When corbyn lost in 2017 the EU surely must have known there was no going back. I dont know maybe they thought the uk would have a moment and change their minds. Backfired a bit I reckon.

Apparently Monday now. They will meet again. What is the f***ing point? Just f***ing walk now. Should have done so back in October.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

Johnson has to pull the plug. No choice now. This defines him now for the rest of his term in office. Vaccine is now available, 2021 is going to be a year of turmoil no matter what.

We control our own money supply so its a win-win situation. We can effectively go free trade on an entire range of goods. Drop corporation tax, essentially become the nightmare the EU seem to fear so much. But there is zero gain now because any deal with the EU will be seen in terms of him capitulating.

Might as well go for broke along with a wider campaign encouraging people to boycott EU goods.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

Agreed.

They want hardball I guess that's what we'll have.

Unless Johnson's bottled it.....like everything else.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

The UK would not keep to the withdrawal agreement it signed only a year ago.

Why the EU are still at it I don't know, as only last night Johnson's bill was passed unchanged.

If they think he would keep his word on anything, they are dafter than our voters.

Perhaps when Boris goes to Brussels he can remind them that if Britain wasn't busy protecting their neutrality in a squabble between Germany and France, then the Government of Ireland bill wouldn't have been suspended, the Easter Resigns (with support of the Germans) wouldn't have happened, Ireland may not have been partitioned, and thousands of people might not have died in the troubles, a peaceful transition to Irish independence would have been possible and, there wouldn't be an Irish boarder problem.

In reality, that idea went out the window the minute Biden got elected, all it actually achieved was letting the world know you can"t trust a CON, not this bunch anyway, absolutely clueless, who knew?

Ha, same thing will probably happen in Sunderland with nissan, still, beans on toast is healthy enough, maybe a bit boring every night for years but healthy enough all the same!

Ha, in boris we trust gentlemen, in boris we , errrrrrr, trust!

I have stayed away from this thread for quite a while as I really had no interest in reading the sort of things likely to be posted here.

Now it appears we are stumbling towards the expected result, by me anyway, of leaving on WTO terms I wonder just where this is going to lead to.

Obviously, there are going to be short-term implications, price rises, shortages and a mess of paperwork. It's though the longer term I am thinking about.

Hopefully we can immediately start to negotiate a proper trade deal next year, just as we seek them elsewhere.

However, in my view, we are in a very weak position going forward. No doubt others will disagree.

If I am right and our economy, already impacted by the after-effects of the pandemic, is as severely hampered by Brexit as I expect it to be then how long before Scotland starts to demand independence and Northern Ireland starts to think about a United Ireland?

What would it take for the "Brexit at all costs" enthusiasts to start to question their stance? How big a decline in the UK economy and the break up of the UK is it worth to be "taking back control"? Put some numbers on it?

More importantly how long would it be before the people as a whole, and not the die-hards, started to rue their decision and to press for a return?

Going back in would be much easier than coming out and could be done in a matter of months, after a GE. The next being in 4 years maximum, by which time the pain will be bad and the grass in Europe looking much greener than here. The USA would be encouraging it.

Don't rule it out! It's far from an impossible scenario. Corbyn has gone. The pandemic would be over. The red wall which crumbled and turned blue is being reversed again. Flirting with the enemy might be exciting for a while but when they keep on hurting you, you tend to realise they are still the enemy.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.