Britain's May to set out Brexit vision for trade deal deeper than any other

[webfact]

Britain's May to set out Brexit vision for trade deal deeper than any other

By Elizabeth Piper

 

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May meets with European Union Council President Donald Tusk at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, March 1, 2018. REUTERS/Frank Augstein/Pool

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will set out her vision on Friday for a Brexit deal deeper and wider than any "free trade agreement anywhere in the world", telling the European Union it is in their "shared interest".

 

In a much-anticipated speech which the EU hopes will offer details of her plan for Britain's future after Brexit, May will try to defuse a dispute over the border with Ireland that threatens to stall the Brexit talks.

 

But the prime minister, weak after losing her parliamentary majority last year, will struggle to satisfy the demands not only of EU officials but also of the warring factions in her Conservative party and companies desperate for clarity.

 

The 61-year-old leader has long kept her cards to her chest, trying to avoid provoking those who want a clean break with the EU, or others, who fear the world's sixth-largest economy will be hit if barriers are raised against a major trading partner.

 

Excerpts of the speech, issued before Friday's event in London, offer little detail, but say May will be guided by five tests including reaching an enduring solution and bringing Britain together.

 

"So I want the broadest and deepest possible agreement - covering more sectors and co-operating more fully than any Free Trade Agreement anywhere in the world today," May will say.

 

"I believe that is achievable because it is in the EU's interests as well as ours and because of our unique starting point, where on day one we both have the same laws and rules. So rather than having to bring two different systems closer together, the task will be to manage the relationship once we are two separate legal systems."

 

May hopes the speech, titled "Our Future Partnership", will round off a series of briefings by her ministers to settle the question of how Britain sees its future outside the EU and its economic architecture after more than 40 years.

 

STEP FORWARD?

 

But so far, her government's words have cut little ice with EU negotiators, who incensed many in her party by setting out in a draft withdrawal agreement a backup plan for the border with EU member Ireland which effectively would see the UK province of Northern Ireland remaining part of the EU customs union.

 

That could mean that Northern Ireland would have different rules from the rest of the United Kingdom, something May said on Wednesday "no UK prime minister could ever agree to".

 

Challenged to come up with an alternative solution, May is expected to set out again her proposal of "managed divergence" from some EU rules, a plan that was derided by the EU as "pure illusion" akin to Britain having its cake and eating it by choosing the areas where it wanted to keep tariff-free trade.

 

But within that plan, there is an acceptance by the British government that the border arrangements would have to change despite the aim of keeping trade "as frictionless as possible".

 

Agreed on Thursday by her top team of ministers, deeply divided on how to unravel more than 40 years of union, the speech was billed by aides on Thursday as "a real step forward".

 

But the combative tone from the EU, with doubt cast even over an agreement on the relatively easy transition period after Britain leaves in March next year, has upped the ante.

 

Brexit minister David Davis sent concerned Conservative lawmakers a letter repeating that Britain would not pay exit fees, the so-called divorce bill, if there was no agreement.

 

Some politicians complained it was impossible to settle the issue of the Irish border without first discussing the future relationship. They blamed the sequencing of the talks set up by the EU -- first to settle the divorce, then transition, and lastly to come to agreement over the future relationship.

 

"I think that now is the time for her to show that she has got steel and that we are not prepared to put up with this any longer," David Jones, a Conservative lawmaker and former junior Brexit minister, told Reuters.

 

The implication that May has struggled so far to assert herself in the negotiations is echoed by the opposition Labour Party, which announced this week that it would support remaining in a customs union with the EU.

 

"Theresa May must now prove once and for all that she has the authority and vision to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union," Labour's Brexit policy head Keir Starmer said in a statement.

 

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Peter Graff)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-02

[Samui Bodoh]

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

In a much-anticipated speech which the EU hopes will offer details of her plan for Britain's future after Brexit, May will try to defuse a dispute over the border with Ireland that threatens to stall the Brexit talks.

 

But the prime minister, weak after losing her parliamentary majority last year, will struggle to satisfy the demands not only of EU officials but also of the warring factions in her Conservative party and companies desperate for clarity.

So let me see if I have this straight...

