Well, Theresa May has finally given a speech steeped in platitude about
what Brexit means. There are some positives, I'll give her that, because at the
very least she's talking about the need to control immigration and to have the
ability to negotiate trade deals with third countries. In some areas she is
talking about our strengths at the negotiating table. Yet, #despiteBrexit (TM), the pound is up nearly
1.5% against the euro and 2% against the dollar today. I have mixed feelings
about the pound recovering because of the need to boost manufacturing at
present, but the weaker pound has been a plank of the arguments of Remainers
that the economy is weakening. A stronger pound would be good for buying foreign
goods, and ultimately help stem the increase in petrol prices, but not so good
for our exports.
She's also right that no deal is
better than a bad deal.
The devil though, as ever, is in
the detail.
It won't be a hard Brexit, a
soft Brexit, or even a red, white and blue Brexit. It's going to be a
slow-motion Brexit with 'phased implementation and 'interim measures' not
starting until April 2019, almost three years after the British people gave
their mandate in a referendum. And that's assuming that there are no further
delays, which itself is questionable. There's no deadline for when this process
would be completed, and no time limit, but we're helpfully told that some things
will take longer than others (but not which are which).
We won't, we're told, be paying
'vast contributions' into the European Union budget. Will we, in fact, be paying
smaller sums into the EU budget under May's proposals? We don't know. I'd have
liked to see a much firmer line here.
Then there's fishing, an
essential component of any speech on Brexit. Not mentioned
once.
Plenty of
need for UKIP to hold this government to
account!
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