Mrs May has set out some of the principles and objectives that will be the basis of her negotiation (HERE). As you might expect there is a lot of cake to have and eat. She is also adopting the Arthur Scargill method which is to demand everything and then blame all the subsequent damage on your opponent when they don't accede to your demands. She says it would be an act of “calamitous self-harm” if the EU do not grant us friction free access to their market. Note no mention of the self harm that we have done to ourselves, only the menacing demand that unless they grant what we want the UK will become an off shore tax haven with low regulatory requirements.
As usual we want to cherry pick. Europe must be heartily sick of us, always stamping our feet in a tantrum because things aren’t going our way. Reaction has been predictable. The Daily Mail is delighted but in Europe they are less happy (HERE).
The best comment comes from a Belgian journalist (HERE) who says there is the delusion here that the EU will be damaged more than the UK but this morning in Europe all the talk and analysis is about how much Brexit is going to hurt us and how very, very long the process will be.
It all begins to resemble an England football match. First comes the drinking and the bellowed, foul mouthed bravado, the talking up of a great victory. Then the abject failure and recriminations followed by the hangover and the long, slow build up to the next delusion when it is all repeat again. We never learn do we?
Some more reaction can be found (HERE). Die Welt's headline is that Mrs May is leading us into isolation and I agree with this. Some people including Sir Andrew Cahn (HERE), our former single market advisor, think the EU has already won the first round by forcing Mrs May to announce we are exiting the single market, something we did not want to do.
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