Tag Archives: Brexit negotiations

The UK trades with the EU at an enormous deficit.  The UK also has a huge deficit in the payment of profits, rents and dividends to the EU.  The combination of the deficits in trade and financial transactions has led to a very large balance of payments current account deficit …

Michel Barnier gained attention over his public summary of Brexit negotiations. Whilst progress has been made in some areas, the blame for stumbling blocks was firmly laid at the door of the British government. Where do we go from here? On the other hand, the UK negotiator, David Frost took …

Over the past few weeks the world has appeared to be in a form of stasis but behind the scenes many things are rumbling along. The lights are kept on, vital supplies are delivered to where they’re most needed and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU continues. The vast bulk …

On 29th March 2017, following a vote to Leave the European Union, the United Kingdom triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, notifying the EU of its wish to leave the bloc. The UK’s Article 50 notification letter set out the initial negotiating position of the UK, which repeatedly expressed a desire …

The original deadline for Brexit, 29th March 2019, is less than 4 days away. Debate continues, resolution seems so far away. What can be done to ensure an “orderly withdrawal”? The key is in the provisions of Article 50, the mechanism for leaving the EU. A critical word is “agreement”. By …

The Belfast Agreement (“Good Friday Agreement”) does not state that the border between the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and Northern Ireland must be open or that there must be the same standards for goods (conformity – ‘CE’) or that tariffs and excise duties should be the same across the border. However, the …

The modern news cycle is like a raging river. Those of us paying attention to it are the helmsmen of our boats, trying to steer ourselves in the right direction while all the while paying attention to what the river is doing. However skilled mariners we may be, sometimes it …

Michel Barnier has given Britain a fortnight to offer a divorce settlement if talks are to progress to trade. What should our reply be? We have some suggestions. Theresa May has made some very generous offers. EU countries will not be out of pocket during a transition period. Reciprocal rights …

It has been an interesting few days since Mrs. May’s speech in Florence. Mrs. Merkel has hung on by the skin of her teeth in the German elections despite recording her worst General Election result ever and the German far right AfD will now be represented in the German Parliament …

The EU has decided to defer the latest round of negotiations for two months. Apparently, we are to stand with our faces in the corner because we aren’t discussing the Brexit Bill. Whether this deferment will continue is a key question that needs to be answered, otherwise we face the …

As the second round of negotiations comes to end, despite the outward facade of achievement, it is becoming increasingly clear that there a major differences between the UK and EU’s position over the Brexit deal. Whether or not the UK team, led by David Davis, is at all underprepared or …

This is the eighth in a series of weekly podcasts featuring Ted Yarbrough and Isaac Anderson. The podcast summarised the 2017 General Election Results, The state of the Conservative Party, The DUP and a possible deal with the Conservatives, the Grenfell fire disaster, the Beginning of the Brexit negotiations and …