The PM of Norway has voiced grave concerns over the UK 's negotiation abilities in relation to Brexit. I think this charge is well founded considering the latest fiasco surrounding the resignation of the UK embassador Ivan Rogers.

She also shared a similar sentiment to Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny that things will very likely be more delayed to what Britain hopes for.

She also feels a very hard Brexit is on the cards. Personally, I have to say I believe a very messy, very disjointed and a Brexit with lots of holes in it will be done, leading to even more chaos, confusion and a deal that will ultimately be a poor deal for Britain.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bri...-idUKKBN14P16R
Full article in link above

It is a disgrace we don't have our own trading negotiators. We have to beg other countries to lend them to us.

Hard Brexit it will be.

The EU will run circles around Britain in the talks. They're reading the British press and watching the news of Britain hoping to borrow Canadian and Australian negotiators.
And then just imagine how wide the grins were on the faces of Donald Tusk, Jean Claude Juncker, Guy Verhofstadt and Michel Barnier this week when not only did Ivan Rogers do a runner but let rip into Theresa May's administration.

A messy, hard Brexit is on the cards, the EU will take no prisoners, leaving Britain a deal it will be ultimately not delighted with but forced to take.

Another thing that escapes many Brexiters, Britain voted out, so Britain is looking for a deal, not the EU. And I think many EU and Non EU leaders on the continent are so very well aware of this.
The EU didn't vote the UK out, the UK voted itself out.

I think a lot of hardcore Remainers are underestimating the UK public though. The EU will become so despised if it tries to make the Brexit as harmful as possible and I could see relations get increasingly hostile.

I see us relying on China / US.

I also think the UK has a Trump card in the US president and also could just go for the Nuclear option and not pay nothing. Germany does not want to be picking up the bill.

if that is the case, we are screwed

As long as you are happy dear, it will all be fine.

Letters 6, 21.

Err.. right. And the EU's trade negotiations have always been such a resounding success.. But oddly, the UK produces quite a lot of lawyers and business types that are used to negotiating deals. London does many billions of those annually.


That sounds quite a lot like TTIP. Years in the making, yet offered a rather lousy deal for the EU. But such is politics. EU politicians want to make an example of us, and if that means they lose access to UK markets, then so be it I guess.

If Britain is so good at negotiating, answer me two things
a) Why is it publicly discussing hiring foreign negotiators and
b) Why did Cameron's administration fail to negotiate anything meaningful for the UK with the EU?

The EU wasn't afraid of Cameron then and they're not fearful of Theress May now.
They're the facts.

Yes we might need alot from china, but what do they need off us, and the USA well trump wants the us government and public buying USA made goods and sevices and is intent on making harder to import from other countries so dont expect alot from the USA

Trump's close business aide Wilbur Ross said that the US should exploit Brexit and also said that Brexit is a 'God given opportunity' for Ireland to take business from its neighbour Britain.

Sweet, don't stroke too hard.

A) Because under EU law we're not allowed to forge our own trade negotiations therefore haven't until now needed people with such skill. How many skilled trade negotiators does the Irish Government have at its disposal.

B) This one is easy. The EU played hardball thinking the UK, nor any member state would ever actually vote to leave. The reaction on 24/6 was one of a rejected lover, even now with the hardball "no single market without freedom of movement" they are showing their true fears. Whatever the consequences to the UK one thing is certain for the EU - Brexit leaves the entire remaining EU significantly poorer, economically. socially, politically it will be a poorer union after Article 50 is triggered, virtually every piece of economic data backs that up. Not a single EU economy had as good a 2016 economically as the UK, not even Germany, in fact certainly not Germany. They really don't want us to leave so will make it as hard as possible.

Ireland was the EU's fastest growing economy in 2016, three years in a row now.
Also many economies in the EU grew faster than the UK in 2016 and atleast 10 are forecasted to grow faster than the UK in 2017.

And while we're on numbers and the EU, sterling was the second worst performing global currency in 2016.

That's obvious. Every country will want to see a good bargain from Brexit.

USA want a weak EU though. Especially a Trump administration, USA needs to be No.1 and the politics of EU goes against the Trump political ideology.

Ireland will be picking up the Brexit bill most likely if we go hard.

Ireland is a strong country though, so I could see it working. UK never really fitted in with the EU.

Who cares what she says?

As a outsider looking in, think she makes some very good points. And saying it does not effect her either way then dont see the problem.

What difference would a trained or experienced negotiator make? I doubt much at all.

The conversation goes:

Us: "we want this and don't want that"

Them : "Well you must have that if you want this"

Both : "This impasse means negotiations are over"

Can anyone see it going any other way?

A post-Brexit 'British' deal will likely be:

England & Wales with a Swiss style bilateral arrangement .
Scotland & Northern Ireland, either EEA or full EU membership.

Constitutional setup of what currently is the UK- ask Mystic Meg

Economists reckon that Ireland will continue to see economic growth every year even in the event of a hard Brexit. A soft Brexit or no Brexit at all though would clearly be preferable from the Irish viewpoint.

Isn't a Norway style model one of the options on the Brexit Britain table?
I would have thought the comments of a leader from that country was atleast something to take on board.

On Newsnight yesterday, they pointed out that one ace the UK has up its sleeve is the fact that EU security is dependent on the British intelligence services.

That should be non negotiable.

We're not risking 1000's of European citizens being massacred like Bataclan by IS lunatics for the sake of a good deal.

I think our ace is the fact we could simply refuse to pay a penny at all. If they take us to court there is a very good chance they'll lose considering the EU laws and regulations have been written without really taking in the fact another country could leave the union.

If the EU is so good at negotiating how come it took over 7 years to get a deal with Canada?