The Perfect Analogy For What A No-Deal Brexit Would Be Like, From James O'Brien
1 May 2018, 12:37 | Updated: 1 May 2018, 12:50
James O'Brien laid out just how ridiculous the idea of a no-deal Brexit would be.
Yesterday, the House of Lords voted for an amendment to force Theresa May to go back to the negotiating table if parliament rejects a deal.
That effectively takes the idea of leaving the EU without any kind of deal off the table.
And James explained why that is so important. He said: "If you and I are negotiating a house purchase, I am doing so as someone with a home. I know exactly where my home is. I know how many bedrooms it has. I know what it looks like.
"But I'd quite like to buy a new one. I think we've all given up on the idea that the new one's going to be better than the old one, haven't we? No one genuinely thinks that we're going to be in a better position than we were before.
"The point now becomes, if I decide to pull out of the negotiations to buy a new home off you, I go back to that home that I knew everything about. That's my withdrawal position, my old home, my current home, my quite nice home that I have and I like.
"But I thought maybe as Brexit voter, maybe I'd be able to buy an even better house and the one that I've got for free. I'm now realising that I can't, especially with Liam Fox and David Davis handling the negotiations, it's now clear to me that I can't buy a new house that's better than the one I've currently got, so I'm going to threaten to walk away.
"But in the context of Brexit negotiations, the no-deal threat to walk away means you're walking away without knowing where you're going to sleep tonight."
