I've been tweeting a lot about UK #OverseasTerritories not being part of the #Brexit deal and a bit more has emerged ...

#Falklands MLA @teslynbark has answered a q about #Brexit and the #Falklands on fb - highlights:

1 Original UK EU mandate didn't include OTs except for Gibraltar.

2 In May, EU said they didn't have a mandate to negotiate for their OTs and wouldn't negotiate on UK OT issues.
(2 possibly explains what @BorisJohnson said about EU "intransigence" in his Christmas message to the #Falklands, but wasn't mentioned when he replied to a pmq from @DerekTwiggMP earlier in the month)
3 @teslynbark says that @falklandsgov held that the new spirit of negotiations that evolved through the year gave space for #Falklands interests to be raised in #BrexitDeal talks and asking for detail on how they were raised by UK Government ...
4 @teslynbark says future negotiations with the EU aren't held to the same mandate as before so @falklandsgov to keep pushing to have #Falklands trade concerns raised
@FalklandsRepUK will have been pushing this point in the UK for some time and has explained why all of this matters to the #Falklands (something to do with a lot of exports going to the EU and being subject to tariffs from tonight):
https://t.co/azRmEk3Fud
It's also acquired political significance: a lot of mischief has been made by Argentina about it
#Gibraltar now has its own #BrexitDeal with the EU and, hopefully, the #Falklands and the other #OverseasTerritories can get theirs too ...
Unlike #Gibraltar, the other #OverseasTerritories don't have land borders with the EU, but the #Falklands might (just might) have their own bit of leverage because of the links between Spain and the #FalklandIslands fishery ...
Who knows? Maybe the Spanish fishing companies will be our German car manufacturers ;-)
@threadreaderapp: Unroll, if you would. Please and thank you.

More from Brexit

So many stories of new barriers to trade between UK and EU, but you might be thinking at some point these will run out. The government is certainly hoping so. Well they may slow down, but trade relations and regulations are not static, and changes will lead to further problems.

The likelihood of continued trade problems for a £650 bn trade relationship is why there should be a huge cross-government effort led by the Foreign Office and Department for International Trade to put in place the necessary resources to seek best results.

There isn't.

So the UK's relationship with the EU currently consists of two not particularly good deals and no consistent effort to manage current problems or prevent future ones. Joint committees are a second order problem to putting in place the right internal structures.

But that's been the consistent UK problem in relations with the EU since 2016. Lack of focus on getting the right internal structures, people, asks, strategy, too much attention on being tough and a single leader.

News just in. This doesn't necessarily mean the right structure being put into UK-EU relations. I suspect Frost's main role is to ensure no renegotiations with the EU.

Also, wonder what this says about the PM's trust in Michael Gove?

You May Also Like