On the day of a report warning a no deal Brexit could result in prices rises, blocked ports and legal chaos, international trade secretary Liam Fox emerged to reassure the nation.
He told BBC Radio 4: “If you think about it, the free trade agreement that we will have to come to with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history.”
Since his colleague, Brexit secretary David Davis, described Brexit negotiations as more complicated than the moon landings, this suggests we are truly lucky in the calibre of our top negotiating team.
Just for clarification, here is the full Davis-Fox definition of easy:
Super easy: Tudor divorce
All Henry VIII had to do was break away from the Catholic Church, kickstart the Reformation, fuel religious wars in Europe, and he was married to his second wife. And his third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Plus the Henry VIII clauses are really handy for bypassing parliament in 2017.
Easy: Tea Act 1773
American colonialists were buying smuggled tea, when they could have bought East India tea instead. Luckily, the British Prime Minister Lord North, found a way to deal with the problem in a single bill. Sorted.
Bit tricky: Appeasement
So what if Neville Chamberlain had never been on an airplane before? It’s hardly a moon landing. And he got peace in our time. Although he was forced to resign in 1940. Not quite as easy as he thought.
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