It’s Sunday morning and time to talk politics, which I have not done for some time. A satisfactory resolution of Brexit is of some relevance to the performance of many UK companies which is a key focus of my readers.
How did we get into the current mess? Weak leadership and a lack of consensus both among Government ministers and in Parliament. Our negotiating position with the EU was confusing with changes of policy and people leading the team changing whereas the EU Commission decided what they wanted and stuck to it. The EU insisted early on that any post exit trade relationship would not be part of the withdrawal negotiations which the UK meekly conceded. The Withdrawal Agreement looks like it was drafted by the EU as a result.
It was very interesting watching the Storyville TV documentary that followed Guy Verhofstadt, MEP and leader of the EU Parliament team during the Brexit negotiations. Consistently it seemed that Britain did not know what they wanted. It was also clear of course that in the EU elected Parliament members (MEPs) have little influence and the Commission and the Council dictate policy – a good example of how undemocratic an institution it is.
Where to from here? Firstly the Conservative party need to elect a new leader who will be appointed as Prime Minister. The bookies seem to be tipping Boris Johnson who is popular among Tory party members. He also managed to get elected twice as Mayor of London despite London being generally very left wing in outlook due to the number of immigrants now living there. For those readers who do not live in London, here’s a brief summary of his record there. He removed the Western extension of the Congestion Charge, a popular move, but retained it otherwise and proposed a ULEZ scheme for the central zone. On the Environment his steps were reasonable but he fell in love with cycling and cycle superhighways which has made traffic congestion much worse. His support for the Garden Bridge was a mistake but he otherwise did keep the TfL budget in some kind of order, unlike his successor, and public transport was improved. He did not make unwise promises to the electorate to ensure his election. His record on crime and policing was OK, and better than his successor, but housing in London remained a major issue mainly because of the policies of his predecessor (and since followed by his successor), to encourage immigration and more business development when the needed infrastructure and housing lagged behind.
As Foreign Minister Boris was prone to gaffs and he is certainly not appreciated by some. My wife’s latest comment on him was: “he just needs to grow up”. His chances of unifying the Tory party behind him seem low.
Another leading contender is Dominic Raab, but like all the others, he lacks a lot of public recognition. But he did give a very polished performance on the Andrew Marr show this morning. He was very definite about wanting Brexit to happen on the 29th October with no further delays, and would accept a “No Deal” Brexit if it is impossible to change the Withdrawal Agreement before then. That to my mind is the right approach to take and I do not see a No Deal Brexit as a disaster like some. The economy would soon recover from any temporary disruption and the money saved from our EU contributions would help a great deal.
Some are tipping Michael Gove but I just do not see him as a personality that could win a general election for the Tories. Sajid Javid might be a better bet, but none of the other declared runners looks a winner to me.
The ability to win a general election, and face down Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party, is quite essential because Jeremy Corbyn is still fence sitting in the hope of forcing a General Election. He is 70 today so must realise that his chance of winning power may be slipping away.
Any new prime minister needs to tackle the issue of the Irish border and the “backstop” in the withdrawal agreement. He needs to appoint a cabinet that will back his chosen approach and either conclude that with the DUP or call a general election. That needs to be done quickly if it is to take place before October 29th when we exit the EU unless something else is put into law.
Apart from the Irish backstop proposal in the Withdrawal Agreement, which tied the UK into a Customs Union potentially for ever, there were other aspects of it which were not favourable. If the EU sits on its hands and refuses to renegotiate it a No Deal exit might be best so we can go back to square one and settle on a new trading relationship with them.
Economically the EU needs a good trading deal with the UK just as much as the UK needs one with the EU, if not more so taking into account the balance of trade. But if you have weak, inconsistent or muddled leadership then the chance of the UK getting what it wants is low. To my mind, Dominic Raab might be a better bet to achieve that than Boris Johnson.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
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