 

20 months after the referendum, the UK is finally setting out some aims and objectives of a future relationship. However, this will be done by a weak PM who oversees a caucus that is divided badly regarding what those aims and objectives are. And without a parliamentary majority of her own. What could go wrong?

 

The UK voted to get out of the EU. Fine.

 

Is the UK actually ready and prepared to get out of the EU? It does not look like it to me.

 

The lack of preparedness for the negotiations might be more damaging to the UK  than the actual vote to leave...

 

[the guest]

The EU has always had the upper-hand, UK's negotiation skills are pretty pathetic at best. They will smell blood, ad it is quite obvious the PM is out of her depths.

[bkkcanuck8]

1 hour ago, the guest said:

The EU has always had the upper-hand, UK's negotiation skills are pretty pathetic at best. They will smell blood, ad it is quite obvious the PM is out of her depths.

The UK will always be at a disadvantage of being an outsider and negotiating with the bigger economy (EU).  

 

The problem is the UK has to trade away stuff in the negotiations to get what it wants -- the only problem is some of it comes with strings attached (i.e. free trade in services which includes finance also includes labour mobility).  After the last round (where after lots of bluster - they had to backtrack just to get to the second round), I just do not have any confidence that the UK will or can get what it states it wants without backtracking on the whole reason they wanted out.

[RichardColeman]

Hopefully she will say to the EU :

 

 

And add swivel for good measure !

[Samui Bodoh]

29 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Hopefully she will say to the EU :

 

 

And add swivel for good measure !

 

I admire your confidence (sincerely), however...

 

If I were the EU, I would say "Okay, I leave it. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out!"

 

And that would be a very bad thing for the UK...

 

[ilostmypassword]

I suspect her "Brexit vision" will turn out to be a "Brexit hallucination."

[sawadee1947]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

So let me see if I have this straight...

 

20 months after the referendum, the UK is finally setting out some aims and objectives of a future relationship. However, this will be done by a weak PM who oversees a caucus that is divided badly regarding what those aims and objectives are. And without a parliamentary majority of her own. What could go wrong?

 

The UK voted to get out of the EU. Fine.

 

Is the UK actually ready and prepared to get out of the EU? It does not look like it to me.

 

The lack of preparedness for the negotiations might be more damaging to the UK  than the actual vote to leave...

 

well you are right. As long as May will not explain substantially how a Brexit will be, with all costs and obligations, with a solution of the problem with Ireland, The EU will not listen and there will be no negotiations. It seems as May try to keep her job only. And I'm afraid at the end she has to step back. And Labour might have to tackle the Brexit

[RichardColeman]

18 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

And Labour might have to tackle the Brexit

Ah, that's the funniest thing I've seen on here for a while. What could possibly go wrong with Corbyn and Abbot at the controls of the good ship Britannia !

[SheungWan]

38 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

well you are right. As long as May will not explain substantially how a Brexit will be, with all costs and obligations, with a solution of the problem with Ireland, The EU will not listen and there will be no negotiations. It seems as May try to keep her job only. And I'm afraid at the end she has to step back. And Labour might have to tackle the Brexit

 

18 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Ah, that's the funniest thing I've seen on here for a while. What could possibly go wrong with Corbyn and Abbot at the controls of the good ship Britannia !

A lot could go wrong. Firstly the markets are discounting a managed agreement between the UK and the EU, fudged or otherwise. The first bit to go wrong is if the Hard Brexiteers bring down May, chaos hits big time and a General Election ensues with Corbyn subsequently being elected. Odds of this scenario happening? Low, but industry more aware of the possibility of such a scenario unfolding as we approach the final 12 months before the exit deadline.

[dick dasterdly]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Hopefully she will say to the EU :

 

 

And add swivel for good measure !

The eu's non-negotiation stance has left me leaning that way too .

[dick dasterdly]

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

I admire your confidence (sincerely), however...

 

If I were the EU, I would say "Okay, I leave it. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out!"

 

And that would be a very bad thing for the UK...

 

It wouldn't be great for the eu either..

[dick dasterdly]

2 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

I suspect her "Brexit vision" will turn out to be a "Brexit hallucination."

Whereas I suspect that the leave voters "vision" will turn out to be an "hallucination" as politicians (from both sides)/big business and bureaucrats warp it into something entirely different from the intention of the leave voters.

