- 11 Jan 2020,
Previously, in weeks where Brexit legislation was before the Commons, discussion was dominated by whether or not the Government had the numbers to win the vote and how it should respond if it did not.
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This time there was barely a mention of Brexit despite the votes on it this week. (The Withdrawal Agreement Bill duly passed the Commons with a comfortable 99 vote majority on Thursday).
Pretty much all Boris Johnson had to say on the matter was to urge ministers to, “banish Brexit”, from their lexicons after January 31, when the UK leaves the EU.
Boris wants ministers to stop talking about Brexit once the UK has left as he doesn’t want the trade negotiations with the EU to dominate British politics in the way that leaving has since the referendum. He wants to show voters that the country has moved on and the Government is once more focusing on the domestic issues voters care about.
But however much he tries, it will be hard to make these talks boring. They are important and there is already DRAMA BREWING.
Boris saw the new Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Downing Street this week. The pair got on well in their hour-long meeting. They both want these talks to be less acrimonious than the divorce negotiations; both want a more cordial tone.
The pair reminisced about the school they had both attended in Brussels. Unlike Eton, it didn’t have playing fields, and until Johnson arrived the only game in the playground was marbles. He introduced some more rough and tumble.
DETERMINED TO DELIVER
No10 were pleased that von der Leyen, rather than the more confrontational Michel Barnier, took the lead. As one No10 source points out, the EU loathed the lack of clarity and authority under Theresa May: She wasn’t clear what she wanted and it wasn’t certain that she could deliver what she wanted.
With Boris and his new majority it is very different. He was able to point von der Leyen to the Tory manifesto’s commitments on the future trade deal and say this was his mandate and that he was determined to deliver it.
Yet despite the pair’s attempt to maintain a friendly tone, there are already tensions. Boris is irritated that the EU keeps saying it is nigh-on impossible to negotiate a full trade deal by December 2020, despite having signed up to a political declaration that commits it to trying to do just that.
The DANGER is that the EU thinks that under time pressure Boris will bend, that he will either extend the transition period — something he has repeatedly promised not to do — or drop his commitment to breaking away from EU rules and regulations.
Boris is determined not to do either of these things. He doesn’t want to extend and believes in the value of the UK having the right to do things differently.
Both sides have frequently misunderstood each other in this process. Both sides must now realise that the other means what it says. Unless they do, there is going to be an almighty bust-up and no trade deal at the end of all this.
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