Britain doesn't have the people and resources to deal with a "hard Brexit", a leading challenger to the British government's exit plan from the European Union (EU) told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.
"There are forty complex years of legislation that we will have to consider while establishing a new relation with the EU," said Gina Miller, an investment fund manager. "Even if we are going to have a transitional arrangement, the complexity of the challenge is enormous, everybody have the experience of joining the EU while what is lacking is the 'leaving' process," she said, adding, "there are a lot of unknown questions." "I don't see how the exit process would take less than five to ten years and certainly not only two years," Miller stressed.
Asked about what Europe can learn from Brexit, Miller underlined that many EU countries will have elections this year, saying, "we need to be mindful that it is not true that the majority of Brexit voters were the very marginalized at bottom of the community." For Miller, the data on Brexit suggest there was a significant percentage of middle class people who voted to leave the EU. "I think we haven't got to the bottom as why that happened. Therefore the messaging in the different elections in EU member states is not coming only from the marginalized; it is a cross society movement of people feeling angry and unsatisfactory," she explained. Miller is against any form of negotiation strategy based of "threat". "The fact that Britain could become a tax haven to attract more foreign investments is a threat and it is a very unrealistic one," she said. "While you threat EU member, how could you be possibly replace the EU in our economy?" she asked.
On the other side, she said that the EU should be careful not to make the same mistake. "With or without Britain, the EU must be a community of peoples and nations that freely decided to adhere to it, EU membership should be a choice not a coercion through fear," Miller said. According to Miller, it's not only "childish and shortsighted" for the EU to seek to cut a bad deal with Britain, so as to deter other potential quitters. "It is also contrary to all the ideals on which the European Union has been built and fought for till now," she said. Recalling "the wrong attitude" of the British government before the referendum, she said, "UK authorities successfully blamed the EU for many of things they got wrong and the EU could do much about that." "The truth is that former Prime Minister David Cameron wasn't particularly demanding. There were a number of member states having the same concerns on immigration, bureaucracy, trade. Mr. Cameron could have asked for more to the EU but simply he didn't," she added.
Disappointed by the British political class, Miller said, "on the contrary, we see now that UK politicians don't appear to have the courage of their convictions. Then we see the leader of the labour party saying they will vote in favour of the 'Brexit' bill, this is nonsense." "My whole fight was to put politicians back in control. They are not taking the lead, unless they do, there won't be a chance for a soft Brexit. Mrs May seems determined to make a jump off a cliff," She continued. Asked about possible surprise in the Brexit path, Miller said, "The only chance we have is that if the bill will pass in the House of Commons it could be then blocked in the House of Lords which is more attentive in questioning on these issues." There is then still a case that is going to be heard next Friday in Northern Ireland and then possibly be referred to the Supreme Court. "The key issue is the revocability of article 50 and there is still the question if it can be undone or not. Then we will have to wait the answer from the European Court of Justice (ECJ)," Miller said. She said another option would be to leave the EU and then come back, but "I believe that if we do leave and then join again, we will have to accept a full membership and this means possibly to join the euro."
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