Die-Hard

I really don't have it in for Tony Blair, but some things
just need to be noticed. In a week-end piece for the Guardian,
he presents the hard Brexit option as a Canada-like deal
with the EU. For Canada, negotiations for CETA started
with Stephen Harper and the Conservatives,  and got signed by
the Trudeau Liberals. And here is the kicker: we thought all along
we were getting the UK as part of the deal. Even in die-hard Francophone
Quebec, where I live, we quite appreciate English shortbread cookies
on the shelves at Christmas.

I am also quite surprised that the whole debate centers on trade arrangements,
when the EU covers so much more, to name the space program as an
example. The EU is a debating and voting body, while ESA is not (Canada is an
ESA associate). Developments in space are accelerating - given the entry of
many non-European countries in space activities...Has the hope of having the
EU take over ESA been abandonned?

Finally, I am totally surprised by the absence of a voice for the Lords in all
this. When I was in school (granted, in the political Pleistocene), an Upper
Chamber was the place for 'sober second thougths'. Would it not make sense
for that Chamber to take on the job of looking at options for the backstop,
or even the need for a second consultation. Just saying...