Shropshire Star

Nine main reasons why Brexit has gone so horribly wrong

Here is what I believe has gone wrong with the Brexit process:

Published

1. David Cameron calling a referendum in the first place, seriously believing that giving the electorate a chance to kick the establishment, that same electorate would decline the invitation.

2. Expecting a clean break with Europe to be negotiated by perhaps one of the most Europhile prime ministers in history was never going to be a good idea.

3. There was a clear rejection of the result of the referendum by the establishment, hence the nine-month delay before triggering Article 50, in the clear, but mistaken beliefs that the British public were unaware of what was going on, and the delay would somehow court further favour with the remaining 27, which was clearly never going to happen.

4. A false belief that the EU had more to lose than we had, and consequently we held all 13 cards of the trump suit. A clear and significant error.

5. A complete obsession with the Irish backstop, one of the great political red herrings of all time.

6. An opposition party which has no interest in Brexit – it has opposed everything for the sake of opposition as it is obsessed with forcing a general election.

7. The European Reform Group whose only acceptable Brexit deal is one that they, personally, have negotiated, and a belief that the EU would even consider this as a viable option.

8. A parliament who, frankly, have appeared to treat this process as some kind of children’s game. The magnitude of what is at stake appears to be beyond some of them.

9. A belief that the more meaningful votes parliament has, the more concessions the EU will have to make. Heaven only knows where this idea comes from!

One final thought - whatever you may think of Donald Trump, he had the sense to walk away from a bad deal at Hanoi at the end of February this year!

Mr D N Grant, Ludlow

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