Kirsty Mckenzie
HE started with the battle cry ‘Get Brexit done’ and after almost a year in the trenches, we’re close to stumbling home.
Confused, concussed and just a little bit beaten, we march onwards towards Brexit with our floppy-haired British commander Boris cheering us nonsensically all the way.
D-day this time is November 16, the European Union’s deadline to reach an agreement, and Boris reckons the battle is all but won.
But who’s to say what D will stand for this time? Devastation? Delusion? Or just any bloody decision will do?
The PM is optimistic he will strike an agreement this week saying the deal is ‘there to be done’ adding ‘the broad outlines are pretty clear’ but to the mass public, we still are clambering around in the dark looking for an explanation for what Brexit truly means and how it will work. Until then, it feels rather like the blind are leading the blind.
The main stumbling blocks between the UK and EU are thought to include the “level playing field” measures aimed at preventing unfair competition on issues including state subsidies, the ongoing row over fishing rights and how any UK-EU deal will be governed.
The deadline from the EU is both a blessing and a curse. Someone needs to put and end to this drawn-out torture and securing a deal before the end of this month means it can be ratified by the time the UK leaves the customs union and single market but the unexpected blow of COVID-19 means Brexit discussion are no longer the top priority in parliament. Without a deal being struck, we’ll be left to subject to conditions set by the World Trade Organisation – a move that would “ruinous” for the UK and Ireland according to Micheal Martin when he spoke to the BBC on Thursday.
“We’ve all had a very significant shock to our economic system because of Covid-19 — the last thing we need now across all of our respective economies is a second major shock,” he said.
Boris may promise to be Britain’s white knight in dishevelled armour but right now he’s looking more like sleeping, ahem, beauty. Wakey, wakey Boris – it’s time for a decision to be made.
