Thursday 29 June 2017

Brexit: "It's Quite A Lot Of Bother, Isn't It?"

Nick Clegg, the former Leader of the LibDems, writes in the "i newspaper" today that he's noticing a shift in what people are saying about Brexit.  Until recently it was "We'd better make the best of it".  Now the negotiations have started, the British public are getting a clearer idea of the complexity of Brexit.  He says he is now hearing "It's quite a lot of bother, isn't it?"

David Davis, leading the UK's negotiating team, has said in the last couple of days that Brexit is "as complicated as a moon landing".  David Allen Grren, a former government lawyer, responded with "It's lunacy".

Whether you believe that Brexit would generate a better or worse economic situation in the medium-term or long-term, even Brexiters agree that there will be an economic hit in the short term.  The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, is reportednly setting aside a £60 billion war chest by 2020.  That's a massive amount of money!

Before the referendum, I highlighted that there would be a massive transition cost. Time, effort, hard cash.  This is reflected in these diagrams from the world of chemistry, but of equal relevance to Brexit.  The humps indicate the transition costs, whether the economy moves to a higher or lower level.

Few listened then, but many are realising the transition cost now.

The problem is that all the major parties are taking the referendum as the final instruction to Leave the EU.  The LibDems are suggesting a second referendum, but are not challenging the basic idea.

The Just Party takes a different view. It would be inconceivable that.the British public should not be given a further say in the matter, and indeed the chance to say "Stop!"  The referendum is best regarded as a starting gun, not a finishing line.

Food costs are going up as a result of the devaluation of the pound after Brexit. People are being hit in their pockets.  Nobody can escape the idea that Brexit simply isn't the pain-free process they were sold last year.

The Just Party is looking for 10 MPs or more from the Conservative and Labour parti4es, who on being re-elected would counteract the recent DUP deal.  That would mean the Tories could not get Brexit legislation through parliament if it wasn't a good idea.  Which MPs will run with tbis idea?


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