Is this the beginning of the end for the Brexit debacle?

Corbyn speak with forked tongue.

Macron has said he’ll block a request for Article 50 extension unless there is credible reason for it. Not over till the fat lady sings. Continues to be a worrying time to be here given the Ordinances passed recently.

I had heard that he had said that it would need to be an extension for two years because you could not come to any meaningful conclusion in a month or two.
It’s all as clear as mud.

Beginning to look like TM will get her deal through before the 29th March, bookies now going 1/9 on her getting a deal.

They got it wrong on the referendum …

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Yes, we had a good bet on leave at odds of 8/1 :smile:

Everything can have different interpretations -

If May manages to get her deal through we’ll still need an extension just because there is too little parliamentary time left before the 29th. 3 months would conceivably be generous.

If not, then it depends whether the EU see any point in a short extension and what the fall-out here will be if they say “yes but for a year minimum” (or some other timescale) given that means we need to elect new MEPs

Well that didn’t work -


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1h ago16:06

EU rejects Costa plan backed by MPs for mini agreement on citizens’ rights in event of no deal

The European commission has rejected the UK parliament’s call for a mini deal guaranteeing citizens’ rights in the event of the withdrawal agreement being rejected. Last night the Commons approved without opposition the amendment tabled by the Tory MP Alberto Costa saying the government should ask the EU “to adopt part two of the withdrawal agreement on citizens’ rights … whatever the outcome of negotiations on other aspects of the withdrawal agreement.” The government originally opposed the amendment, on the grounds that the EU would never agree, although it changed its mind yesterday hours ahead of the vote.

And today we’ve discovered that Theresa May’s initial assessment was right; according to the EU, the Costa plan is a non-starter. This is what the European commission’s spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told a Brussels briefing when asked if the EU was willing to strike a deal of the kind proposed by Costa. She replied:

We will not negotiate mini-deals because negotiating such mini-deals outside the withdrawal agreement would imply that the negotiations have failed.

Andreeva said that the best way to protect the continuing rights of expat citizens was “through the withdrawal agreement”.

Not that MPs actually want another referendum so May’s deal will have to be voted through. As deals go it’s not bad considering Brexit will happen.

OK, the EU are being arses now.

And this rejection is illogical - the Costa plan was only to be triggered “in the event of no-deal” so of course the negotiations would have failed.

Duh  

It is the thin end of the wedge as far as the EU negotiators are concerned. Not at all surprising it has been rejected.

What about Guy Verhofstadt’s Green Card Scheme, which would guarantee our present rights?

If we leave with no deal - which is still a possibility - we will have to start renegotiating everything anyway, it makes some sense to carve out a bit which everyone has already agreed to, and is fairly non-controversial, and say “we don’t have to re-do this bit”.

Possibly but as nobody trusts the May government (why should anyone trust them, bunch of shysters) I can see why they wouldn’t make any little arrangements because if you give them a millimetre they will take a kilometre.

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Well personally, I think they deserve their 3rd (?) pay rise, on the strength of the wondeful work they’re all doing

Well it was quite obvious that Alberto Costa was not introducing his amendment via the government as he lost his position as PPS.
We need more certainty from both sides.