France]

10 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

Enjoy it in all its glory. 

 

 

I'm as often, quite impressed by the British parliament.

 

I have shared here the work done by the commissions, which is also of very high quality. 

 

Is quite sad some posters here rely on Tabloid journalism with outrageous claims in capitals instead of the high quality work of their their own parliament. 

[Hi from France]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

One side wants a mutually beneficial FTA.

 

The other side wants to punish the UK 

Well its true this is not a negotiation between equals, but it won't be between equals when you deal with the USA or with China... even Mexico takes advantage of the position of weakness of the UK. And the Japan deal is crappy. 

 

I'm sure you realize the prominent place of the UK in the EU has been lost, now it is harder to negotiate internationally. And international negotiations of this kind worth billions and thousands of jobs are no joke. 

 

Now with a competent negotiating team and honest politicians at the helm, the UK could do much much better. You have neither : the very top civil diplomats have been fired and Boris Johnson is not a top leader in this regard. 

 

I think you will agree it was not a very good idea for the UK to break a treaty it just signed, making necessary the negotiation of a series of provisions in case the UK is again not true to his word in the future. 

 

. 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Hi from France

[JonnyF]

19 minutes ago, Hi from France said:

Well its true this is not a negotiation between equals, but it won't be between equals when you deal with the USA or with China... even Mexico takes advantage of the position of weakness of the UK. And the Japan deal is crappy. 

 

I'm sure you realize the prominent place of the UK in the EU has been lost, now it is harder to negotiate internationally. And international negotiations of this kind worth billions and thousands of jobs are no joke. 

 

Now with a competent negotiating team and honest politicians at the helm, the UK could do much much better. You have neither : the very top civil diplomats have been fired and Boris Johnson is not a top leader in this regard. 

 

I think you will agree it was not a very good idea for the UK to break a treaty it just signed, making necessary the negotiation of a series of provisions in case the UK is again not true to his word in the future. 

 

. 

 

Lord Frost is an excellent negotiator. Barnier would attest to that.

 

Which treaty have we broken? When did we break it? Oh that's right, we haven't broken any treaty. 

[Hi from France]

19 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

Lord Frost is an excellent negotiator. Barnier would attest to that.

If anything Barnier as any top diplomat, is polite,

 

 

 

more about Barnier

Quote

He has served in several French cabinet positions including Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2005, Minister of State for European Affairs from 1995 to 1997 and minister of the environment and way of life from 1993 to 1995. He served at European level as European Commissioner for Regional Policy from 1999 to 2004 and European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2010 to 2014. He served as vice president of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2010 to 2015.

 

Barnier served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 2007 to 2009. He served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services under President José Manuel Barroso from 2010 to 2014.

 

 

more about Frost

Quote

Frost spent most of his earlier professional career as a British diplomat, including as HM Ambassador to Denmark, EU Director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and Director for Europe and International Trade at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

In other words, Frost is a very low-caliber diplomat in comparison, the best post he ever had was Ambassador to Denmark...

 

Senior British diplomats (Alexandra Hall, Peter Ricketts, Kim Darroch, Richard Moore and of course Ivan Rogers) who are really up to par with Barnier and can negociate "Eye to Eye" have resigned or been fired.

 

 

Believe me, you can make Frost a Baron and make him National Security Adviser, but that will not make him competent. He is a low-caliber, middle-ranking diplomat whose main strong point was to be a brexiter when everyone else in the FO was able to anticipate what is happening just now four years ago.

 

.

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Hi from France

[JonnyF]

43 minutes ago, Hi from France said:

Believe me, you can make Frost a Baron and make him National Security Adviser, but that will not make him competent. He is a low-caliber, middle-ranking diplomat whose main strong point was to be a brexiter when everyone else in the FO was able to anticipate what is happening just now four years ago.

 

 

He seems to be doing pretty well so far. Barnier has got nothing from him.

 

You still didn't let me know which treaty we broke, and the date that we broke it. Details please, I'd love to know.

[Hi from France]

35 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

He seems to be doing pretty well so far. Barnier has got nothing from him.

