Brexit stakes get higher by the day

The flagship policy of the Conservative Party is directing UK politics into rocky waters with one former Tory prime minister saying her successor’s actions risked damaging the UK’s reputation as a trustworthy partner among other nations.

The fear is that the Bailiwick will be given cause to join the ranks of those who lose faith in its biggest trading partner and most important political ally.

Policy & Resources’ latest update on Brexit was couched in the usual diplomatic language but it is impossible not to read more into it given the heightened tensions brought about by the fractious talks with the EU.

The best was left to last: ‘The Bailiwick’s proposed involvement in the UK-EU future relationship (whatever format it may take) will be a matter for consideration by the Bailiwick’s legislatures.’

It is both a statement of the bleedin’ obvious and a timely reminder that the islands’ wagons do not have to stay hitched to the UK’s horses. As was often said in the first stage of Brexit negotiations in Brussels, you have to be willing to walk away, no matter how difficult and painful that is.

In the same statement, P&R says that any deal must meet ‘principles of relevance, proportionality and practicality’.

In light of yesterday’s ministerial announcement that the deal will breach the Northern Ireland treaty in a ‘very specific and limited way’, Guernsey might have to take the bizarre and unprecedented step of insisting that UK actions also meet the principle of legality.

If this is what it has come to, the question has to be how much further the UK is willing to go to get the post-Brexit world it wants? If push comes to shove (and it seems certain it will) how high will the Bailiwick’s interests rank?

At stake is not only our constitutional and trading future but our relationships with countries across the EU, including our nearest neighbour.