Catastrophe as EC talks of new deal

The Graun must have read the new speech by the new EC President with some pretty mixed feelings. The rag reports the speech in full:

when the sun rises again on 1 February, the EU and the UK will still be the best of friends and partners. The bonds between us will still be unbreakable. We will still contribute to each other's societies, like so many Brits have done in the EU, and as so many EU citizens do here every day in the UK – whether as teachers, nurses, doctors or whether working as CEOs or in NGOs. We will still have a lot to learn from each other....The UK is home to thriving creative and cultural sectors, to cutting-edge digital innovation and scientific excellence in some of the world's best universities with brilliant minds, many of them from all over Europe. We will still share the same challenges, from climate change to security. We will still be allies and like-minded partners in NATO, the United Nations and other international organisations. We will still share the same values and the belief that democracy, freedom and the rule of law must be the foundation of our societies. We still share the same history and geography. And whatever happens, our continent will still share the same destiny, too. So as one door will unfortunately close, another one will open.

we are ready to design a new partnership with zero tariffs, zero quotas, zero dumping. A partnership that goes well beyond trade and is unprecedented in scope. Everything from climate action to data protection, fisheries to energy, transport to space, financial services to security. And we are ready to work day and night to get as much of this done within the timeframe we have.

There is other stuff, of course -- regret about Brexit, warnings that we will never be as close and that talks will be difficult (with a plea for an extension), usual weasels and caveats, (as befits an LSE graduate) but the Graun reports this as a 'upbeat speech'. It might need some spin to make it into an impending disaster.