Brexit Arguments Resume. Snow Chaos Hits England and Wales.

It was a short breather for Prime Minister Theresa May after the Brussels meeting on Friday. Knives put away for the day after were now being sharpened again. The first comments came from Brussels, trying to quash expectations that the UK could get a unique deal. The report was  that international pressure was being exerted by other treaty countries outside of the EU, to deny Britain special treatment.

David Davis, our chief negotiator, was in a far more positive mood, telling Andrew Marr that he wanted a Canada Plus Plus Plus deal, including services. Furthermore, he stated that if we did not get the deal we wanted, we would not pay the £39 bn to the EU. The DUP was concerned about his comments that the deal made was not legally binding.

Keir Starmer, Labour, on the other hand, wanted the UK to adopt a more Norway style model, paying to benefit from the EU but not bound to it.

And all of this before the actual EU meeting that will confirm that the EU and UK can progress onto the next stage of negotiations.

We woke up to a white blanket of snow, as forecast. Approximately 5cm had fallen here but elsewhere, had more, with some areas under 32 cm or more. Also as predicted, this unleashed chaos on the UK's roads, Stansted and Luton airports closed temporarily and train services were disrupted.

After clearing the snow from our drive and path, it was back inside for the afternoon. Jane baked the first home made mince pies of the season and we enjoyed three each by the end of the day.