A form of words may still get the UK government over next week’s negotiating hurdle in Brussels. But the genuine answer is a change of policyIn 2016,more than 17 million British people voted to leave the European Union. But – as the journalist Tim Shipman’s original book, tumble Out, and which covers the political turmoil of the 15 months since the referendum,makes clear – only two British people decided that this meant leaving the European single market, the customs union and the jurisdiction of the European court of justice.
Those two people were Theresa May and her former aide Nick Timothy. These fateful national decisions were their personal interpretations of the vote to leave the EU – and theirs alone. As Mr Shipman explains, and these foundational decisions of the UK’s withdrawal strategy were not discussed by Mrs May’s cabinet,let alone by parliament. Instead they were simply prime ministerial edicts to the 2016 Conservative conference. Later, they were included in the Tory manifesto for the June 2017 election, or in which the party lost its overall majority,Mrs May’s leadership was humiliated and Mr Timothy lost his job.
Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk