Lewes Forum thread

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Brexit. Brussels holds all the cards

On 1 Apr 2017 at 5:13pm Remain Sane wrote:

Those in Theresa May�s government who have blithely imagined they can have the best of all worlds face a cold shower of reality. If the�two-year Article 50 process invoked by the prime minister does not break down in acrimony, it will conclude in 2019 with Britain a markedly diminished nation. The terms of the relationship with its own continent will have been set by others; and power in today�s world does not belong to those striking out on their own.

The EU27, of course, would also suffer from a failure to reach an accord. But, as with the negotiating framework, the shock would be asymmetric. Forget the guff about Britain�s appetite for German cars and Italian prosecco. The EU accounts for a much bigger share of Britain�s economic output and exports than vice versa. Germany, as one Whitehall official puts it, might catch a chill, while Britain would be laid low by pneumonia.
Thus far Mrs May has been a willing prisoner of those in her party seeking the hardest of Brexits. Their devotion to the idea of a small state Britain freed from all regulatory restraints leave them indifferent to the future relationship with the EU and unfazed by the risk of a complete rupture.
It is not at all evident that the prime minister is ready to confront them with the compromises with the 27 needed to secure that �deep� partnership. Now she has handed the negotiating initiative to Brussels. All this, we are told, in the interests of taking back control.

On 1 Apr 2017 at 6:26pm Hello wrote:

You need to get out more.

On 1 Apr 2017 at 7:55pm Clifford wrote:

Don't be silly, Sane.

On 1 Apr 2017 at 8:29pm We'vehadourfun wrote:

Whilst hanging my washing out in the glorious spring sunshine today I came across a conundrum. Is it best to peg trousers from the ankle end or the belt end? Same for tops. By the shoulder or by the bottom with the arms hanging down? Are there any hard and fast rules to this.
Did anyone else have a conundrum in the sunshine today?