David Davis is still stupidly pushing the government into a reckless piece of international brinkmanship. He clings to the belief that if we prepare for a no deal exit the EU will suddenly deflate and conceded everything we want. He churns out another with-one-bound-Jack-was-free piece in The Telegraph (behind a paywall but read it HERE) instead of where it really belongs, in the pages of the Beano.
He says "time is our friend" as we rush headlong towards the cliff edge although I don't think the employers organisations and business see it quite like that. And he refers to an anonymous letter that appeared in the Telegraph last week claiming the government was well prepared for a no deal outcome. He is not even trying to clutch at real straws any more.
There is even a suggestion that the meaningful vote be delayed until "later" although he doesn't spell out when, only that we should ignore, "distractions, such as the briefings that Continuity Remain elements will seek to extend Article 50 or force a second referendum". So, the meaningful vote will be delayed while the end date remains the same, until there are just a few days left, when the EU will suddenly come round to his way of thinking. At one point in the article he says we should "be under no illusions" although he doesn't seem to mind being under any number of them himself.
And listen to this:
"Tory MPs must remain committed to delivering the referendum result, as repeated in our manifesto, which pledged to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market and which said that no deal is better than a bad deal. To do otherwise would frankly throw our democracy’s credibility into chaos".
Not meeting a manifesto pledge would 'throw democracy's credibility into chaos'. When did meeting manifesto pledges start to mean anything to him? And he still thinks we will leave on March 29th deal or no deal:
"The UK will leave the EU on 29 March. That is nailed down in primary legislation and international treaty commitments. There is no wriggle room".
He helped to nail it down in primary legislation and seems quite pleased with himself that he has strapped the explosive belt onto the nation and set the timer, no doubt laughing hysterically like The Joker in a Batman movie.
Despite what the EU have repeatedly said he stubbornly believes, "There will be several deals in place, including membership of the Common Transit Convention and the WTO, a trade facilitation agreement, and others as set out recently by the EU. There is a shared interest in a good flow of traffic through our ports, and action is being taken to ensure trade continues sensibly".
This is dangerous brinkmanship with an entire country. As for the backstop - just wave a magic wand and....
"Both Donald Tusk and Michel Barnier have offered the UK a Canada+++ option. A Northern Ireland backstop is not necessary or wanted. International trade experts such as Shanker Singham advocate using tried and trusted techniques and procedures so that rules of origin and customs checks are conducted away from the Northern Ireland border, making a hard border unnecessary".
The Canada +++ option offer is predicated on both sides meeting their commitments from the Joint Report agreed in December which includes the backstop. Shanker Singham, by the way, is known in some circles as "Snake oil" Singham.
This so-called "offer" is contained in the phase II guidelines of the EU (HERE) issued on March 7th this year and in particular paragraph 7 which says, "the European Council
confirms its readiness to initiate work towards a free trade agreement
(FTA), to be finalised and concluded once the UK is no longer a Member
State". But the guidelines also says in paragraphs 1 and 2 that "negotiations can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken so far are respected in full and it specifically references the December agreement with the backstop in it.
Davis is disingenuous and delusional.
Davis is disingenuous and delusional.
