Worth it?

Sometimes I take my idea to post on Brexit or COVID from other writers, its what happens, so today's leads on from yesterday's Law and Policy blog by DAG as in, what Brexit worthwhile?

I have said before the yawning gap between what was promised and what was delivered is as wide and deep and the Grand Canyon, and yet no one seems to want to ask the PM or Michael Gove if it was really worth it.

So far Brexit has delivered, on a plus point, 64 trade deals we already had deals with as member states of the EU, deal which in general are no worse, but also not better than we had as an EU member state.

On the nagtive side we have seen exports some 68% down on previous levels, and three quarters of truck returning to the EU are doing so empty because of red tape, the very red tape Brexit was supposed to do away with, except has created much, much more that were needed prior to January 1st.

Manybe if we call it red, white and blue tape exporters who are currently in a very real struggle to survive might not complain so much about Ministers not listening.

But it was all about sovereignty they say.

As an already sovereign state, as the A50 white paper clearly stated, was something the UK had all along as a member state.

And as a sovereign state, the UK was able to hold a referendum and decide to leave the EU, and did.

Only it now finds that that sovereignty isn't much good if the UK has to send strong letters signed by Michael Gove asking for things to be reconsidered. It doesn't feel like taking back control to me.

All this fake sovereignty is going to cost a lot of money is lost exports, lost production, lost jobs and lost GDP. Sovereignty we already had, just pooled it with 27 other countries to use a leverage in trade talks and in forums like the UN and WTO.

Oh yes, we lost that too.

None of any of Brexit was needed, even if the referendum result was to be accepted at face value, then the political Brexit of last January was it. Any thing else on top of that was something the UK, or in particular, Johnson and his Government wanted to do, and do at speed, not leaving time for preparation of completing the systems needed it to actually work.

In November, the US corrected the mistake it makde in 2016 in electing a former reality TV show host as President. The UK cannot correct its mistake in Brexit in the same way, it could life easier for those dealing with the consequences, like those left wing firebrands, Architects, who have found their professional qualifications are no longer recognised in the EU because the UK Government did not persue equivilence.

THe Government could be using the time when most is quiet because of COVID to correct the mistakes made at speed at the end of last year, but most Ministers, the PM included, are in denial about the monster they have created, or hope to continue spinning it all as the EU's fault.

Today, a Bridlington lobster company went to the wall, the owner says its while there enough money in the kitty to pay workers' redundancies.

“All we have had is bullshit from the government, promises that haven’t been kept. I am winding up the business while I still have enough to pay redundancy to my staff. It is all Brexit-related – the extra costs, extra paperwork and the extra gamble.