Friend or foe

I would quote at length from the front page of the Sunday Express, but I can't be arsed in looking for it, but it is the jingoistic shite you would imagine. Something along the lines of trade battle, blah, blah, blah.

Thing is, trade deals are conducted between countries that are friends, trading partners, that normally want to trade moe and more efficiently.

Using war terminology for a process that should cement relations is worrying, though not new in Brexit of course.

Trade negotiations or something leading to an FTA or something similar must be conducted in open terms, with trust on both sides that the other will honour what is agreed, and has the political backing in their respective Parliaments.

Using the idea, still, that they need us more than we need them, and that in going for no deal because they'll blink first, is the most stupid way to conduct trade negotiations, and is a tactic that has already been used and failed once before, and will fail again. German car makers and Italian Prosecco manufacturers did not force the EU to back down, quite the opposite.

But Johnson now has a majority in Westminster, and so should be able to pass any FTA that is agreed, or get legislation passed to extend the WA if needed, which it will be. But that is not a given, and there may be many bumps in the road. But by that time, the UK will be out of the EU and economically fucked, so we're all fucked.

But saying something is going to happen, over and over again, makes it happen like summoning the Candyman. And will has the same happy ending as summoning the Candyman.

So that's nice.