08/12/2017 Newsnight

Getting to this point has required

give and take on both sides.

The deal we've struck will guarantee

the rights of more than 3 million EU

citizens living in the UK

and of a million UK

citizens living in the EU.

After some tough conversations,

we've now agreed a settlement that

is fair to the British taxpayer.

It means that in future we'll

be able to invest more

in our priorities at home.

In Northern Ireland,

we will guarantee there will be no

hard border and we will uphold

the Belfast Agreement.

And in doing so, we will continue

to observe the constitutional

and economic integrity

of the United Kingdom.

Theresa pulls it off!

In the early hours of this morning,

the Prime Minister made a dash

to Brussels and sealed a deal

on phase one.

But was there a lot

more give than take?

And has she just parked

the Northern Ireland problem

in the long-stay car park?

We ask one keen Brexiteer.

We've opened up the negotiations

to talk about that future

partnership deal, and the win-win

of that deal on trade and security

cooperation and all those other

things is within sight.

So I think it vindicates

the Prime Minister's approach.

And another...

I listened to Michael Gove and Boris

Johnson today, and thought,

were we on the same side?!

I simply couldn't believe it.

I will say this to you -

I think within the next 48 hours,

you will hear a lot more

Conservative voices who perhaps kept

quiet this morning saying,

actually, they're not happy

with what's happened today.

But does the hard work start here?

The battle lines have been drawn

for phase two, then.

The EU's demand for a level playing

field, and the trend

towards a softer Brexit anyway,

will leave many Brexiteers asking,

what was the point of this?

We'll be discussing with our panel

whether this is all just,

as David Davis says,

"constructive ambiguity",

and does it bode ill or well

for thrashing out a trade deal?

Good evening.

If the Government wanted to inject

some drama and excitement

into the Brexit story,

which some might argue

was badly needed, then

they certainly managed it -

with Theresa May making a pre-dawn

flight from RAF Northolt

across the Channel this morning

with the latest version

of the UK's position.

It would only have been

bettered if she'd actually

piloted the plane herself.

But as to the actual substance?

A deal on EU citizens' rights,

a divorce settlement

of 35-40 billion euros,

a date for the end

of the jurisdiction

of the European Court of Justice,

and a bit of finagling

over Northern Ireland -

but the actual promise

there would not be a hard

border between Northern

Ireland and the Republic.

Enough to get phase one

of the negotiations over the line,

and, assuming it gets the nod

from the European Council next week,

to start talks about a trade

agreement, rested and refreshed.

Here's our Political

Editor, Nick Watt.

MUSIC.

When everyone else is having fun,

breaking up can be so hard,

as Theresa May discovered at an EU

summit last year.

Or maybe we do have

friends after all?

At the end of a week of heartache,

Theresa May finally pulled off

a deal with the EU on stage one

of the Brexit negotiations.

Sufficient progress has now been

made on the three terms

of the divorce.

I very much welcome the prospect

of moving ahead to the

next phase, to talk about trade

and security, and to discuss the

positive and ambitious

future relationship.

But after Monday's humiliation,

how did it happen?

Shortly after 11pm in Downing Street

last night, Theresa May finally

achieved a breakthrough when she

sort of won over the DUP in a

telephone call with Arlene Foster.

At around midnight, she left

Downing Street, skipping the office

Christmas party, to catch two hours

sleep at her constituency

home in Maidenhead.

Then, at 3:45am, she was picked up

for an RAF flight to

Brussels.

The deal covered the three

main separation areas.

Theresa May has resisted pressure

to keep Northern Ireland in the EU's

Single Market and Customs Union.

But the EU has secured

an alignment of roles in

areas related to cross-border

cooperation in the event of no deal.

The UK cut an initial EU demand

for a Brexit payment of up to £65

billion by around a half.

But the UK will still pay

between 36 and £39 million.

European Court of Justice

will have a limited role, overseeing

the rights of EU citizens the UK

for eight years rather than 15.

But EU citizens lawfully

resident in the UK

on Brexit day will have

the rights guaranteed.

We've heard a lot about the Tory

civil war and Europe.

Well, today, the tribe

appeared to embrace

the spirit of Christmas goodwill.

This agreement is a significant

political achievement

for the Prime Minister.

Theresa May has absolutely

put her mark on this.

She has stood up and she has not

been found to be wanting.

