Sputnik: There are concerns amongst some remain backers that chief EU Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, is prepared to make the UK an offer if it has the endorsement of Germany and France, on the basis that the majority of EU leaders fear the possibility of no-deal scenario. How significant is?
Neil Hamilton: Well, I think in some ways we’ve got more to fear from this development than to be optimistic about. If Michel Barnier thinks the deal is alright, then it must almost be by definition a bad one for Britain. The problem with Theresa May’s negotiating stance has been that she’s operated on a basis of a pre-empted cringe throughout the whole episode. Instead of trying to do a negotiation like Donald Trump would do, she has been pessimistic always about Britain’s chances outside the EU, so I’m afraid the EU has sensed her weakness and they’ve exploited it at every turn and that’s what they’re doing now.
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Sputnik: Last week, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the pro-European activists seeking a second Brexit referendum. Blair tweeted that no one who voted in the 2016 referendum "wanted a poorer country" which now has to stockpile food and medicines. Is this just another dose of project fear or serious grounds for concern?
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Sputnik: With just over 8 months to go before Britain is expected to leave the EU, very little has been finalized. Is Britain heading for a no deal Brexit?
Neil Hamilton: Let’s be clear about this, the governments have made no preparations for a no deal and that’s the basic problem with negotiations, therefore, she’s not been able to threaten with a no deal outcome from the position of creditability and the UE knows that. That’s why Barnier has been the sort of Dr. No of the whole exercise at every single stage. I don’t think there will be a no deal, what I do think is that in effect we will have an ‘EU lite’ situation where Britain remains in the EU in all but name, but we lose what little voice we had or what little voice we have at the moment to influence the decisions that they take. We will be bound to take the rules the EU makes, the EU courts and judgments and those areas will take precedence over those of our courts. We won’t have any real control of our immigration policy; at the moment we have no idea what the government's practical proposals are on any of these things.
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