A friend of mine, who studied at one of the best colleges in one of the best universities at the world, thinks that Brexit is so complex that to fully understand it is beyond the comprehension of any one person. Given that he studied alongside, or was taught by, some of the smartest people on the planet, that is quite a statement. He was exaggerating perhaps, given that there are people who can recite pi from memory to 20,000+ digits, but not by much. Brexit is sufficiently complicated that even experts are undecided on some of the details, and it is one reason why Brexit developments can pass by under the radar. I often phone highly informed people with a query about a detail relating to the implications of a proposal with regard to an aspect of Brexit and their answer might begin along the lines of: “I’m not sure but I suspect that …” Different areas of knowledge are required to have a proper grasp of Brexit, such as trade policy or constitutional law or economics. This has meant that there is sharp disagreement on the implications of, for example, Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs union unlike the rest of the UK. Some experts say it would not matter much and others say that it is of paramount importance. Some of the complexity of Brexit was apparent yesterday in the letter that Theresa May sent to the DUP leader Arlene Foster and her deputy Nigel Dodds. There… [Read full story]
Leave a Reply