Hard Brexit looms large with resignation of UK’s EU envoy

Bloomberg

The chances that the UK will make a disruptive break from its biggest market have grown with the resignation of the British envoy to the European Union, an experienced Brussels insider who was reviled by leading Brexit supporters.
Ivan Rogers quit as Britain’s permanent representative to the 28-nation EU urging officials working for the UK in Brussels to keep challenging “muddled thinking” from colleagues in London. He warned the government lacked experienced negotiators and called for stronger working relationships between Prime Minister Theresa May’s London-based team and the UK’s permanent post in the Belgian capital.
Supporters of as close EU ties as possible bemoaned his departure as a “body blow,” while backers of a clean break from the bloc cheered his going as a sign the UK government is committed to regaining complete control of immigration, laws and budget —even if that means fraying trade ties.
“Britain’s partners will take this as a sign that May’s government is heading for a hard Brexit which puts sovereignty ahead of economic integration with the EU,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.
The prime minister needs to be told the “uncomfortable” truth about the difficulties of negotiating Brexit, Rogers said in a message announcing his resignation to staff in Brussels on Tuesday.
“I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power,” Rogers said in the note, obtained by the BBC and published on its website. “The government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have.”
Rogers’s comments show the size of the task facing May’s government less than three months before she is due to trigger the formal start of Brexit negotiations. He is the most senior figure from the UK’s politically neutral civil service to voice concerns over preparations for the talks.
Political Minefield
“We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable, while not always easy interlocutor and diplomat who always loyally defended the interests of his government,” Natasha Bertaud, spokeswoman for the European Commission, told reporters in Brussels.
Dismissed by Brexit hard-liners as an EU fanatic, Rogers was viewed by advocates of a softer form of Brexit as an experienced asset with strong diplomatic contacts and an openness to finding common ground. His sudden exit at such a delicate juncture signals a hardening of positions, raising the chances the UK will quit the single market and revert to a tariffs regime. Last month, May’s office was forced to downplay remarks attributed to Rogers that it could take a decade to negotiate a free-trade deal with the EU. Her spokesman clarified that Rogers was merely communicating to London the views of other EU governments. The episode showed how his observations, however nuanced, inevitably risked exploding when they landed in the political minefield of Brexit.
Read here about what makes a ‘Hard Brexit’ Versus a soft one.
On Tuesday, May’s government said Rogers was scheduled to depart at the end of his term in November but had resigned early to enable a replacement to be appointed before exit negotiations begin.