Sleepwalking to No Deal Brexit
YOU may think that Brexit has been done.
But as anyone who has bothered to get themselves informed about the issue will know, although the UK is no longer a part of the EU, No Deal Brexit and a hard border in Ireland are still possibilities.
At present we are in a kind of false Brexit. We have left the EU and are no longer represented, but until December 31 we are for most purposes still enjoying the benefits of EU membership such as free and easy trade with the EU nations.
Thus, not withstanding the pandemic, we don’t have shortages of medicines or food, for instance, and we still have frictionless trade. The UK government could have taken a share of the EU ventilator scheme. And why not, as members we have helped pay for them.
You may recall that the government was said to have lost the email offering a share of the ventilators. This was later denied. It was also claimed that the decision not to take part in the scheme was a “political decision”. This was also later denied. In any case, the government decided not to take part in the scheme and instead ordered 400,000 gowns from Turkey, none of which will be used as they do not meet our standards. This is taking incompetence to a higher and more dangerous level than the Seaborne Freight debacle.
The UK government is apparently now quietly asking to be part of the EU wide pandemic warning system after initially rejecting the offer. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the government does not want the public to see benefits of EU membership.
The government is currently trying to recruit 50,000 customs staff for after true Brexit when frictionless trade comes to an end. That is more than the EU Commission for the whole of the EU and knocks a big chunk off the £350m per week (always the wrong and exaggerated figure) that they were supposedly going to give to Our NHS.
So that leaves us with an obviously inept government sleepwalking us towards No Deal Brexit. Perhaps that’s what you voted for, but I doubt your children and grandchildren will thank you for it.
Charles Thompson, Blyth