Having read the first two books in political journalist Tim Shipman’s Brexit opus, I felt I had to finish the third and final act. After waiting 6 years since the second, it turns it that he decided to fill two more 600+ page books; like the Brexit process itself this is becoming a punishing and neverending exercise.
This third work covers Teresa May’s attempt to get Brexit done. When I read the first couple Brexit was fresh in the memory… it now feels a long time ago. This could have made this a tough read but I still enjoyed the flow although could have lived with a little less detail.
The main takeaway is just what a hot mess Brexit was… a torturous puzzle that broke most people involved. The need to square the Irish border problem, the groups within Parliament with utterly incompatible positions, immediate leaks from every key meeting. Likely near impossible for any prime minister, Teresa May was definitely not up to the job; no grand vision, deficient comms with all parties, and a self-inflicted Parliamentary position due to her disastrous election.
There is a great observation from Jeremy Hunt that May’s deal was aligned with the public who voted to leave (focussed on controlling immigration while trying to retain as many economic benefits as possible) but at odds with the Brexiteer MPs (who were obsessed with sovereignty).
That lack of clarity of what Brexit was, right from day one, was always the issue. And also means that I now have one final book to plough through…
