This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/22/theresa-may-florence-speech-brexit-plan
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Theresa May’s Florence speech – our writers’ verdicts | Theresa May’s Florence speech – our writers’ verdicts |
| (12 days later) | |
| Gina Miller: Nothing new, nothing substantial – will Brexit even happen? | Gina Miller: Nothing new, nothing substantial – will Brexit even happen? |
| I wondered for the first 20 minutes or so of Theresa May’s speech whether she thought she was still campaigning for remain in the EU referendum. She spoke with uncharacteristic eloquence and passion about our shared history with Europe and how we have collaborated successfully in so many fields. But when it came to the actual process of Brexit, she could talk only about the problems she faced, not the solutions. | I wondered for the first 20 minutes or so of Theresa May’s speech whether she thought she was still campaigning for remain in the EU referendum. She spoke with uncharacteristic eloquence and passion about our shared history with Europe and how we have collaborated successfully in so many fields. But when it came to the actual process of Brexit, she could talk only about the problems she faced, not the solutions. |
| Apart from saying that the UK would be willing to take into account European court of justice rulings in decisions we take affecting EU nationals, there was precious little that was new or of substance. That assurance, in addition to the transition period she talked about, will almost certainly cause her problems with the hard right of her party just as her conference approaches. I wonder what was in it for her to make such a speech. | Apart from saying that the UK would be willing to take into account European court of justice rulings in decisions we take affecting EU nationals, there was precious little that was new or of substance. That assurance, in addition to the transition period she talked about, will almost certainly cause her problems with the hard right of her party just as her conference approaches. I wonder what was in it for her to make such a speech. |
| Fundamentally, the speech was a delaying tactic in the absence of progress | Fundamentally, the speech was a delaying tactic in the absence of progress |
| As she conceded, we would still be paying into the EU, but we wouldn’t have a seat at the table in the decision-making processes. So what was the Renaissance woman’s message? | As she conceded, we would still be paying into the EU, but we wouldn’t have a seat at the table in the decision-making processes. So what was the Renaissance woman’s message? |
| Fundamentally, the speech – peppered with the word of the day, “creativity” – was a delaying tactic in the absence of progress. May is coming to terms with the reality that the moment she sent off the article 50 letter in order to “take back control”, she in fact lost control, and put the future of the UK firmly in the hands of the EU27. | Fundamentally, the speech – peppered with the word of the day, “creativity” – was a delaying tactic in the absence of progress. May is coming to terms with the reality that the moment she sent off the article 50 letter in order to “take back control”, she in fact lost control, and put the future of the UK firmly in the hands of the EU27. |
| It is telling that the stock market rose sharply as she finished speaking. A vote of confidence in her? On the contrary, the City – like more and more of us – now believe that Brexit is not happening anytime soon. | It is telling that the stock market rose sharply as she finished speaking. A vote of confidence in her? On the contrary, the City – like more and more of us – now believe that Brexit is not happening anytime soon. |
| Owen Jones: A retreat to Labour’s position is an admission of failure | Owen Jones: A retreat to Labour’s position is an admission of failure |
| “We can do so much better than this”: that is pretty much all the sense that can be squeezed out of Theresa May’s speech. She claimed “concrete progress” had been made in negotiations, directly contradicting the EU’s Michel Barnier. She rejects both a Norwegian deal (too close) and a Canadian deal (not close enough), but she doesn’t say what sort of deal she does want. Just a great deal. One in which, presumably, Britain has its cake and can eat it, which the EU is about as likely to offer. | “We can do so much better than this”: that is pretty much all the sense that can be squeezed out of Theresa May’s speech. She claimed “concrete progress” had been made in negotiations, directly contradicting the EU’s Michel Barnier. She rejects both a Norwegian deal (too close) and a Canadian deal (not close enough), but she doesn’t say what sort of deal she does want. Just a great deal. One in which, presumably, Britain has its cake and can eat it, which the EU is about as likely to offer. |
| The only real meat – which could just as easily have been issued in a press release – was a retreat to Labour’s position. Labour has proposed that, for the transition period, Britain should stay in both the single market and customs union. That’s because the Tories messed up the negotiations – not least by calling a snap election, which reduced the government to the status of international laughing stock, and leaving the country hurtling towards a cliff edge. That the Tories are now adopting this position is a concession on their part that all is not well in their negotiations. | The only real meat – which could just as easily have been issued in a press release – was a retreat to Labour’s position. Labour has proposed that, for the transition period, Britain should stay in both the single market and customs union. That’s because the Tories messed up the negotiations – not least by calling a snap election, which reduced the government to the status of international laughing stock, and leaving the country hurtling towards a cliff edge. That the Tories are now adopting this position is a concession on their part that all is not well in their negotiations. |
