Well...that was a surprise. A good surprise. We already saw the shitshow that happened with trucks backed up for miles after dozens of counties imposed travel bans following the COVID-19 mutation and Tier 4 lockdown in the London area.Code:https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-55433447
Will hard Brexiteers be pleased? I guess we have to wait until the text is revealed....
not too much of a surprise tho
for all their posturing, the eu still needs to keep britain on board as much as possible
there was just no way they were going to screw over what deals thousands of businesses in their member states already have with the uk for a petulant point of principle
"i know enough to know what's instantly forgettable"
There were some principles on both sides; whether they could find a way to satisfy them all (mostly) was the challenge. They seem to have done so, which is great.
Like @Persephone, I'm waiting until the text has been gone over in detail. Do I trust Boris? No. Does anyone?
Can they get it through the European Parliament, and 29 national parliaments? Big question.
So, at last the UK basks in the sunlit uplands of Boris's imagination. What joy, what freedom!
Errrr, maybe.
A trade deal was done that allows tariff and quota free trade but with an increase in bureaucracy and checks that will take time and increase costs. An unusual achievement for a trade deal.
The "level playing field" has been agreed, mostly, and allows the EU (or UK) to retaliate with tariffs if there is a significant diminution of standards (labour, environmental, etc) that undercut competition. That should be fun when it is activated.
The dispute resolution mechanism has been agreed in principle. That should also be fun when it is triggered.
Oh, and fisheries were agreed. Fishermen on both sides are not happy, which suggests it was a reasonable compromise. But it's not a very good deal for fishermen or for fish.
And that's it. A "thin" deal, as described by the leader of the opposition, that covers 20% of UK exports.
The other 80% are made up of services, about which the deal says nothing. Financial services in UK are awaiting a decision on "equivalence" that would allow them to serve customer in the EU. That's not a negotiation, but entirely in the EU's hands.
Likewise, data flows - the EU has given itself 4-6 months to decide if the UK data protection regime is "adequate" to meet the requirement of GDPR. Decisions of the ECJ will be relevant here, which won't please the UK side.
UK police forces have lost access to the Schengen Information System - a huge real-time policing database - that they used to access about 2.5 million times a day! In future, there will be co-operation involving requests for information. Hardly equivalent.
Many other areas of EU regulation are pending decisions on the EU side - Open Skies, truck drivers, insurance, etc, etc. These will undoubtedly pop up and annoy the British tabloids over the coming years.
UK citizens in the EU are already discovering that they have lost rights when they move around the EU; artists from UK will have difficulty touring as they will need visas for each EU country; pets will need recent paperwork; etc.
But duty free shopping is back!
Brexit is done? Not really; discussions, rows, negotiations, more rows, will continue for years, if not decades.
Welcome to the sunlit uplands of Boris's imagination.
Biggest LMAO of the day - Stanley Johnson (Boris's father) is applying for French citizenship. He was on the Remain side, and remains committed to a united Europe.
Almost as good as Jo Johnson (his brother) resigning as a cabinet member.
This debate is literally tearing families apart. Hope things can heal and get better. I guess it was always in the background, with the UK never fully embracing the idea of the EU, but is obviously now in the open.
are we sure this isn't secretly a shared porn stash?Originally Posted by Misrule
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