The UK-EU trade agreement has now been put up on the government website, all 1,246 pages of it. That is 486,549 words. It is marginally longer than Lord of the Rings. Its prose is still more turgid and some of it might as well be written in Elvish. The government is giving the agreement one day’s debate on 30 December. That means that an MP who did nothing other than read the agreement from cover to cover would be able to give well…
Charles Hawtrey died an untimely death. The Carry On actor, famed for playing eccentric and effete characters, was in real life a cantankerous alcoholic so devoted to the pursuit of gay sex that he moved to a naval town to be close to the sailors. When he was advised by doctors that he needed to have both legs amputated if he was going to live, he refused, deciding that he would rather die with his boots on. The attitude of many Remainers…
The PB Brexit Deal rolling thread
My guess on this one is that there will be some conclusion before the year end with Johnson preferring to resolve this according to the original timetable. After all his winning slogan at GE2019 was “Get Brexit Done” – though whether he is happy with a no deal I am not convinced. The current issues with cross-channel trucks is probably a taster for what a no deal might look like and, indeed, Michael Barnier, is making this point in seeking…
While everything is so focused on the pandemic punters on the Smarkets betting exchange are becoming less confident that Johnson will be able to reach a deal in the few days that are left. Clearly with all the other distractions and the organisational constraints that COVID leads to it must be a massive challenge for ministers as they move into the EU end game. From the reports we have the big issue remains fishing and the accessibility of EU nations…
The trend on the Smarkets exchange is very clear – punters now rate it a 75% chance that there will be a deal by the end of the month and certainly the apparent concession by Boris appears to have gone down well in Brussels. The chart shows the ups and downs in betting opinion over the 11 months and all the talk a few days ago that no deal was inevitable has changed. Like all bets of this nature iit…
Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a ma … I’m an interesting and important character. I don’t exist, will never exist, yet I lurk in the minds of millions and am discussed and written about constantly. Most fear me, some worship, only the hardiest, most detached souls are indifferent. Am I the Devil? No. As I say, I don’t exist. The Devil might. And He is not trading at a ridiculously short price in the current betting markets. Who…
While all eyes in the US are focused on the Electoral College vote count which is taking place today in Europe there’ve been positive indications from the talks in Brussels with the EU and UK agreeing to keep talks on a trade agreement going. There are still differences but there does appear to be a desire on both sides to find an agreement and this is what has driven the changes on Smarkets exchange betting market as in their chart…