Brexit is good for you. No it's not.

Brexit is now like everything else in life. Butter is good for you, say experts. No it's not, say experts. Red wine is good for you, say experts. No it's not, say experts. Climate change is nonsense, say experts. Climate change is the most dangerous threat facing the world, say experts. Jogging will extend your life by ten years, say experts. No it won't, say experts. Peanut butter is the elixir of life, say experts. No it isn't, say experts. Excessive exercise ten minutes a day will prevent a heart attack, say experts. No it won't and doesn't, say experts. There's an endless supply of examples of things which experts say will do you good that are then denied by other types of experts. Brexit is like a glorified advertising campaign by both sides of the debate. No one can work out which side is telling the truth or which side actually knows what the hell it is talking about. Today is a classic case. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the fast-left-moving Labour Party and would-be prime minister, has come out with a spectacularly brilliant political idea. Let's stay in the EU Customs Union, he says, then we will be guaranteed our fair share of the lovely trade deals that go on every day of the week. Well, that concept has been around ever since Brexit was first invented. But never mind, Corbyn has suddenly come to this conclusion because he realises that if he can persuade Tory rebel Remainers to join him, he could oust Theresa May and her divided cabinet. I don't suppose Corbyn and his merry Lefties have thought through the implications of this new policy but it's a clever political move to put more pressure on May. The timing is good, too, because the Government is currently in the middle of a period of Big Speeches by the Big Players. Today it's the turn of Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, who is going to tell us - because he has leaked his speech to be made tonight - that it would be daft to stay in the EU Customs Union because then we won't be able to grab amazingly wonderful trade deals with countries outside the EU. Better to break free and launch Glorious Britain into a whirlpool of trade partnerships with everyone from the United States to Nicaragua. But before poor Liam has stepped up to the microphone to reveal his brilliant understanding of Brexit, out of the woodwork comes a fellow called Sir Martin Donnelly who tells us that the Fox argument is fantasy. The phrase he uses is "fairy godmother" stuff. Sir Martin was a top civil servant, serving as permanent secretary at....Fox's department until he resigned last year. He referred on radio to a speech HE is going to make which will argue that what we lose by leaving the Customs Union will never be replaced or bettered by acting alone and struggling to reach new trade deals with the EU or with countries outside. In other words, he can guarantee that Britain will be worse off outside the Customs Union and anyone who thinks differently must believe in fairies. Ergo, Liam Fox believes in fairies. Ooops Sir Martin, a former top civil servant speaks his mind. No wonder he resigned. The point of all this is we lesser mortals haven't a clue whether Fox's dream of a new era of multiple trade deals for Britain is based on sound intellect and judgment or is just another flimsy-flamsy hope-for-the-best piece of political hype. Nor do we know whether smartypants Donnelly knows what he is talking about. He once worked in Brussels, so he is a Brussels bureaucrat at heart who beieves the EU is the best place for us. Well, that's what I believe, too, but everything is now so political that it's impossible to feel convinced by arguments from either side. The British voters opted in the referendum for a full pull-out, including from the Single Market and Customs Union. At least, I think they thought they did. Since then we've had Soft Brexit and Hard Brexit and No-deal Brexit. So the waters have been muddied to such an extent that it no longer matters what the so-called Big Players, such as Boris Johnson, David Davis, Liam Fox, oh and Theresa May, say about the implications of staying, leaving or running away, there isn't a reputable financial crystal-ball-gazer in the universe who, hand on heart, can say where exactly Britain will be in, say, ten years' time. Today, Fox has been outfoxed by Donnelly but it really hasn't helped one bit!