Others weren't quite

buying into the accord.

I listened to Michael

Gove and Boris Johnson

today and thought,

are we on the same side?!

I simply couldn't believe it.

I will say this to you,

I think within the next 48 hours we

will hear a lot more

Conservative voices

who perhaps kept quiet

this

morning saying, actually,

they're not happy with

what's happened today.

At the heart of this deal lies

a Cabinet truce on Brexit.

The Leave side are so concerned to

preserve the actual goal of leaving

that they are willing to give

ground on the details.

The Remain side have accepted

the UK is leaving, but

they've been pushing

for a gentle Brexit.

The Prime Minister's challenge

is to preserve that truce

going into the next

round of negotiations.

One minister who supported

Remain hopes the UK will

hug the EU close.

This talk of ongoing

alignment, I think there

will be some key strategic sectors,

looking at the financial services -

it applies to professional services,

biotech, life sciences, a number of

sectors like that were actually

a fragmentation of the European

offering in global terms

would be bad news not just

for us, but the EU 27.

I think in those sort

of areas I suspect that

in the years to come

we will want to mirror

many of the regulations

and directives that

come out of Europe.

But, the overwhelming bits

of the economy, both in goods

and services, I think we may well

want to move ahead positively with

free trade deals as

quickly as possible.

Labour believes this has been a less

than glorious week for

the Government.

Look, Theresa May should have hit

the first deadline in October.

She failed.

She looks as if she's

going to hit this deadline.

That is progress, it

would be churlish of me not

to recognise it as progress.

But what we can't have

going forward is the absolutely

chaotic scenes that

we've seen this week.

But in Whitehall, they

are likening the deal

to Churchill and El Alamein.

The word is, it is the end

of the beginning.

Nick's with me now.

Nick, what's the mood

in Downing Street tonight?

It is absolute delight. I think it

is stunned relief. We have done it

and this Prime Minister has at last

achieved success. When the Prime

Minister left for Brussels, she did

not know how this was going to go

down politically with her back

benches and with the DUP. Arlene

Foster had not wholly signed up to

this. But talking to the Brexiteers

who have been critical of this deal,

they said this evening they are not

planning to rock the boat. But they

do have what is described as,

residual anxieties in two areas.

One, these very limited

circumstances the Supreme Court will

refer to the European Court of

Justice over citizens and this

regulatory alignment is related to

Northern Ireland.

Whatever that

proves to be. What happens now?

Adam

Fleming in Brussels has got a leak

of the draft conclusions for the

European Council meeting in Brussels

on Thursday and Friday. Good news

and bad news. The good news is the

European Council is suggesting yes

to a transition deal for two years.

The bad news is the entire body of

EU law would apply to the UK in that

period and any new laws and

regulations introduced in that

period would apply to the UK, which

would have no votes. That crosses

one Boris Johnson's red lines, which

might explain why the Chief Whip

sent out a photo of him two-day

meeting the Prime Minister in the

early hours because the Prime

Minister will have a cabinet meeting

and discussion on the future.

Thank

you very much indeed.

Well, Government ministers today

were so pleased with the outcome,

and the lack of incoming -

so far - from the right

of the party, it was

as if Christmas had come early.

Certainly the Justice Minister,

Dominic Raab, was in a chipper

mood when I spoke to him

earlier at Westminister.

I asked him whether today's deal

was proof the Government had

caved to EU demands.

We are a third of the way

through a two-year negotiation

period, and today was a really

important step forward -

on EU nationals and their rights

here in the UK, expats.

We've opened the door to trade

talks, very important

for business confidence.

We've narrowed the bones

of contention, but not

settled all the issues

on Northern Ireland and money.

So, yes, there is...

You haven't settled any

of the issues on Northern Ireland

except there will be no hard border.

Well, a very important

issue to settle.

But you're right.

There's going to be

some hard yards left.

It's going to go

down to brass tacks.

But we're only a third of the way

through the negotiations.

And as a result of taking this step,

we've opened up the negotiations

to talk about that future

partnership deal and the win-win

of that deal on trade and security

cooperation and all of those other

things is within sight.

So I think it indicates

the Prime Minister's approach.

Full alignment is essentially part

of the Single Market,

beside the Single Market,

beside the Customs Union on these

issues - agriculture,

education, transport,

environment, waterways,

Social Security, tourism,

inland fisheries, health,

urban and rural development...

