I can’t see the point of failed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn calling for a two year extension to the transition period after we leave Europe at the end of this month. Corbyn is worried about crashing out of Europe at the end of 2020’s transition period with no deal at all. Aren’t we all? But I am at the stage where I believe it’s time for the winners of the referendum and the winners of last year’s general election to fully own the consequences of Brexit.
We have spent the best part of four years arguing about the EU referendum result and it’s time to stop, time for those of us who wanted to stay close to Europe to finally admit the game is up. It is perfectly reasonable in what remains of our so called free country to say what we like about the future of our country. We can do this by way of giving an opinion. What we cannot do is try to get people to change their minds. It never worked immediately after the referendum and it certainly won’t work today.
If Corbyn has a point about trying to extend the transition period because of the likely catastrophe of a hard Brexit, it doesn’t matter. For one thing, he will not be Labour leader for much longer – thank God – and in any event he is a lifelong Eurosceptic, far more of a Eurosceptic than Boris Johnson who we know backed leave purely to advance his political career. The old boy should let go, retire to his allotment and, presumably, resume his shabby backbench career meeting with terrorists and siding with tyrants.
More than this, Johnson and the Tories must now be allowed the opportunity to own Brexit. To that end, Labour and everyone else should be constructive but not thwart Brexit. They should say that whilst they believe leaving Europe will bring no good news for our country, that they respect the result of the general election and the ‘will of the people’™ to ‘get Brexit done’.
Johnson has promised that 2020 will be a “fantastic year” for Britain. Okay. Let him deliver a fantastic year. Even his closest supporters know Johnson is a compulsive liar but the electorate has given him the keys to government for the next five years, at least.
It was quite easy for me as a hardline remoaner to finally admit defeat. I was always part a small minority of preferring a soft Norway Plus Brexit to a second referendum and I lost that argument, too.
Time to move on, let Johnson get on with Brexit and, as we say, let him own the consequences. I believe that the main consequence will continue to see a steady decline of our country in terms of our economy and of our influence in the world. What we cannot do is allow him to blame others when things go horribly wrong.
