Five things the leaked Brexit memo tells us
The Civil Service cannot cope with Brexit, the Government has no plan, what does the leaked memo tell us about the state of play?
Tuesday 15 November 2016 15:09, UK
It may not have been commissioned by the Government, but it's a memo that seems to do a lot of truth-telling on how Whitehall is struggling with Brexit.
Here's what we learnt ... even if we did already suspect most of it already.
:: The sheer scale of the task
Brexit is big, really big. found that departments were working on more than 500 projects related to leaving the EU and may need to hire an extra 30,000 civil servants to deal with the additional work.
With the UK having been a member for over 40 years, the EU is heavily wedded into our political system. Our very conscious uncoupling could take much longer than anyone expects.
:: The Government remains divided
The memo identifies Cabinet splits between Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Brexit Secretary David Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox on one side, and Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark on the other.
Those chief Brexiters and Remainers clearly have different expectations of what Brexit will look like. The fear for Theresa May, is that when Brexit does finally happen, it satisfies no-one.
:: Theresa May likes making decisions
The leaked report criticises Mrs May, who it says, is "acquiring a reputation of drawing in decisions and details to settle matters herself" and concludes it is "unlikely to be sustainable".
Mrs May is increasingly being compared to Mr Brown by MPs: someone who wants to be charge of every decision while proving indecisive.
But considering Downing Street will have to take the flak if things go wrong, it shouldn't be entirely unexpected that they want to keep a grip.
:: Different deals for different people?
The document spells out the reaction of big business to the Nissan car deal, suggesting they could soon "point a gun at the Government's head" to secure what they need to maintain jobs and investment.
Any "support and assurances" over trading conditions once Britain leaves the EU given to the car manufacture might also need to be given to other businesses.
This ad hoc approach, with lots of different demands, would prove problematic. It doesn't exactly speak of an industrial strategy.
:: Does the memo matter?
In many ways no. It is not a Government document but comes from a consultant "pitching" for work, at least so the Government says, but, when you speak to MPs and civil servants, it rings true.
Many feel the Government doesn't have a comprehensive plan and is nowhere close to having one. Divisions remain stark.
According to Mrs May Brexit means Brexit, but at the moment we still seem a long way off knowing what Brexit actually looks like.