, 9 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Most striking read for me this morning the Graham Brady op-ed in the Sunday Times - an overwhelming sense that he just doesn't understand what is happening on Brexit (and is definitely not alone in that among MPs) 1/
Historical context, though UK politicians have been complaining about the EU for at least 40 years, we usually more or less got what we wanted. The rebate, the single market, the Euro opt-out, etc. MPs have become accustomed to this and expect it on Brexit 2/
To Brady his amendment provided the PM with "a clear direction and mandate to get the changes necessary... to the backstop" - failing to understand that it did nothing of the kind. Precision is all important in real negotiations... 3/
He says "we are so close to an agreement... taking us out on time... gaining the freedom to negotiate" the future Free Trade Agreement. As if of course there's just another solution sitting there that has been waiting for the Brady amendment to pass... 4/
"Sadly... this positive unity dissipated" as Conservative MPs abstained on a motion restating support. There never was positive unity, there was the ERG MPs knowing full well where the PM's deal led, briefly backing Brady as path to no-deal 5/
Shock horror "there are moves afoot in Parliament... to delay our exit... we need [to] ensure we leave the EU on March 29" - er, has he looked at the status of Brexit legislation recently, or that none is currently progressing in Parliament? 6/
Which brings us back to the idea that in MPs experiences, in EU negotiations there is always a last-minute deal, job done. They haven't got that this is different, that even after the deal there is legislation to pass, and that it is different for non-members 7/
And if the meaningful vote in Parliament passes by one vote will the Government then be able to get related legislation through? Difficult. The pickle we are in is the interplay between negotiations in which we are the smaller player, and a hung Parliament expecting us to win 8/
We can tend to believe that MPs understand where we are in the Brexit process, and some certainly do, notably in the ERG. But this op-ed reveals how little many other MPs know, and therefore how much of a shock is yet to come 9/ end
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