Word on the street, Britain’s gone soft

Widdecombe

ISTOPPED for a chat with three women in the street recently when they recognised me. We got on to the subject of Brexit and two of the women had obviously lost the will to live with all the negotiations. But the third said Britain should stand up for itself and “the country has gone soft”.

That was interesting because the other two were white but she was clearly of immigrant stock. Presumably she comes from a family which knows all too clearly how precious freedom is.

Whether or not the country has gone soft, politicians certainly have with supposed Brexiter after supposed Brexiter saying we must take Mrs May’s deal because it is the best on offer. It needs only the tones of a latter-day Lord Haw-Haw proclaiming, “EU calling, EU calling” to complete the picture of betrayal.

That we are where we are is due to the refusal of our rulers to face up to scenarios they do not like. David Cameron did no preparation at all for a Leave vote.

Theresa May has been so keen on a deal that she too has neglected a Plan B. Government whines we are not ready to leave without a deal. Well, why the heck not? We have had two years to prepare for the possibility.

MEANWHILE the claims get wilder and we are now being sold the line that if the House of Commons throws out this preposterous surrender then a Corbyn government is inevitable. Rot. A confidence vote is inevitable but whatever threats the Unionists may make, their joining forces with the loony left is unlikely.

Let us all take a deep breath. The essence of complaint over this deal is that we could be tied into the customs union for ever because both sides have to agree future withdrawal. If we were legally certain we could leave at any point we wanted, then many of the concerns would be met.

If the current deal bites the dust next week then Mrs May should focus on getting that one change out of the EU.

And if she can’t then we should simply leave without a deal and let the EU face the consequences.