Brexit - An Open Letter to Theresa May 24 September 2018

Dear Mrs May


As I am someone who has been your constituent for many years, the current situation on Brexit upsets me greatly.   You are a fine  constituency MP, but in danger of becoming known as "She Broke Britain".  Unless you change tack quickly.

We met in one of your clinics, and your response across the desk was rapid and thoughtful. Your continued involvement with local matters is commendable given your Prime Ministerial responsibilities.  Which is more than can be said for some of your Tory colleagues nearby who do not have any ministerial workload.

But you are now throwing all that respect and goodwill away.  Brexit and the negotiations are an unmitigated disaster.  Your legacy as Prime Minister is in danger of being “She Broke Britain”

Looking back at some of your speeches in recent years, here you were as an MP apparently in touch with ordinary people and their concerns.  In particular your speech at the Bank of England on 28 September 2017, almost exactly a year ago

You talked about life expectancy, absolute poverty and a number of other critical issues to the UK population as a whole.

You talked about a well-regulated free market.  A moderate stance on the economy.  Soft-Right some would say.


Yet here we are now with you acting like a Hard-Right zealot, even Far-Right.  Just like you’ve been taken over by the devil of the Brexiters.  You have become Maybot, an automaton controlled by Far-Right interests which previously were not apparent in your character.

Now some say you were always like that.  Some say you always have been a Far-Right stalwart whose actions at the Home Office were not consistent with the compassion one might expect from a vicar’s daughter.

I’m still prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt.  But with the Conservative party conference just days away, you have very little time to act and be prepared to change tack

In the last This Week programme before the summer recess, Michael Portillo of all people said “the Brexiters are beaten”.  That was your opportunity to change tack and Stop Brexit.  Instead of which you came back from the break even more intent on Brexit.  Seemingly at any cost.

You are now acting with scant regard for your constituents.  They voted to remain in both the RBWM and Wokingham council areas from which your constituency is formed.  Also with scant regard for the country as a whole, as explained below.  When we met you impressed me by your intellect.  But now there is no logic in your approach.


A SECOND VOTE

Firstly, you are adamantly ruling out a second vote:

• In the commercial world it is normal practice in a major project for the Board and/or stakeholders to have at least two votes.  Firstly to initiate the project.  Secondly to review the final proposals before they are implemented. To suggest otherwise is nonsense.
• If the Brexit deal is a sound proposition, I would expect voters to support it.  But if not sound, then voters need the option to reject it.  To deprive them of that vote is a dereliction of democracy.
• Furthermore the electorate has changed.  All the 16 and 17 year olds in 2016 are now 18 and 19.  It’s their future. They deserve a voice.

LEGITIMACY OF THE REFERENDUM RESULT

Secondly the referendum result was not legitimate within its terms:

• The Leave win was achieved through lies, deceit and allegedly unlawful activity which is now subject to criminal investigation.  To honour the result is inexplicable. 
• The result did not therefore give Parliament any instruction to notify EU withdrawal under Article 50
• Indeed any politician who values democracy would declare the referendum result void. The fact that you have ruled this out, and with your colleagues continue to honour the result, is patently absurd.

BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS

Yet you press on with Brexit as a zealot.  Thirdly is how the negotiations have been conducted:

• It is clear that ‘No Deal’ was never an option.  The Government has recently been briefing against ‘No Deal’ by listing out all the harsh economic affects and an array of other serious drawbacks.   Collaboration around security, healthcare, aviation and much else is at risk.
• It is unwise to enter negotiations if you cannot afford to walk away.  For all your recent bravado, without being able to accept a 'No Deal', it has never been possible to walk away.  Even if the referendum result as legitimate, the negotiations should never have started without a very clear proposal that would be acceptable to the EU27.  It still does not exist.
• As I write, the Brexiters are about to publish proposals based apparently on a Canadian style trade deal.  That in principle only covers trade, so what of all the other collaborations?  The Brexiters never talk about them.  Yet they’ve had over two years since the referendum and many years beforehand to come up with workable proposals.  To simply say “We’ll leave and work it all out” is a monumental dereliction of duty that would get any commercial board sacked.
• Like your Chequers proposal, a Canadian style deal will leave the UK as a “vassal state”.  That is as unacceptable to Brexiters as it is to Remainers.  The UK will have to abide with EU rules on trade and many other things because of geographical proximity (that of course does not apply to Canada) with little or no influence on those rules. 
• The Chequers proposal eats at the very heart of the EU27, and would effectively undermine it and its future.  This has been well known for years, so making such a proposal defies belief.

"LET'S TAKE BACK CONTROL" - WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN?

That leads on to the fourth issue, which is the “Let’s Take Back Control” slogan that helped to win the Leave vote. Very clever.  Except this is nonsense:

• As mentioned above, any Brexit proposal or ‘No Deal’ will leave the UK as a vassal state, beholden to the rule makers in EU with little or no influence
• Ultimate control of the country is by having our own currency, the pound.  The UK also currently controls its borders by being outside of the Schengen area.   All that is at risk if the UK leaves the EU and asks to rejoin. Which it is very likely to request in the short to medium term.   Why take the risk?

THE IRISH BORDER

The fifth issue is one which the EU have highlighted as important to them, even if many Brexiters regard it as insignificant.  Their proposal for the border between Northern Ireland (in the UK) and the Republic of Ireland has already been rubbished. 

A big risk is a return to a hard border and a return to the Troubles that blighted Northern Ireland for so many years.  No Prime Minister in their right mind would risk that.  Nor risk the United Kingdom splitting, as indeed you have made clear.

SO WHY IS BREXIT STILL HAPPENING?

Before you finally earn the premiership epitaph of “She Broke Britain” please stand back and think.   A change of tack is needed.

The referendum should be declared void and the Article 50 notification withdrawn.  How that is achieved legally and politically should now be the challenge for your team.  Shouldn’t it?