| Yes, she fell back again on that recurring threat that “no deal is better than a bad deal”. Casting aside the damage that would be inflicted on the economy by negotiations collapsing, there is zero evidence that the government has made any of the extensive preparations needed for such a scenario. She refused to say whether government would pay for single market access, or what the figure would be for a settlement with the EU. This, above all else, threatens to infuriate the hard Brexiteers in her party, who are waiting to cry betrayal, that glorious Brexit has been stabbed in the back. | Yes, she fell back again on that recurring threat that “no deal is better than a bad deal”. Casting aside the damage that would be inflicted on the economy by negotiations collapsing, there is zero evidence that the government has made any of the extensive preparations needed for such a scenario. She refused to say whether government would pay for single market access, or what the figure would be for a settlement with the EU. This, above all else, threatens to infuriate the hard Brexiteers in her party, who are waiting to cry betrayal, that glorious Brexit has been stabbed in the back. |
| This was a speech of a directionless prime minister, adrift at home and abroad, with no answers to any of the problems and challenges inflicted on the country by the Tories’ own disastrous, partisan manoeuvring. As May said herself: we can do so much better than this. | This was a speech of a directionless prime minister, adrift at home and abroad, with no answers to any of the problems and challenges inflicted on the country by the Tories’ own disastrous, partisan manoeuvring. As May said herself: we can do so much better than this. |
| John Redwood: A bold and positive speech in the face of an EU that has no plan | John Redwood: A bold and positive speech in the face of an EU that has no plan |
| Theresa May went in friendship to Italy. She made a very generous offer of a future partnership once we are out of the EU on 29 March 2019. We will only know what this means when we hear the reactions of the EU officials and the member states that draw up the negotiating framework for the European commission. | Theresa May went in friendship to Italy. She made a very generous offer of a future partnership once we are out of the EU on 29 March 2019. We will only know what this means when we hear the reactions of the EU officials and the member states that draw up the negotiating framework for the European commission. |
| The prime minister repeated that no deal is better than a bad deal. This is a vital statement, to have any kind of negotiation at all. This puts the UK in a strong position in the talks. She affirmed that the government is pressing ahead with preparing for no deal – as it has to do in case the EU response is poor. She went out of her way to lovebomb the EU, expressing her enthusiastic wish for a bold and wide-ranging future partnership between an independent UK and an EU that needs to get on with its own agenda of economic, monetary and political union, freed of the UK seeking to slow or restrain those moves. | The prime minister repeated that no deal is better than a bad deal. This is a vital statement, to have any kind of negotiation at all. This puts the UK in a strong position in the talks. She affirmed that the government is pressing ahead with preparing for no deal – as it has to do in case the EU response is poor. She went out of her way to lovebomb the EU, expressing her enthusiastic wish for a bold and wide-ranging future partnership between an independent UK and an EU that needs to get on with its own agenda of economic, monetary and political union, freed of the UK seeking to slow or restrain those moves. |
| Her thoughts on how long an interim period may be needed for implementation after we have left were, by nature, sketchy. You cannot know if you need any implementation period until you know what agreement you are seeking to implement. She was right to stress the need to get on with these talks, as of course there are 18 months still to go, which would allow good progress with implementation, were there to be early agreement on where we are going. | Her thoughts on how long an interim period may be needed for implementation after we have left were, by nature, sketchy. You cannot know if you need any implementation period until you know what agreement you are seeking to implement. She was right to stress the need to get on with these talks, as of course there are 18 months still to go, which would allow good progress with implementation, were there to be early agreement on where we are going. |
| The speech was bold and positive despite the lack of any positive vision or plan from the EU itself on how it would like to secure its trade access to the UK and look after its citizens once we have left. The prime minister was right to urge the EU to see the opportunities for them as for us, and right to say we want neither to be in the European economic area or to settle for a Canada-type agreement. | The speech was bold and positive despite the lack of any positive vision or plan from the EU itself on how it would like to secure its trade access to the UK and look after its citizens once we have left. The prime minister was right to urge the EU to see the opportunities for them as for us, and right to say we want neither to be in the European economic area or to settle for a Canada-type agreement. |
| Anne Perkins: May is still operating in a parallel universe | Anne Perkins: May is still operating in a parallel universe |
| In less than a fortnight, Theresa May will be addressing her Brexit-hungry party in Manchester. Many of them will be cross that leaving the EU is not already a done deal. A good part of her cabinet has no patience with negotiation. So listening to May on the subject of the negotiations is to enter a parallel universe where, as with a belief in levitation, the power of imagination can defy the pull of gravity. | In less than a fortnight, Theresa May will be addressing her Brexit-hungry party in Manchester. Many of them will be cross that leaving the EU is not already a done deal. A good part of her cabinet has no patience with negotiation. So listening to May on the subject of the negotiations is to enter a parallel universe where, as with a belief in levitation, the power of imagination can defy the pull of gravity. |
