London preparing for hard Brexit
The British government has started to prepare the population and local businesses for a hard Brexit without a deal with the EU. In 25 documents it describes the consequences of such a move for food and medicine supplies, nuclear security, air traffic and other areas. Is London resorting to scare tactics to force the EU to make concessions?
EU getting all the blame
ABC explains what London is after with the crisis scenario:
“In reality this report is not aimed at the British but is a tactic aimed at putting pressure on the European negotiators, preparing the ground for blaming them for the negative consequences the citizens will suffer if their demands - all of which are entirely incongruous - are not met, thus blocking an agreement. It should be pointed out that it isn't the EU that wants to kick out Britain, but the nationalist populist British and the most irresponsible sections of the Conservative Party who created the conditions that produced the well-known result of the 2016 referendum.”
Threats could backfire
London's tactic may not work out, warns the Neue Zürcher Zeitung:
“Trade Secretary Liam Fox recently put the likelihood of the negotiations failing at 60 to 40. This estimate is part of London's negotiating tactic, as are the warnings about how damaging a 'hard' Brexit would be. The government wants to show Brussels what both sides stand to lose if they don't reach a deal. But the louder they shout across the English Channel about the dangers of a no-deal scenario, the more wary the British too are becoming. ... This threatening posture doesn't really work if at the same time the government has to reassure its own citizens that Brexit will go smoothly. Brussels will eagerly take note of this. The British government is not cutting a good figure in the balancing act of presenting one set of arguments to its audience at home and another to its audience in Brussels.”
May can't expect EU to be lenient
The failure of the Brexit negotiations would be catastrophic, De Standaard warns:
“This dramatic attempt to destroy more than 40 years of political, economic, financial and logistical integration will be very costly. ... Adopting an inflexible stance won't do the EU member states any good economically either. If trading becomes more difficult after Brexit all sides will suffer. ... Yet May cannot hope for lenience on Europe's part. The EU cannot create a precedent and let breakaway states have their way. The postponement and extension of the negotiation phase is the most she can hope for.”
De Gaulle already warned against the British
The mood in Britain continues to evolve so that a majority could now be against the Brexit, Svenska Dagbladet surmises:
“In his day Charles de Gaulle [French president from 1959 to 1969] vetoed British EU membership. From a historical perspective this now seems rather insightful. History and the Empire continue to exert a strong influence on the British mentality, and the Brexit suits such attitudes to a T. But that doesn't mean the whole affair is over. If there's one thing we know about referendums, it's that they never really end.”
UK lacks effective opposition
The Brexit negotiations are exposing the pitiful condition of British institutions, the Wiener Zeitung finds:
“The Brexit is turning into a tragedy because the opposition Labour Party under Corbyn is also miles away from being fit for government. Even after three years Corbyn still hasn't managed to unite the party; and it's not at all clear what the 69-year-old long-time far-left backbencher or his party actually think of Brexit. ... In the UK's two-party system both parties are currently aeons away from being able to govern in any real sense. And if we consider that at the latest since the Brexit campaign the mass media have also signed off as a stabilising anchor of reason, we begin to understand the true dimensions of the crisis of the British institutions.”