Why are we trying to appease aggressive foreign powers hell-bent on crushing Brexit?
Unless Theresa May can get a grip on Brexit fast, she will be gone by the autumn
THE EU’s response to Britain’s latest offer was as arrogant, contemptuous and destructive as we have come to expect. When will Theresa May get real? The chances of a decent deal from here look tiny.
Boris Johnson hit the nail firmly on the head: our strategy lacks guts.
We are trying to appease aggressive foreign powers hell-bent on crushing Brexit and preventing us from succeeding outside their grip.
We are bending over backwards to be reasonable with unreasonable people.
The Foreign Secretary is right, too, that the minor significance of the Irish border issue has been cynically magnified by Brussels, Ireland’s PM and Remainers generally as a ruse to stop Brexit.
But it is all very well being more assertive, as Boris suggests. It’s an empty threat without the ability to walk away from negotiations. And Philip Hammond’s Treasury — “the heart of Remain” in Boris’s words — has put paid to that.
Hammond was at it again yesterday, insisting we must “compromise”. For God’s sake, Chancellor. That is ALL we do. Brussels never budges an inch.
It’s time to engage with reality. Anyone who has ever haggled over anything knows you are sunk without the willingness to pull out.
We are now entering the realms of a national emergency. There are just ten months before we leave. Every possible basic preparation for doing so with no trade deal MUST be made immediately.
Failing that, we could crash out into near-certain chaos, or Mrs May will be forced to accept any last-minute crumb the EU offers us. That would be catastrophic for Britain and her.
Does she want to be the Prime Minister who faced Brussels down and delivered Brexit in full? Or who lost her majority — exactly a year ago — then bungled the negotiation and sold 17.4million Leave voters down the river?
Unless she can get a grip on this fast, she will be gone by the autumn.
True democrat
IT’S not often celebrity Remainers stand up for the referendum result and our democracy. We congratulate Richard Madeley for doing just that.
The TV host said that regardless of how he voted he considers it vital we carry though Brexit in FULL, even if its consequences are rocky.
“If you stay in the Customs Union and the Single Market you’re not leaving.”
With two days of massive Brexit votes in the Commons next week, 650 MPs should remember Madeley’s wise words. Because it really is this simple:
Those seeking excuses to weaken, negate, invalidate or reverse the biggest mandate in our history no longer believe in democracy.