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Brexit deal signed. I never had any doubt, I personally think it was signed months ago but there has been a lot of face saving for the compromises. Both sides wanted to be seen as the winner. Still waiting on the text of the document to see what the compromises are exactly but - for now - the Brexit wars are over. After a shitty 2020; we can all welcome success.
We used to argue whether Star Trek or Star Wars was better. Now we argue which one is worse.
$10 says it involves renaming the EU the British Union and having the UK join the British Union.
"I know what you’re thinking now. You’re thinking 'Oh my god, that’s treating other people with respect gone mad!'" When I am writing in this font, I am writing in my moderator voice.
Spam-desu
We’ll need to see the details of the deal before we know how far each side secured its negotiating agenda. But we know one thing already: this deal will make the UK poorer than it would otherwise have been. That’s not because of poor negotiation on the British side. In fact, the UK outcome seems to be slightly more impressive than what we would have expected in January. It’s because of the parameters of the deal specified by Johnson at the outset.
Leaving the customs union and single market means that goods travelling between the UK and the EU will be subject to a battery of checks. These include entry and exit declarations, safety and security documentation, and sanitary and phytosanitary checks for agricultural goods. Even the securing of tariff-free access to Europe comes with a painful bit of small print. In order to qualify for it, goods must satisfy complex rules of origin requirements. What was once frictionless and easy will become laborious, cumbersome and difficult.
There are certain natural laws in trade. You trade most with the countries which are closest to you. Putting up obstacles to it means you trade less. Removing them means you trade more. Beyond all the ideological noise, these dynamics are inevitable. They are the gravity of the trading world. You can deny them until you are blue in the face, but that does not make them go away.
And there lie the fundamental principles which will dictate the future. Over the next few years, as the brute reality of what the deal entails becomes clear, pressure will build in politics and industry to seek a more substantial arrangement.
So we can still look forward to thousands of lorries stuck outside Dover.
Robovski wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:52 am
Always good to use an opinion piece as a source for facts.
So Brexit still happening?
Of course. The BrExit where Britain still needs to adhere to European Standards in order to have free access to the european markets or risk it's goods being subject to taxes and clearspira considers it a success.
"If you get shot up by an A6M Reisen and your plane splits into pieces - does that mean it's divided by Zero?
- xoxSAUERKRAUTxox
