So what happens if there's a terrible deal at the end of negotiations?

[vetran]

We threaten to give them SAS, Scooter & Darmy .




They will agree to anything rather than accept that!

[jamesbrown]

.....but listen to May carefully

Someone is listening to May very carefully. Someone else has their wires crossed with the signal from the Teletubbies and it keeps saying "soft Brexit" in soothing tones

[sasguru]

There was no possibility of a soft Brexit, it's a contradiction in terms. Hard Brexit it is.

[shaunbhoy]

We threaten to give them SAS, Scooter & Darmy .




They will agree to anything rather than accept that!

Unless they are stockpiling dimwits of course.

[jamesbrown]

There was no possibility of a soft Brexit, it's a contradiction in terms. Hard Brexit it is.

Aye. Soft Brexit = continuity remain (pig/lipstick).

[BlasterBates]

Someone is listening to May very carefully. Someone else has their wires crossed with the signal from the Teletubbies and it keeps saying "soft Brexit" in soothing tones

Theresa May keeps talking about a transitionary arrangement.

Explain how you expect this to work, what will it entail ?

[sasguru]

It's the uncertainty that was the problem. Now I can make my plans in the expectation that chaos is on the cards.

[sasguru]

Theresa May keeps talking about a transitionary arrangement.

Explain how you expect this to work, what will it entail ?

It's bollux, a transition agreement is in the gift of the EU.
We may want one, doesn't mean we will get one.
My expectation is we will go WTO after 2 years.
That's going to be a real education for some

[Flashman]

We threaten to give them SAS, Scooter & Darmy .

They will agree to anything rather than accept that!

Article 50 is the formal notice of leaving. The terms allow a two years period to negotiate an exit agreement. With or without an agreement we leave after the two years*.

(*possible to extend the two year period if both parties agree to it)

[jamesbrown]

Theresa May keeps talking about a transitionary arrangement.

Explain how you expect this to work, what will it entail ?

It's difficult to see why they'd give us one. But, let's assume that Barnier et al. are really worried about financial stability and access to the City. What could May accept? She's already said that the jurisdiction of the ECJ should end after the two-year period and has rejected EEA/EFTA, even on an interim basis. To answer your question, I don't know what that leaves. Davis was at the dispatch box today and described it as a series of implementation phases for specific measures whose timing/length could vary. It sounds like some sort of complicated/bespoke approach that is sector/measure specific and targeted towards financial stability. I would guess, for example, to allow equivalence to (partially) replace financial passporting, for a customs agreement to (partially) replace the CU in specific sectors, and other details like that. Definitely not some grand bargain, like EEA/EFTA, which would be politically unacceptable to both sides.