More Brexit Madness
Nicola Sturgeon was in Westminster yesterday with a view to working with other political parties over Brexit, particularly Labour.
But as Daniel Finkelstein points out with his column in The Times, she'll have her work cut out because Jeremy Corbyn is just as deluded as some of the leading Brexiteers.
Read Daniel's article via the link below which is behind the paper's paywall.
"On Tuesday David Davis, who after all was Brexit secretary and a leading figure in the drive to leave the EU, said something so extraordinary that I had to read it several times to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood. “If,” he said “we need to leave with no deal and negotiate a free trade agreement during the transition period, so be it”.
"But David, there won’t be a transition period if we don’t have a withdrawal agreement. The transition period is part of the deal. There’s no such thing as a no-deal transition period. One of the most important arguments against leaving with no deal is that we aren’t ready to leave without a transition period. How can you advocate no deal if you don’t appreciate one of its basic consequences?
"In effect, Mr Davis was saying that Brussels should do us a deal not to have a deal. I am afraid this is a fantasy.
"Here’s the fourth problem. Jeremy Corbyn shares this fantasy. When pressed by Sophy Ridge on Sky News about how he would find time to negotiate a new deal, he gave this amazing reply: “There is a transition period that’s been agreed anyway so there would be some opportunities there”.
"In the same interview last Sunday, Mr Corbyn was presented with a statement of the obvious from Jean-Claude Juncker. “The deal that will…be offered to the UK should not be a deal as advantageous [as membership].” To this the Labour leader gave the stunningly ludicrous reply: “Well that was his view, we have a different view”.
"Any strategy for Brexit depends on Labour and its quite clear that its leader has no interest in it or no grasp of it, or possibly both. There is an assumption that at some point Mr Corbyn will be forced to come off the fence on a second referendum and this will make things clearer for everyone else. I am no longer confident of this.
"Having watched him over the weekend I think it’s quite possible that Mr Corbyn will never choose. His next position may end up being as opaque as his current one. Perhaps he will endorse a referendum, but only on a deal negotiated by Labour that exists solely in his imagination. Don’t rely on him illuminating the way forward."
"Having watched him over the weekend I think it’s quite possible that Mr Corbyn will never choose. His next position may end up being as opaque as his current one. Perhaps he will endorse a referendum, but only on a deal negotiated by Labour that exists solely in his imagination. Don’t rely on him illuminating the way forward."
