Someone has found a short video of David Davis on 3rd September this year, barely two months ago, telling Andrew Marr that suggestions of a £50 billion divorce bill were, "rubbish, nonsense and completely wrong". They posted it on Twitter (HERE). We learn this week he has agreed a bill of somewhere between £45 and £55 billion depending which rumour you believe.
If nothing else it shows how far out of his depth Davis is. I think someone said months ago that what is happening in Brussels is not a negotiation and was never intended to be. It is called a negotiation. Our press refer to it as a negotiation but in fact it is a humiliation supervised by the EU.
At every stage we have made concessions. We accepted their sequencing - because we had to. We moved towards their position on each of the three separation issues - because we had to. We accept their estimate of the divorce bill - because we must. We accept the continuing role of the ECJ during any transition period - because we must. We will gradually bow towards the inevitable - kicking and struggling, fighting with ourselves perhaps - but this is what we will do - because we will have to.
There is no escape. Brexit will be a national humiliation and exiting Brexit would be almost the same humiliation anyway. But at least we'll avoid a lot of economic damage. For remainers it will be like having to admit you had an insane relative living in the attic - as Rochester does in Jane Eyre - who tried to burn the house down. Leavers will have to admit they were that relative.
