know everyone is quite busy + don’t wanna be *that* guy but just a reminder that today is the last day that we can apply for a brexit extension and if we don’t we will leave on Dec 31st with or without a deal (likely in the middle of a 2nd wave +deepest recession on record)

the govt will ofc, not apply for that extension and so will continue to roll the dice with the nations future - and the safety of all those within it (see supply chains + port chaos in the middle of a pandemic for details) just to retain political capital.

question is: will there be a deal?

by some accounts, sections of the negotiations have been fraught. much of the minutiae of the deal hangs on political cooperation at the top, unlocking and easing the conversations below. cooperation and congeniality aren’t exactly boris vibe

that said, when the pressure was really on last time, they pulled *something* out of the bag at the last minute.

this time, however, it’s not just “an agreement about getting an agreement”, this is it. the big one. and whatever you’re views on brexit, there is no denying that a no deal ‘cliff edge’ brexit will send shockwaves through our already fragile + struggling economy.

given covid has forced tories to bend completely out of shape (and implement an at least partially managed economy, you might think they would use the pandemic as cover to buy themselves a bit more time. no one could get angry at them for that when people are dying right? NOPE

boris stood on one platform: get brexit done.

his catastrophic handling of the pandemic, the ill feeling and bad taste whipped up by the cummings affair and his general baffoonery have lost him a lot of support in the parliamentary conservative party. brexit is all he has left.

today, as the deadline inevitably whizzes past, we’ll see a floundering prime minister try desperately to save his political career by gambling on a deal that may well not come, and in doing so risking the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of people

we’ll see a cynical political machine cling to a slogan as their response to the greatest public health threat in a century unravels and, as we move closer to december, we’ll see them seek to use said public health threat for their abominable handling of brexit negotiations.

happy tuesday one and all x

OH YES. i almost forgot.

tomorrow is the deadline allegedly for a fisheries deal. it’s a hotly contested issue that has taken a prime spot in the brexit debate (despite only making up 0.1% of the economy according to the bbc). no side wants to give ground so..

likely that deadline will pass+fishing will continue to be a stumbling block for negotiations.

as i said earlier, deadlock at the top locks up all sorts of smaller conversations (about trade, operations, finance, supply etc) lower down - only increasing likelihood of no deal