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Secrecy in the Brexit negotiations

Secrecy is a democratic outrage that gains us very little

The Independent: Brexit negotiation details will be kept secret from Parliament, David Davis says (12th September 2016)

David Davis has unilaterally decided that it's necessary to keep their Brexit discussions "secret" from parliament. I suspect that the real reason for this is for the convenience of Mr Davis, who is tired of constant scrutiny. Scrutiny would show just how ill-informed and unprepared DExEU really is, and Mr Davis wants to save himself embarrassment. [Edited to add: This also seems like a cynical ploy to prevent the Tory party from blowing up.]

The reason given is that it would "undermine our negotiating stance". Davis imagines himself to be a hard-nosed negotiator who will outwit the Europeans like we did in World War 2. I cannot conceive what possible advantages this secret ploy will gain, unless the secret ploy is that there isn't one. As soon as we engage with the EU, everything will be public anyway. I for one (and the government should too) would dearly like to know what DExEU is planning so we can whip the rug out from under them if needed.

Davis thinks that negotiations are all about who will blink first. This is the Leaver's delusion that the UK is holding the upper hand and the EU will blink first. It won't. If the UK is uncooperative, then we are squandering our precious two years after invoking Article 50 and there simply won't be time for an orderly exit.

(We're not even members of the WTO yet, and guess what, Argentina want the Falkland Islands and Spain wants Gibraltar. If mishandled Britain is in all sorts of trouble. I for one will be stocking up on food.)


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