People are bored with mistakes, not Brexit

They have been called Bobs – “Bored of Brexit”. Leaving aside the poor grammar, they are the group that Theresa May seeks to recruit to push her EU deal through the Commons. She has appealed to these Bobs, who are apparently fed up with the constant political arguments over Brexit and just want it over and done with. She wants them to put pressure on their MPS to vote for the Withdrawal Agreement when it comes before the House next month.

To say the least, the Prime Minister has her work cut out. During another marathon session in the Commons yesterday when she reported back on the outcome of the talks on Sunday, an hour had passed before a single MP from either side of the chamber backed her.

Over the next two weeks, leading to the crucial vote, Mrs May is planning to tour the country to sell her deal to the public over the heads of the MPS. “The overwhelming view is just get on with it,” she said. But why is that? If people are bored with what is a crucial matter for the country’s future, it is because Brexit has become an enervating, pettifogging, procedural mess largely as a result of the way the Prime Minister has conducted the issue from the moment she lost her majority in last year’s election.

She has rarely shown any belief in the concept of Brexit – unsurprisingly, perhaps, since she campaigned for Remain. As a consequence, the whole process has been handled like an embarrassment to get out of the way, rather than an opportunity to move forward optimistically as a fully independent nation. Instead of being a springboard to a better place, it has turned into a technocratic nightmare. The language of backstops, Norway 2, Canada-plus, meaningful votes, hard borders and the rest is guaranteed to put people off and leave them bemused.

In the Commons yesterday, Mrs May did say she believed the UK could be better off outside the EU. “Our future is in our hands,” she added. But why has she left it so late to extol the advantages of leaving while failing to prepare for doing so without a deal if necessary?

She insists that unless her deal is accepted the UK will crash out or stay in the EU. Yet judging by yesterday’s exchanges, it will not get through. As is apparent from the postbag received by our Letters Editor, people are not bored with Brexit. They are appalled at the way it has been handled.