Getting closer

It has been mooted that there might be some kind of deal between the UK and EU either tnoight or tomorrow.

Anyway, talks are ongoing, and if the gap is really in fishing quotas, then the different between the two sides is a couple of international central defenders. Or £60 million.

The jeopardise the entire economy and whole areas of industry for what ammounts to small change is insanity, but nothing about Brexit makes sense, but making a defeat look like a vicory for the PM is all the more important.

THere is no time for proper scrutiny, both the Joint Agreement and Withdrawal Agreement were rushed through without proper scutiny, and look how well that turned out. So, just eight days, with four days of those being public holidays in which to recall the various Parliaments and do what they can.

A technical extension is likely, though it won't be called an extension.

And the agreement is said to be over 2,000 pages long. Impossible for anyone, other than those who negotiated it, to understand how it all fits together. Because a legal instrument like this, cross references back and forth through all its 2k pages, no one can understand it and what it means to any meanigul degree in so little time.

Mistakes will creep in. It happens when legislation is rushed, like in the last set of COVID SIs, it turns out that schools should open, but atual education was not listed under the permissable exemptions, and it has only just been spotted.

My last project had a contract with 2,050 pages. It took the best part of three years to understand how it all fitted together and whether there were any "problematic" areas.

Such a legal instrument will not be easy to read, as any contract or international agreement would be.

So, Johnson might get a deal, whether it is any good or is riddled with mistakes remains to be seen.

Any idiot can get a trade deal, one that's any good for the country is another matter.

Merry Christmas.