80 DAYS AND COUNTING DOWN TO NO-DEAL.

Now that the Brexit debate is back in full swing, things are really hotting up. 

Apparently there will be a 'meaningful' vote in Parliament next week but where that will lead is anyone's guess. Theresa May shows no sign of backing away from her entrenched position and will almost certainly lose the vote. The European Union is showing no signs of being interested in any form of renegotiation or even of allowing any tweaks to what's already been agreed. Anti-Brexiteers continue to do everything they can to prevent Brexit from happening at all, in clear defiance of the result of the 2016 referendum, and, with just 80 days to go until the official leave date, we seem to be in a world of utter confusion.

When I voted to leave the European Union, I did not vote for any 'type' of Brexit, nor did I vote for the 'Norway' option, the 'Canada option', or any other option. I voted to be rid of the stifling bureaucracy, rules and regulations, profligacy, corruption and sheer unaccountability of a monolithic, utterly self-serving organisation. I voted to give the UK back its freedom to act as it sees fit, institute the laws and systems that it needs in order to tackle the modern world, rather than being bound by the visions of those who invented the European Coal and Steel Community in 1950. This morphed into the European Economic Community which the UK eventually joined in 1973 and has subsequently become the European Union, with ambitions to become the United States of Europe. While the ambition may have seemed laudable in the aftermath of the second major war in 25 years, today's world is very different from that of 1950. 

In 1950, travelling to far off countries was difficult and time-consuming. Even communicating with them was far from easy as telephone links were problematic and, of course, the internet did not exist. International trade was a tiny fraction of what it is today and countries such as the United Kingdom, of necessity, had thriving manufacturing industries covering almost every area of commerce. In contrast, today international travel, communication and trade is simplicity itself. In 1950, the founder members of the ECSC were trying to protect themselves, both from each other and from the menace of the Soviet Union, by becoming a unified bloc and this is still its guiding principal, even though the world outside is so different. 

In 1950, trade with countries such as China, India, Brazil, and many others simply wasn't on the agenda. Today, these countries are the major engines of economic growth in the world but the European Union's ability to strike deals with them is severely restricted by its grindingly slow internal processes. In contrast, a United Kingdom freed from these strictures would be able to move much more quickly and profitably, and that's what I voted for.

Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, No-deal Brexit, WTO-Brexit, call it whatever you like. I voted to get out of the EU and out is what I want. If that means without an immediate deal, fine because, just like the buses, if we miss one deal, there'll be another along pretty soon.