Wes Tender

Bank of England cuts base rate to 0.1%

Happy that the sooner Barnier is over it, the sooner he will be able shortly to concentrate on negotiations again, by video conferencing if required.

Michel Barnier goes down with coronavirus.

Boris asked about the possibility of an extension, said that this had already been answered before, legislation was in place covering it, which would not be changed. Just as an aside, I think that he comes across rather well in these daily briefings.

Yes there is sufficient capacity within the Civil Service to deal with both matters. Next you'll be claiming that Civil Servants in all of the other departments won't be able to carry on with their normal work, as they will all be seconded to work on the coronavirus too. But anyway, the Telegraph article was yesterday's news. It is encouraging to hear today from the PM that there are no plans to extend the deadline. And yes you can organise a FTA or indeed WTO arrangements for 9 months ahead regardless of the coronavirus impact on industry or travel at that time.

Hypo was quite right to pull you up on your post, it was pathetic. I was responding originally to a post linking to the Telegraph article claiming that the government would be coerced into postponing the Implementation period for up to a year and expressed the perfectly reasonable opinion that it was unnecessary, as alternatives such as video conferencing could be employed instead of face to face negotiations. I agree that we should be able to discuss more than one issue at a time, despite the best efforts of the usual Remoaner suspects to close down debate on Brexit, which amazingly is the title of this very thread.

Re your jokes; you should cut them out, as you economists and accountant types are not very funny generally, and you're no exception. Well done trying to correlate the fluctuations of the Pound which occur on a daily basis for all sorts of reasons, with business confidence, increased because of the ability of individual businesses to make planning and investment decisions based on a greater degree of certainty and stability, brought about by knowledge of the outcome of future events.

How many times do I have to repeat myself before the penny finally drops? Please read my post above as many times as it requires before comprehension finally dawns on you. I've highlighted the relevant part that covers your questions, which was also asked by Gavyn, had you bothered to read back a few posts.

There's nothing wrong with my blood pressure, Gavyn, but thanks for your concern. I'm deeply touched by it. I accept your apology for the crass way that you brought the age of Brexit voters into the debate. I note that all reasonable people would vote for an extension, so it is only the unreasonable thickos who would oppose it, right? The same ignorant thickos who voted to leave the EU in the first place, eh? For some reason though, you do not seem to understand that a delay to the Implementation period is in itself a serious factor increasing uncertainty and distractions. Surely you must have accepted that extending the WA three times exacerbated business and finance confidence, so it is an easy step to understand that likewise an extension to the Implementation period would also not be helpful in the same way. What could be decided in say an extra year that could not be decided in the forthcoming few months? Either the EU are prepared to agree a Canada style FTA or they are not. The sooner that this is resolved, the better. It comes as no surprise to me that the Remoaner/Rejoiner establishment are doing their damnedest to use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to postpone the Implementation period as long as they possibly can. The EU of course have indicated right from the start that they lack the bureaucratic efficiency or indeed the political will to get this done by the end of the year, so naturally they will also use this pandemic as an excuse. As far as I am aware, the government are due to release our FTA proposals very shortly. There is no reason why those proposals cannot be shown to all of the 27 EU member states and their reactions quickly received in return. We can proceed from there. As things stand at the moment, the deadline for the Implementation period is set in law for the 31st December and would require for that to be repealed if it were to be extended. Personally, I don't think that it would pass the House, so that is the crux of the matter. My local MP says "I am completely against an extension and was elected on a promise to deliver the deadline."

I'm only a few months older than you, Gavyn. I realise from the usual insults that you hurl at those who disagree with you on anything that you are quite a nasty piece of work, but expressing thoughts along those lines really is plumbing the depths.

Either you haven't read my posts on my thoughts about the possibility of a delay, or you're just totally lacking in comprehension of plain English. Just so that there can be no doubt in your mind what my position is, I'll state it again, just for your benefit. I do not see the coronavirus providing any excuse for delaying the deadline for the Implementation period. Has that penetrated your cranium? I told Gavyn that I saw no circumstances under which the deadline should be extended and he had to be told several times too before the message was understood. Therefore if it happens, I will not be changing my mind about whether it would be the wrong decision. Got it?

If Second World War History is your thing, there are some superb You Tube videos Mark Felton Productions Drachinifel (Naval warfare) World War Two week by week

It's just a ruse so that they can quickly make their escape.

By Jove, I think that you've finally got it! You certainly took your time getting there. I'm not holding my breath that the EU negotiators will be any quicker to accept that we are serious about not extending the end of year deadline.

