Amid Brexit chaos, May seeks unity

The UK government has been reckless in dealing with the EU — finally there may be some clarity

It’s been 12 months since the negotiating teams of the United Kingdom and the European Union sat down first to discuss the terms of Brexit, and over those 12 months, little has been agreed upon other that the fact that the British Government was in a state of flux and chaos over what it was trying to achieve by fulfilling the mandate handed to it in the June 2016 referendum.

Now, after the events of these past few days, there might be an element of clarity in those talks, even if they are to unfold under the guidance of Dominic Raab, a widely respected and quietly efficient minister who has replaced David Davis at the Department for Exiting the European Union following his resignation.

At the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, too, there might be a clearer enunciation of what the UK is trying to achieve under Jeremy Hunt, who has replaced Boris Johnson, who pondered his position for three days following the Chequers accord reached between Prime Minister Theresa May and her divided Cabinet on the details of a soft Brexit.

The boorish and opinionated Johnson lacked the diplomatic skills to endear himself to other governments, and he is forever tainted by being the public face of the divisive campaign that brought Britain this Brexit mess in the first instance.

Hunt, however, failed to impress in the health portfolio, with the National Healthcare Service under his watch critically underfunded, chronically understaffed and chaotically overextended.

For now, it appears as if May has managed to cauterise her critics and excise them from Cabinet. For now, too, it seems as if she is safe from any leadership review that can be triggered by 48 of her Conservative party MPs.

Monday marked a truly tumultuous day of political intrigue and developments, one not seen since the results of that Brexit referendum came clear the morning after. That shows just how deeply divisive and indeed unnecessary this vote was, promised at a time when former prime minister David Cameron faced a threat — that never materialised at the ballot box — from the United Kingdom Independence Party.

Across Europe, leaders of the EU27 are shaking their heads wondering just what is going on and who will they be talking to — and on what subject matter. There is a supposition too that the Chequers plan will be bought by the EU — May, or whoever might be tempted to replace her, shouldn’t hold her breath.