You have no power on

these going forward.

You will be takers, not rule-makers.

The EU will keep you in-line

in all these things.

Kirsty, Kirsty, you can't

have it both ways.

You can't say we've done nothing

on Northern Ireland and then say

we've given all the game away.

The reality is, what we've said

today on alignment is the default

position if none of the options

are agreed but we still want

and have a package within sight

is that we would have alignment.

And what alignment means

is on the principles,

the goals, the policy goals...

For example, if it was on a certain

area like, I don't know,

agricultural standards,

but you retain the regulatory means

to delivering them at home.

Let's just take agriculture.

And there will be a European law

on the movement of animals that

you will have to adhere

to if there is full alignment.

Indeed, if there are new laws

designed by the 27 on the movement

of animals, you will have to adhere

to them on full alignment.

No, you're wrong on both counts.

This is the default position

on those areas of North-South

cooperation in the context

of Northern Ireland if nothing

else can be agreed.

But we want to proceed

with the whole package.

The detail, the options

are still to be chosen.

This is all still a matter

for negotiations.

You can call it strategic

ambiguity, you can call it

constructive ambiguity...

You can call it that.

That's very interesting, you're

calling it strategic ambiguity?!

No, what I'm admitting to you,

very openly and honestly,

is that we've agreed principles

but the details still need to be

ironed out on this very bespoke set

of issues around Northern Ireland,

which can't be dealt with properly

and responsibly outside

of the context of the broader

negotiation on customs and trade

and all those other things

which we've said all along.

If you don't get an acceptable deal

on Northern Ireland, full alignment

could continue forever.

Well, Kirsty, ifs and buts

and pots and pans.

What I can tell you now is that

we've got what we wanted,

which was to move forward to talk

about trade talks.

We've settled the issue of EU

nationals and UK nationals, and,

you know, we can open up to those

trade talks which we said should

have happened at the beginning.

Nicola Sturgeon said in a tweet

today that the UK Government

promising that there will be no hard

border in Northern Ireland means

that the Government can never again

say that an independent Scotland

will mean a hard border.

She's right, isn't she?

No, she's not, but I would of course

expect the SNP to view

anything within the prism

of their obsession

with independents.

with independence.

I'm sure that's not the way

the Scottish people think of it.

One last try on full alignment.

Go for it.

You're in the transition period,

you don't have a deal

on Northern Ireland,

and the EU proposes a new law

on agriculture you don't like.

You have to adhere to

the principle of it?

No, we don't.

I'm sorry, that is not

what we've agreed today.

What we've agreed, as a default

position, I'll go over

it again if you like,

is that if nothing else is agreed

and we're confident that we can,

then actually what we would have

is some form of alignment which

means that we agree the policy...

Full alignment is not

some form of alignment!

The alignment is in relation

to the goals you retain

the regulatory means of achieving.

We're now entering phase two.

And in phase two, the draft EU

Council guidelines say that in phase

two what will be decided is that

during the transition

period there will be four

freedoms guaranteed,

and Britain will still be

in the Single Market

and the Customs Union.

Theresa May on the 9th of October

said that in March 2019

when we enter transition,

the four freedoms will end,

and we will not be in

the Single Market and we will not be

in the Customs Union.

These are diametrically

opposed statements.

That is the EU's negotiation

position for phase two.

Well, that's going

to be a very big row.

It is, but we've always said,

let's get on and talk

about trade and the transition.

We can't talk about the transition

until we're in those trade talks.

And I'm delighted that the EU

is now restless to get

on and talk about that too.

But of course, as you've just

pointed out, there's

going to be some creases that

will need ironing out.

We're only a third of the way

through these negotiations.

But it's a major...

At least recognise...

Come on, Kirsty!

But it's a major, major crease.

Against all the pessimism, we made

a really important step forward.

It's a major crease.

Go on, give us that!

Theresa May did not say on the 9th

of October, "On March 2019,

I kind of hope that I'll be

in a position when I enter

the transition that actually I might

be able to end the four freedoms

and I might be able to get

the Single Market and I might be

able to get the Customs Union".

She said on the 9th of October,

these things will happen.

These are not entirely in her gift.

So, first of all, you started

by saying that EU communication

was what we've agreed

for the transition -

it isn't, it's the position.

it isn't, it's their position.

