It’s time for Theresa May to level with British voters over Brexit plan
PM's Chequers proposal to stay closely aligned to Brussels’ rules would effectively scupper most trade deals, especially with America, so Theresa May needs to clear up the confusion
Come clean PM
IT’S time Theresa May levelled with the nation in a TV broadcast.
We don’t mean an interview where, under pressure, she will retreat into rehearsed platitudes about fulfilling every key Brexit demand.
We mean a detailed address resolving the confusion most of the country feels.
It looks to The Sun that her Chequers proposal to stay closely aligned to Brussels’ rules would effectively scupper most trade deals, especially with America which wants to sell us its food.
That’s certainly the verdict of David Davis, Boris Johnson and many Tory MPs who intend to vote it down. It was also Donald Trump’s view in The Sun.
But yesterday the PM convinced him otherwise. And she insisted “there will be no limit to the possibility of us doing trade deals around the world”.
How are both positions possible? How will we enjoy such flexibility?
How will our courts be supreme if we still heed ECJ rulings? How will we have total control of immigration if some EU workers can still come in as they see fit? And what will she do next if Brussels rejects it all?
Leave voters’ rising anger is fuelled by the suspicion that behind the repeated assurances we are being stitched up.
Mrs May must explain why we’re not. Explain how she talked round a doubting Trump. Explain how we will seize the opportunities Brexit presents. If she wants to admit her plan isn’t ideal but it’s the best there is, this is her moment.
It’s time for honesty, not spin. The PM owes it to Britain.
History lesson
DO Remainers really not get the difference between President Obama giving his view on Brexit and President Trump doing so?
Obama was egged on by Downing Street in 2016 to try to skew a democratic vote in favour of one side. He told us, falsely, that backing Brexit would put us last in the queue for a US trade deal.
Trump’s argument in The Sun two years AFTER the vote was simply that Leave won and he doubted Mrs May’s strategy would fulfil on the verdict.
He may be wrong. But Obama definitely was. Because once Trump replaced him, Britain hit the front of the US queue — a position only now threatened by staying tied to Brussels.
Happy to help, Remain fans.
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Fake? Not Sun
WE wondered if President Trump might try to shoot the messenger when he realised how embarrassing his world exclusive Sun interview was to his host Mrs May.
We’re used to that, of course. We’re not as used to seeing Mr Trump have the grace to back down when one of his “fake news” jibes is proved wrong, as it was yesterday.
That’s not just a special moment.
It’s the highest level of special.
