Over-Optimism of Brexiters Is Ruining This Country

In today's iPaper

One of the first tasks in any negotiation is to understand the other side and what will be a WIN for them.  Then you can aim for a WIN-WIN.

Clearly that has escaped the UK’s negotiation team in the EU negotiations this week.  But today takes the biscuit.

The headline in the iPaper today, similar to many other daily papers, screams “Britain to strike trade deals ‘by replicating EU agreements’” according to Theresa May, our Prime Minister.

I’ve met Theresa one to one for a detailed rather technical discussion.  I can assure you she’s very bright and quick on the uptake.  But this new statement is incredibly naïve. Or desperate.

Of course any legal agreement these days starts with a previous one.  Why re-invent the wheel?  But then you have to ask for what the other side would be looking.  Inevitably something better.  Without the size and clout of the EU, the UK cannot expect each final deal to be as good as we have today as members of the EU.  That's either to replace some fifty existing deals, or for new ones.

This over-optimism from Brexiters has been the case right through from before last year’s referendum.  Everything will be “easy”.  Complexities and downside are swept under the carpet.  The enthusiasm is infectious.  The naivety staggering.

It reminds me of something.  Working with new graduates.  For them, anything is possible, and sometimes it’s worth a good try.  But experience shows some aspirations are good, and some things are bad. Theresa May is dressing up wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Making out bad is good.

Yet all the senior people in May’s government are well over 40.  They should know better.  Much better.  They are taking us backwards, at great expense, and thereby ruining this country.  When will any of them see sense?