You're the one who was questioning it, Soggy, so how about you trying to figure out why? I guess that the use of such nicknames was due to an affection and easy familiarity to those personalities sometimes among the general public, but particularly from party supporters. Cameron asked for people to call him Dave, but nobody did. The vicar's daughter didn't exactly inspire familiarity. There are some Labour politicians who did, like Nye, Sunny Jim and Tony perhaps. But I'm surprised that you have the time to consider such idiosyncrasies when there are more important things on your mind, like why every educational establishment in the country has not been closed, regardless of whether there are any incidents of child or teacher infection in them. Also that the closure of schools would mean that mostly their mothers would have to leave their jobs to look after them, when many of them work in the NHS which needs them more. Perhaps the children could be looked after in large creches. Oh. That would be like a class at school, wouldn't it?

You still haven't quite got it, Gavyn, have you? I've already told you that I support the government's current position on not extending the Implementation period and saw no particular reasons why it should be extended, so the highlighted bit is just confused and contradictory ramblings from you. Also, as I've already said, what you as a Remoaner and me as a Brexiteer consider to be in the best interests of Brexit and the country, are almost certainly two different things.

When I make three or four points, it's a rambling post. When you make several times more points , it somehow is not. Right, Mr Hubris-Egotist. But I'm pleased that the responses finally penetrated. You needed it on the record for what purpose? So that for some pettiness you might at some future date throw it back in my face? And you still haven't got the gist of my post that you responded to, have you? I thought that I had made it quite clear that I saw no reason why the Implementation period should be extended. Your position as an arch-remoaner gives you reasons that would justify an extension of the Implementation period that are likely to be totally different to mine. Can't you see that? If the government were to extend it, I can see no reason for justifying it, so I would adopt a position of opposing the decision. Is that too difficult a concept for you to grasp? There is no ambiguity in my position, neither am I in the least confused by it. Something isn't so just because you say it is, Gavyn.

Maybe for the same reason that they called Churchill and Thatcher "Winnie" and "Maggie perhaps?

You appear to have developed an inability to draw simple correlations between posts and opinions, Gavyn. Are you feeling well? Is it more likely that I would post links to articles that I approved of, or disapproved of? In general terms, as a Conservative Party member and voter, I expect broadly to agree with government policy. Does that come as a surprise to you for some reason? In typical insult mode, you have labelled me an arch-swivel, terminology that you aim as an insult to those Brexiteers who take a firm line over our leaving the EU , those prepared if necessary to leave on WTO terms if a sensible FTA is not forthcoming. Given all that, and the additional opinions that I posted (and which were largely supported by that article), do you really need to ask me whether I thought that it was sensible for the government to state that they would not extend the Implementation period? Just in case it still doesn't penetrate, the answer is yes, I do think that not extending is sensible.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/13/brexit-will-not-be-delayed-by-coronavirus-says-johnson Here's the government's position clearly stated. All you remoaners shut your eyes, cover your ears, and deny it all you want, insult anybody who delivers the message, but you're all just p*ssing in the wind.

There's always the Norway option, isn't there, Timmy. Or maybe there isn't. You think, but you think wrong.

Says arch-remoaner EU arse-licker Gavyn.

If your assessment of the time required is based on delays brought about by the coronavirus, then you infer that talks can only take place if face to face. Modern communication facilities allow for alternative methods by which talks can continue remotely. Precedent of EU strategy shows that they will always extend the amount of time necessary to finalise talks to the maximum length available to them, especially when as I pointed out, we would have to continue paying into the EU cash trough. In any event, as I also pointed out, it shouldn't take long to establish whether we are wasting our time negotiating with them if they are not prepared to accept our conditions for the talks to advance, should it? As to the FTA, blueprints for what we are asking for are already in existence from the Canada/Japan/S.Korea deals. The deadline is one of our strongest cards and will concentrate their minds wonderfully. I'm sure that the EU and the remaining remoaners here would love us to extend the deadline for as long as possible.

Yes, we would prefer a FTA deal along the lines of those already arranged between the EU with Canada, Japan and S.Korea. But we have placed a 31st December deadline on it, and also made it conditional on no level playing field rules and regulations equivalence, no continued fishing access to our territorial waters as if we were still an EU member, and no continued jurisdiction of the ECJ. Before there is talk of delays to the trade talks, it should not take long for the EU to accept those conditions from us. If they aren't prepared to do so, then there is really no point in taking it any further and we go to WTO, similar to what the EU have with Australia. I note that the EU would love to keep us in a status quo situation whereby we continue to pay into their pot for as long as possible. I also note that many remoaners continue to delude themselves that substantial delays might mean that we will either go for a really soft Brexit, or even their fantasy unicorn dream, that we will decide against leaving altogether.

We'll be out on 31st December on WTO if no FTA has been agreed with the EU before then. If they want to put to postpone trade talks beyond that, then that's up to them.