[SheungWan]

16 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

The eu's non-negotiation stance has left me leaning that way too .

The EU has a problem negotiating with a UK that has difficulty coming up with any position and as soon as May leans towards something substantial, then is threatened from the inside in a permanent civil war tussle. In short, the EU has been negotiating with a shambles, so to imply the problem is with the EU is disingenuous at best.

Edited March 2, 2018 by SheungWan

[dick dasterdly]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

So let me see if I have this straight...

 

20 months after the referendum, the UK is finally setting out some aims and objectives of a future relationship. However, this will be done by a weak PM who oversees a caucus that is divided badly regarding what those aims and objectives are. And without a parliamentary majority of her own. What could go wrong?

 

The UK voted to get out of the EU. Fine.

 

Is the UK actually ready and prepared to get out of the EU? It does not look like it to me.

 

The lack of preparedness for the negotiations might be more damaging to the UK  than the actual vote to leave...

 

You have to remember that the uk was never prepared to leave the eu, as the govt. couldn't be bothered to prepare a 'leave' strategy - as they were so out of touch with the populace that they were sure the vote would go their way....

 

The horrible shock of the 'leave' vote left politicians in disarray and desperately scrambling - resulting in a (quiet) remain supporter becoming PM!

 

So we're left with a remain politician desperately trying to 'balance' between MPs/the electorate/bureaucracy and the media - and on top of that, an eu bureaucracy determined to change absolutely nothing about the eu !

[natway09]

These Brexiters  want the chicken & the egg.

She is not dealing from a position of strength here & they have not even started talking about the 

fishing grounds. 85% of fish landed in Britain do NOT even come from their waters.

When the UK trade delegation called on good old OZ to discuss trade after Brexit 6 questions they answered

with "we are not sure yet what will be the situation"

So OZ said F.......k off & come back when u r

[sawadee1947]

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

It wouldn't be great for the eu either..

You are funny. You really think ONE small country, even an island can fight or conquer 27 countries?????  You are at least a hopeless dreamer 

[RichardColeman]

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

It wouldn't be great for the eu either..

 

37 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

You are funny. You really think ONE small country, even an island can fight or conquer 27 countries?????  You are at least a hopeless dreamer 

It will come as a horrible shock for you to to learn that eu country exporters/importers are also worried about brexit....

 

I'm not even going to address the "conquer' part of your post .

[dick dasterdly]

At this point, unless the brit. govt. tells the eu govt. to 'bugger off' with their constant demands - it's all over and we will end up with a more expensive version of remain.

 

This will not go down well with a large proportion of the electorate....

 

Time will tell as May continues her 'balancing act' .

[dunroaming]

11 hours ago, the guest said:

The EU has always had the upper-hand, UK's negotiation skills are pretty pathetic at best. They will smell blood, ad it is quite obvious the PM is out of her depths.

Britain was the one deciding to leave.  We are going to the EU asking for special deals and trading agreements.  Of course they have the upper hand.  It is us who needs the deals.  The whole of Brexit has been massively misconceived and was never going to be a success.  How many times does that have to be said to the Brexiteers before it sinks in?  

[Retiredandhappyhere]

13 hours ago, the guest said:

The EU has always had the upper-hand, UK's negotiation skills are pretty pathetic at best. They will smell blood, ad it is quite obvious the PM is out of her depths.

You will end up being surprised at the UK's negotiating skills.  The EU's current claim that all 27 members are '"as one" in the negotiations will be proved to be a myth when each individual country starts trying to protect its own trade.  Eventually a compromise will be reached where neither party will get everything it wants but which will be in the interests of both.  A deal which damages both parties is not in anyone's interests, despite all the bluster coming from the EU side.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

7 hours ago, sawadee1947 said:

You are funny. You really think ONE small country, even an island can fight or conquer 27 countries?????  You are at least a hopeless dreamer 

One of the reason why we voted for Brexit was the fear that we were quietly being "conquered" by the EU led by Germany.  The UK has no dream of conquering the 27 member countries.  We just want to be able to trade with them as we were able to do when we were part of the trading relationship known as the Common Market, without being led down the path to a United States of Europe.

