Project Fear becomes real fear

[Suff]

Not for the British but for the EU itself and the Institutions of the EU.

Donald Tusk's speech about Hard Brexit or No Brexit has little or nothing to do with the UK and everything to do with fending off the increasingly vocal groups pushing for partial or total loosening of EU controls over their countries.

This is real fear. Or, in fact, near panic, as the EU Commission and Council commit to a "Hold Fast" policy in order to try and stave off disaster.

It's a wonderful little piece of the whole picture which, for those who recognise the language and the drivers behind it, is most amusing. I've waited decades for those bloated spiders, in the middle of their webs, to feel the trembling of a very large creature; spelling danger and disaster if they don't do something fast.

Even better, they don't have the spiders last defence available. They cant run....

[medsec222]

Cant wait to be rid of them. What a soured faced individual Donald Tusk is,

[Workingman]

Actually, Tusk is right, in one way.

Hard Brexit is the only way for Leavers to deliver on their lead promise during the campaign: immigration control. It was the topic used to win voters over. Polls on social attitudes taken long before the campaign showed that immigration control was the top priority for something above 80% of the population. The figure had been similar for years, it is why the Tories pledged to get it down to the tens of thousands. When that pledge failed the Leave campaign jumped on it as something it would deliver.

Hard Brexit is the only way for it to be delivered. Without it we get Brexit lite and EU lite at the same time. The EU and our government both know this, and they also both know that this is not what we voted for.

[Suff]

Actually this is totally and completely false. As Tusk is well aware.

There is absolutely NO reason why the EU cannot negotiate a free trade deal with the UK which does not include free flow of people across the borders.

After all, this is EXACTLY what Australia is proposing that we negotiate with them right now.

The reason Tusk is saying this is that he is scared out of his wits that if the UK is able to negotiate a free trade deal without having to comply with EU directives, that half the EU will simply up sticks, leave and demand the same deal.

He's not scared for no reason, there is masses of empirical evidence that this is exactly what will happen should the UK not be heavily punished for Daring to challenge the supremacy of the EU institutions.

His reaction is one of abject fear and rear-guard defence to fend off more _exits...

If he wasn't so scared witless, there would be absolutely NO reason why the EU could not offer us exactly the same deal as Australia is.

Tusk is not right at all. He's doing what the EU does best. Lying to save face and try to control the rest of the EU. The British people voted to get out of the suffocating embrace of the EU, with the hope that we could negotiate a fair and reasonable relationship with the EU during the separation. The reality is this. There is nothing either fair or reasonable about the EU and it is acting like a woman scorned.

Put that to the people who voted to leave and you will get a very British answer. If they are that unreasonable then hell mend them and good riddance to bad rubbish.

The more that the EU does this dance the more the people of the UK, realising what it is they have left, will sigh with relief that they had the courage to do the right thing. That is the British way. It is most certainly not the way of the majority of the EU countries.

As they say it takes two to Tango. The UK may be doing a passable attempt to Tango but the EU is flipping backwards and forwards between the War Dance and the Rain Dance. As time goes on their desperation will become more and more evident to the people of the UK. Hopefully for the people of the EU too.

[cromwell]

In 2013the EU did $1.9 trillion dollars of business with the USA. The US does not pay for access to the single market.

http://order-order.com/

[Workingman]

http://order-order.com/

Load of cod's.

The US has never been in the 'single market' it has set up trade deals with the EU and they are reciprocal.

What is does have is access to the 'passporting' system for financial services. To do so its banks have to be established in an EU country and that place has to be the headquarters for those transactions.

Guido, not for the first time, is playing silly games.