Thursday, February 21, 2019

Whither now?

Lots of calls for some time to "take a no-deal Brexit off the table".  But how do you do that?  It always strikes me as like trying to prove a negative.  But then, I think the problem is that there are two types of a no-deal exit - what I have labelled an accidental no-deal exit and a deliberate no-deal exit.  If we leave on March 29th (which by the way I think is definitely an "if") and we haven't managed to strike a deal, then that would be an accidental no-deal exit.  On the other hand, there are those - and always have been - who simply want to leave, and are not interested in whether or not there is any deal.  Leaving on their terms would be a deliberate no-deal exit.  And I think it is this latter scenario which can be "taken off the table".  In other words, we can set our face against intentionally leaving with no deal, but leaving having tried and failed to strike a deal is - Parliament having rejected the only deal available - outside our control.

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