Lord Bridges is the DEXEU minister who mysteriously resigned last year (HERE) but he has now spoken in the Lords on the Withdrawal bill earlier this week with a remarkable contribution from a former insider and Brexiteer. He is highly critical of Mrs May and her failure to answer basic questions about Brexit, Here are a few excerpts, the full version you can read HERE. The first cracks are starting to appear.
"What is the country we wish to build once we have left the European Union? Only once we have answered this question can we properly and fully answer the second question - what agreement do we want to strike with the European Union? What do we value more, parliamentary sovereignty and control, or market access and trade?
"Four months on, and there are still no clear answers to these basic, critical questions. All we hear, day after day, are conflicting, confusing voices. If this continues, and ministers cannot agree among themselves on the future relationship the Government wants, how can this prime minister possibly negotiate a clear, precise heads of terms for the future relationship with the EU?
"My fear is that we will get meaningless waffle in a political declaration in October. The implementation period will not be a bridge to a clear destination. It will be a gang plank into thin air."
"The EU will have the initiative in the second stage of the negotiations and we shall find ourselves forced to accept a deal that gives us access to EU markets, but without UK politicians having a meaningful say over swathes of legislation and regulation.
“Some may say this outcome would not be the end of the world. Some may say it’s inevitable.
"My point today is this. At this pivotal moment in our history, we cannot, we must not, indulge in that very British habit of just muddling through. With under 300 working days until we leave the European Union, we need to know the government’s answers to these simple questions.
"The government must be honest with themselves and the public about the choices we face. And then the Prime Minister and her cabinet must make those choices. As has been said, to govern is to choose, and as we face the biggest challenge this country has faced since the Second World War, keeping every option open is no longer an option".
While I agree with much of what he says, Lord Bridges himself seems a bit confused if he thinks we are keeping every option open. We have closed off most of the options with our own red lines. He is indulging in a bit of "muddled" thinking. This is typical of the British way. Say things you don't mean but later feign surprise that anybody thought you did. The EU listen to our red lines and think this is our position - Bridges thinks it isn't.