[Laughing Gravy]

1 hour ago, dunroaming said:

Britain was the one deciding to leave.  We are going to the EU asking for special deals and trading agreements.  Of course they have the upper hand.  It is us who needs the deals.  The whole of Brexit has been massively misconceived and was never going to be a success.  How many times does that have to be said to the Brexiteers before it sinks in?  

Actually no we are leaving. It is the 27 other nations saying give us your money to be part of the EU without being bound to it. After all the UK pays so much. The other option is the UK can walk away and say Foxtrot Oscar, we will use the WTO, stop the EU fishing in our waters (a massive thing if you have the intelligence), still trade with the EU and we can all prosper. I now believe that if Brexit does not happen then the UK will implode on the EU. Europe is already crumbling, so the EU needs to change, if not, then the rest of the EU will follow. The UK was always a country that never 'bought into it' The rest of the EU, who are mostly' back country" who have never really reached the criteria, will also leave. The Balkans!

 

[Retiredandhappyhere]

8 hours ago, natway09 said:

These Brexiters  want the chicken & the egg.

She is not dealing from a position of strength here & they have not even started talking about the 

fishing grounds. 85% of fish landed in Britain do NOT even come from their waters.

When the UK trade delegation called on good old OZ to discuss trade after Brexit 6 questions they answered

with "we are not sure yet what will be the situation"

So OZ said F.......k off & come back when u r

So, the Australian authorities were impolite as usual?  How could the UK delegation discuss the exact terms of trade when they do not yet know the outcome of the Brexit talks?  The UK will be back talking POLITELY to OZ when they know the result of the Brexit  negotiations.  I would have thought that UK/OZ trade would be in both country's interests.

[dunroaming]

Just listening to May's speech now.

9 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Actually no we are leaving. It is the 27 other nations saying give us your money to be part of the EU without being bound to it. After all the UK pays so much. The other option is the UK can walk away and say Foxtrot Oscar, we will use the WTO, stop the EU fishing in our waters (a massive thing if you have the intelligence), still trade with the EU and we can all prosper. I now believe that if Brexit does not happen then the UK will implode on the EU. Europe is already crumbling, so the EU needs to change, if not, then the rest of the EU will follow. The UK was always a country that never 'bought into it' The rest of the EU, who are mostly' back country" who have never really reached the criteria, will also leave. The Balkans!

 

Same old rhetoric.  May speaking now and some interesting phrases.  She has conceded that after leaving the single market we will not have what we have now, in other words be worse off.  But she is throwing crumbs to Mogg and Johnson as well.  However this is May putting out her proposals rather than what is going to happen.  Over to you Brussels.

 

Lots of talk about negotiations and discussions with our European friends which means everything is still in the air.

Edited March 2, 2018 by dunroaming

[Laughing Gravy]

 

 

 

Just now, dunroaming said:

Just listening to May's speech now.

Same old rhetoric.  May speaking now and some interesting phrases.  She has conceded that after leaving the single market we will not have what we have now, in other words be worse off.  But she is throwing crumbs to Mogg and Johnson as well.  However this is May putting out her proposals rather than what is going to happen.  Over to you Brussels. 

Yes I agree the same Rhetoric from the remain camp. Support your country or get out, if you cant support a democratic result. You should listen and learn.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/926164/Brexit-news-latest-speech-UK-EU-European-Union-Boris-Johnson-referendum-Jeremy-Corbyn-BBC

 

[dunroaming]

2 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

 

 

 

Yes I agree the same Rhetoric from the remain camp. Support your country or get out, if you cant support a democratic result. You should listen and learn.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/926164/Brexit-news-latest-speech-UK-EU-European-Union-Boris-Johnson-referendum-Jeremy-Corbyn-BBC

 

Link to the Express?  Are you serious?  At least try to read real newspapers  not gutter press.

 

I meant the same old rhetoric from you.  Nothing new to say?

 

Seems like May has said what she wants. "I want to see this and that".  It's a wish list, nothing more so far.

[Grouse]

"

"I love the way she washed her hands of any responsibility with the answer to the question from the German journalist: basically she is saying "we voted to do something, and no matter how stupid and damaging it turns out to be, we are going to carry on doing what we voted to do". "

BBC News Comments

 

Spot on!

[Air Smiles]

13 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

 

 

 

Rather than typing words, you communicate using 'pictures of words'...in CAPS.

 

Let me guess, you voted for Brexit?