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The gushingly self-important Anna Soubry, Cassandra-in-Chief,
wrote to The Times yesterday demanding that the PM should publish her (Brexit)
plan in a White paper and ensure that it is debated in the country at large and
in parliament. One can only speculate at
her motives for calling for such a course but she surely cannot believe that
involving the dead hand of Parliamentary scrutiny will do anything to speed or
enhance the process. She surely hopes,
as the spokesperson of a desperate band of out-of-touch politicians, to use “expert
opinion” to frustrate the will of the people.
I think recent evidence suggests that we have had enough of
experts. It is time to stop the debate and
the endless virtue signalling and get on with doing what the voters wanted.
Churchill, of course, could be strikingly direct. In 1942, with the world war going very badly for Great
Britain he focussed on North Africa and, on 10 August, wrote to his
Commander, Lord Alexander, thus:
“1. Your prime and main duty will be to take or destroy at the
earliest opportunity the German-Italian army commanded by Field-Marshal Rommel,
together with all its supplies and establishments in Egypt and Libya.
2. You will discharge or cause to be discharged such other
duties as pertain to your command without prejudice to the task described in paragraph
1, which must be considered paramount in His Majesty’s interests.”
It could be argued that Churchill, safe in his War Room
under Whitehall with just a few large-scale maps on the wall didn’t really
understand what he was asking. Indeed,
Alexander could have responded:
“Thank you for your most
interesting suggestion but I have to say that, whilst such a course may provide
some popularity for you at home, it is hopelessly optimistic for execution out
here and I must advise you the limits of what is achievable. You may be choosing to ignore just how strong
Rommel is in North Africa. His men are
highly trained, well dug in and well supplied.
Attacking them now would result in a blood-bath. Indeed, I have been talking to some of our
allies, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, and Indians and they are
telling me that the sort of plan you propose was not what they thought they
were getting involved with when the signed up on our side a couple of years
ago. I would need to enlist the help of
other Departments and I know the Royal Navy are rather busy over in
Greece. Our light blue friends, cocky as
ever, will always have other priorities, I’m afraid. We must also clear the
whole thing with the Americans since we do not want to be treading on their
toes. I concede, however, that the
Italians are a different matter. They
have got quite a few problems with leadership at home and it may be that we
could pick them off cheaply in the medium term.
That would still leave Rommel to be dealt with and for this I suggest
some sort of transitional arrangement, perhaps leaving him in place whilst we
sort out a territorial accommodation? I
would not underestimate the difficulty even of achieving an interim solution and
I suggest the allow at least 10 years for these arrangements to be
settled. Finally, for the avoidance of
doubt, when you say “Libya” do you mean the whole of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania
including Fezzan in the south?
I am sorry to have written at
such length but I feel it is necessary for me to give you the full benefit of
my experience in these matters. No doubt
you will wish to discuss my comments in detail and I look forward to your
response in due course”
Of course, Alexander wrote no such letter (despite what he
must have personally assessed as the difficulties ahead). Instead, he got on with the job with the resources
available and those which he could practicably secure. Indeed, just under a year later, Alexander
replied to Churchill thus:
“Sir, The orders you gave me on
10 August 1942 have been fulfilled. His
Majesty’s enemies, together with their impedimenta, have been eliminated from Egypt,
Cyrenaica, Libya, and Tripolitania. I
now await your further instructions.”
Perhaps the PM should issue the Foreign Secretary with some
pithy orders:
“You are to complete the disengagement
of the United Kingdom from the EU, including all its economic, commercial,
political and military impedimenta by 31 March 2019.”
I rather think Boris would relish the challenge!
