1/ There was a time last summer when it looked like the UK Government was taking #Brexit half seriously. They published a slew of papers. OK, much of what was in them was vague, but something was happening. There was effort 💪
2/ Since then everything has slowed... yet the ⏰ now ticks towards the half way point in the #Article50 process. 🤷♂️
3/ I tried to sum this up in a blog post yesterday I entitled "Brexit: the UK Government is not even trying" jonworth.eu/brexit-uk-gove… But while it is OK to analyse a problem, I struggle to see what to do about it, short term.
4/ Also how does 🇪🇺 negotiate with a Government that does not want to do anything?
5/ What can break the UK Government out of its 😴 🛌?
6/ If I were in UK Government right now I would be scared. Really, genuinely, totally pooing my pants scared. 🙀 But Ministers are not. They sail blithely onwards.
7/ How will transition work? NO IDEA.
8/ What about Customs and recruiting the necessary Customs officers? 👮♀️ Or contingency plans for Dover. 🚢 NO IDEA.
9/ What about passporting and the City of London? 💷 NO IDEA.
10/ What about the problem that the UK already has the lowest growth in the OECD, and yet Brexit has not happened? NO IDEA.
11/ What about nuclear isotopes and Euratom? Or food standards? 🍔 Or medicine approvals? 💉 NO IDEA.
12/ What about 759 international agreements with the rest of the world that need to be solved somehow even before a transition period? ✈️ NO IDEA.
13/ What about a border in Ireland 🇮🇪 that could re-inflame tensions. WORST OF ALL: STILL NO IDEA.
14/ This is not about Leave or Remain. This is about *how* to do Brexit. To do it in a way that minimises the damage to real people's lives. That provides certainty where there is currently worry. That reassures rather than grandstands.
15/ Whatever you think of its merits, Brexit is serious. It is complex. It requires the UK Government's utmost care, determination and attention. And it is not getting it. That is making ME scared. 🙀
