Andrew Dismore

It only takes a hint of the growing and desperate need for scrutiny of the Conservative Government’s approach to Brexit negotiations   before hard Brexiteers such as your correspondents  David Gutman, Martin Maloney, and Nneka Akwaeze get wound up and  resort to insults.

Having argued the simplistic mantra of ‘Brexit means Brexit’, they patronisingly say the detail is too complicated for the public to understand. They want a blank cheque for whatever deal- or none- that emerges. No way do they think they should be held to account for the dodgy  arguments the Brexiteers advanced during the referendum, like £350 million a week for the NHS, which is clearly  not going to happen. Scrutiny of the process and detail is anathema to them.

They argue that the economic consequences  are irrelevant .No matter  how many jobs or lost or  businesses wrecked , it doesn’t matter to them.

They say the fact the Conservative Government overlooked the status  of Gibraltar is the fault of Brussels for pointing it out, not of course the Prime Minister  for forgetting about it in the Article 50 notice, or themselves in the  referendum.  That is a matter of detail the public, they say, can’t understand.

 ‘Sovereignty’ they cry: but this does  not include the sovereignty of the constituent parts of the UK as the country starts to unravel, with demands for Scottish independence  and chaos facing Northern Ireland, with no idea of what  the border with the South will mean for cross border trade and travel, never mind the peace process.

The inconvenient truths are now coming home to roost, like the cost of the ‘divorce’ settlement.  Like the way the other 27 states want to see the status of their citizens settled before any trade discussions  can begin. Like the way that businesses and major employers like the EU Medicines Agency are now relocating.

The chickens of the ‘it’ll be alright on the night, trust us’ approach of the Brexiteers is now starting to come home to roost, with opinion polls now showing that the public mood is shifting, with the first signs of a national  majority  against Brexit.

The consequences may not be important to the tunnel vision hard Brexiteers, but they are to the public, who are not stupid as the Brexiteers hope or think.

Andrew Dismore AM

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden