Brexistential.

Midnight news and the spokesman for the road haulage industry is saying he asked the Brexit gov sec for ‘clarity’ on a no-deal Brexit. And the Brexit gov sec asked, “What exactly do you mean, clarity?”  I think he went on to say there would be no problem on the UK side but it also depends on the EU. Well ‘der!’ I may have been half asleep and not 100% sure what existential means but post two years of negotiations one would expect at least a slim idea of what the other side’s response will be. I’m now fully awake and realising the EU really don’t want the UK to leave. Not because of some familial affection but because they’re fearful for their club. They don’t was to lose membership. Like Greece found, we have entered a Hotel California. Back in 2016 we thought we just needed to pay the bill and check out but now we’re finding the price of leaving also carries existential costs that the EU won’t tell us. ‘Sure your lorries can queue up at Dover but we control the price of landing in Calais.’ In response Brexiteers are forced into saying, ‘Hang the price we’re going to leave anyway!’ It’s the only way the UK can throw the deadline back into the EU court. Of course the haulage industry is concerned but the UK are not negotiating with them. So now the EU is thrown into counting the existential cost to them. And it’s considerable: a founder member, a large economy and a large scientific and security contribution. And it’s all about inflexibility. Germany has a long history of amalgamating disparate groups. It took over a century to form the country from antagonistic feudal Germanic fiefdoms, it put huge energy in amalgamating east and west and was the major driving force in forming the EU. But the wider it grew the more disparate the countries have become. There are now major differences in living standards, attitudes to money and politics, population density and even reputation. Maybe the EU rules are based on an old German idea of amalgamating broadly similar fiefdoms and outdated in a modern Europe. And that’s what Brexit is about, updating Europe. Vive la special case.