| May’s cakeist approach to Brexit (as in, having it and eating it) is beginning to find its limits. Yet it still appears that May believes, or needs to appear to believe, that it is possible to have most of the cake – even though the EU27 have already taken a bite. | May’s cakeist approach to Brexit (as in, having it and eating it) is beginning to find its limits. Yet it still appears that May believes, or needs to appear to believe, that it is possible to have most of the cake – even though the EU27 have already taken a bite. |
| The Brexit minister, David Davis, has already conceded a series of points he initially claimed to be non-negotiable – sequential rather than parallel talks, for example. Today came explicit confirmation, rather than whistling for a continuing budget contribution as Boris Johnson had suggested: May had already written the cheque; and EU citizens’ rights would be guaranteed in British courts that would take into account rulings by the European court of justice. A transition of “around” two years – but strictly time-limited – when “existing regulations” (and the ECJ?) would apply. | The Brexit minister, David Davis, has already conceded a series of points he initially claimed to be non-negotiable – sequential rather than parallel talks, for example. Today came explicit confirmation, rather than whistling for a continuing budget contribution as Boris Johnson had suggested: May had already written the cheque; and EU citizens’ rights would be guaranteed in British courts that would take into account rulings by the European court of justice. A transition of “around” two years – but strictly time-limited – when “existing regulations” (and the ECJ?) would apply. |
| This is what cakeism sounds like when it comes into contact with reality. But May is still levitating away on the rest of the agenda: she pledged there would be no UK as a northern-hemisphere-Singapore, but nor were the Norway or the Canada trade models acceptable. There would definitely be no ECJ or European Free Trade Association court, but a completely new system of managing differences between the UK and the EU – and all fixed up within two years. This truly would take mystical powers. | This is what cakeism sounds like when it comes into contact with reality. But May is still levitating away on the rest of the agenda: she pledged there would be no UK as a northern-hemisphere-Singapore, but nor were the Norway or the Canada trade models acceptable. There would definitely be no ECJ or European Free Trade Association court, but a completely new system of managing differences between the UK and the EU – and all fixed up within two years. This truly would take mystical powers. |
| Kate Maltby: A speech that will satisfy her party – for now | Kate Maltby: A speech that will satisfy her party – for now |
| In Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the boorish Bertram flees to Florence to escape an unwanted wife he can’t divorce. Theresa May, conversely, headed to Florence to offer the EU a formal divorce offer couched in all the conciliatory terms of 21st-century “conscious uncoupling”. | In Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the boorish Bertram flees to Florence to escape an unwanted wife he can’t divorce. Theresa May, conversely, headed to Florence to offer the EU a formal divorce offer couched in all the conciliatory terms of 21st-century “conscious uncoupling”. |
| This was “It’s not you, it’s me” in the language of international diplomacy. The prime minister recognises that Brexit “is not something the EU wanted to do … a distraction” (it almost sounded like an apology). But, she added, truthfully, that for Britain “the EU had never felt like an integral part of our national story, in the way it does to so many elsewhere in Europe”. | This was “It’s not you, it’s me” in the language of international diplomacy. The prime minister recognises that Brexit “is not something the EU wanted to do … a distraction” (it almost sounded like an apology). But, she added, truthfully, that for Britain “the EU had never felt like an integral part of our national story, in the way it does to so many elsewhere in Europe”. |
| I watched as high-profile Brexiteers and remainers nodded in approval | I watched as high-profile Brexiteers and remainers nodded in approval |
| Certainly, as a nation whose mainland borders were not invaded in the 20th-century, much of Britain has never viscerally felt the peace-keeping impact of the European Union. Northern Ireland remains a different matter. The PM’s promise that “we will not accept physical infrastructure” around the Northern Irish border still leaves a host of questions unanswered. | Certainly, as a nation whose mainland borders were not invaded in the 20th-century, much of Britain has never viscerally felt the peace-keeping impact of the European Union. Northern Ireland remains a different matter. The PM’s promise that “we will not accept physical infrastructure” around the Northern Irish border still leaves a host of questions unanswered. |
| In the main, however, May pulled off the tricky task of resetting the tone of Brexit talks while carrying her party with her. At the Big Tent Festival in Berkshire – the much discussed “Tory Glastonbury” – I watched as high-profile Brexiteers and remainers nodded in approval. The need for a transition period has broad support within the party; the PM’s successful couching of the arrangement as her own idea will probably shore off some of the expected trouble at next week’s conference. The question, as always, is how long May can keep being all things to all Tories. | In the main, however, May pulled off the tricky task of resetting the tone of Brexit talks while carrying her party with her. At the Big Tent Festival in Berkshire – the much discussed “Tory Glastonbury” – I watched as high-profile Brexiteers and remainers nodded in approval. The need for a transition period has broad support within the party; the PM’s successful couching of the arrangement as her own idea will probably shore off some of the expected trouble at next week’s conference. The question, as always, is how long May can keep being all things to all Tories. |