This " Brexit " Mess !

The fact that the senior minister tasked with heading the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union  has walked away from that task must send urgent warning signals that a harmonious breach next year is now unlikely.  The parliament is split along similar lines to the referendum that narrowly opted for Britain to take an independent course away from the " closer union " movement that was embracing the continent.

The only two options seems to be a split between a " soft " or a " hard " exit.  It seems prime minister Therese May has reconciled her parliamentary colleagues into accepting a soft stance, but that would not be acceptable to the other members of the British public because it would still leave Britain accepting free movement within the union and subservience to the European court of justice.

The impetus for that referendum was a movement to shield Britain from the influx of people from Europe choosing to live in their country and to make British law paramount and not subjected to the laws of those other countries in the EU.   That referendum was more a wish to return to the golden age when Britain had an empire than a practical decision on the world that exists today.

The reality is that the world has split into trading blocks and Britain is locked in the European sphere. That was the original idea of creating a " common market " without barriers to trade imposed by tariffs and the restrictions of custom inspections at national borders.  The long term aim is Europe without passports or any form of travel restriction.  Common laws that apply in all countries and those nation states becoming the United States of Europe.

One of the problems is that the British people have never thought of themselves as " European ".  Their country was unique in heading a massive empire and maintaining the worlds biggest navy and that conferred independent status.  It helped that during that period of empire Britain was never defeated in a war and suffered occupation by a victorious enemy.  By drawing help from its dominions it emerged as the victor from wars and for a long time literally " ruled the world ".

That era is long past and again world leadership is in crux. Britain remains one of the five nations with nuclear weapons and a permanent seat on the security council of the United Nations, but it is no longer the dominant world power. Its withdrawal from the European Union will certainly come at a cost in terms of trade and the important dominance in financial markets.  It is wishful thinking that all the benefits of membership will remain after withdrawal in 2019.

Britain is at a crossroads and only now can the cost of withdrawal from the EU be fully estimated. The government will shortly need to put its proposal to a vote by the other EU members and that will be crucial to the standard of living that will be the eventual outcome.  It would be fair to send the people to the polls for an affirmation that this is what they are accepting in confirming the vote from that earlier referendum.

This EU withdrawal decision will deliver the standard of living that will affect every man, woman and child living in the United Kingdom.  It is a human trait that people often change their mind when circumstances alter, and the end result was not known when that earlier referendum was held.  Putting it to a new vote would seem a merciful act of sanity !