But you're absolutely right,

it's not entirely within our gift

what we negotiate in phase two.

We're not there yet.

I wouldn't want to get the

tambourine out quite yet, Kirsty.

But we're a third of the way

through the negotiations,

and today was a step forward

and an indication of the approach

that the PM has taken.

"Nothing is agreed until

everything is agreed".

The phrase at the top of the joint

EU-UK document today that

if phase two founders -

if no trade deal can be struck -

then potentially what's been decided

today could be dumped in the bin.

So, the stakes are very high.

As Dominic Raab said, he hasn't got

the tambourine out yet.

Our Diplomatic Editor,

Mark Urban, guides us

through the next round of chess.

There can be no turning back.

Britain is leaving

the European Union.

From the outset, the EU wanted

to direct this movie.

Its script, one of phased

negotiations starting

with the three separation issues -

citizens' rights, budget liabilities

and the Irish border.

There never really was any chance

of the UK picking off member

states on these questions.

Their position was solid.

It has been interesting how

effective the EU has been in keeping

the 27 together on the three major

issues of the first phase.

And they had a clear idea

of what they needed the UK to do

in that first phase.

And actually, step-by-step,

the UK has fallen in line

with that approach.

Among the 27, the narrative played

to us again and again was that

Theresa May was negotiating first

and foremost with her own Cabinet.

But for veterans of

the European Commission,

every big negotiation involves both

sides arguing among themselves.

It's not strange if you look

at the bigger picture

of the trade negotiations.

I mean, the European Union

is losing time, but also our

counterparts are losing time.

For example, the reason that TTIP

stalled was because the American

side could not come

to a common position.

So that's not so extraordinary.

Number Ten had hoped

today's milestone would be

reached back in October,

after Theresa May's

offer in Florence.

But the EU held firm.

Downing Street blamed

October's failure on French

and German intransigence.

But it may have helped

educate the Brexit

hardliners in the Cabinet.

And in the aftermath of that

setback, Theresa May

leveraged her weakness,

leading Europeans have

told me, telling them -

"if you don't give me something

here, you're going to end up talking

to Boris Johnson".

The Prime Minister has always

known that the leverage

would be distinctly limited,

and talks might take the form

of a fighting withdrawal.

How do we know?

Because she said it before

she became Prime Minister.

In a stand-off between Britain

and the EU, 44% of our exports

is more important to us than 8%

of the EU's exports is to them.

The reality is that we do not know

on what terms we would have access

to the Single Market.

We do know that in a negotiation,

we would need to make concessions

in order to access it.

And the UK has indeed been

making many concessions.

Among them, agreeing to the EU's

negotiating that it will pay

substantial budget liabilities,

and accepting it cannot start

negotiating its own trade

agreements any time soon.

But on citizens' rights

and even the budget issue,

the EU has given ground also.

So, what about the phase two

negotiation, setting out the broad

framework for trade,

security and so much else?

The EU suggests that must be

a choice between Single Market

membership like Norway,

or a trade deal like

the one done by Canada.

Theresa May, it's clear,

wants something much closer

than that Canadian deal.

Compared with what exists

between Britain and the EU today,

it would nevertheless represent such

a restriction on our mutual market

access that it would benefit

neither of our economies.

Not only that, it would start

from the false premise

that there is no pre-existing

regulatory relationship between us,

and precedent suggests that it

could take years to negotiate.

We can do so much better than this.

And that expression

of Prime Ministerial aspiration,

coupled with the concept

of regulatory alignment to deal

with the Irish border,

tell us a great deal.

It suggests changing as little

as possible, a softer Brexit.

If it was a forerunner of a decision

that the whole of the UK would stay

in regulatory alignment with the EU,

in other words, in the Single

in the Single Market,

in the Customs Union,

or very close to them,

then that's a very significant

policy statement, and one

that we haven't had before.

And of course, it would make a lot

of other things easier.

As for the EU side, it seems to have

glimpsed the direction of travel

and is already signalling

they are closely aligned.

The UK must abandon the vision

of some Brexiteers for a

Singapore-style deregulated economy.

The battle lines have been drawn

for phase two, then.

The EU's demand for a level playing

field, and the trend

towards a softer Brexit anyway,

will leave many Brexiteers asking,

what was the point of this?

