,
14 tweets,
4 min read
Read on Twitter
If you shout "betrayal" at the new Brexit deadline of 31 October, take a long hard look in the mirror. Betrayal would be leaving unprepared. Betrayal would be crashing our economy. Betrayal would be extending austerity indefinitely. Betrayal would be putting lives at risk.
What happened yesterday was pragmatism in the face of reality. It was Theresa May looking at the world as it is, not as she wanted it to be. We should have been doing that at the beginning not at the very end. But at least it happened now.
Brexit has already caused quite extraordinary damage, considering it hasn't happened yet. Perhaps this reprieve will stop the rot.
But unless this pragmatism spreads through Parliament, we'll be back here in 6 months' time. Theresa May dashing to the EU, and our fate being decided behind closed doors by friends who have been more tolerant of our anger, insults and ineptitude than we had a right to expect.
Be in no doubt. A no deal Brexit isn't leaving, it is death. Death of the economy, death of manufacturing, death of the hopes and life chances of young people, death of peaceful scientific and medical collaboration, and death of our participation in the fellowship of nations.
Those who hold up WTO like a talisman to ward against Brexit's evils don't know what trading on WTO terms would mean.
Those who claim that we can replace trade with the EU with trade with the rest of the world don't understand the importance of geography.
And those who claim that the flood of problems that will stem from a bad Brexit are nothing but project fear don't understand that you can no longer expect the many, many benefits of a club when you're no longer a member.
The EU has its faults. It is far from perfect. But even in its flawed state, it is also an extraordinary achievement. It has brought a lasting peace to the continent of Europe after centuries of wars, and forged the largest free trade area the world has ever seen.
The EU enables its citizens - us not least - to live & work & love & learn anywhere in a community of half a billion people, and let us welcome people who enrich our lives in countless ways. From fruit pickers to doctors, carers to dentists, EU citizens play a vital role.
Isn't that worth fighting for? Because make no mistake about it, we can still rethink. We can still reconsider the wisdom of plunging into an unknown that so many people, from experts to business leaders, scientists to doctors, have warned us against. We can still remain.
And if we were to remain, what would the future look like? It wouldn't all be roses. The hangover from the Brexit debacle would linger. But we would begin to heal, and go forward into a brighter, more positive future.
So we have a choice to make. Stay and help shape and reform the EU in collaboration and partnership with 27 fellow states. Or strike out into the cold dark unknown of Brexit in a time of Trump, a surging China, and ever increasing international cooperation.
When you see the world as it is rather than as you want it to be, Brexit's no choice at all. It never was and never will be. There is no possible Brexit deal that is better than the one we enjoy as EU members. It's time to wake up, appreciate what works - and fix what doesn't!
