Daily Express

Brexit clock is still ticking, we can’t go soft on deal now

- Stephen Pollard Political Commentato­r

HAROLD Wilson said a week is a long time in politics. In that context, the gap between Boris Johnson’s landslide election win in December and today is an eternity.

For three and a half years since the 2016 referendum, British politics was dominated by Brexit.

And yet today, it barely features anywhere in news bulletins. Not surprising­ly, a global pandemic that has caused economic devastatio­n and the death of hundreds of thousands has put a dispute about trade agreements into perspectiv­e.

But time does not stand still and our transition agreement with the EU ends on December 31. Even now, some Remainers still see the deal as some sort of halfway house and are demanding that it is extended.

Quite rightly, the Government has been firm that if there is no final agreement by the end of the year, so be it. There are no serious grounds that support asking for an extension – but many good reasons against.

For one thing, it would be financiall­y reckless. Next year the EU has to agree a new budget to last it though the next few years. The demands on that budget – to which we have remained the second largest contributo­r during the transition – were already increasing before coronaviru­s.

IT WOULD be grotesque for the British government to prolong the period in which we hand over money without any say in the new budget.

A poll out yesterday shows that the public is well aware of what those demanding an extension are up to.Almost half of voters say an extension really means keeping us locked into the EU’s rules for the foreseeabl­e future. In the poll of 2,058 people for the Centre for Brexit Policy, 46 per cent believe extending the transition really means “further extensions”.

The Government is scheduled to publish its negotiatin­g texts and legal drafts later this week. It is understand­able that few in power here or in the EU have been focused on Brexit lately.

But with the clock ticking, these documents should provide a reminder of the need for the heads of government of the 27 member states to focus on the resumption of negotiatio­ns.

A number of observers have played down any chance of success, mainly because of an impasse over fishing rights – a matter of huge importance both for the UK and France.

The EU’s position is that the UK must remain tied to the demands of the Common Fisheries Policy, which allow EU boats to fish in our waters.

But it’s not just fishing. The EU’s stance has been that the UK has to agree to a “level playing field” of “regulatory alignment” – in other words, continue to implement EU law

– and allow the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a say in supervisin­g this.

Were we to agree to this, Brexit would certainly not mean Brexit. We would be handing over power to the EU and ECJ to determine our laws but without even having the say that we had as a member state.

There is not the slightest chance of us agreeing to this – hence the recent worries that the talks are not so much deadlocked as impossible.

But this weekend there were reports that our firm stance in refusing to extend the transition or to countenanc­e some of the EU’s more outrageous demands may be paying off.

According to one respected commentato­r, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, is well aware that the EU’s stance is unsustaina­ble – because it wants an agreement as much as we do. He believes that there will be a softening of its demands once leaders are able to turn their minds to something other than the pandemic.

A senior European diplomatic source is reported as saying: “We should probably get more realistic about our fishing position.”

There even seems to be movement on the demand for regulatory alignment.

ACCORDING to the same source, “it shouldn’t be that complicate­d”, also pointing out that even as a member state the UK had its own rules in certain areas, such as climate change.

As we saw last year, agreeing a deal is never easy. We were told repeatedly that the two sides were too far apart, there were too many obstacles… until suddenly, over one weekend, all that changed.

There is no guarantee the same thing will happen. But one thing Boris Johnson showed when he took over the negotiatio­ns from Theresa May was that he understand­s dealmaking in the EU.

The fact we are so clearly serious about walking away without a deal is the best chance we have of reaching one.

‘In the end, the EU wants an agreement as much as we do’

 ??  ?? TALKING TIME: UK negotiator David Frost and the EU’s Michel Barnier may find common ground
TALKING TIME: UK negotiator David Frost and the EU’s Michel Barnier may find common ground
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom