With 6 days left until Christmas and 100 days until Brexit, the government seem no closer to having any sort of cohesive plan in place to execute Brexit.
The best the Government were able to come up with yesterday was to announce that contingency plans are in place for an emergency no-deal Brexit. Cabinet ministers have apparently agreed to reserve ferry space for emergency supplies, and to put 3,500 members of the armed forces on standby to deal with any disruption. Surely, planning to cope with civil disruption has to tell the planner, that their plan leading to it is ill advised.
The opposition seems equally inept, having at no stage since the referendum made any meaningful attempt to provide a workable Brexit solution.
Adding to the confusion today a debate took place in the House of Commons on the Government’s post-Brexit immigration plans. Leading up to the debate, home secretary Sajid Javid declined to reiterate Theresa May’s 2017 election manifesto pledge, to bring net migration down to ‘tens of thousands’ and struggles to give details about the government’s post-Brexit immigration plan for the UK. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, and Greg Clark, the business secretary, are among ministers already firmly opposed to the plans with concerns they would severely restrict businesses in recruiting staff.
British business through many media channels have issued stark warnings to MPs that they risk plunging an ill-prepared economy into chaos unless they stop playing politics at Westminster.
As we have already published, we see the Government’s post-Brexit immigration plans as a disaster for hospitality, compounding the already acute people and skills shortage in our industry.
So, with time ticking ever faster toward the Brexit deadline, is it finally time for all political parties to temporarily put aside point scoring and come together to try and work out a workable Brexit?