Profile picture
Jim Pickard @PickardJE
, 5 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
increasingly obvious that if Brexit turns out badly the Brexiteers will blame the implementation and never, ever accept even a sliver of responsibility for the consequences
there are so many others to blame:

Brussels bureaucrats
other EU capitals
diehard Remain MPs
the prime minister
unpatriotic media
unimaginative executives
bad luck
Trump

in short: literally anyone other than the people whose idea it was
at the same time, if it turns out great, the Brexiteers will enjoy most of the credit
it’s a lose-lose situation for Theresa May, who is grinding through the thankless hard graft
there’s a compelling theory that UK should have had a Brexiteer prime minister who could properly own Brexit and all its consequences, for better or worse
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Jim Pickard
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @PickardJE see all

Profile picture
the Grayling ferry story has taken another curious twist with Eurotunnel writing to the transport secretary expressing “serious concern” about the £103m offer to three ferry companies to provide new routes if there’s a no-deal Brexit
the letter was leaked to me yesterday, it says:

“I must bring to your attention the distortionary and anti-competitive effects of such an action, which would be a unilateral breach not only of the Concession Agreement with Eurotunnel but...(also)..competition and state aid law”
Eurotunnel wants a similar contract for itself. Otherwise it says it will consider all options, including legal action, against the transport department....
ft.com/content/21f4a1…
Read 11 tweets
Profile picture
Seaborne Freight won’t have its new Ramsgate-Ostend service ready before April, several weeks after Brexit day, officials admitted during a private cross-departmental meeting of Whitehall officials on Monday - story here on @FT
ft.com/content/743b11…
the company isn’t exactly denying this:
Meanwhile it seems the company might have issued “inaccurate investor briefings” last year.

A document entitled “Seaborne Freight (UK) Limited — Investor Briefing April 2018”, claimed the company had “detailed port agreements with both Ramsgate and Ostend negotiated and agreed”.
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
it’s common knowledge that even small increases in checks at Dover (thanks to no-deal Brexit) could prompt queues on adjacent roads, potentially causing gridlock in Kent....but just how bad could it be?

Here’s a report last year from @imperialcollege

google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.…
today we got our hands on the findings from another secret study carried out by UCL on behalf of the Department For Transport : the findings are much more explosive....
and here it is:

The key point is that extra checks of up to 40 seconds per truck don’t result in extra queues. But above that there would be an exponential spike on delays:

With checks of 70 seconds per truck there would be....queues of SIX DAYS

ft.com/content/d05498…
Read 10 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
#brexit seems to be all about feeling over fact and this is especially true of the ReesMogg ERG faction of the Tory right.
I never bought the line that #brexit is about Democracy because most of the Tory right had zero enthusiasm for improving democracy in the UK few of them care about unelected house of lords the unfair FPTP electoral system or transparency on the contrary
Most of the Tory right are interested only in constitutional changes that suit them and if anything strive to be as little democratically accountable as possible.
Read 23 tweets
Profile picture
BBC News - Vote Leave broke electoral law, Electoral Commission expected to say bbc.com/news/uk-politi… - note, this has no consequences for #Brexit whatsoever, exactly as I have been telling everyone.
No we can see that, even if this ruling sticks, which I doubt it will as @ElectoralCommUK didn't interview @Vote_Leave, the "this will end #Brexit" stuff is simple hysteria and was never true.

- No referral to police
- small fine

Hardly "Victory in Europe", is it, as news?
"Small Earthquake in Chile, Nobody Hurt", I'm afraid.

Beware of confirmation bias.
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
Two years on from #Brexit referendum vote, UK growth has slumped. Lowest of any G7 country. Lower than Eurozone. Likely to fall further (c. Airbus). But hey, no worries, it's all #ProjectFear say the #Brexiteers (graphic @WSJ)
Still, young Brits can always pick fruit - rather than look forward to careers in high-tech industries like Airbus. Well done #Brexiteers (but hey, no worries it's all #ProjectFear isn't it?)
Consumer spending slumped after Brexit Referendum #PeoplesVoteMarch 🇬🇧🇪🇺 (Well done #Brexiteers. But hey, no worries it's all #ProjectFear isn't it?)
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
*Brexit at the Border: Voices from local communities in the Central Border Region of Ireland/Northern Ireland*
An initiative by @QUBelfast & @europe_icban to gather data on the immediate & anticipated effects of #Brexit for those living on the #Border
qub.ac.uk/brexit/Brexitf…
1/10
Here are some of the key findings from the report in slide form.
First an overview of the study itself:
Rich qualitative data (online survey & focus groups) gathered across the Central Border Region. Detailed examples & viewpoints heard from people on both sides of #border.
2/10
Respondents to the survey came from across the 8 local authority areas of the Central Border Region, moreorless equally from both sides of the border. 50/50 male/female. 80% 31-65 yrs.
There were far fewer Leave-voting respondents so they got extra attention in our analysis.
3/10
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
I'm currently at this #Brexit conference in Copenhagen, where the British ambassador and several #DExEU officials will be on panels with representatives of Danish trade and security. It'll be very interesting to see what's said, especially in light of May's recent Munich speech.
And now that I'm not desperately trying to keep up with livetweeting it, I shall turn my mess of self-retweets into a proper thread. #Brexit #BrexitDK
acknowledges #Brexit will have challenges; emphasises no naïveté regarding "land of milk and honey". Refreshing sense of pragmatism; we'll see how #DExEU and DK reps present it.

#BrexitDK
Read 55 tweets
Profile picture
#Brexit as a concept is increasingly drifting from having anything whatsoever to do with the mechanics of leaving the EU. It is now primarily a culture war and both sides will totally ignore the details except for when they are temporarily convenient.
The consequence of this is that our future relationship with the EU will be just as readily ignored as our activities as a member. They said Brexit would make us isolated, self absorbed and insular but it seems that was always the case and there are no signs of that changing.
As ever the details will be delegated to officials and civil servants while our establishment politics drifts further into its cycle of decline, unable to usefully influence external events making us entirely passive and reactive to events rather than self-interestedly engaged.
Read 17 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Brexit #brexit #PeoplesVoteMarch #LabourConference2018 #NoBrexit #CPC18 #FinalSay #PeoplesVote #BrexitDK #Remain #KeepTheFaith #ProjectFear #Chequers #TuftonStreet #Trump #backstop #border #StopBrexit #3b #3a #London #GDPR #11a #GE2017 #4a

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!