Comments by "Awesome Avenger" (@awesomeavenger2810) on "Brexit deal is now ‘essentially impossible’, says Downing Street source" video.

''I don't see how we can change the pre-conceived anti-EU and anti-German ideas of parts of the British media and politics'' - unnamed senior German official. Much of the media in the UK have never and will never hold EU institutions and politicians to account for anything. And thats the problem. Nobody knows who they are. How they got there. Or what they intend to do. And this report is a good example of that.
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Alfa&Omega 00000 You just had an example of the Germans threatening the UK over £39 billion they claim the UK owes the EU. Channel 4 news just repeated it here.
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@mrid5850 How many Channel 4 news items have you seen that question the EU's attitude to Brexit, and its failure to come to an agreement with a soon to be ex-EU member state?
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Alfa&Omega 00000 1) Channel 4 news quoted an unnamed German official at 7:16 2) The EU has rejected the deal offered by the UK. Therefor it has no right to demand anything. 3) All of them. The UK government is criticised on Brexit by all sides all the time.
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alan bee I'm sorry? Any offered deal is by definition not legal until all sides agree on it. Do you even know what you are talking about?
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@mrid5850 More likely due to Channel 4 News bias. And negotiations so far with the EU have not been about trade. But leaving the EU. And any trade deal is only ever worth signing if it benefits both sides, no matter how large the trading block. The problem for the EU after Brexit is how to safeguard their single market without breaking the GFA. For that it needs to come up with a working solution that is acceptable to the UK. Which it has failed to do. The backstop agreement isn't itself a solution. Its simply a backstop if neither side can agree. Hence 'backstop'.
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alan bee Any offer is by definition not a deal until it is agreed upon by both sides. Duh!
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Alfa&Omega 00000 1) Are you saying Channel 4 news is lying? 2) The EU hasn't proposed anything sensible, and has refused to negotiate a better deal. 3) You're seriously claiming that the Sun newspaper doesn't criticize the government?
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@mrid5850 Once again, the integrity of the single market is a concern for the EU. Not the UK. And it is because of the single market that the EU is prepared to tear up the GFA. They are mutually exclusive. Unless they can negotiate an acceptable deal with the UK. Something they have so far failed to do. You say that in order for the GFA to be upheld, Northern Ireland has to remain within the European customs union and conform to its regulations. But thats not true. There are a number of options. The Republic of Ireland could conform to UK regulations, for example. But the UK is not advocating that. Because it realises that such a thing is unacceptable to the Republic of Ireland. Why then do you think it acceptable to demand the reverse of the UK? Please to not answer that it is because the UK decided to leave the EU. Brexit gives no special authority to Brussels to demand anything from the UK. It was a political decision made by the people of the UK. And they owe the EU no loyalty whatsoever.
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Alfa&Omega 00000 1) The government didn't quote an unnamed German official. Channel 4 news did. Did you watch this video at all? 2) Clearly the EU didn't propose the best deal possible, otherwise the UK would not have rejected it. It maybe have been a good deal for the EU. But not for the UK. And any deal needs to be agreed by both sides. 3) It is the EU that explicitly said it would put up a hard border in Ireland. Not the UK. Its your single market. If you want to protect it, and you don't want to put the Republic of Ireland in breach of the GFA, you need to put forward a sensible solution that doesnt include demanding something of the UK you would never accept yourself.
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Alfa&Omega 00000 1) No. You can't blame the UK government for what Matt Frei clearly reports at 5:36 2) If the deal is unacceptable to one side, its clearly not the best deal possible. Because its not even a deal. 3) In the event of a no deal Brexit the UK has unilaterally set out plans that make a hard border unnecessary for goods entering the UK from across the Irish border. It is up to the EU how they do the same on their side of the Irish border. But they have already clearly stated their intention to breach the GFA in the event of no deal. Do you even know what the backstop is? I don't think you do. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the UK demanding 'privileges' from the EU. On the contrary, it is the EU demanding the right to regulate part of the UK after Brexit. Please explain how you consider that to be the UK demanding special privileges?
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@mrid5850 However, when push comes to shove, the EU will ultimately have to disregard the GFA in order to protect the single market This will put the republic of Ireland in a very difficult situation, as it is a signatory to the Good Friday Agreement. I do not believe the Republic of Ireland should conform to UK regulations. Or that it should ever be expected to. I think that is a ridiculous idea. I mentioned it in order to draw a parallel in regards to the ridiculousness of the EU's demands of the UK. Which are essentially the same. The Irish border issue is not one of standards. As countries in and out of the EU trade with other countries all the time and have always done so. It is about how to enforce those standards specifically in regards to Ireland. Where both the UK and the Republic of Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement that prevents a hard border in Ireland. The EU claim the only way to get round this problem is to separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. But this is basically just an attempt by Brussels to make Brexit as unpalatable as possible in the hope that the UK will not leave the EU. In other words, Brussels wants the UK to believe it will never agree to anything less than essentially 'annexing' Northern Ireland in return for Brexit. But the truth is that there are alternatives to either side demanding the effective annexation of the other in order to solve this issue. And the UK government has put forward one such alternative. And it is basically the same as how the UK plans to deal with the issue in the event of a no deal Brexit. In fact, the EU itself has already looked into it, and very likely intends to implement it themselves if the UK leaves with no deal. But they cannot admit this. Because Brussels is hoping to stop Brexit. Even with the GFA, there is smuggling between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. I am thinking specifically of fuel and cigarette smuggling. Which cost the taxman hundreds of millions. Clearly then, the customs union does not eradicate the need for customs control in Ireland. And customs authorities on both sides already deal with the issue away from the border. Which is the UK's solution after Brexit.
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