Monday, 28 January 2019

Killer Argument Against Anything And Everything Whatsoever

George Eaton, on Twitter: To understand the problems with the Norway model, ask Norwegians – insightful piece by @hettieveronica on why it isn't a panacea for Brexit Britain.

Me: What a pathetic argument: "it isn't a panacea". You can use this put down in any situation and all it shows is that you're a bit of a condescending twat. Nothing ever is "a panacæa", it's a question of choosing least bad option.

George Carty: Surely the main problem is the Irish border (again) -- IIRC we can't be in EFTA and also (as required by the GFA) in a customs union with the EU.

Me: No we can't, but that wasn't my point. I could equally say "Second referendum is not a panacea", or "Cancelling withdrawal and just staying in EU is not a panacea", or "No Deal Brexit is not a panacea" and those statements are all equally true and equally unhelpful.

Do you think the Yanks were like this in July 1945, to wit:
"Dropping the Bomb on Hiroshima is not a panacea" vs
"Invading the Japanese home islands is not a panacea" vs
"Calling the whole thing off and leaving the Japanese occupation of vast swathes of South East Asia is not a panacea"??

4 comments:

Sackerson said...

I prefer aspirin.

Andrew said...

"and also (as required by the GFA) in a customs union with the EU"

The GFA does not state that NI must be in a customs union with the EU. It simply doesn't. Who keeps making this stuff up?

Andrew said...

Above comment is by Fraggle, btw, not registering properly for some reason.

Mark Wadsworth said...

F, yes, others have also pointed that out, I have read it and checked. The GFA is mainly waffle, there is nothing specific or even general about cross border trade.