It seems that Brexit is finally coming to a crunch point. Following Theresa May's watered down proposals which were 'agreed' by the Cabinet on Friday, first David Davis and now Boris Johnson have signalled their disapproval of the plan by resigning from their positions as Brexit Secretary and Foreign Secretary respectively. What now ?
Mrs May has reportedly said that she did not agree with the two ex-ministers about "the best way to honour the result of the 2016 vote" which seems to me to be a complete surrender to both the European Union's negotiating position and also to those here who want the UK to remain as closely tied to the EU as possible, if not actually remaining inside it. There is only one way to "honour" the vote and that is to do what it asked, that is, to take the UK out of the EU, Customs' Union, Single Market and all of the other nonsense that goes with it.
Some time ago, Mrs May told us that "Brexit means Brexit" and she promised that we would be leaving the Customs' Union and Single Market, and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice as well as bringing an end to the free movement of people across the EU. Now it appears that she is effectively proposing to keep the UK in the Customs' Union, to keep us fully aligned with all EU rules and regulations and to offer European citizens preferential rights of migration. All of this of course means that the ECJ would also continue to be the ultimate arbiter of our compliance with EU diktats although we would have no say in the formulation of such rulings.
On television yesterday, Michael Gove attempted to dance on the head of a pin, saying that the UK parliament would, nonetheless, have the final word regarding any EU rulings, and trying to make out that this was perfectly normal in trade deals. Although he claimed that his acceptance of, and support for, the Prime Minister's proposal was a result of him being a realist, it was clear that it was nothing more than a sell out of the people who, like him, voted to leave the EU. Gove was positioning himself as a reasonable alternative to Theresa May in the event that any of his other Cabinet colleagues decided to be more forthright in their opposition. While supporting Mrs May's proposal, he did not renege on his Brexit credentials and could now easily be seen as a Prime Minister in waiting by both sides of the Conservative party.
Theresa May has let the country down badly. She has failed to carry out her own promises from 2016 and 2017 and has failed to conduct any effective negotiation, refusing to issue any threats, veiled or otherwise, to the EU and refusing to use the UK's bargaining power on money, trade, defence and much more. Rather than tell the EU what she will accept, she has bent over backwards to accommodate its every whim and has, frankly, been pathetic. What we now have to wait to see is whether the resignations of Johnson and Davis are anything more than just acts of petulance. Will there now be a leadership challenge and a far harder attitude from the Conservative Brexiteers in Parliament ?
Only time will tell though we're unlikely to have to wait long to find out.
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