Little England or Big Britain

As we drift into the debacle of Brexit decisions and frenzy of confusion that has been the soundtrack of the past 30 months, I am struck by the contrast between the cool countenance of the EU negotiators and leaders and the panic and confusion of the UK government and its negotiators. This is echoed in the reporting by the BBC. Katya Adler, the European editor, provides concise summaries of the position of the EU that invariably turn out to be accurate. Laura Kuensberg, the political editor, resorts to rambling speculation depending on who she has just spoken to and her comments are seldom worth a hill of beans.

I was a lukewarm remain supporter at the referendum and had voted against joining in 1975 because I thought the UK should redeem the Commonwealth countries after centuries of exploitation. However, in the 1980s the EU was the salvation of many declining communities that benefited from its investment in development areas and skill training. Since then the EU has pioneered important environmental legislation and employment rights during periods when the UK government was laggardly or obstructive. Most recently its ability to stand up for taxation of the global tech and social media behemoths has been exemplary compared to the frigid and yet to be implemented promises of the UK government. There are still many aspects of EU policy and the stance of some of the leaders of the 27 other members that concern me, but then the UK government has the monopoly when it comes to regressive policies and an unctuous self-righteousness

What is becoming very clear is that both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition are intransigent dinosaurs lacking both emotional and political intelligence. They appear to have no sense of the destruction caused by their inflexibility or recognition of the economic and social havoc that is being caused by Brexit. Their unwillingness to accept that democracy operates in real time is equally a measure of their unsuitability as leaders.

It is the non-parliamentarians: the political leaders in Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and the Mayors of the Metropolitan areas who are far more attuned to the economic and social issues and far more cogent in articulating the real world truths. They speak not just for their bailiwicks but for Britain as a whole in a way that escapes May and Corbyn. Could it be that their experience of executive responsibility for public services gives them an insight that seems impossible for MPs to have in the vortex of legislative indecision that masquerades as parliament? Mrs May and far too many of her MPs behave and act as Little Englanders. When she declares that her Brexit deal will safeguard the union, she really has lost all credibility.