Whilst in China May declared that she wants to negotiate the best deal for Britain, without specifying what is best, for whom and why. Thus neither her Cabinet, the EU, business, the public sector nor the person in the street has a clue what she wants. This is because the Tory party is split between two diametrically opposed positions. The closer it comes to having to decide, the wider the split becomes.
One sensible, pragmatic and public spirited section, probably the biggest in the Commons but smaller among the rump Tory membership in the country of mainly old men, is aiming for a light Brexit, which favours the economy, jobs and the kind of freedoms of travel, work, study, domicile and investment which we have over the years acquired through our membership of the EU. This would keep us in, or close to, the customs union and the single market. We would be excluded form the European Parliament and the decision making processes which make new rules and regulations with which we would have to comply. This is becoming known as Brexit Light.
The other group, which has no majority in either parliament or the country, want a clean break so we cut adrift from every institution and commercial connection which has become part of the fabric of our very existence and national social, commercial and political structure over the last close to fifty years. This includes any connection to the customs union or single market, free movement as well as vital institutions enabling drugs, aviation, nuclear materials and manufacturing. Not only would the EU become a collection of foreign countries but British citizens would be denied all sorts of freedoms they now enjoy and sovereignties they share. Moreover the 750 trading agreements with countries all across the globe in which we are now enrolled , we would exit and have to start again from scratch. The economic shock and social disruption would take at least a generation to resolve and it is unlikely that GB would ever recover its current position or economic prospects. This is known as Hard Brexit.
Neither of these choices is rational, when compared to continued full membership of the EU, which is why this Blog believes this is a crackpot project which must be abandoned. May’s insistence that she will get a deal on her terms is a fantasy. She claims credit for the agreement she achieved at the end of Phase One. In fact she finally, when faced with failure, agreed to the EU’s terms as offered at the beginning.