The scale of the coronavirus crisis exposes how pointless the Brexit cause is
This might not feel
like the moment to go on about Brexit, but Brexit goes
on whether we are feeling it or not. When people are worried about surviving
April, December’s deadline for EU trade talks seems a long way off. Covid-19
may have eclipsed older problems, but they will not solve themselves in its
shadow. The disease
has halted negotiations and infected the lead negotiators. All
Whitehall capacity is being spent on the immediate crisis. Boris Johnson has no
time for Brexit. If he did, he might want to practise some social distancing
from the idea.
Suppose for a moment
that Britain had not already committed to quitting the single market. Then
imagine the government choosing the peak of a pandemic to plan new obstructions
for goods flowing between the UK and Europe. Picture Rishi Sunak, wunderkind
chancellor, explaining why supply chains must be disrupted and friction added
at Channel ports.
Ponder ministers selling the idea of a customs border between
mainland Britain & Northern
Ireland – sand in the wheels of recovery, plus
salt in the wounds history. Pitched that way, as a post-viral convalescence
strategy, the UK’s Brexit trajectory is absurd. Johnson’s best-case scenario
– a
“Canada-style” deal – promises only shock to a debilitated system....
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/01/coronavirus-crisis-brexit-brexiteers
