FOR all the talk of British politicians messing up the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, it is now emerging that leaders in Brussels have also been miscalculating. Business Europe, an umbrella body for business groups in all EU countries, is expressing urgent concerns the EU has not made adequate preparations if Britain crashes out of the Union without an agreed deal.
Unless UK legislators have a sudden outbreak of sanity and agree to work together, there is no obvious hope of agreement in parliament on the terms on which the British exit (Brexit) should take place. Given that negotiations between London and Brussels have been going on for two years, this is little short of incredible. The problem has partly been that EU negotiators played hardball, seeking to impose punitive terms that would discourage other EU states from also trying to quit the union.
Crucially, the majority of British civil servants, a powerful bureaucracy able to slow and even resist government policies, were committed Europeans who in the June 2016 referendum voted for the UK to remain in the EU. They were appalled the Brexiteers triumphed. So too was a significant number of elected legislators, especially in the socialist Labor Party, even though much support for Brexit came from working class voters fed up with the increasing political and social dominance of far-away Brussels.
Killing Brexit or at least keeping key terms that would mean Britain would still have strong political, economic and judicial links to the EU has dominated the thinking of Brexit’s opponents. There have been hopes a second referendum would reverse the choice of 17 million Britons two years ago. However, the British public is so sick to death of the endless Brexit bedlam, some Remainers fear a second referendum might actually see an increased vote for leave. More thoughtful politicians are also concerned that demanding a second vote in the hope of reversing the decision might seriously damage faith in the UK’s democratic process.
Yet something clearly has to give. Officially Britain was due to leave the EU on Friday but leaders in Brussels have extended the deadline to May. If no agreement is reached, the UK will be obliged to take part in the June EU-wide parliamentary elections. This may be the best chance that Remainers have of frustrating the whole Brexit process. They are therefore committed to sabotaging the feeble efforts of the beleaguered premier Theresa May to get her compromise Brexit deal through the House of Commons.
Only a completely fresh and visionary approach in both London and Brussels is likely to cut through this chaos. The Business Europe concerns are very real. In the end, the effectiveness of the EU as a political organization is underpinned by its ability to generate wealth and prosperity for its people. And these comes from trade.
Unless this reality is accepted, all the political maneuvering, the widespread plotting, the name-calling and the intransigent negotiating positions, particularly in Brussels, will bring about serious economic damage to both the EU and UK, with the added danger that democracy in the UK will be seriously undermined. Since the mendacious Tony Blair’s 2003 Iraq invasion, the faith of the British electorate in their politicians has been in steep decline. The Brexit debacle might be the final straw.
