We're Not Run From Brussels. Perhaps We Should Be.

It's a common trope amongst opponents of the EU that we are run from Brussels.  It is of course a risible suggestion.  Most of the decisions that affect us on a day to day basis continue to be made in Westminster, as they have been for centuries.   On the whole pre-Brexit this was something that I didn't give a lot of thought to other than thinking that generally the UK has been a bit over centralised and that a bit of devolution down to the regions wouldn't be a bad thing. 


But I never really doubted the legitimacy of Westminster nor that it was an effective governing body.  I have to say its complete inability to handle the Brexit issue has shaken my faith in it.  I have been following the twists and turns of Westminster politics closely over the last three years.   That isn't always the best way to understand things.  Taking a step back to look at the big picture - what the hell is going on?

We have chosen to leave the EU but have done none of the necessary work to make this happen.  Now I might not agree with the decision but I respect the result.  It doesn't look remotely like parliament has.  This was painfully obvious the day after the referendum when there was no plan in place for actually implementing it.  Considering that some of the proponents of leaving the EU had been working to leave for decades this was astonishing.  The Liberal Democrats have at least been clear that they are opposed to the plan.  The SNP have also managed clarity.  The Labour Party put together a rather unrealistic set of proposals.  But when it comes to the Conservatives words fail me.  Mrs May negotiated the hardest conceivable of leaving deals with minimal consultation with anybody outside Tory circles.  It was a pretty arrogant way to go about things.  No account was taken of the views of over 16 million voters who wanted to remain. 

The worst aspect of May's deal wasn't in the details, which were bad enough, but in the way that it made what should have been a matter for national consensus into a matter of party politics.  Surely this was a matter that should have been hammered out by a national government?  It left the issue as contentious and open to be changed by a future government. 

I remember thinking that if we have to leave, this was just about the worst way to do it.

But Brexit seems to have an unlimited capacity to disappoint.   Even May's hard Brexit was opposed by of all people the most euroskeptic members of the Commons. 

We now find ourselves facing the prospect of leaving without having any arrangements in place to manage the process at all.  Nothing.  Not a sausage.  I literally don't know what regulations will be in place to cover my business activities in less than three months time.  It is hard to think of a bigger failure of policy that Westminster could contrive.

The contrast with the calm efficiency of the EU operation is painful.  We are not and have never been run from Brussels. But if this is how we manage our own affairs maybe we would be better off if we were.