Thread by @syrpis, Various tweets from @LeaveHQ are getting a lot of attention today. To [...]

Various tweets from @LeaveHQ are getting a lot of attention today. To sum up: a) Brexit is not going well (agree); and b) this is remainers& #39; fault for failing to compromise (strongly disagree). Thread. 1/13

In order to win the referendum, the various leave groups emphasised different things. Collectively, they were a deliberately broad church. 2/

Arguments from sovereignty coexisted with arguments against immigration; arguments for a mutually beneficial relationship with the EU coexisted with arguments for the destruction of the EU. Etc etc. 3/

The (4) years since June 2016 have seen a continuation of the same, pre-referendum approach. (I& #39;ll pause to note that those in charge seem to be good at campaigning, but not so good at governing.) 4/

For months all we had was & #39;Brexit means Brexit& #39;. Then, the Withdrawal Agreement did not deal with the future relationship in anything more than outline, aspirational, detail. 5/

With less than 6 months til the end of transition, it remains unclear whether the Govt wants a comprehensive or a & #39;skinny& #39; FTA, or whether it does in fact prefer no deal. 6/

I have several thoughts on why this might be.

First, those in charge disagree on the best way forward.

Second, they know that once Brexit is & #39;reified& #39;, it will, almost inevitably, lose some support. 7/

And third, any future relationship deal will, in economic and geo-political terms, be a significant backward step. No amount of fantasy new deals with the RoW will compensate for the loss of the UK& #39;s relationship with the EU. 8/

& #39;Remainers& #39;, and many & #39;experts& #39;, have been pointing out both the flaws and the contradictions inherent in Brexit for years. 9/

It was always for the Govt to & #39;reify& #39; Brexit - to identify a negotiating position, to explain that to people, and to seek to reach agreement with the EU. 10/

Instead, we& #39;ve had & #39;sloganeering populism& #39;. The best deal in history; sunlit uplands; close trading relationship; no loss of sovereignty. It is an incoherent mess. 11/

Whatever is delivered by the end of 2020 will, in all likelihood, disappoint many on the leave side, and all on the remain side. 12/

The blame for that lies with successive Conservative Governments; not with those who have been pointing out that what they have been promising is impossible and undeliverable. 13/13

PS I& #39;ll link to a couple of blog posts, which show where the Govt went wrong.

This shows the lack of a plan, and the lack of any consensus-building up to Oct 2017 (though how the Overton window has shifted since then...).

https://legalresearch.blogs.bris.ac.uk/2017/10/a-call-to-stop-brexit/">https://legalresearch.blogs.bris.ac.uk/2017/10/a...

And this, with @clairgammage, shows why Theresa May& #39;s withdrawal agreement was likely to be opposed (as it indeed was) by remainers and leavers alike (it was rejected by historic margins in the HoC...).

https://legalresearch.blogs.bris.ac.uk/2018/11/why-the-draft-agreement-on-the-withdrawal-of-the-uk-from-the-eu-should-satisfy-neither-leavers-nor-remainers/">https://legalresearch.blogs.bris.ac.uk/2018/11/w...

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