Some people are very slow learners. Take Jacob Rees-Mogg for example. He has written a piece for The Telegraph (HERE - behind a paywall). I would reproduce it for you but it's not that interesting to us remainers, I think we all know where he's coming from - and where he's going to for that matter. But there was one part of the article that I found fascinating. It was this bit:
"With everything in life there needs to be a balance. Any negotiations need to be two-sided. So when I ask questions about what the EU has compromised on I am met with silence because the simple truth is that it has no intention of acquiescing on any points. For me, this is not the definition of negotiation. Moreover, it is vital that the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for DeExEU and Parliament see the process for what it really has become".
Jake has finally realised we are not engaged in a negotiation with the EU - as many people warned before the vote.
To demonstrate how widely this was understood I want to refer you to Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister who had a book published in early 2016 with the title: And the weak suffer what they must. It was part of the quotation from Thucydides, writing about the Peloponnesian wars. The actual quote is: The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. It was about his experience "negotiating" with the EU.
Later he made a video (HERE) in October 2016 in which he said, "The first thing that you must understand if you’re about to enter into negotiations with the European Union is that the other side is not going to negotiate."
In May 2017, writing in The Independent (HERE) he said, "Make no mistake, there will be no Brexit negotiation".
Now the smart people among you (sit down Rees-Mogg, this doesn't include you) will notice a pattern here. Essentially, in simple words, Mr Varoufakis a man with a lot of experience of dealing with the EU - indeed one might even call him an expert, which is probably what damned his advice for Brexiteers, is saying: THERE WILL BE NO NEGOTIATION.
Rees-Mogg has just realised this after nearly two years, actually quite quick for the Right Honourable member for the eighteenth century, a man who looks and dresses like a Georgian undertaker.
To make it even easier we could update Thucydides' words: The EU do what they can and the UK suffers what it must (it's the will of the people). Another extract with JRM's extraordinary claim:
"The Commission hides behind faux concern for the Irish border undermining the single market, something that is, in the jargon, uncommuniataire. No doubt this will be left to the inevitable, tiresome 11th hour summiteering at the end of this process".
He actually thinks the EU, Barnier and the Irish government are going to allow the border issue to go down to the wire!! We shall see - at the end of June I think. He goes on:
"Inflammatory, unhelpful rhetoric is being used by some politicians in advance of their elections such as the Irish foreign minister, Mr Coveney, I wish it were restricted just to slogans. In fact, damaging suggestions have been made. The Irish Government has already proposed splitting the UK by creating a border within it down the middle of the Irish Sea. Either Dublin respects the Belfast Agreement, which committed the parties peacefully to respect that Northern Ireland chooses her own constitutional future, or she does not".
JRM objects to the so-called wet border but JDD, an anonymous commenter on the EU Referendum blog and a man clearly in the loop and very close to the centre, posted this comment on the same day:
"So I have read some comments here today. No one...NO ONE is picking up on the backstop which the UK agreed to in December. Wet border full stop and there is no other solution. I spent days talking this out in Dublin with all sides, no wonder my sidekick only lasted a couple of weeks. 400 years of history yet one side thinks it happened yesterday. This will NOT fix and in best Scout honour...'be prepared' "
Who to believe JRM or JDD?
