Thoughts on the economic consequences of the fall of Assad, the truth about Chinese exports, Ursula von der Leyen's impressive leadership, and the Brexit reset backlash begins
I’ve never believed that Norway would ever be politically acceptable to the UK, and I’m not convinced that even Starmer’s Norway minus will be sustainable. The question is how the politics evolves as this becomes apparent. Some pro-Europeans think it will open up political space for rejoining. I’m less sure.
Maybe Starmer and his government should come out clear and repeatedly state two things;
The fact that UK is out if single union was not our choice but a bad one, made by others.
If you people want to change this, well, we -Labour/Government - must be sure that there is a vast and well informed majority for that. Dear people, that change must be yours.
Me thinking. As for rejoining; thats not in the cards for many years to come. And only God knows what the EU may look like in 30-40 years from now. That’s the time span we are looking at.
Thank you Simon! It’s a lot of work so I am glad it is appreciated. I always cover four or five topics a week, though I am tempted in the New Year in response to feedback to spread them more across the week to keep the length of newsletters down. Keen to hear what you and other subscribers think!
I like short punchy notes but that doesn’t make them any easier to write - short letter always best. That’s not to discount the more complex pieces- Lawrence and Sam Freedman being an excellent example. I like Jonti Bloom’s short sharp and often opinionated style. Perhaps I should stop there before getting into trouble…
I think the challenge is to come up with some form of association agreement that is membership by another name. But it’s not easy to see how that can be done, given the legal and institutional obstacles. Perhaps some new kind of model will open up as a result of Ukraine membership bid. But the question will always be why not simply rejoin?
Indeed. The Sun and The Mail are going crackers simply because of slightly warmer relations. I think it will need a Tory to say, at some stage, we got it wrong. But for now, the newspaper proprietors won't stand for it.
What is his option other than this?
Go for joining the single market? That Woolf be good for you but politically impossible.
When push comes to show , you Brits just can’t emotionally accept beeing Norway, i.e accept the bigger neighbours rule setting.
There must be a fundamental change if self perseption in England . That will take many years, if ever.
I’ve never believed that Norway would ever be politically acceptable to the UK, and I’m not convinced that even Starmer’s Norway minus will be sustainable. The question is how the politics evolves as this becomes apparent. Some pro-Europeans think it will open up political space for rejoining. I’m less sure.
Maybe Starmer and his government should come out clear and repeatedly state two things;
The fact that UK is out if single union was not our choice but a bad one, made by others.
If you people want to change this, well, we -Labour/Government - must be sure that there is a vast and well informed majority for that. Dear people, that change must be yours.
Me thinking. As for rejoining; thats not in the cards for many years to come. And only God knows what the EU may look like in 30-40 years from now. That’s the time span we are looking at.
I like a piece that covers so much and across so many different subjects. As a new subscriber I hope this is fairly typical.
Thank you Simon! It’s a lot of work so I am glad it is appreciated. I always cover four or five topics a week, though I am tempted in the New Year in response to feedback to spread them more across the week to keep the length of newsletters down. Keen to hear what you and other subscribers think!
I like short punchy notes but that doesn’t make them any easier to write - short letter always best. That’s not to discount the more complex pieces- Lawrence and Sam Freedman being an excellent example. I like Jonti Bloom’s short sharp and often opinionated style. Perhaps I should stop there before getting into trouble…
Could we join EFTA or the EEA by some other mechanism? An association treaty maybe?
I think the challenge is to come up with some form of association agreement that is membership by another name. But it’s not easy to see how that can be done, given the legal and institutional obstacles. Perhaps some new kind of model will open up as a result of Ukraine membership bid. But the question will always be why not simply rejoin?
Indeed. The Sun and The Mail are going crackers simply because of slightly warmer relations. I think it will need a Tory to say, at some stage, we got it wrong. But for now, the newspaper proprietors won't stand for it.
Will the Houthis carry on their horrible campaign against innocent merchant seafarers? That is a bigger question than some suppose.
Very true. A resolution of that conflict would be an undoubted economic boost
Very good post
Thanks Simon, but shouldn’t you be down the pub sampling the advent/Christmas spirit? 🎄 🎅