The British electorate... an apology

Sorry about this. But you might have got the impression the Sunday Mirror is to blame for inflicting Theresa May on you for three years longer than necessary.

Our story last Sunday named the date of the PM’s departure as August 30, 2019.

That, or the sushi she ate on her visit to Japan, did not agree with her. And she went doolally.

Mrs May stunned everyone by saying she intended to lead the Tories into the next General Election.

Fortunately no one with an ounce of political nous believes she will.

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine and former party chairman Grant Shapps pointed out it is not Mrs May who decides who leads the Tory Party. It is the Tory Party.

And while MPs are content to let her remain in charge during the Brexit process, they do not want her spearheading another election after the pig’s ear she made of the last one.

So August 30, 2019 still stands as time for bye-byes. That’s if MPs don’t get rid of her before that.

Just as everything was calming down for Mrs May, she goes and stirs up a storm.

Ministers liked the end of tyranny and a return to Cabinet government which resulted from her losing her majority in a cackhanded election campaign.

STUPID

MPs respected the humility she showed in near defeat.

They were prepared to give her a second chance on condition she did not do anything else stupid. Then she says something stupid.

Now the plotting against her will begin all over again when Parliament returns on Tuesday.

This is not in the nation’s best interests because Brexit is in serious trouble.

Six months on from triggering Article 50, David Davis and Michel Barnier are still in talks about how the talks should proceed.

At this rate the UK will be lucky to leave Europe by the next millennium. And it all hinges on the price of our going.

If only the EU’s chief negotiator behaved more like the boss of a football club this stalemate could be resolved.

The club which wants to sell a player sets a transfer fee. The club which wants to buy that player then haggles over the amount.

So the onus is on Michel Barnier to give the figure the EU expects from Britain to leave. It is then Mr Davis’s duty to the British taxpayer to beat him down.

That we must pay our bar bill before leaving the pub is not in question. But figures of £100billion being bandied about are ridiculous.

If the UK was a football club in the transfer market it would want to know exactly what it was getting for its money.

So the nearer we can get to the goal of access to Europe’s single market the more money we should be prepared to pay.

If the EU continues to be difficult about this the UK will become more likely to pick up the ball and go home.

And then we will all be sorry. THIS is the club of hard Brexit – a clean break, favoured by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

It would make the UK truly independent but at a cost – and disruption like we’ve never experienced.

The average worker could be £687 worse off.

A nightmare scenario could mean French apples, Spanish oranges and Italian pasta are scarce, along with German beer.

British truckers who bring these goods back may not be licensed in Europe. And in retaliation EU drivers would not be able to drive in Britain.

Aviation safety is governed by the EU. No agreement on jurisdiction and planes would be grounded – so adios to Costa holidays.

The Centre for Economic Performance says trade would drop 40 per cent over 10 years and incomes would fall 2.6 per cent.

Hard Brexit could be smelly, too. We export 10 per cent of our waste to EU countries. EUROPE’S chief Brexit negotiator is Michel Barnier, who won’t gift the UK an easy goal.

He wants a divorce bill of up to £100billion, which could cost each worker £3,125. And he wants it settled along with the rights of some 3.2 million EU citizens in the UK and 1.2 million Brits in Europe before trade is discussed.

If the EU gives us the red card, UK goods would face delays at 27 borders without a trade deal. We would be left with a deal under World Trade Organisation tariffs, which could add £13billion a year to imports and £6billion on exports.

A new car would go up 10 per cent and fruit and veg by at least 20 per cent.