Brexit Codicil Morphs Into ‘Geoffrey Cox’s Codpiece’

(Bloomberg) -- There’s nothing so serious that the British can’t make a dirty joke about it. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is even finding laughs in Brexit.

Cox, whose rich, mellifluous voice means he can make a discussion of cross-border trade sound like it was written by Shakespeare, decided to make the most of the nickname Brexiteers have given his attempts to negotiate the government’s divorce agreement with Brussels. He’s looking for a codicil -- a supplementary document to the Withdrawal Agreement -- that will make the deal more acceptable to Conservatives.

In Parliament Thursday, Cox tried to explain his goal in the codicil. “It’s come to be called ‘Cox’s codpiece,”’ he said, to laughter. “What I am concerned to ensure is that what’s inside the codpiece is in full working order.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Flavia Krause-Jackson

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