Mark Casci: Two years to leave EU is proving an unworkable timetable

What will be remarkable about this debate will not be that it concerns the most important issue facing our country seen since the conclusion of World War II but rather that virtually all of the Members of Parliament participating in the discussions will have the disadvantage of not knowing what on earth is going on.

Five months on from the triggering of Article 50 and talks between our Government and representatives of the European Union have predictably achieved nothing.

This is not unsurprising. The scale of what is required of elected representatives is colossal and dwarfs anything that any UK Government has had to tackle in terms of international negotiations. As each passing day concludes the statute of European Union law that states a member state would have just two years from which to extricate itself from the organisational apparatus looks to be the most risible aspect of its structure.

Given all of the nonsensical rhetoric from anti-EU commentators over the years about straightened bananas and the like, it seems they could have picked a more sensible target for their ire.

It is this unworkable timetable that is making the process so ludicrous. We are nearly a quarter of the way through the allotted time period and we have yet to establish any movement on even the most basic of matters as the rights of British expats and EU citizens.

The national media’s behaviour is one of the primary reasons behind why the Brexit debate became so poisonous and that does not seem to have changed with some of the reporting undermining our position as a country.

At times the debate appears like that seen during wartime, when matters are treated without any semblance of nuance.

Continual reports of how intransigent the EU is being and how unsuccessful negotiations have been so far are missing the point as they fail to grasp the enormity of what is at hand.

It also adds as a demoralising force for our civil service which is working at a ferocious rate to achieve something incredibly difficult and fundamentally something to which it is opposed to.

The matter is not helped by the Secretary of State for International Trade further poisoning the debate by accusing EU officials of blackmail.

When has any negotiation proved successful when played out under these conditions.

A firm reality check is required for all parties.

Negotiators on both sides need to accept, immediately, that there is no way this process can be concluded within two years.

It is unreasonable to place the UK in a position in which it faces a catastrophic fall from the cliff edge of EU membership in March 2019 with no deal in place.

Even the most ardent Brexiteer will recognise that this will be an unmitigated disaster for the UK.

With a more realistic timeframe in place we can get things off to a better start.

Two of Yorkshire’s most able MPs, Hilary Benn and Rachel Reeves, chair the Brexit and Business Select Committees respectively.

Their sessions will yield much positive fodder with which to fashion more meaningful negotiations.

The other key step is for both sides to accept that what we are likely to end up will please nobody.

A hybrid which sees us retain some sort of link with the EU is more likely than not. It will enrage the hardcore leavers and not go far enough for the remainers.

It will probably be a poorer system than we had before the referendum and be the subject of continual criticism.

That is unless the input from entrepreneurs and businesspeople is not given more of an airing.