And still the wait goes on for coherence on Brexit

FROM the outset, many feared the worst on Brexit – and that was when Theresa May’s government had some loose sense of mission. The chaos we have seen in the last 20 months has been of an entirely different order of magnitude. Today, Mrs May is expected to give a clear picture of her government’s plans regarding Britain’s EU departure.

We have been here before. So far, the UK’s vision has been so inward-looking as to be claustrophobic.

Speaking on RTÉ yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appealed for some “grown-up negotiations”. As he did so, Donald Tusk, the President of the EU Council, was warning that Border controls were unavoidable if the UK leaves the single market and customs union.

Britain claims not to want a hard Border, but appears set on an unswerving course that will make one inevitable.

Mr Varadkar was plain in his words. We have had too many aspirations with built-in contradictions to have any grounds for hope.

We need to know more. What is most urgently required is a genuine engagement, centred on a common purpose. London must be on message with London, as Commissioner Phil Hogan pointed out in these pages this week.

It is in Ireland’s, the EU’s, and – most importantly for the UK – Britain’s best interests to get out of the cul-de-sac that our nearest neighbour has been driven into by a lack of direction.

Mrs May has an opportunity to show intent and an obligation to seize it. Unless she takes the wheel, we will not be blandly talking about Brexit hard or soft – as if it were a boiled egg – we will be talking about a crash.