Letter: The EU Does Not Wish to Give Us a Deal

Published on: 7 Sep, 2019
Updated on: 8 Sep, 2019

From Ben Paton

In response to: Guildford’s Rebel Tory MP Anne Milton Outlines Her Stance on PM’s No-Deal Brexit

No one in the UK, not Anne Milton, Jeremy Corbyn or Boris Johnson can offer the UK a deal. Only the EU commission, presumably with the permission of France and Germany and the rest, can offer a deal.

Over three years they have refused. Why? President Hollande was quite candid. He said it was necessary to make the UK “pay a price” otherwise other countries might follow its example.

The opposition parties may insist that a prime minister minister gets a deal. But it is not in the power of any prime minister, only the EU Commission.

Where in the referendum debate was it ever said that we would not leave if the EU would not give us a deal? Why would they offer an acceptable deal when the UK’s leaving has been made conditional on a deal. If they refuse a deal they effectively stop the UK leaving. That’s been their objective all along.

Taking no-deal off the table does effectively surrender control to the EU.

And if “honesty” be the plea, and one is concerned that Mr Johnson has been, shall we euphemistically say ‘inconsistent’, consider these facts:

The EU is not honest in many respects. Take its immigration policies. Migrants to Europe frequently choose not to claim asylum in Greece and Italy and Spain and France. And the rule is blatantly ignored but the authorities in those countries. Why? because it is completely unfeasible for all the migrants to stay there. So the EU’s policy is intellectually fraudulent.
The EU is dishonest when it suits its purpose. Take for example the decision to admit Greece into the Euro. Greece did not meet the criteria for entry. The Commission knew that. But they waived aside the criteria because it suited their political purposes.

The British Parliament thinks that it is conducting a negotiation on economic principles. It is not. This is a political matter and the principle invoked is the sanctity of the EU. Some of the EU’s principles are sacred cows that are no more credible than the infallibility of the Pope. For example, literal free movement of people is not feasible if large numbers of people converge on one country.

The UK is probably more compliant with EU rules than any other EU country. It is absurd that in these circumstances the EU should be unwilling to grant a country that already complies with its rules a ‘deal’, ie reciprocally advantageous trading terms. So why does it refuse? Because it can. And so far their strategy has worked to a T.

If the experiment could be played out without real costs to us all, I’d be happy to let Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson try where Theresa May failed. It is not difficult to see that their fortunes would be no better than hers.

We’ve been there and done that. Why go through Groundhog Day all over again?

Responses to Letter: The EU Does Not Wish to Give Us a Deal

Andrew Eacott Reply

September 7, 2019 at 5:40 pm

Unless I’m mistaken, the EU has already negotiated a deal with us and it was hardly a punishment beating. It met all of Theresa May’s stated requirements and allowed us to leave with goodwill. Parliament rejected it three times for a variety of reasons that aren’t entirely clear but the EU can hardly be blamed for that.

It was blatantly obvious in 2016 that we couldn’t have our cake and eat it, but the referendum was fought and won on the basis that we would leave with a trading relationship with the EU “at least as good as the one we already have”. That may be an inconvenient assurance given it wasn’t achievable but at least some portion of those who voted to Leave presumably did so on the basis of those assurances.

In April 2016, Michael Gove was quoted as saying that the UK ending up outside the European free trade zone was simply not credible. Did voters know he was lying, or simply deluded? Or did they believe what they were being told? Either way, they voted without all the facts and to punish them for it now seems a little odd.

It’s rather disingenuous to say that everyone who voted Leave fully understood and approved of no-deal as the most likely option. If they didn’t, surely they now deserve the right to think again?
- Stuart Barnes Reply
  
  September 8, 2019 at 8:56 am
  
  The Robbins/May surrender deal, which appears to have been written by the EU, would make the United Kingdom subservient to the EU.
  
  No country with any pride would agree to it and it certainly would be a betrayal of the electorate.
  
  Of course everyone knew that the corrupt EU would make it difficult and thus it might be necessary to get out first and negotiate later. Project Fear was used both by the utterly useless David Cameron and his gang and just about everyone else including much of the media (think BBC, Channel 4, and so on) and the voters still decided to get out, with or without a deal.
  
  Boris Johnson at least is trying to fulfil the will of the people.
John Schluter Reply

September 8, 2019 at 2:39 am

Perhaps Ben Paton could qualify his statement that the EU does not wish to give us a deal by responding?

The then PM Theresa May agreed a deal. The ERG and others, including the current PM Johnson voted against it. His fellow ‘Vote Leave’ colleague Michael Gove voted for it.

“Easiest deal in history,” we heard, “need us more than we need them,” we heard. Forty years of friendly, yes friendly, trading will take a heck of a lot to replicate.

Maybe if the vote was a bit muddy about what was, and what wasn’t, on offer three years ago, surely another year wouldn’t present an affront to democracy, now that we know the true options? Who in their right minds would disagree with that?

PS Francois Hollande is spelled thus.

Editor’s note: Thank you for pointing out our editing error Mr Shluter. It will be fixed toot sweet.
David Wragg Reply

September 8, 2019 at 1:11 pm

Stuart Barnes is right, instead of a deal we have a surrender document, and one that puts the integrity of the United Kingdom under strain. We need to leave asap.

Once the impact of “no-deal” hits home in Europe, the industrialists and trade unions will demand that the EU provides a deal that works. The Irish Republic will be hurt most, but they have tried to put extra pressure on the UK, so sympathy will be limited.

Taoiseach Varadkar wants to be the man who unifies Ireland but that will come in time as the demographic in Northern Ireland has changed substantially and will change further.