MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Exit Brexit secretary laughs at Johnson's comments; Corbyn calls them silly arrogant remarks
UK is already challenging Brussels over its Brexit divorce bill plans, David Davis has said as he laughed off concerns about Boris Johnson’s controversial suggestion the EU could “go whistle” if it makes “extortionate” demands. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesWho cares what they think, our MPS should be focusing on the UK and ensuring that WE get the best deal , not the EU.
Jul 12th, 2017 - 09:11 am - Link - Report abuse -1Do you believe this is generally the best way to get a good result in a negotiation?
Jul 12th, 2017 - 11:20 am - Link - Report abuse -2If say you were trying to get a contract from a client, would you badmouth them to their friends? Or if you wanted a higher salary from your boss would you say they can 'go whistle' if you don't get what you want?
I see a lot of people whining that the EU is threatening the UK, but they seem all in favour of the UK threatening the EU. Why do you think the effect on them will be any better than it is on us?
@Demon Tree. Do you “win” a lot of negotiations?
Jul 12th, 2017 - 03:07 pm - Link - Report abuse -2See whether you can extend your “mind” a little. Let's take some “minor” matters. Shortly after the referendum, the European Commission (Juncker) forbade elected governments of member states to have discussions with the UK. Dictatorship, anyone? Shortly after taking office, Theresa May offered the EU discussions on relevant citizens. The EU refused. Meanwhile, europhiles and remoaners were screaming that the UK should give up the sovereignty it wants and unilaterally agree that EU “citizens” in the UK should have all the “rights” they have in the EU and that the ECJ should have jurisdiction over the whole thing. Let's try an analogy. Has the EU told the United States that all EU “citizens” in the US have to be guaranteed their EU “rights” and that the ECJ must have jurisdiction? Thought not. And “rights” weren't the only thing the EU wanted the ECJ to stick its nose into. If you're not getting the picture yet, the UK is on its way back to being an independent, sovereign state. The EU wanted to keep the “rights” issue until it could be used as a “big stick”. The EU wants €100 billion. Where is that mentioned in any treaty? You talk of a “contract” and that's what a treaty is. So where's the legal or treaty provision for an “exit bill”?
Take the rest of the EU's “guidelines”. The first being that sufficient “progress” must be made on those issues before anything else can be discussed. That's three threats already.
And here's another thought for you. Even if you're hoping for a contract from one client, what's your position if you have 178 other clients? If more than 20 are already ASKING for contracts? I see that the latest couple are Japan and New Zealand. Australia, Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United States to name but a few. Number of potential consumers? Well in excess of the little parochial EU. And I'd “badmouth” anyone trying to be as tyrannical as the EU.
An arrogant English politician. What is next Mercopress, “Breaking news: birds have feathers”...?
Jul 12th, 2017 - 05:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“If say you were trying to get a contract from a client, would you badmouth them to their friends?”
To be fair, the British have never engaged in negotiations on anything. It is my way or the highway... So did the UK manage to subjugate dozens of stone-age tribal islands splattered about the Globus, and the occasional Ireland or India. No negotiations with those people's, just red-blooded conquest. And occasionally liberation (Falklands War).
Conversely it also was shown the highway on a few occasions, the humiliating defeats in 1782 in North America, 1806/7 in the Rio de la Plata, and Suez in 1957. Soon to add here the Brussels negotiations of 2017/8.
The common thread was, in victory or defeat, that the UK never actually considered diplomacy. Compromise is not something British governments are capable of. It is all part of this sickness of Anglo supremacism: how can you compromise when you think your worldview is superior and automatically right, and all others should “imitate you”? That is what Americans and English have been brainwashed into believe for the last century, aided by their belief that English as lingua franca is proof of this (it is not any more proof than French or Latin in the past having been lingua francas).
@Conqueror
Jul 12th, 2017 - 10:57 pm - Link - Report abuse -1The UK is a sovereign, independent nation now, and always has been. That is why we could leave the EU simply by declaring that we wanted to, but eg California cannot leave the USA unless the federal government allows it.
Do you know why people in the US were opposed to the TPP? One of the reasons was that it allowed foreign investors to sue the government for introducing legislation that harms their investment. This is standard for trade deals. How does that affect your 'sovereignty'?
As for those 178 other potential clients, if I was thinking of becoming one, I would look at how you treated the first. Whether you stuck to your agreements, whether you were willing to compromise. It would certainly affect the terms I offered. Also, are you planning to treat each one the same way? “We don't need you, there are another 177 out there...176...175...” Also don't forget the 'little' EU is the biggest economy in the world, and includes every single one of our neighbours. Geography is a powerful force in trade.
@Trollboy
Learn some history. Britain has engaged in plenty of negotiations and diplomacy. You obviously have no idea how Britain took over India, do Sepoys ring a bell? We didn't get allies without diplomacy, and contrary to your belief, most wars in history ended with a negotiated peace treaty.
The UK government has compromised many times, even if certain idiots↑ prefer to forget it. Unfortunately Brexit has brought out the less intelligent nationalists.
The question is why is this piece appearing in Mercopenguin, a British government propaganda organ supposedly devoted to America, South America and the “South Atlantic”?
Jul 17th, 2017 - 06:08 am - Link - Report abuse -1Commenting for this story is now closed.
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