James Forsyth James Forsyth

Macron’s no-deal delusion

The Brexit waiting continues. The negotiators are still talking but, according to one of those close to the negotiations on the UK side, things are ‘still pretty stuck.’ There is, as RTE’s Tony Connelly reports, a deadline of Christmas Eve on the EU side. But it would now be a surprise if a deal came today.

If these talks end in no-deal, then Johnson could not — politically — go back and accept the same or worse terms

The UK offer on fish has not unblocked things as much as hoped. Michel Barnier has described it as ‘totally unacceptable’, which even accounting for diplomatic posturing is not encouraging. There is a sense that the EU side has not responded to the UK offer, which was considerable, in quite the way they might have. 

There is a danger that in some member states, notably France, they think that they will get what they want either now or by Easter.

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