For a laugh and to try and get inside the Brexiteer mind, I receive emails from Brexit Central. The one that came in on Friday morning (HERE) following the second round of negotiations in Brussels was fascinating and almost a complete reversal of reality. The title was a give way: Barnier sows the seeds of compromise.
It talks about areas where the EU "needs to concede" and describes the failure of the UK to provide a position paper on the so called Brexit bill as "tactically astute". This latter point is probably going to stall the talks unless we prepare some details of what we think we owe instead of just trying to pick holes in the EU's method of calculating the final figure.
It all reminds me of the old joke about a boxer being pummelled mercilessly by a bigger and better opponent. After one particularly brutal round, the boxer returns to his corner, eyes closed and bloodied and slumps onto the stool. His second begins to sponge off the blood and tries to encourage him, "Don't worry, I think you had him worried in that last round".
"Really?", the boxer mutters in a barely conscious state.
"Yes, at one point he thought he'd killed you".
In another Brexiteer intervention Fraser Nelson in The Telegraph (HERE - where else?) says the government is losing the battle of spin but winning the substance of Brexit because trade talks are starting on Monday with the USA and Turkey and Australia are to follow. Poor Mr Nelson can't even see the so called trade talks are spin. There is no way the USA is going to conclude a free trade deal (at least one that might benefit us) before they know our status inside the EU and probably before they conclude a FTA with the EU themselves. As for Turkey it would be a supreme irony after what was said during the referendum campaign, if we ever conclude one with the Turks who will want a lot more access to the UK for their people
This is the thinking inside Brexit. They know they have failed but are continuing to try and keep their spirits up by whistling in the dark.
