Being beastly to the Brits will cost EU
WHAT with deadlines and red lines, Prime Minister Theresa May experienced extreme pressure last week as she tried to accommodate the various demands from all and sundry, including those from within her own party.
However, to her credit, she survived despite a sleepless night or two as she acceded to European demands for a ridiculously timed early morning meeting. Setting aside the financial aspects of quitting Europe, we should never again bow to the unreasonable demands of Brussels.
What occurred last week was a classic illustration of why we should govern ourselves, and certainly not be beholden to unelected bureaucrats who look forward to their feathered nests when they leave the stage.
However, setting aside my mini-rant, I am not really very clear as to exactly what the so-called agreement is.
To me, it appeared as though the same words had been rearranged, but with a more expensive price tag.
Although Brussels seems to have accepted it, they went out of their way to assure our Prime Minister that the next round of negotiations re trade will be far tougher.
It is imperative that British business learns as soon as possible, precisely what the future rules of the game are going to be, so that they can plan and invest for the future.
Yes, we all know the exit date, but it is what happens after that is of concern.
That is why I have argued all along that we should quit and work to WTO rules which give us both certainty and flexibility.
It would, of course, be far cheaper, the exit price dropping to £20 billion maximum.
I do therefore hope that Mrs May will, as the next set of talks get under way, make it very clear to Messrs Bernier, Tusk and Juncker that being beastly to the Brits could cost them very dearly in terms of their trade with the UK, for their exports to us could be decimated for years to come as we set about building our own manufacturing plants to replace imports. A testing New Year for all!
Russell Luckock is chairman of Birmingham pressings firm
AE Harris