During the TV coverage of the latest episode of the Brexit saga yesterday, Sam Coates of The Times said on BBC that when Theresa May first entered Downing Street in 2016, she was asked by the then cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, who died last year from cancer, if she wanted to have a 'big conversation' with the country and with parliamentarians to try and reach a consensus following a fractious, divisive referendum campaign. She and her advisers said no. If there was a moment when Brexit started to go wrong that must have been it.
I noticed some MPs have occasionally talked about a future Chilcott style inquiry into Brexit. If there ever is such a thing (and I for one would welcome it) it will focus on the prime minister's arrogant belief that she and she alone, should be able to determine the future of this country. It was her first big mistake and the result of sheer conceit and hubris.
Had she set-up a cross party commission instead of trying to keep control of the entire process the outcome might have been very different. Of course there was always going to be huge problems given the massive divisions in the Tory party over Europe. It was perhaps an acceptance of this that prompted Mrs May to call the 2017 election. Had she got her majority above the membership number of the ERG she would have had a lot more room to manoeuvre while being able to ignore the lunatic fringe.
Setting out the direction of travel outside the single market and the customs union in her speech to conference in October 2016 and in the Lancaster House speech in January 2017 - without consultation with anybody it seems - was her second error of judgement.
Calling the 2017 election and losing the small majority she had was the third. From that moment on the abject humiliation of this country and its leader became inevitable. She has simply stumbled onward from one miscalculation and mistake to another.
And on a similar matter, to show what a pretty pass we have come to as far as our political class is concerned, I point you towards a Brexit Central article (HERE) written by someone called Christopher Howarth, described as 'a senior researcher working in the House of Commons. Prior to this he worked for Open Europe, as a Conservative Foreign Affairs Adviser and senior researcher to a Shadow Europe Minister'.
He wrote yesterday:
"Before the second defeat of the ‘deal’ and Tuesday’s vote on a motion to take ‘no deal’ off the table, I wrote that the Brexit result “is already a foregone conclusion”, asserting that it’s already a certainty that we will leave on 29th March without a deal or without the backstop. So far I have not heard any credible counter-arguments. So, following this week’s events is this still true? Yes, and more so".
Stunningly, there are still apparently sentient human beings in this country at senior levels who believe we will leave on March 29th. He lists out various scenarios, dismisses them one by one and then concludes at the very end:
"Once you have eliminated all the alternatives, the conclusion is staring you in the face – the UK will leave on 29th March and take back control".
No, it will not.
And on a similar matter, to show what a pretty pass we have come to as far as our political class is concerned, I point you towards a Brexit Central article (HERE) written by someone called Christopher Howarth, described as 'a senior researcher working in the House of Commons. Prior to this he worked for Open Europe, as a Conservative Foreign Affairs Adviser and senior researcher to a Shadow Europe Minister'.
He wrote yesterday:
"Before the second defeat of the ‘deal’ and Tuesday’s vote on a motion to take ‘no deal’ off the table, I wrote that the Brexit result “is already a foregone conclusion”, asserting that it’s already a certainty that we will leave on 29th March without a deal or without the backstop. So far I have not heard any credible counter-arguments. So, following this week’s events is this still true? Yes, and more so".
Stunningly, there are still apparently sentient human beings in this country at senior levels who believe we will leave on March 29th. He lists out various scenarios, dismisses them one by one and then concludes at the very end:
"Once you have eliminated all the alternatives, the conclusion is staring you in the face – the UK will leave on 29th March and take back control".
No, it will not.
