Memoirs of negotiations show how Brussels lost trust in Downing Street team.

This is my last Brexit Briefing. / Because it is the last it is longer than usual. A long goodbye if you will. Over the past 5 years I have written 130 of them, following the twists and turns of the Brexit saga, as various UK actors came and went upon the stage, generally full of sound and fury, but often signifying little.

The idea that Britain can leave the European Union and maintain frictionless trade with the bloc of 27 countries is officially dead.

Self-harm inflicted on the British people is the direct effect of Brexit itself. / "But if this elementary reality has to be explained every time that British tabloids express astonishment at the latest materialisation of the bleeding obvious, we may lose the will to live."

Suggestions of the UK aiming for a ‘Swiss-style’ deal with the EU are misleading, unrealistic and unattainable.

Chris is hosting solo this week and joined by special guest Garvan Walshe (yes we know he was already on Remainiacs grrr) for a chat about the so-called Irish backstop, Jeremy Hunt's brass-necked cakeism, and whether Anna Soubry is a Leninist. Plus: would Remaining really be a good thing? No I mean really?? Also: Thucydides!

Chequers Cake, Red Velvet Cake, international cake(ism), and a draft Withdrawal Agreement

Chris and Steve discuss Theresa May's deluxe Mansion House cake I mean speech

Cakewatch Live! (not live) - we leave the podcast dungeon and put the show on the road to hear the Brussels Bubble share its views on cake, cakeism, and whether Brexit will actually happen.

Investigate cakeism: the philosophy of having your cake and eating it, as preached and practised by the British government in its approach to Brexit.

Chris Kendall, EU official and host of the wonderfully informative Cakewatch podcast. Cakewatch is aimed at combatting the British exceptionalism and misconceptions held by both Remainers and Brexiteers. In this discussion we get into the concept of Cakeism, the reforms that both Britain and Europe might undertake post-Brexit, the concepts of Federalism and Subsidiarity, and much, much more.

Talks between Tories and Labour have collapsed and the focus at Westminster remains inward. / It hasn’t gone away, you know. Brexit has been on a bit of a media break over the last month or two since EU leaders agreed to extend the UK’s departure until October 30th, while leaving the option open of an earlier date.

The United Kingdom has passed the point of no return. It has less than six months to reach a new trade deal with the European Union or risk heaping more pressure on companies that are already laying off tens of thousands of workers because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Union is taking a defiant tone as the standoff over resuming post-Brexit trade negotiations with the United Kingdom continues.

[BrexitDB NOTE: These agencies have now left the UK.] Wrangle around European Medicines Agency and European Banking Authority after Brussels insists they must leave UK.

[This post will] provide a detailed analysis of an article written by David (now Lord) Frost in this week’s Sunday Telegraph.

France’s former Europe Minister, now an MEP, has hit out at the “eternal British mistake of believing that by dividing the EU, the UK will obtain what it wants”.

Are we really being serious when we ask the EU to give the UK, as a third country, the same level of access as a member to sensitive information like satellite development and criminal databases?

Spokesman for Boris Johnson says hopes of meeting deadline in December are dwindling

Pascal Lamy, former director general of the World Trade Organisation and EU commissioner: Michael Gove today was “pie in the sky” / “you export less, you produce less. You have less trade, less exports and less jobs.” He said: “The notion that you exit the EU tradewise with no price is simply a lie”

'However, Britain’s current political and economic prospects look grim. To say this is not to be unreasonably pessimistic, but simply to face facts.'

Even after years of division and vitriol, it seems like Britain still needs to talk about Brexit. / More than six years after voting to leave the European Union, the UK is facing a prolonged recession and a deep cost-of-living crisis. Last week’s Autumn Statement heralded years of higher taxes and cuts to public spending.

EU officials have derided the British Government’s ‘chaotic’ approach to negotiations and said the much-reviled ‘Swiss mess’ is ‘not on the table’.

Mark Carney and other financiers seem to think London can do business as usual without playing by the EU's rules. This is confidence bordering on complacency.

UK's former ambassador to EU said any free trade deal with the bloc would have to be ‘the biggest ever’

British officials preparing ‘domestic’ alternative to EU programme as Barnier accuses UK of ‘cherry-picking’.

United bloc will continue to protect its interests, say Michel Barnier and Leo Varadkar

Britain will not enjoy special privileges just because it was once a member.

British sentiment toward leaving the European Union appears to be changing. As the United Kingdom marks a year since its Brexit referendum vote, a new opinion poll shows that a majority now wants to stay. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant gets a range of reactions as the country faces its independent future.

Goodbye letter reminds Britain: ‘Without being a member, you cannot retain the benefits of membership’