What really happened in the Brexit negotiations | Tim Shipman | The Story 

I have been living and working in China (Shanghai) for almost 20 years. As an ex-pat I thought that Brexit was a very very bad idea! How could everyone have been SO mindless??

So, Barnier was side lined…. And yet the EU achieved all its objectives 😂

Barnier was so sidelined he achieved all of his negotiating objectives completely 🙂

That's one way to twist the narrative. Barnier was sidelined and not listened to? Yet he easily saw off an ever-changing cast of British interlocutors: David Davies, Dominic Raab and David Frost, who all tried and failed to extract special treatment for Brexiting Britain. While Barnier stuck to his brief and mandate, defended the integrity of the EU Single Market, free movement and European institutions and made sure that the EU got what it wanted while the UK didn't.

brexit is a disaster

A truly remarkable account of how the English craftily and cunningly outwitted the EU in the trade negotiations, by getting the commssion on their side, and in the process sidelining Michel Barnier in order to get the deal done behind his back. The bit I can't understand is that ever since the deal was signed, the English, even those who negotiated the deal, have never stopped whining and complaining about what an awful deal it is, while the EU member states seem very happy with it.

In other words, Tessa May never had the guts to state the bleedin’ obvious: Brexit would be very expensive. The harder, the greater the damage. Boris, on the other hand, neither knew nor cared about fckking up the country as long as Carrie could choose the right wallpaper in No 10.

U.K. had no plan - and first lesson of négociation is “have a plan”

I'm not from the UK (DK) and I was very sad seeing the UK leaving.

Nobody with two brain cells to rub together thought that Brexit was a good idea.

This guy clearly has an ax to grind with Barnier. I was going to buy the book, but listening to him made me realize this will not be the clear headed book i was hoping for.

Poor May, loyal to her party and believed in her country, kicked out by looters and conmen from her own party who'd cheerfully break up the union and the party to enrich themselves. The wonder is not that she lasted so long, it's that she didn't leave politics as a disheartened wreck.

people in Ireland - north, south, east & west -from the ordinary folk to politicians across all parties, who...bear in mind, have had centuries of bitter experience dealing with the Tory mindset, at the heart of 'Brexit - they understood, from the outset, when Cameron called the referendum, how the ordinary English were having the wool pulled over them. Every single person on the island of Ireland knew full well that the real issue would be, ie the so-called invisible border. That the Brexiters didn't know - didn't care - or stupidly presumed Dublin would 'roll-over' ...says all one needs to know about the grasp the British (English) political establishment had, about both Ireland, and the geopolitical heft it has, AND basic understand of how the EU works. It beggars belief what was allowed to happen hat was proof if ever

Shipman doesn’t seem to realise with his Barnier/Junckers etc. allusions he is describing a classic good cop/bad cop scenario. Barnier the bulldog & his seniors the ‘reasonable people”.

In twenty years time, nobody will admit to voting for Brexit.

Well this is a hilariously absurd version.

There comes a time when you realise you have backed the wrong horse in a two horse race. The courage comes in getting on the right horse as soon as possible. Unfortunately the tories, in true Thelma and Louise style, steadfastly continue flogging the dead horse as it plummets off the cliff edge.

This was not the will of the people, it was the will of a few billionaire media owners and several charismatic but deceitful politicians, all of whom were looking out only for themselves and had no qualms about sacrificing everybody else in pursuit of their selfish ambitions.

Brexit by now the big political elephant

Every single one of these tories is true to their name - thieves and grifters!

Times Radio will be in official mourning for the next three days due the passing of their beloved tory party. Flowers and donations please to the Green Party.

The truth is that there were no negotiations worth talking about. The EU decided what it wanted and ultimately the UK had to go along with everything.

the UK is out of the EU for the foreseeable future.. that is the reality we live in.. good or bad..

It became perfectly clear to me on the evening that the referendum vote result was announced that I needed to escape and avoid the final demise of a voted for wreck. All underscored by a vote for the present pantomime. Hilarious.......from a safe distance.

