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I don't think it's a case of no one wanting to "take the first step". These things just take a lot of time and resources.
If your department for trade and FO have committed resources to one deal and it breaks down, they can't just do a mailshot with a Dropbox link to other countries.
@christianSpaceman - this is what I have totally baffles me about the proponents of a no deal. It seems glaringly obvious that after x yrs of legal and procedural integration there needs to be an interim period - which finger in the air guess I'd say would have to be a bare min of 5yrs.
hugo7-
@christianSpaceman - this is what I have totally baffles me about the proponents of a no deal. It seems glaringly obvious that after x yrs of legal and procedural integration there needs to be an interim period - which finger in the air guess I'd say would have to be a bare min of 5yrs.
It's not that baffling. They're either stupid, delusional or don't care. Or some unholy mixture of the three. Rees Mogg falls into the third category - his hedge fund now has a Dublin-based operation, so if/when it all goes utterly titsup he'll be fine.
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@christianSpaceman - this is what I have totally baffles me about the proponents of a no deal.
All old and / or rich gits who could withstand the shock then feast on the scraps.
Brommers
Howard
I am purely speculating here, but I think there could be a risk that once UK finds itself in the billy-no-mates WTO situation, none of the former trade partners would want to take the first step. Months would go by with them eyeing each other, gaging who would be the first to agree to something and on what terms.
Like when Canada recently got their deal rejected by EU because of some Wallonian regional leader, I don't remember China or Australia rushing to Canada's defence saying, "Oh don't worry about the EU, you can renegotiate your trade deals with us instead. Here's a 0% tariff on frozen poutine exports just to cheer you up buddy".