Interesting negotiating starting point: bragging about being a difficult woman

[greyffinch]

A year ago, they were our closest allies. Now May is bragging that they will find her to be a bloody difficult woman.

I feel so sad that Brexit has come to this as I am not sure those who voted out wanted us to be at loggerheads with the EU.

What do you think if you voted out?

Megan, how would you suggest that May goes about developing a good negotiating relationship?

This article says it beautifully:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/05/theresa-may-brexit-britain-uk-europe-liberal

I know for a fact hat the government has only very recently started asking civil servants for briefings about different Brexit scenarios. The governement seem to have little to no knowledge about what the EU is and does, how it operates and its impact on the UK at any level.

But that's OK. I'm not worried at all. So long as the Tory party is OK, we'll all be fine

Justchanged, that's a very complex question which I can't answer but I do think that a starting point of "pay Eur 100 million before we even start to negotiate" is about the worst starting point for negotiation that there possibly could be. I am not a negotiator so can't speak from experience. My hope is that our benefits of being in the EU will be phased out in a loosely linear fashion to the phasing out of our committed payments, which would take far longer than Article 50's two years so I would hope there could be flexibility for the sake of avoiding unnecessary disruption. It won't be smooth obviously but some conciliatory efforts towards smoothness and listening would be helpful, rather than demands that seem to double virtually overnight. Press leaks are always unhelpful and unprofessional, especially when it becomes so personal.

intensely selfish only child with no children who doesn't have the first clue about win-win negotiation tactics, having never needed to consider any one else's needs or feelings in order to get what she wants.

For the sake of only children (and the child-free, by choice or circumstance), please think twice before trotting out your ill-founded and unpleasant prejudices.

Exactly Something

So what jobs can those people who are only children with no children of their own do? Should they just accept they are too stupid to do any job that requires negotiation (which is pretty much every job where you have to work with colleagues and customers etc)?

Any job that one of those people with siblings - who bring their unresolved sibling rivalry issues to the party - do

Good point - the eldest of a family could be used to having to be responsible for the others, the middle one to being ignored and the youngest to doing what they want. All of which could influence their negotiation skills later in life

Perhaps we shouldn't elect people with siblings

The one thing throughout Brexit that has me is people's insistence that out media is spouting an agenda and then say but xyz country media says thus so it must be true.

It gives the impression that we and America are the only countries with a bias agenda driven media.

Absolutely - also that anyone with a different opinion is ill informed, implying that if they were smarter and more critical of thought, then they would automatically agree. Which is kind of ironic in its way...

What is our legal obligation, though? My impression is that there are costs and benefits to our involvement with the EU, that this is an unprecedented situation and that the legal/ financial penalties are not clearly defined.

If we stop paying, how can payment be enforced?

At this level, this is about power isn't it?

At another level, I voted remain, and a large reason for this was the perception that membership of the EU is a great force for peace in Europe. Breaking with other European states in an acrimonious way would not bode well for our future alongside them.

Thank heavens you came along to put me straight on that noidea I was convinced it was all driven by the German car industry going bust due to Treasure Island closing.

^www.independent.co.uk/travel/germanys-treasure-island-1327120.html^

Rugen sounds nice but what has it got to do with the German car industry?

If we stop paying, how can payment be enforced?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/06/100bn-brexit-bill-legally-impossible-enforce-european-commissions/

Apparently Brexit bill is not legally enforceable.

I imagine other countries will be nervous of doing deals with us if we renague.
What people have forgotten is most other countries in the world belong to trading blocs and most are expanding into having single markets. The UK is going against the grain. We either know something the rest of the world doesn't know or......

Anyone still expecting the "anonymous civil servants" at Whitehall to sort everything out should follow David Allen Green on Twitter - a former Treasury Legal Advisory - he explains why and how they can't.

It is 2017. And there are still dickheads who think that females are only qualified to do anything if they have first given birth.

OK, this forum is called mumsnet but that is still a staggeringly stupid comment. I remind you where being smug about having a kid got andrea leadsom.