Europe will soon come a-knocking
POLITICAL history was made last week in Westminster as Parliament descended into unpredicted farce.
The present mess is entirely due to the Mother of Parliaments, whereby the members failed to carry out the instructions of the electorate.
Let there be no doubt, the choice given in 2016 was very simple. Did voters want to leave the Euro club or stay in?
No qualifications, no subsidiary questions, certainly nothing about deals of any sort, just a straight question.
Our nation voted to leave, yet Members of Parliament decided in their wisdom that we got it wrong, and for the last 40 months have failed to do as they had been told.
As a result, the media have been bombarding our ears and eyes with a continuous stream of argument and counter-argument such that most of us are not only confused, but utterly fed up with the whole subject.
Many had hoped that when Boris was elected as Prime Minister, he would get on with the job. Instead of which, there is now more confusion, with dismissals, resignations and the prospect of yet another General Election, the cost of which will be some £150 million of tax-payers hard earned money.
Businesses across the spectrum cannot plan for the future, the result being that some have fallen by the wayside, employees losing their jobs. Stock and currency markets have suffered as a result, small fortunes having been lost as a direct result of a total lack of positive action by Government.
What need to happen now?
The present or future prime minister must take us straight out of Europe, deal or no deal. That will comply with the democratically expressed wish of the electorate.
I have absolutely no doubt that if Euroland is not willing to do a deal now, as soon as we have gone, they will be knocking on our door to rapidly make arrangements for everybody’s commercial benefit. German and French manufacturers have too much to lose. Saner business realists on the Continent know that this will happen.
Russell Luckock is chairman of Birmingham pressings firm
AE Harris