This is merely the domestic scene. If anyone wants to know how the EU/UK negotiations progressed they should read the book by Stefaan De Rynck, Barnier's special advisor during the negotiations, the title of which "Inside the Deal (How the EU Got Brexit Done)" is as explicit as its contents.

The pound would rather the UK was in the EU.

Boris bricked it, that’s what happened!!

Fundamentally none of the leavers had any sort of plan or any ideas for what to do next.

Little Shipman - the tame client journalist……

The EU clearly outsmarted the uk, the uk does not have the size

Giving the complex and difficult process of leaving the EU a lazy and childish title like "Brexit" turned the issue into a biscuit. ' One bite and it's gone', this made it easy for the populace to consume and instantly forget what the word actually meant. That it was a first past the post and not a two thirds majority vote made it an unrepresentative outcome.

The problem is this- it doesn't matter what the people want. If the establishment doesn't want it, then it will never work ,

Shipman - Boris Johnson's sheep man 🙄

Cant wait for the novel!

Brexit done? You've been done.

Excellent video

Sigh, yet another Brit who's sure it was all about some talking heads and their failure to communicate, and that it had nothing to do with the rules that define the European Union, what it does and how it does it... that its constitutional documents were just scribbled out and stuck on a shelf for show, how quaint!-and only dusted off to "punish" Britain for leaving. How tiresome. If I live another thirty years, I don't expect to see the UK in the EU. Not with that attitude.

Boris and JRM both voted for May's last deal. Defeated by Labour as well from the EU hating Corbyn. Bojo got Brext done by lying through his teeth. Chaos!

Asking anybody for an opinion on something they know almost nothing about is not such a good idea, is it? Asking the British populace about something few knew anything about is an equally bad idea.

Do you think Arne Slot will be liverpool's next coach? If he thinks so, he'd better prepare for coaching Kigali FC.

Both parties during the referendum told porkies. The remain went with project fear instead of selling the benefits of membership. On a personal level, EU membership was not top of my priority list but voted remain as i knew it would be disruptive. We were not in the eurozone or Schengen area. When the result came in I accepted it as a democrat. What did a lot of damage was the politicians who said that they would implement the result but then backtracked as soon as the result went against them.

Hundreds of politicians and negotiators tell us how they achieved something of which they are all ashamed.

The longest list of this world is the list of Brexit benefits.

David Cameron was a fall guy, plain and simple. Absolutely no surprise he’s back in cabinet. It’s all a total disgrace.

Good to hear Tim being honest about his own mistakes here. Excellent insider's story, shame it was so important for us as a country and that we elected clowns to do the job.

"Brexaster works best when not implemented" (courtesy of Prof. Chris Grey)

Rees Mogg got the two best salesmen

When Boris replaced Theresa May, why did Olle Robbins go to work for ex-EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at Goldman Sachs? Was Barroso rewarding him for a job well done?

brexit is the best thing we done since the d day landings !!

Why this voice?

What a load of absolute sky.

Good interview.

So you are no longer allowed to use The Euro in this country as we have our own government and everything more than ever? Hands up if you think that they know how ro be honest? I heard that they brought many laws out stating that The Euro is no longer valid here (of course they did).

The total losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of 2024 have exceeded 111 thousand people, 21 thousand units of weapons and military equipment. The losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation amounted to more than 500 thousand people.

Betrayal of the British peoples democratic will is what happened.

General seems to be russian sympathiser

Me thinks this Tim Shipman geezer is a remainer.

What happened! One side WON then was stabbed in the back, END!

I realised we needed to get out of the EU in 2008, but I was doubtful we would ever be given a referendum. I was living and working in Europe when Cameron came to power and throughout the referendum campaign, so I was largely unaware of much of the campaigning back in the UK. I had already decided anyway and was uninfluenced by either side. When June 2016 arrived, I voted to leave. I was surprised and delighted when the result came in. The smartest decision we ever made.

Tosh like this is why I ended my subscription with the Times.