So we’re out of the EU… But wait, hold on a minute!

Xátiva
February 2

So we are out of the EU and now we need never talk again about Brexiteers and Remainers. Well, No, Actually. Some of the Remainers who were unable to understand how democracy works (a majority of well over a million is not ‘close’) will now reinvent themselves as ‘Rejoiners’ and will continue telling everyone that they know best… good luck with that lost cause. Other Remainers will now accept that we have left and now is the time to help the UK get a good new deal that is in the interests of both the UK and the EU.
So now we are in the transition period and the ‘Deal’ or ‘No Deal’ dilemma will continue to be with us for at least another year. The truth is that in the broad brushstrokes of the history of the human race, it will be of complete insignificance if a small island off a neighbouring continent charges tariffs for services and goods passing backwards and forwards across their borders just as happens in the rest of the world, and as the UK currently does with Non-EU trade.
So then we come to whether Boris Johnson and his team can come to a tariff free agreement with the EU negotiators. That will only happen if Boris Johnson does a second sell out of the country. The Withdrawal Agreement he signed and on which we left a few days ago leaves us paying €39 billion (€39,000,000,000) as a fee for leaving, we continue to jointly fund several EU projects indefinitely, we continue to obey all EU rules during a transition period including rules we now have no say in, and all things to do with future trade were left as a vague wish list. It’s Teresa May´s deal (which Boris described as disastrous) but with a few words, dots and commas changed.
But no point in looking back now, at least we are out. Or, as politicians like to say when they want to duck responsibility for a problem, ‘We are where we are’.
The EU have already said as an upfront precondition to any future trade deal that the UK must agree to what they call ‘a level playing field’. That´s EU bureaucracy-speak for saying that they won´t do a deal unless we continue to follow all their rules and regulations just as EU member countries are obliged to do so that we cannot have any competitive advantage. The EU have also indicated that there won´t be any agreement unless the UK continues to allow EU-member fishing fleets to continue hoovering up fish in the North Sea and other waters around the UK.
So, the only way that a UK/EU deal will be done in the 11 month transition period for future trade is if Boris caves in on these two issues. If he caves in he will be simply delivering his second sell out and the EU will have shafted the UK a second time. We will see how things pan out over the coming months.
By the way, if anyone wonders why Spain has no `Spexit` party for Spain to leave the EU, it´s very simple. During the forty plus years that the UK has been in the EU, the UK has paid in nett approximately 230 billion euros (€230,000,000,000)..that´s an awful lot of noughts for the amount of money we have paid in over and above what we have received. Most of that money has been used building good roads and railways in Europe and subsidising EU farmers. Spain, on the other hand, during its 30 plus years in the EU has paid in nett……well, how shall I put it….nil, zero, zilch, nada, not one peseta. Spain has always received more billions back from the EU than it has paid in. So the EU has been a good thing for Spain.
Some people would say that as of a few days ago we are out of the overbearing, sclerotic, ossifying, undemocratic, declining bureaucracy that is the European Union. We have paid billions in that have helped other countries develop, but the truth is we were never up for the European project of integration and passing over sovereignty.
So by all means, if you are a Brexiteer celebrate that we are out of the EU. But there´s a second stage now and no one knows how it will turn out. Or, to put it another way…Wait, hold on a minute.

Brian