Guernsey Press

Guernsey ‘far, far down’ UK government’s Brexit priorities

GUERNSEY is ‘far, far down’ the British government’s list of priorities when it comes to Brexit, according to an expert commentator.

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Professor Anand Menon. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 21430056)

Brexit expert Anand Menon also said that Whitehall was currently ‘consuming itself’ – and that anyone outside it was struggling to be heard as a result.

Professor Menon, co-author of the book Brexit and British Politics, offered his thoughts on Brexit during a Guernsey Literary Festival event at the Old Government House Hotel.

Asked where the current Brexit situation left Guernsey, he said: ‘Well brutally, very, very far down the list of priorities for the British government.

‘I mean if you consider the difficulty that Scotland and Wales have had to make their voices heard, let alone the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses. Government is consumed with itself.

‘There is very little anyone outside of government can do to influence government at the moment and I suspect there probably is that person thinking about Guernsey. But I doubt it’s much more than that because God knows, there are far too few people dealing with far too many jobs.’

The professor of European politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College, London, added: ‘So, I don’t think I can give you an encouraging picture, but if it makes you feel any better, everyone’s feeling excluded.’

Professor Menon also directs the Economic and Social Research Council initiative UK in a Changing Europe and is a regular commentator in the national and international media.

Policy & Resources president Gavin St Pier introduced Professor Menon and hosted a question and answer session. Afterwards, he said that strong lines of communication had been established with the UK government.

‘I think his observations there are many competing voices in this debate, I would recognise,’ said Deputy St Pier.

‘Our experience has been there is a clear recognition of the constitutional differences and the obligations that the UK has towards us. We are not in quite the same situation as the devolved administrations or others.

‘We have always taken the view that the priority has to be that we have the right lines of communication as the process accelerates – and I am confident we have those in place over the next few months.’