OT:Dynamic David Davies or "thick as mince" ?

[michael adams]

Well not quite:

Brexit secretary David Davis took part in less than an hour of discussions with the EU on the first day of substantive negotiations with Brussels before his early return to Westminster....

Officials for the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) insisted that Davis had always intended to leave the talks after a"meet and greet" with the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier,

[This being the same bloke as he met last month presumably for an earlier "meet and greet"]

but the cabinet minister's swift exit from the proceedings raised eyebrows in Brussels. Shortly after Davis's return, he voted twice with the government to defeat a Labour motion that would have increased the amount of time allotted to backbenchers' legislation. The vote carried a three-line whip from the government.

So that basically the Govt can't even arrange Commons business in such a way so as to avoid a clash between the first day of Davies supposedly leading these negotiations, and a crucial Commons vote.

"Davies departure from Brussels came shortly after he had called for the negotiating teams to "get down to business".

So there we have it really. Britain's negotiating team of 98 people, are most likely going to get bogged down in acres of detailed small print which not even they themselves let alone Dynamic Davies will have a hope of understanding. Not just when he returns on Thursday - but ever. It's all like a big computer program really first written in 1973 to which bits have been added down the years willy nilly by people who have either died, have Alzheimer's, or still have pensions issues, and nobody really knows what would really happen if you switched it off.

Millennium bug or Armageddon ?

Meanwhile while looking for details of Davies' trip yesterday this was one of the first links in Google News

Ex Head of UK's Vote Leave campaign brands David Davies 'thick as mince' over Great Repeal Bill

The former head of the UK's Vote Leave campaign has branded David Davis "thick as mince", as he warned that a provision in the Brexit Secretary's so-called Great Repeal Bill would allow British ministers to cave in to EU demands at the last minute.

The Twitter outburst by Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings reflects continuing rancour between different wings of the Brexit movement which saw intense infighting at the time of last year's EU referendum in Britain.

It comes after Mr Cummings admitted there was a chance that leaving the EU would turn out to be an "error" and described British Government members who thought the UK should leave the European atomic energy community Euratom as "morons".

[...]

He said the Brexit Secretary was "manufactured exactly to specification as the perfect stooge for Heywood: thick as mince, lazy as a toad and vain as Narcissus".

Mr Cummings, a former special adviser to Michael Gove in the UK's Department for Education, worked behind the scenes on the Vote Leave campaign

[...]

The Vote Leave director has now said that Mr Davis "spent the campaign boozing with (Nigel) Farage, predicting defeat and briefing (against) Vote Leave" and was involved in the "single crappest TV news for Leave of entire campaign", when Grassroots Out unveiled George Galloway as a supporter.

Mr Cummings insisted his latest comments were not prompted by any falling out between Mr Gove and Mr Davis, insisting he had not spoken to the Environment Secretary about his Cabinet colleague since before last year's referendum.

michael adams

... michael adams

...

[mechanic]

Yes, the picture lower down that page:

shows the brits part of the desk as empty whilst the EU side showed lots of paperwork in front of them. After all this time, can the UK side be really so unprepared? No position papers or sensible responses to the EU ones?

Are we really setting ourselves up for later walking away from this, citing disagreement, which is really a cover for poor preparation?

[The Natural Philosopher]

The EU cannot afford to give britain a good deal. The EU cannot afford to be seen not to have tried to give britain a good deal.

So either britain caves in and takes a bad deal or britain walks.

[michael adams]

All 96 UK officials have prepared themselves as best they can, given that pre-referendum Dave insisted on no planning for Leave. Ever since then they've been telling their political masters that there simply isn't time and things are incredibly complicated. Which doesn't mean they're not up to their necks in paper; more likely exactly the reverse.

The reason Davies travelled light is part of the macho stance. Its the minions who worry about all the detail. He puts his feet up and simply makes the big decisions at the end.

The fact that its now obvious to the both the EU negotiators and his own officials and maybe his Cabinet colleagues that its all bluster and that he really doesn't have much of a clue does put him at something of a disadvantage.

Not that many of the latter are that much better by the looks of things.

Which is maybe why in some quarters he's being touted as a hot tip to replace May.

michael adams

...

[Andy Burns]

You think any actual negotiations took place at *that* desk? Or just photos

[tim...]

perhaps but the bad part of the deal can't be the trade deal as that will hurt the EU

I think that they are achieving that

after which the EU will realise how much it has costs them and crawl back to make a trade deal, without the possibility of screwing a divorce settlement out of us at the same time

tim

[tabbypurr]

Eurocrats already know how much it will cost them to snub us, and they are far more interested in their own egos than doing what's good for Europe. Eu citizens will lean on them after a while. I'm afraid Eu egos are going to cost a awful lot of jobs on all sides. Thank god we won't be ruled by them.

NT

[michael adams]

So how does the deal (b) that the EU offer, in order to be seen to have tried to give Britain a good deal, differ from the good deal (a) that they cannot afford to give them ?

michael adams

...

[Brian Gaff]

This surely is like any party shooting itself in the foot. Many bills from independent sources are really ones from a party testing the waters so to speak. If you cut the time, then everyone will lose out. Who is running this country, the mad Hatter? Brian

[bert]

In article , michael adams writes

The government doesn't have total control of all commons business. I remember having a scheduled meeting with my MP on a Friday cancelled because the Lib-Dems had suddenly called for a vote when they knew MPs would be back in their constituencies meeting their constituents.

[whisky-dave]

e far more interested in their own egos than doing what's good for Europe. Eu citizens will lean on them after a while. I'm afraid Eu egos are going t o cost a awful lot of jobs on all sides. Thank god we won't be ruled by the m.

I do wonder whether or not the years of negotiations are really needed, I w onder what would happen if you said well this job can take yuo as long as y uo wish but after 3 months your salery will come to an end, I wonder how lo ng it would then take to negotiate the same thing.