UK’s ‘hard Brexit’ shows confidence

The British government has made its plan for leaving the European Union a little clearer

Despite protests from some quarters, last year’s decision to leave the European Union reflected the will of the British people, and its politicians now have the responsibility to execute the Brexit at minimal cost and inconvenience. As The National reported yesterday, prime minister Theresa May described it in a landmark speech this week as a “hard Brexit”, and she laid down her ambitions for the transition. After months of speculation about the approach she would take, it now appears that Mrs May is determined to take a tough line.

The fact that the United Kingdom is planning to make a clean and complete break from the EU could be seen as a statement of great confidence – despite estimates that it will cost the economy £66 billion (Dh298.5bn) a year and decrease gross domestic product by as much as 9.5 per cent. Significantly, Mrs May issued a warning to the EU not to be punitive in its negotiations with the UK. Her speech has already had an effect on sterling, which had its sharpest rise on currency markets since the Brexit referendum last June.

But for all the talk, her speech was short on details. The EU’s president, Donald Tusk, said that it was “at least more realistic announcement” about what London wanted. The UK aims to regain full control of immigration, to free its laws from European oversight and to strike its own trade deals. As Mrs May noted in her speech, countries keen to enter trade negotiations include China, Brazil and the Gulf states. Indeed, United States president-elect Donald Trump has said that the UK will be at the “front of the queue” for a deal with the world’s largest economy.

Perhaps one clue to the future can be seen in the activities of John Clancy, who leads the municipal government in England’s second-largest city, Birmingham. Mr Clancy visited China in September and has just returned from Qatar seeking to make post-Brexit trade deals and generate investment in housing, education, science and research. Other recent high-profile British visitors to the Gulf include finance minister Philip Hammond, international trade secretary Liam Fox and the heir to the throne, Prince Charles.

The UK has taken a gamble in choosing Brexit. The question is whether Britain can have its cake and eat it too by choosing a “hard Brexit”. Mrs May still has a big task ahead of her, but it seems that she is determined to prove the naysayers wrong.