Remember Britain, it could always be worse
There was a book I enjoyed reading to my children when they were young called, 'It could always be worse'. It is a story about a man who is struggling with his busy life. The demands in the house are too great and he is getting overwhelmed with his environment, so he goes to a local Rabbi for advice. 'Rabbi', he says, 'My life is too hectic, my house is too small and the family is always arguing'. The Rabbi says, 'don't worry, I have the answer. Take a chicken and put it in the house. The man takes a chicken and puts it in the house and things get worse with the chicken adding to the chaos. The man returns, 'The chicken did no good Rabbi'. "That's ok, says the Rabbi, take a sheep and bring that in the house with the chicken . The man gets a sheep and now he has a busy house , a chicken and a sheep! He returns to the Rabbi in increasing despair and each time the Rabbi adds another animal to the list he is to bring into the house.
Finally, at his wit's end , the man returns to Rabbi and the Rabbi tells him to take all the animals out of the house. When he does the man suddenly rejoices in the absence of all the animals. The family are happy and content to not share their home with livestock, so the man thanks the Rabbi for the good advice. The moral of the story is, of course, it could always be worse. This is the kind of approach Theresa May is now taking with her Brexit negotiations. The EU won't budge, she tried that last week. Corbyn's deal Is currently incompatible with May's .She does not have a sufficient majority to get her deal through as long as the Northern Irish border issue remains. No-one in Europe wants to really listen to her anymore and she cuts a lonely figure repeatedly trying to negotiate what looks like a dead deal. However, each day is one step closer to trouble, to the dreaded no-deal Brexit that Britain and the EU fears. Good old Carney did a good job yesterday trying to provoke the world to fear a no-deal Brexit when he said :
"We shouldn't be under any illusions, a no-deal, no-transition Brexit would be an economic shock for this economy ... and it would also send a signal globally about the prospects of refounding globalisation. In many respects, Brexit is the first test of a new global order and could prove the acid test of whether a way can be found to broaden the benefits of openness while enhancing democratic accountability."
Good man Mr Carney, the more a no-deal Brexit is seen as the world's problem then the more give and take there is going to be to get the deal done. There are now 26 normal working days left until Brexit. Here are the days from the BBC.
So, the clock keeps ticking and this means folks are adding to the stress and pressure, until, finally, at last May's deal seems like the best way out. All you have to do then is vote for it. It could always be worse, couldn't it Mrs May...
Here are the main options at the moment and only one is a GBP sell.
- No deal - unlikely at this stage GBP sell
- Cross party deal (Soft Brexit)- GBP buy
- EU budges on backstop - GBP buy
- EU finds a way to fudge the back stop - GBP buy
- Article 50 extension - GBP buy