Is THIS the reason we can’t reach deal with Brussels on time – EXPRESS COMMENT
IT is a relief to have a man as determined and decisive as David Davis in charge of the Brexit process.
Yesterday he said that Britain will leave the EU, customs union and single market by March 2019 and quite right too.
There is no reason a good deal cannot be agreed before that date. We already have frictionless trade, we just need to work out how best to preserve the status quo.
The Prime Minister has made a generous offer on residency rights that ought to have been accepted already.
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Discussions over a Brexit divorce bill will no doubt be tricky but there is room for compromise on both sides. Moreover there can be no question of us remaining a member of either the single market or the customs union.
The conditions of membership for these organisations are far too stringent to be imposed upon a country that just voted to take back control.
Brexit has to involve winning back control over our borders, laws and trade. As Brussels has made clear, that can be achieved only if we quit the single market and customs union.
Of course some of the finer details will be contentious.
It will not all be plain sailing. But so far all of the problems have come from the EU side which has shown little inclination to deal sensibly with the British Government.
Mr Davis’ words yesterday will hopefully remind them of the looming deadline and of the need to start finding some common ground and making some compromises.
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Sturgeon still obsessed
Nicola Sturgeon has refused to take the prospect of another independence referendum off the table.
No matter how badly her government performs, how many seats her party loses in parliament or how sick the Scottish people get of hearing her badger them about independence she refuses to give up on this obsession with destroying the Union.
As First Minister she has wide-ranging responsibilities and yet so much of her focus is given to baiting the English, agitating for independence and trying to stop Brexit.
If she really cared about the Scottish people she would work harder to deliver the standard of government they deserve and spend less time pursuing her own pet projects.
Sturgeon confirms she will DELAY independence referendum
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Could have ended badly
Simon Smith was walking down the road when he was hit and almost run over by an out-of-control bus.
Despite hitting the windscreen so hard it cracked, Simon calmly got up, dusted himself down and then walked into a bar.
Whether he’s remarkably tough or just amazingly lucky, what an incredible escape.
