Day: June 23, 2017

It has been exactly one year since Britain voted to leave the European Union and all that this year has proven is that Brexit has been a deeply costly waste of time.

Since the referendum result we have seen:

– A year of leadership contests within the two main political parties in Britain;
– Court cases trying to prevent Brexit from happening;
– Embarrassing leaks demonstrating Prime Minister Theresa May’s weak ability to negotiate with the EU.
– Volatile markets, the decimation of the pound, and preparations for job relocations;
– A disastrous general election that has put Britain in line for a Brexit deal that looks very similar to what we have now;
– A government in disarray;
– And finally the possibility that Brexit could be reversed …

It is all a bit pointless. I mean even if you look at the EU referendum results from June 23, 2016, it was not even a resounding victory. Leave won by just 51.89% versus Remain at 48.11%.

Britain started Brexit talks this week and it has all been a bit of a farce. After Prime Minister Theresa May saying repeatedly over the last year that she would go in head first into negotiations with a “hard Brexit” plan — relinquishing full Single Market access in lieu of total control over immigration — her and her chief negotiator buckled during the first day of talks.

Firstly, the UK government has been forced to accept the EU’s timetable for talks and in areas that would not have been at the forefront of Britain’s priorities:

– Agreeing to let 3 million EU citizens that have lived in the UK for 5 years or more as “settled” post-Brexit.
– The Brexit divorce bill where Britain will have to agree to pay up to €99.6 billion (£87 billion) to the EU.

Britain and the EU will have to sort these issues out first — something the EU had continually said it wanted to do before trade negotiations begin. It is unlikely that Britain will come out strong from the talks, after all, it could not even get the timetable to its liking.