With European banking expert Bob Lyddon intervening in the great Brexit debate to suggest a soft EU exit may be more costly to Britain than trading on WTO rules, this proves Theresa May is likely to stick to her guns and walk away from EU negotiations. This means a 'hard' Brexit is becoming increasingly inevitable.
What senior figures from last year's Stronger In campaign to keep Britain inside the EU such as John Major, David Cameron and Ruth Davidson seem to forget is that the electorate did opt for Britain to withdraw from Brussels completely.
Both Labour and the Conservatives campaigned on a ticket to pursue a total withdrawal from the EU. The main parties' share of the vote increased last Friday, which contradicts Mr. Major's argument that voters rejected a 'hard' Brexit.
Staunch Eurosceptic Dan Hannan wrote an article this week urging Britain to copy Switzerland's trade deal with the EU. But even this comes with strings attached. The price the Swiss must pay for partial access to the Single Market is acceptance of the Schengen Agreement, which enables people to travel freely throughout the EU. Control of immigration brought an overwhelming victory for pro-Brexit campaign group Vote Leave last year. For the UK to retain the free movement of workers as a cost for a free trade deal with Europe would lead to nationwide anger that a core campaign promise from Vote Leave would have been trashed during upcoming negotiations.
'Golden opportunity to reinvent herself'
For a woman who had her 'strong and stable' image tarnished during June's general election, Mrs May has a golden opportunity to reinvent herself as a second 'Iron Lady' and stick to her convictions over the 'no deal is better than a bad deal' mantra. If she does, she will gain universal respect in the face of staunch opposition from passionate Remainers in her own party. If she fails to keep to this promise, she will face a greater wrath from the electorate the next time round.
