The No-Deal Brexit Caller That Left James O'Brien With His Head In His Hands
4 January 2019, 14:36
When this caller said the EU simply don't believe that the UK are willing to leave the EU without a deal, James O'Brien had the perfect response.
Julian from Reading said that it's always been clear that the UK didn't want a no-deal Brexit.
But James told him: "No it wasn't. March 2018, the European Union published 80 no-deal notices explaining the preparations they were making. That's nearly a year ago.
"December 2017, David Davis wrote to Theresa May complaining that the European Union were making preparations for no-deal and that was undermining his negotiations."
When Julian carried on where he left off, James asked him: "Repeat back to me what I just said."
Julian admitted he couldn't, so James said: "I know you can't so listen.
"In March of 2018, the European Union published 80 no-deal notices, explaining in detail the preparations they were making for the eventuality of the United Kingdom leaving with no deal.
"In December 2017, David Davis wrote to Theresa May, the letter was leaked, complaining that the European Union were making preparations for no-deal and this was hindering his negotiating process.
"So for you to sit here on national radio and say we never really made them feel that no-deal was a possibility, it's not even silly. It's like arguing that the moon is made of cheese while sitting on the moon."
Julian responded that he didn't agree, so James carried on: "Oh my days, man. 80 notices!"
Julian then insists that no-deal would be a disaster, but also that the government should look like they are prepared to go through with it.
James summed up the call: "There's no more reliable signifier that they believe it's a possibility than the fact that they are preparing for it. To suggest that we haven't made them believe that we're prepared to go through with it is not only a nonsense, it's an abject error.
"And now, in the space of a three-minute conversation, you've started saying there's no way we can leave on a no-deal, it will obviously be bad."