My opinion on that is that this is completely false, and your adversarial vision of what a international negociation is is very, very far from reality. 

 

 

 

 

and if we move up the scale to Frost's boss : as far as BJ is concerned, he makes the job a middle-ranking diplomat negociating with a stronger party even harder....

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Hi from France

[Loiner]

50 minutes ago, Hi from France said:

My opinion on that is that this is completely false, and your adversarial vision of what a international negociation is is very, very far from reality. 

 

 

 

 

and if we move up the scale to Frost's boss : as far as BJ is concerned, he makes the job a middle-ranking diplomat negociating with a stronger party even harder....

 

 

You know Boris is right about some things.

[Mavideol]

15 hours ago, bartender100 said:

Says it all about the EU, when one man negotiates for 27 nations

or says it all when one man negotiates for 4 nations

[Mavideol]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

With a constructive attitude and goodwill on all sides we can get there,” finance minister Rishi Sunak told Sky. “It’s clear what the shape of the deal looks like.”

they asked for a similar deal the EU has with Canada, it appears the EU has agreed on such terms then the UK went back and asked for additional concessions from the EU and all went back to the same blaming game, it's always the EU's fault

[melvinmelvin]

2 hours ago, Hi from France said:

If anything Barnier as any top diplomat, is polite,

 

 

 

more about Barnier

 

 

more about Frost

In other words, Frost is a very low-caliber diplomat in comparison, the best post he ever had was Ambassador to Denmark...

 

Senior British diplomats (Alexandra Hall, Peter Ricketts, Kim Darroch, Richard Moore and of course Ivan Rogers) who are really up to par with Barnier and can negociate "Eye to Eye" have resigned or been fired.

 

 

Believe me, you can make Frost a Baron and make him National Security Adviser, but that will not make him competent. He is a low-caliber, middle-ranking diplomat whose main strong point was to be a brexiter when everyone else in the FO was able to anticipate what is happening just now four years ago.

 

.

 

 

dunno about Frost

 

but agree with you re Barnier, he is quite simply very very good, he has handled this in an excellent manner since the very beginning

and he does not go astray,

the way he has linked with his superiors and media is just exemplary

 

dodgy davies dos not even compare may be Frost does, might take a closer look at him

 

 

[vinny41]

3 hours ago, Hi from France said:

I'm as often, quite impressed by the British parliament.

 

I have shared here the work done by the commissions, which is also of very high quality. 

 

Is quite sad some posters here rely on Tabloid journalism with outrageous claims in capitals instead of the high quality work of their their own parliament. 

 

1 hour ago, Hi from France said:

My opinion on that is that this is completely false, and your adversarial vision of what a international negociation is is very, very far from reality. 

 

 

 

 

and if we move up the scale to Frost's boss : as far as BJ is concerned, he makes the job a middle-ranking diplomat negociating with a stronger party even harder....

 

 

 

[Surelynot]

15 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

I almost felt sorry for Liz Truss today when Emily Thornburry spent over 5 minutes in the commons documenting Truss's consistent lies and failures over the disastrous UK-Japan trade deal, and pointed out how the UK government's own figures show that the EU-Japan deal is superior. Then I remembered that she is Liz Truss and a Tory, and all sympathy evaporated instantly. 

 

 

Oh what a shame this wasn't to a packed house.

[Hi from France]

45 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

but agree with you re Barnier, he is quite simply very very good, he has handled this in an excellent manner since the very beginning

and he does not go astray,

the way he has linked with his superiors and media is just exemplary

Barnier is really top notch the most remarkable work he did was unite the 27 nations in this negociation. This is really a huge huge achievement.

 

 

His weakness is he is close to retirement and would like to end his career with a sucess, maybe too much.

 

So, some in the EU fear he is "too nice" with the UK. The risk is to strike a deal, which then would not be ratified by the UE parliament or would be blocked later...

 

 

 

 

Frost using twitter to complain publicly he was "disappointed" was perceived in the EU as en un-diplomatic rookie mistake

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Hi from France