Critically, the UK will have

to carve out some sort of exemptions

to allow them to restrict freedom

of movement and sufficient latitude

to create their own trade deals.

If you look at the mandate

for the second round negotiating

of our trade deal, there is a clause

in it on the level playing fields,

and that's the first

time ever that this

is in a negotiating mandate.

What it means is that they say,

look, you can have the trading deal

with Europe provided that

you are not dumping,

that you live up to

the competition rules, etc, etc.

The level playing field

for the first time has been defined.

That will demonstrate to be a very

hard one for Great Britain.

The clock starts now on a phase

two negotiation that

will test both sides.

It's clear now that the UK

will align closely with the EU,

and that could make it far harder

for the Brexit the vision

of a freewheeling trading

superpower to be fulfilled.

-- for the Brexiteer vision.

Mark Urban there.

And to discuss this further now I'm

joined by Dia Chakravarty,

the Brexit Editor for The Daily

Telegraph.

Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian.

LBC presenter Iain Dale.

And Stephanie Bolzen

the London Correspondent,

for the German newspaper Die Welt.

And, before we actually say hello to

you, let's have a look at the front

pages, starting with the Mail.

Rejoice! We are on our way. The

price of freedom, the Daily

Telegraph goes on to list all of the

cost of the deal so far. And on to

the Guardian. The deal is done, the

EU warns of more delays. Stephanie,

we don't have Die Welt, but what's

it saying tomorrow morning?

Headline

is a bit similar to the Guardian,

saying, happy Britain, but Europe

remained sceptical. The comment on

page one also says, well, there is

maybe a bit of light at the end of

the tunnel. The pragmatism that we

are used to buy the Brits, the

smart, magmatic Brits, it has

returned maybe a little bit, but

watch this space.

That smart

pragmatism, interestingly, Dia, do

you think Theresa May, she is a much

stronger figure now than she was 24

hours?

Definitely, but you have to

see where she was coming from. On

Monday, things were looking pretty

bad. It felt that she was trying to

unite the country and bring the

Remainer and Brexiteer colleagues

together, and taking both the lot

together. Today than when she

actually managed to make some sort

of a progression in the process, it

looks very good for her. Certainly

it has bought her some time if

nothing else.

So far she seems to be

in command of her Cabinet if nothing

else.

She was working from a very

low base, she couldn't have been

weaker than two was, but to have got

through a deal and got over this

hurdle makes her stronger. Before

that, her job was hanging by a

thread on the basis of where she was

on Monday.

Iain Dale, what do you

make of the idea in Mark's fill that

the Europeans were saying that what

she was saying to Junker and the

others, leveraging her weakness, if

you don't deal with her you will

have two end up dealing with Boris

Johnson?

Jean-Claude Junker was

quite anxious that her government

might fall. This time yesterday, a

lot of us would have thought that

was quite near, but it is remarkable

what a difference 24 hours makes.

She is certainly in a very strong

position. It was a diplomatic

triumph of a Prime Minister. As Dia

says, to have got from Monday to

hear, got the DUP and the Irish

government on site, and I also

think, and something that I haven't

heard it said, I think a lot of EU

governments were putting pressure on

the European Commission saying, come

on, do this deal.

Wonder from a

German perspective if you think

that's correct, that individual

governments were saying to Junker,

look, is off, do this more

diplomatically, we have to get a

deal. Junker was taking an

incredibly negative attitude prior

to this week.

Yes, that might be the

case. But if you think back,

especially talking about the money,

it was the French and Germans that

were far more strict on this than

the commission was, actually. We

will see who was this. What is clear

is that of course as we leave,

especially in Berlin, there is

enough things in Europe happening.

So let's sort this out.

I think

that's exactly right, once the money

is sorted out, the position in Paris

and Berlin shifted to, we just want

this now dealt with. They have a

huge agenda in Europe that they want

to get on with, including closer

integration and defence. Having the

Brexit had a crumbling bun, they

just wanted it over. It helps by the

way of the other side, in this case

Britain, as more or less conceded in

all of the key demands.

Who do you

think came out of that on this,

Europe or Theresa May?

Obviously

Europe did, they've got the money

that they wanted.

No, they haven't.

This is where all of the pundits

said, it's going to be 60 billion or

100 billion. It's not, it's

35-39,000,000,000.

