Ten months to Brexit!

Remainers and Leavers are still as divided as ever and it's just ten months to go before Britain exits membership of the European Union. Although a million words have been spoken and millions and millions of words have been written about the negotiations and the likely future of this country, does anyone from the Prime Minister down to lesser mortals like me have any real clue about what life is going to be like? No is the answer. Theresa May is still struggling to get across her idea that we should be half in and half out of the EU customs union, and no government ministers have yet adequately explained how we are going to benefit from a whole range of new trade deals around the world once we are unfettered by EU regulations. The New York Times today claims the UK is more like the US with cuts in social benefits and extreme poverty. The New York Times has traditionally taken a perverse position on the UK, reporting on our difficulties as if we are about to become a Third World country, riven by violent crime, class divisions and misery. Perhaps there are some American reporters who still believe that London is affected by smog which, of couse, hasn't been the case since the 1950s. Actually this country is still one of the best places to live, immigration is a big political issue but on the whole we all get on pretty well, we are a tolerant nation and the best multicultural cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham are thriving. But Brexit has created such uncertainty that the fear is this great country will somehow be diminished, that we will no longer play a role in world affairs and that the EU members will laugh at us as we struggle to survive in a new economic climate. Despite the fact I voted Remain, and despite the continuing doubts about the current government's ability to produce a decent and manageable deal with the EU bureaucrats, I believe Britain will still be a wonderful place to live and bring up children. The New York Times will be proved wrong. And I haven't mentioned Trump once!