Britain deserves answers on Brexit
THE UK Government has sought to stamp on the impression that it is divided on Brexit by promising a White Paper which will set out “detailed, ambitious and precise” explanations of its positions.
It intends to publish this epic document ahead of a key summit next month.
The public will welcome any attempt to answer the key questions facing the country as our departure from the European Union races closer.
The mantra that “Brexit means Brexit” never cut the mustard. Citizens deserve to know the precise details of how Theresa May’s Government plans to extricate itself from the EU and form a new relationship with the union and the rest of the world.
She will have performed a political masterstroke if she can secure consensus among not just MPs but ministers who have differing views about where the country should go.
But even the most thorough White Paper will not spell out how the Brexit journey will unfold. It will only be an aspiration for the deals the Government hopes to strike in the negotiations with Brussels.
A proposed solution to, for example, the Irish border may yet get heads nodding around the cabinet table but if it horrifies Dublin and fails to satisfy negotiators then it will never become reality.
Mrs May has already seen swathes of her flagship Brexit legislation defeated in the House of Lords. If her plans cannot satisfy a majority of MPs there is the possibility her Government will be shaken by defeats in the Commons which would gravely imperil her leadership.
There is now an almighty rush to find agreement on subjects of profound economic importance, political sensitivity and historic significance. One could argue that a White Paper should have been produced before Article 50 was triggered and the Brexit countdown started ticking.
The SNP Scottish Government published a White Paper on Scotland’s future before the country went to the polls in the 2014 independence referendum. In contrast, voters across the UK were asked if they wanted to leave the EU without being given a clear description of what this would entail.
Nevertheless, a narrow majority of citizens chose to take that leap in the dark. Mrs May must secure a soft landing for a country that cannot afford any shock that threatens employment or opportunity.