Reply With QuoteI agree that the fact that it appears to be the case, though one waits for actual confirmation, its all its been reported at the moment which is journalistic code for we don't actually know.Originally Posted by ramAnag
rA I have been involved on Brexit with both politicians and civil servants. I know a number but in respect of Brexit the following are facts.
Its not impossible but would be a major revision and take the agreement of those in cabinet who are proponents of a hard Brexit for there to be significant change in the strategy.
The deadline for an extension has passed. Of course the UK could go down on bended knee and plead with the EU for one, but thats unlikely for the reasons given above.
The same applies to some form of soft Brexit - plus there is the complication that this would require approval by all 27 member states, there is not enough time to do this before 31 December, in fact there is barely enough time to ratify a deal.
We will reach a deal, regrettably the deal is a thin one, it will be less of an economic blow than no deal, but it will inevitably result in millions of pounds of additional costs for business and tax payers (50,000 extra customs officers for example).
A couple of people I know were in on the zoom chat with government the other week, they were appalled at the governments attitude, which was its up to business to sort themselves out, which in normal times would be hard enough - seeing as nobody actually knows at the moment what sort of arrangements will be in place as there is no certainty what the circumstances will be. The necessary IT systems aren't up and running and they are new and we all know how long it takes an IT system to actually work!
In respect of Cummins and Cain, the word is its not Brexit, but a major fall out within the backroom teams in No10, Johnson is under pressure by Tory MP's who are nervous that instead of the triumph of having done Brexit, the government is increasingly looking like a bunch of incompetents who say one thing and then days or even hours later do a U turn and do exactly what BoJo had explicitly said he would not do in any circumstances - viz, free school meals, viz furlough scheme having argued the toss with Manchester, viz, exams, viz another national lockdown etc etc. Someone counted 14 complete U turns on policy this year, not exactly a demonstration of a government with a clear strategy, even if we are in unusual times!
So no I don't see a major change, the "Norway" option is off the table and basically we are ****ed!
