BREXIT BLUNDERS
Critics of Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations over the past two years outline five major mistakes
THERESA May is seen by critics to have made five major mistakes in the 20 month-long Brexit negotiations. They are:
- Triggering Article 50 without a plan: the PM sent her letter to Brussels giving notice of Britain's intention to quit the bloc after EU leaders refused to talk to her without it. But the decision set an unstoppable clock ticking towards our exit and turned the negotiations into a two year time trap, handing huge leverage to eurocrats.
- Allowing the EU to set the pace: David Davis made his first trip to the Belgian capital as Brexit Secretary vowing to fight the EU over its demands on how to structure the negotiations. But No 10 quickly rolled over and agreed to Brussels' insistence on dealing with its key interests on citizens' rights, the bill and the Irish border before talking trade.
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- Failing to prepare for no deal: The Government never managed to convince the EU that it was serious about leaving without a deal, nullifying the ability to walk away from the table as key leverage. Senior EU figures pointed out that an obvious lack of planning, including for extra checks at Calais, showed them the UK was incapable of carrying through with its threats.
- Wasting months in Cabinet argument: Whilst the EU quickly organised itself and agreed concrete positions in the form of its guidelines, the UK squandered months on Cabinet infighting. That meant when Ministers finally did agree on the Chequers plan, they came up against an unbreachable wall of opposition from a highly prepared Michel Barnier and the 27.
- Agreeing to the backstop: The PM agreed to the EU and Dublin's demands for a backstop solution to the Irish border in her desperation to achieve "sufficient progress" last December. In her haste she signed Britain up to a legal commitment which quickly became the defining issue of the talks, allowing Brussels to back her into a corner over the Customs Union and causing an irreparable schism with the DUP.
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