Allister Heath

This kamikaze Brexit strategy beggars belief

What is wrong with this Government? Its incompetence in its handling of the greatest question of our times is now so extraordinary, so mind-boggling, that it is at times hard to believe that any of this is actually happening. Did we all drop off to sleep the day after the referendum, and have yet to awaken?

Tragically, dear readers, it’s all too real. We have ended up with a kamikaze government that appears to have – deliberately or inadvertently – put itself in a situation where the only way it thinks it can convince us to buy its ridiculous Chequers plan is to highlight all the problems, real, inflated or imaginary, that a No Deal with zero preparations would entail.

Never mind that it is actually this Government’s job to ensure such preparations are made, and to identify and implement policies to eliminate or minimise disruption from a No Deal outcome: it is in effect campaigning against itself, exposing or even exaggerating its own failings. All governments are two-faced, but this one would make Janus blush. An administration that once claimed to believe that “no deal is better than a bad deal” has tacitly allied itself with the most extreme of Remainers, and through its inactivity, blundering and silence, is doing their work for them.

By now, a normal government would have worked out exactly what needs to be done to keep planes flying and supermarkets stocked. This is not about succumbing to the fearmongers: a series of tricky yet solvable technical problems would arise from terminating our membership of the EU while not replacing it with any other legal arrangement. A sensible government would not be shy about telling us, in extreme detail and accompanied by extensive legal advice, how it would resolve these issues: all of this would be public information, and directed at UK as well as European audiences. Better the truth than have to rely on the sewer that is the Twittersphere for gossip and rumour. Some good, technical work may indeed have been done under the leadership of some ministers, but unfortunately not in a visible way, and it has been overshadowed by the failure of central government to communicate with local authorities or business.

We merely hear from sources close to the Government that the Army is on standby or that unspecified policies will be enacted to safeguard food supplies. There are no operational details, no reassurance, no rebuttals, just more oil poured on the fire: the few “ideas” that leak are inane, back of the fag-packet solutions designed either by people of limited imagination or by enemies of Brexit. Civil servants want to use the M20 as a lorry park, in a move apparently designed to infuriate locals. Why no truly sustainable solution? Why hasn’t the Government purchased or rented vast amounts of land in the proper place, and used emergency rules to bypass planning red tape? There are powers available on the statute book for the government to act during times of emergency.

And why hasn’t it recruited 1,000 vets from abroad, to make sure that checks on meat and other foodstuffs can be made at the border – paying them massive bonuses if need be? Why hasn’t it worked out what to do at Dover, supposedly the key port health authority? Why hasn’t it earmarked £5 billion or £10 billion in emergency funding, with massive cash prizes for contractors that work 24 hours a day to deliver what must be done?

More to the point, why can’t it negotiate a bridging mini-deal with France to ensure that none of this is necessary? Why isn’t that the sole purpose of Theresa May’s trip to see Emmanuel Macron? Why can’t the Prime Minister calmly point out to Mr Macron and the rest of the EU how the UK would respond to a one-sided imposition of full third-country customs checks on UK exports? And ditto any decision by the Irish to attempt to cut off Northern Ireland’s electricity supply? Will this Government ever be firm, or can it only beg?

The explosion of hysteria encouraged by this abject, scandalous lack of leadership has already done real damage to our society. If enough people believe that there will be food shortages, the fear will become self-fulfilling and panic-buying will erupt as the deadline looms. It’s not just stupid, suicidal politics – voters will never forgive a party that is seen not even to be trying to prevent food shortages – but also a dereliction of duty.

For months now, I’ve been worried that we are heading for a Suez-style catastrophe – but I was wrong. This is much worse. Suez was a remarkable feat of scheming, planning and logistics: Britain and France landed paratroopers along the canal – no mean achievement – and defeated the Egyptian forces. Other things went wrong: the Egyptians managed to block the canal to all shipping, and the Americans turned against us. Had those in charge of Brexit been organising Suez, our soldiers would never have arrived or would have landed in the wrong country, or would have shot each other not the enemy.

So what would an even halfcompetent government be doing? It would be telling us that it would keep the border entirely open with France for an extended period, allowing all goods, food and medicines to come in freely, thus making shortages impossible and keeping supply chains going. It would also be explaining the legal basis for such an approach, whether any new legislation would be needed and how any objections from the WTO would be ignored until the proper infrastructure is constructed (it takes years to hear cases).

What if the Europeans were not to reciprocate? The Government could promise to indemnify all agricultural exporters, and perhaps others too, or help them in some other way, in the short run, in full knowledge of the legal issues. It could encourage retailers to source far more goods and produce from outside the EU, and to shift supply chains as soon as possible, inflicting immediate pain on EU producers. It could cut VAT and other taxes to cushion any disruption.

Instead, the Government continues to prevaricate, to obfuscate and to stick its head in the sand, reducing our negotiating leverage by the day and paving the way for a politically unacceptable surrender. How long will this madness last? And will MPS really allow this charade to continue when they return in September?