Boris Johnson was

one of the ones talking...

He said

they can go whistle if it is

exorbitant.

And David Davis said it

was nonsense and other going to

happen.

We can argue that 35 billion

is exorbitant, but it is a long way

from 60.

You talk about the French

and Germans wanted to get their

money. But on the principle of

Ireland they had to say strong on no

solid border. Do you think it was

better that she pulled this off at

the last minute, or... What Arlene

Foster was saying today, time ran

out. As in, we're not very happy

about this.

She blinked.

Who do you

think blinked, Iain, sorry?

Arlene

Foster, clearly.

It's probably not a

popular idea on this panel, but it

seems to me a bit like the EU

blinked as well. On Monday, when

Theresa May said, this is not going

to happen, the EU could have said,

right, see you next year then. They

didn't, something did happen there,

they did come back to talk with her

again and they worked something out.

This note of full alignment, you

know, originally we are talking

regulatory alignment, now it's

follow my mid-.

No, before that it

was regulatory convergence.

This

could not be more important because

the soft Brexiteers and the fact

Remainers are seeing in this the

potential to in some ways for what

Brexit and keep Britain in the

Single Market and the Customs Union

in the names of alignment -- what

Brexit. They are assuming that

sacred is the aversion to having a

hard broader. When it really comes

to it, there is the choice between

staying in the Single Market and the

Customs Union, and palatable to

Brexiteers, and giving away and

actually allowing the border in the

end, that is what the Europeans

expects quite how long do you think

people might Jacob Rees-Mogg will

keep quiet about this in phase two?

All of the people and the so-called

hard Brexit site have been very

quiet. I don't think Nigel Farage

was right, I don't inspect them to

cause them trouble. There will be

people on the fringes who might. But

Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan are

fully supporting the Prime Minister.

Most of the Brexiteers have been

doing that. It is a triumph.

Let's

say, Stephanie, we are coming to

phase two, it. In the New Year, and

actually -- it. In the New Year, and

Junker... It's going to get very

tough against.

It will be messy,

there will be now a lot of different

fronts, because there will be

national member states' interest

coming in, there's the European

Parliament now gearing up, there's a

lot of different interests.

Let's

talk on this very subject. One key

thing was in this phase one, what

became very clear, you know, it was

one for all and all for one. The 20

27 states together didn't flinch and

they were powerful for it. So what

the 27 states. But when it comes to

trade, the car industry and

everything else, how much do you

think the 27 will stay together?

I

wouldn't put too much money on

fractions between the Europeans. The

Europeans wanted the same, they

wanted the money, but the second

phase now is of course, you can get

what? At the end of the day, there

is no cherry picking. This will

unify the Europeans, no cherry

picking for the Brits.

I think it

will be very difficult to get a

bespoke deal, but we've got to try.

I think Ian Duncan Smith has written

a piece for us into Morra's

Telegraph. That is saying, as a

Brexiteer, he is not jubilant but he

doesn't feel betrayed either. That

captures the mood of most Brexiteers

very well. They are hanging onto

this line that nothing is agreed

until everything is agreed. So

everything can actually...

Will Iain

Duncan Smith go for a Norway style

deal, really?

What he's saying,

again, sorry to repeat it, but

nothing is agreed...

No, they won't,

this is the point. They can't

stomach staying in the Single Market

and Customs Union, even though the

logic is that they must.

I don't

think so, I don't think that's

right.

Let me explain why, because

if you leave the Single Market and

the Customs Union, the EU has the

pleased the border on its external

frontier, and that means a hard

border in Ireland.

Is there an

alternative?

All four parties,

Ireland, Britain, the Northern

Ireland Assembly and the EU or want

a frictionless border. If they all

have the same game they will get

there in the end. They will come out

of the Customs Union, because if

they don't, Liam Fox doesn't have a

job. We can't negotiate our own

trade deals. We've got this

agreement today between the EU and

Japan. Does anyone seriously think

that we're not more convergent than

the Japanese economy? I mean,

please!

I'm afraid we have to end

it. There will be a lot more

conversation in the next few weeks.

That's all we have time for.

Have lovely weekend from all of us

here at Newsnight, good night.

Have lovely weekend from all of us

here at Newsnight, good night.

Well, there is more snow on the way,

but there is a bit of a long also on

the way for Saturday.