The government is rapidly losing control of its own agenda for Brexit. The EU negotiators are perplexed as they wait for a proposal from the UK which at least stands a chance of gaining approval from the 26 countries remaining in the Union. So far there has been aspiration and platitudes but absolutely no workable plan. The Customs Partnership, with the UK collecting and refunding tariffs on behalf of the EU is absurd. The bureaucracy, this government’s weakest suit, think Windrush, Universal Credit, Breast Cancer Screening, is daunting and the scope for chaos eye popping. The alternative of open borders relying on ‘technology’ is just playground boasting.
Nobody knew at the beginning of Brexit what it meant. Absolutely none of the ardent Brexiteers had a clue. But now we do know and it is perfectly simple. Either we stay in both the customs union and the single market ( a customs union is either exactly the same or not available at all) as the only way to protect jobs, savings, business and our general living standards and expectations for the future. Or we leave without a deal. The borders close, if not ours, certainly theirs and our economy is crippled for a generation. The idea that we will be able to do ‘trade deals with other countries’ is ridiculous. Through the EU we not only have barrier free access to, movement in, employment, domicile and capital wherever we want in the world’s largest market, but we also have highly preferential trade deals with over 50 countries, including free trade with Canada and Japan. The proposition that if we scrap all that and start again we are going to be better off is fundamentally unhinged.
Labour has danced gracefully around awkward arguments while they flew through the political firmament, giving priority to jobs and living standards. That is not longer enough. It is not enough for the younger generation who have thrown their weight to the left and powered the Corbyn advance. Now the Labour leadership has to come off the fence and join the battle. It must declare that the only way forward is to remain in the single market and the customs union and that any alternative threatens more or less everything we value and hold dear. Failure to do that will be a body blow for the Corbyn dream. The high tide of hope will ebb. The future prospects for all will be grim.
This is Labour’s moment in history.
Oh Jeremy Corbyn!
Seize it!