To be or not to be, that is the question

An anonymous source in the EU told the Tim Shipman of the Sunday Times that the chances of a deal between the EU and the UK were 50-50. Presumably it was another anonymous source who told the Andrew Gimson of the Independent that there was no chance that the EU would accept Boris's proposal.

John Rentoul in the Independent today:

'I do not know how likely a deal is, but I observe that the interests of the parties are aligned. There is a majority for a deal in the House of Commons, including the Democratic Unionist Party. And the EU27 want a deal, including the Irish government. If there is something that satisfies both Arlene Foster and Leo Varadkar, it will happen.'

Daniel Hannan, in today's Sunday Telegraph, does not expect a Brexit agreement and blames Remainers :

'You can hardly blame the EU for behaving as it has. Once it became clear that most British MPs, and a fair chunk of the electorate, would applaud its every action, right or wrong, it toughened its position. Each new Commons vote was met with incredulous joy in Brussels. “You mean if we keep saying ‘non’, you’re legally not allowed to leave? OK, then: ‘Non!’”


'Which brings us to the latest negotiations, and the speculation about a new breakthrough based around some sort of all-Ireland economy. I am less optimistic than most commentators about an agreement. As long as Eurocrats believe that a failure to strike a deal will result in our staying in, they have little incentive to engage. I reckon we are headed for an impasse, an extension, an election and a victorious return for a turbo-charged Boris Johnson.'

 Here is a source who is not anonymous, quoted by Adam Boulton in the Sunday Times.

'The Hungarian MEP Klara Dobrev, who is a vice-president of the European parliament and wife of Hungary’s former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, told me there was a real possibility that her country’s premier, Viktor Orban, will veto any extension for the UK at the summit, not so much to please Johnson as to please Vladimir Putin by fomenting disorder in the West.'

She however is a daughter of the Communist nomenklatura, a social democrat and not privy to Viktor Orban's thoughts.