Think about this: the 27 other member nations in Europe, with all of the differences in culture, political approach and desires to help their own countries benefit as much as they can from their membership, which causes constant friction on a number of areas, took less than a minute last month to concur that Prime Minister Theresa May needs to come up with some ‘realistic’ proposals for Brexit. Less than a minute.
The UK’s political infighting is taking everyone’s energy, and creating a dangerous game of brinkmanship which, no matter which way you look at it, Britain stands little chance of winning.
The idea we are going to be able to cut some sort of amazing deal with partners outside of Europe seems unlikely.
President Trump is adamant that he needs to use protectionist policies to help the US and its workers, but it may end up doing the opposite.
Despite apparently agreeing a Brexit compromise at Chequers, which would deliver a partial Brexit with aligned rules allowing free trade with the bloc, there followed a raft of resignations of Brexiteers from the cabinet, most notably David Davis and Boris Johnson, a key architect of Brexit.
Mr Johnson, who loves a play on words, was recently talking about a ‘full Brexit’ that should be delivered by the Prime Minister, as if Mrs May is some short-order cook in a greasy spoon.
However, what the events of last week have left us with is more of a ‘dog’s Brexit’ with ministers resigning left, right and centre, and little in the way of real forward momentum. But then what should we expect?
The idea that ministers can dismiss the worries of big business – such as Airbus and BMW – as if they are swatting away a fly should concern us all. These manufacturing giants are major employers in the UK, and to ignore any possibility that they may move abroad, taking those jobs with them, is foolhardy.
President Trump and Mr Johnson have a lot more in common than just dodgy haircuts: they are both architects of chaos, and unless there is some significant, real and sustained progress on Brexit, we are the ones who will suffer the results.
Alison Steed is a freelance journalist
