UK government no-deal papers are appearing, that is, papers that set out real penalties for ordinary people. These penalties may still apply even if a withdrawal agreement and transition period is agreed but there is no post Brexit agreement on the relationship between the UK and the EU. Rumour has it that the most inflammatory of these papers are being held back until after the Conservative Party conference.

Don’t let’s forget, a transition period only puts off the day when we have to face up to whatever Theresa May and the Brexiters do or do not agree with the EU, and after 29^th March it will be too late to decide that our current membership of the EU is actually what is Best for the UK.

But this is just what some members of the government and the Brexiters want to bounce us into – agreeing to something without knowing what it is, understanding all that it will mean or indeed anything else of significance.

And the, mostly friendly, warnings keep rolling in. This business will no longer be profitable, this business can already not find enough workers, Brexit could cost the taxpayer £x on exit day, never mind ongoing costs and increased costs. Here are some examples from recent news:

• Dominic Raab, the recently appointed and immediately demoted Secretary of State for Leaving the European Union, lambasting John Lewis for suggesting that the post Brexit vote exchange rate has an impact on corporate profits: John Lewis’s boss rejected Dominic Raab’s Brexit jibe;
• Government ministers, including Dominic Raab, claiming EU27 leaders were going to tone down Michel Barnier’s position on Brexit, something immediately denied by EU officials: EU leaders will not give Michel Barnier new Brexit instructions;
• The UK trying to make side-deals with the EU states about the transport issues, a strategy that the EU has on multiple occasions said will not work. Nevertheless one of Theresa May’s acolytes, in this case Chris Grayling the “master” of all things related to transport, wrote to the EU27 states about a side deal on the transport issues. There is nothing more childish and embarrassing than being caught sneaking around to the back door in the hope of getting a better reception. Plus it only serves to confirm a view of the UK as “perfidious Albion”;
• The currency markets misreading comments that Michel Barnier made and sending sterling into such a tizzy it managed to climb back a few cents from its current low. But when you look at the language Michel Barnier used it is no different to other statements he has made over the past months;
• Jaguar Land-Rover now reminding everybody that it will be a lot cheaper to produce vehicles in Slovakia, a country where J L-R is already transferred production of the Discovery to and perhaps even a new Defender: The company recently revealed production of its Discovery model will be shifted from Solihull to the new plant;
• Stalinesque measures taken by the Tory party to silence dissenting voices at the Tory party conference: three Best for Britain members refused passes to the Tory conference.

Then there is the Chequers agreement, an agreement that nobody will back, whether Brexiter or EU state. But Theresa May and her acolytes persist in flogging this dead horse, which should be recognised for what it really is – a dead donkey that should be dropped – because effort would be far better spent elsewhere, such as working out what (at this point) is Best for the UK.

You have to wonder what could be done to improve the situation for people in the UK if the same effort was directed at removing the humiliating excesses of the “gig economy”, addressing the need for food banks and providing a NHS that targeted at the needs of the people and not the needs of some fatuous economic model.

The Brexit heat is now having a serious effect on the Brexiters, both in and out of Government. They are stumbling around, delirious and sleepy because they insisted on standing out in the hot sun screaming at the neighbours about the hedge clippers. And boy, do they get unpleasant when you suggest they might like to sit down, relax and have a nice refreshing glass of reality and common sense.

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Published by Grahame Pigney on behalf of The People’s Challenge Ltd.