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The impending débâcle attributable to the Attorney General's advice that yesterday's theatre in Strasbourg does not change the Withdrawal Agreement in any meaningful way is, sadly, only the latest illustration of HMG's flawed approach: all tactics, no strategy
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Trying to get @Geoffrey_Cox on board was a reasonable tactical move.
Have him provide a fig leaf (or codpiece) to allow dissenters to climb down whilst retaining their modesty.
But it was risky and has now backfired spectacularly.
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Have him provide a fig leaf (or codpiece) to allow dissenters to climb down whilst retaining their modesty.
But it was risky and has now backfired spectacularly.
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This is only the latest in a series of disastrous tactical moves since Theresa May became Prime Minister.
Supporting the Brady Amendment and essentially voting against her own Withdrawal Agreement was another.
Get the party onside!
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Supporting the Brady Amendment and essentially voting against her own Withdrawal Agreement was another.
Get the party onside!
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It has always been about getting the party onside (most of the time: e.g. Cox, Brady) or holding a fissiparous cabinet together (the rest of the time: e.g. Chequers)
It has never been about a strategic vision for post-Brexit Britain
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It has never been about a strategic vision for post-Brexit Britain
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Tactics over strategy also explains the original sin of this government's Brexit policy: the notorious 2016 Tory Party Conference speech.
Were the red lines a strategic vision?
Or were they simply a tactic, to convince her Party that she, too, believed in Brexit?
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Were the red lines a strategic vision?
Or were they simply a tactic, to convince her Party that she, too, believed in Brexit?
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The red lines could were never meant as a strategic vision, so obviously inimical they are to a close, "frictionless" trading relationship with the European Union; they were red meat, thrown to the gallery for sustenance.
A useful tactic, but not backed by strategic vision.
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A useful tactic, but not backed by strategic vision.
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The government has been tactically inept or unlucky, but fundamentally its difficulty has been the absence of a realistic vision for post-Brexit Britain.
It has never got to grips with the international, continental, regional and domestic challenges
administrativelawmatters.com/blog/2016/09/2…
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It has never got to grips with the international, continental, regional and domestic challenges
administrativelawmatters.com/blog/2016/09/2…
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Maybe, maybe, maybe the meaningful vote will be close enough tonight that there will be another go between now and the European Parliament elections.
Whether it's that or a long delay, the next phase of Brexit will require strategy, not tactics.
ENDS
Whether it's that or a long delay, the next phase of Brexit will require strategy, not tactics.
ENDS
