The weekend Brexit update

Maybe this will be the last update before the holiday. Maybe not.

The main issue in Brexit over the weekend has been the financial settlement, and how much it might be, can Britain argue it.

Basically, this is where the mantra of May and the Brexiteers meets the reality of modern trade negotiations. If Britain wants a trade deal, it has to get this matter (and the status of the Irish border as well as the staus of EU and UK nationals in each others respective zones. Quite simply, if no deal can be done, or even an agreement on the formula for deciding the bill, no other discussions can take place. That this should be one of the simplest of the three issues to settle it is surprising it is so vexing to the Government.

It is the basic principle, not the amount itself, that is the issue. All the lies spewed out over how much Britain would be better off out of the EU, £450 million a week was plastered on the side of a bus, would be blown out of the water if £40 or £50 billion is going to have to be paid. But paid it will have to be if any more meaningful talks are to be held.

But Britain has no policy document on this issue and many others. It has hinted that it might publish these, and more next week, but that comes three months after the referendum, and the year before that of the campaign. That Britain is so far behind in what is needed, or needed at this point in time.

One last point is that the EU is carrying on the discussions and planning of them based on the article 50 letter submitted in March. Unless there is a formal request to change the parameters of that letter, no one is sure even if that can be done, any UK politician talking about transitional deals of one, two or three years really is just talking rubbish. Such a deal would have to be asked for, formally, in a re-submission of the article 50 letter. It would then be a decision for the EU27 to either agree or not, or to add terms and conditions to such an extension.

And where is our glorious leader now that the sands of time are slipping away? On a three week walking tour in Italy, singing God Save the Queen in a hotel bar. So much for leadership.