Thursday, January 05, 2017

Path

I know some in the UK think "this wasn't what was on the ballot" and of course it was never clear what was on that nonbinding resolution ballot, but it's not crazy to say that Brexit means Brexit and May is going to get exactly what she wants. If the EU starts carving out free mobility exceptions then anything good about the major aspects of the EU will be jettisoned. I suppose that's possible, but then the whole thing will be jettisoned.

May will restate that control of borders will be a red line for the government, inevitably making economic access a lower priority.

Time to start deporting Brits from Spain.

As for this:
“If you're too hard on negotiation you don't win. Any negotiation has got to have something that's in it for both parties.”

...


Since membership of the single market requires freedom of movement to operate by definition the speech is the strongest signal yet that Britain will cut its trade arrangements with Europe after Brexit takes place.

The Brexiteers truly believe the EU needs them more than they need the EU. Every country has their own form of weird nationalism, whether they admit it or not, but much like the US, the Brits tend to imagine they're at the center of the world. Much less true in both cases than is generally believed.