As Theresa May gets humiliated in the Brexit talks, the hardliners will blame Brussels. But it is them and our hapless prime minister who are cocking things up. And the public knows it.
Before May’s disastrous election, her plan was to be a “bloody difficult woman”. If the negotiations broke down, she’d just crash out of the EU without a deal. Although this would cause chaos, she’d pin the blame on the EU. She’d get away with it because her cheerleaders in the Brexit press would back her to the hilt and the BBC wouldn’t say boo to a goose.
This game plan no longer works. May won’t get parliamentary backing to crash out without a deal. So she’s condemned to stick with the talks – and make climb-down after climb-down in her desperation to get a deal.
Even though our flip-flop queen made eight more u-turns in her Florence speech, that still wasn’t enough to get the EU to discuss even the transitional arrangement she is pleading for. May is planning to make more concessions on money and the role of EU judges in order to kickstart talks on the transition, according to The Times. She’ll do this after next week’s Tory conference to avoid angering her supporters.
Brexiters are trying to point the finger at Brussels for being unreasonable. But this doesn’t wash with the voters. In the latest YouGov poll, only 21% thought the government was making a good fist of the negotiations.
You can see why. The Leave campaign was based on a pack of lies. Brexiters told us the divorce would be easy because Germany was desperate to sell us BMWs. They told us the EU needed us more than we need it. This isn’t true: 12% of our economy depends on exports to the EU; only 3% of their economy depends on exports to us. So we need them more than they need us.
Boris Johnson told us we could have our cake and eat it. This isn’t true either. To get access to the EU’s single market we have to play by its rules.
When she became prime minister, May had a perfect chance to fess up to the people and tell them Brexit wouldn’t be a walk in the park. But she went along with the Leave campaign’s fantasies.
May then triggered Article 50, without a plan. Six months later, after an election she promised not to call, she still doesn’t have one. Now her authority is shot to bits, she can’t even impose a plan on the warring factions in her Cabinet.
The public sees all this.
What’s more, the opposition is finally landing its punches. Jeremy Corbyn isn’t pro-European, but he has the wind in his sails and won’t let May pin the blame for her mistakes on Brussels.
So don’t even try it, Brexiters. Your best bet, even at this late stage, is to start being honest. Admit we need the EU. Admit there’s no cake. And hope the voters forgive you.