Boris Johnson’s statement to parliament on Brexit should arouse disquiet: “There is no plan for no deal because we’re going to get a great deal” (Brussels can ‘go whistle’ over divorce bill from EU, says Johnson, 12 July). It is an attitude like that of Queen Victoria towards the Boer war: “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.” But the world has moved on since then.
Factors beyond this minority government’s control will influence Brexit, assuming it occurs before the Greek calends, as Mr Johnson would put it. The ill-effects of the approach to Brexit are making themselves felt. As they get worse it might be difficult, if not impossible, to persuade MPs of any party to commit themselves.
Vince Cable is probably right in expecting the Liberal Democrats to emerge as the only beneficiaries of a situation in which Labour and Conservative MPs are dragooned into supporting a policy to which their conversion has been sudden and suspect – and which is likely to be disastrous if it is ever implemented.
Perhaps Mr Johnson could define “great deal” for us and say how he intends to obtain it. Meanwhile I suggest a plan B.
Margaret Brown
Burslem, Staffordshire
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