The great Brexit fantasy? Trump has destroyed it with one tweet
IN THE end, it was Donald Trump who found them out. David Cameron couldn’t do it. The Remain campaign couldn’t do it. We Westminster village bubble-breathers certainly couldn’t do it. Instead it was a single, off-hand tweet from The Donald that finally exposed the single greatest conceit of the Brexiteers – the belief that June 23 represented our very own Independence Day.
‘Many people would like to see Nigel Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States,’ he said, momentarily taking a break from boasting about the size of his property empire and lambasting the press. ‘He would do a great job!’
The President-elect was right; there were indeed many people who thought Nigel Farage would be perfect for this high-profile and sensitive role. Not least Farage himself.
‘Imagine if we were a business, and we were looking at Trump and America,’ he said, making a typically understated pitch for the job. ‘Somebody we thought it was very important to form a close relationship with. What would you do? You’d find somebody that had connections. I do have connections.’
At the same time, Cabinet Ministers were expressing growing concern at this freelance diplomacy.
Theresa May’s ‘terrible handling’ of Donald Trump’s US election victory had created a vacuum Farage and Trump had skilfully exploited. Other Government sources claimed that the position of our existing Ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, had been made untenable. If Trump really preferred our Nigel, alternative arrangements would have to be made.
So this is what they meant by sovereignty. What Britain ‘reclaiming her destiny’ actually looks like.
The President-elect demands his personal court-jester be appointed as our man in Washington. And the Brexiteers rush around, simpering: ‘You want us to jump? Tell us how high, Donald, how high!’
Last week I had a drink with a businessman who has connections with the US defence industry. ‘May has to find a way to shut them up,’ he said, imploringly. ‘Who do you mean?’ I asked. ‘These Tory MPs who keep criticising Trump. Nobody listens to them over here, but they hear it over there. The US is going to be our main market now. We need to build a relationship with them.’
We were told Brexit would see the United Kingdom charting a brave new independent course across the globe. Instead, we are currently acting like the world’s door-to-door salesman. ‘Taking back control’ involves dispatching Liam Fox, David Davis and Boris Johnson to far-flung capitals to see if anyone fancies buying a packet of washingup gloves or a chammy leather.
Once, a Minister’s arrival involved rolling out the red carpet. Now they get ushered in via the tradesmen’s entrance. Or at least they do if they know the doorman.
Last week there was growing excitement in Government circles about the surging campaign of French presidential challenger Francois Fillon.
An Anglophile with a Welsh wife and a strong admiration for Margaret Thatcher, he has been held up as a man Britain can do business with.
Meanwhile, MPs on both sides of the Brexit divide privately admit that for all the excitement of the impeding Article 50 court showdown, no serious negotiations can commence until both the French and German elections are out of the way. In effect, British sovereignty is set to be placed in the hands of the voters of France and Germany.
In fact, the one group of voters who no longer appear to have any say over the direction of Brexit is the voters of Britain.
The House of Commons – and by extension the people – will be kept in the dark on what precisely is being negotiated in our name until the negotiations have been concluded. That means Angela Merkel is going to know what Brexit actually looks like long before we do.
That’s not a criticism of Theresa May, by the way. She is right to keep her cards close to her chest. The problem is she is currently holding a string of twos. And her fellow players know it.
This is the great paradox of Brexit. In our historic bid for political freedom, we have made ourselves economic hostages. Yes, we now have the opportunity to embark on individual negotiations with the world’s leading economies. But as we enter them, those with whom we are negotiating know how desperate we are for them to be successful.
THEY have read Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement. They have seen the plunging growth forecasts and the dire borrowing figures. They know the clock is ticking, with World Trade Organisation tariffs poised to unleash inflationary havoc across the UK economy.
Two weeks ago, Theresa May got a preview of what those negotiations will look like.
She flew to Delhi, with a retinue of businessmen in tow, to ‘reboot an age-old relationship’. She was greeted cordially by her hosts. Yes, they explained, the relationship could indeed be rebooted – as long as she was prepared to look at easing immigration restrictions.
This is the reality of our brave new world. If we are prepared to accede to foreign governments’ demands to open our borders. And if the voters of those nations are minded to choose leaders who look at us through benevolent eyes. And if we’re happy to let foreign leaders select our diplomats. And if we are prepared to accede to trading terms that will boost jobs and wages in their domestic economies. Then, yes, in those circumstances we can indeed reassert our sovereignty.
Once, we used to send a gunboat. In the post-Brexit era, all it takes is a tweet.