Theresa May finally admits that Brexit could be a disaster

When Theresa May made her speech marking the dissolution of parliament, she was trying to appeal to our base instincts of hatred and fear.

Painting a picture of nefarious Europeans wanting the UK to fail. Telling us that giving her government a bigger mandate is the only way to counter this external threat to the UK.

It was not a diplomatic statement and will only create bad-blood between the two sides of the negotiations.

She chastised the Europeans for things that could just as easily be applied to her side. She says the European press have misrepresented her negotiating position ignoring that the UK press are not exactly non-partisan. She criticises the EU negotiators for hardening their position when her hard-Brexit isn’t called hard for nothing. She talks about threats made by certain European politicians as if all UK politicians are europhiles.

This failure of balance, the failure to hold a realistic view of the other side, should raise serious doubts in the mind of anyone who thinks she might be a good negotiator. Especially as the crisis we are currently in is completely of the making of the UK.

Yet there was some honesty in her statement in that it points to why leaving the EU is a bad idea. She is openly admitting that these negotiations are going to be tough and there is a good chance they will go badly wrong. She is telling us that if they do go wrong it will have grim consequences for most of us.

She is also highlighting that the EU members are a diverse bunch with various differing perspectives and that getting them to all agree a deal isn’t going to be easy.

In highlighting this reality she is demonstrating one of the key advantages of having the EU compared to what came before. The EU is a structure in which the diverse states of Europe are incentivised to work together. In the tone of May’s speech you can see this relationship beginning to fray.

While not exactly a declaration of war, May’s speech has a combative edge to it.

It was meant to make us think that the Tories are the only people who could do this job but all it did for me was make me trust them less. Starting off this aggressively, demeaning the other side, and displaying such little understanding of their predicament doesn’t bode well for future success.

Perhaps that is why she reminded us that she thinks that no deal is better than a bad deal. Perhaps she is prepping us for what she will deliver if we give her the chance. Check out May’s statement in the video below.

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