Editorial: Brexit still a messy, uncertain process as the end nears

British MP Jo Johnson has quit as a transport minister in the British Government in protest over Brexit negotiations. He has called for a new referendum. Photo / AP

Editorial

They are now in the final straight.

In just a few months — on March 30 NZT — Britain will leave the European Union.

The finish line and the ultimate end-result are clear and sharp.

Yet Britain's politicians have made the process of getting there about as clear as a muddy track through marshes.

Still to be confirmed is what deal if any the country leaves with. But that's just the most obvious of many unknowns.

The sense that Prime Minister Theresa May's Government has been an uncertain jockey on this beast has been there from the start.

The idea of Brexit was an emotional article of faith for Conservative Party proponents in the beginning. It's clear what was missing was detailed policy planning for it at a basic level.

In September, Lord Mervyn King, a former Bank of England governor, called the handling of negotiations "incompetent" and said the country seemed ill-prepared.

The Financial Times even reported in October that the Government was planning a desperate-sounding Dunkirk-style charter flotilla to bring in food and supplies in case of a no-deal result.

Brexit reached another farcical peak last week when the secretary in charge of Brexit negotiations, Dominic Raab, admitted he wasn't aware how important the Channel trade route is to Britain's economy. "I hadn't quite understood the full extent of this but if you look at the UK and look at how we trade in goods, we are particularly reliant on the Dover-Calais crossing."

UK Labour MP Chuka Umunna, tweeting in response, hit on a common complaint — that Brexit hadn't turned out as promised. "Any claims Brexit would present problems for the every day economy were dismissed as Project Fear by him & others — now they have to admit its reality".

At the weekend Jo Johnson — brother of former Foreign Secretary Boris — quit as a transport minister and called for another referendum. He told BBC Radio 4 yesterday that what was being offered fell "spectacularly short" of what had been promised. "It was a false prospectus, it was a fantasy set of promises."

Meanwhile, a criminal investigation into Arron Banks, the millionaire donor with Russian ties behind the Leave campaign, has raised questions about the legitimacy of the 2016 referendum altogether.

Still, May is hoping to get Cabinet backing for a draft withdrawal agreement this week. She has to somehow please her own party, her Northern Irish DUP allies and Brussels to get a deal through.

There is supposed to be an EU summit this month to finalise Brexit, but the negotiations have been held up on the Irish border.

May has proposed a "backstop" to avoid the return of a hard border and customs checks between Northern Ireland and the UK.

The BBC says that the EU broadly accepts the proposal that Britain stay in a joint customs union with the EU until a trade relationship can be worked out. But there are sticking points. On Friday the Times reported that a "no-deal" Brexit will include an "new border in the Irish Sea". The Daily Telegraph said the EU is demanding fishing rights to British waters.

EU diplomats have said that next month is the last chance to reach a deal. Even then, the House of Commons will still need to vote on it.