HAVING lived abroad in Kenya and Greece, I know that the British were rightly regarded as decent, honest, reliable diplomats and administrators who will come up with pragmatic solutions.

That reputation has taken a battering over the last three years, with successive Prime Ministers promising that we will leave the EU on March 31, then misleading the Queen to prorogue Parliament and being found out by the Supreme Court. Dishonest sound bites (Get Brexit Done) and misleading slogans (£350m a week for the NHS) have replaced sensible discussion.

I have read Theresa May’s Brexit deal and Boris Johnson’s. The main advantage of Boris Johnson’s is that it is much shorter – and that is because it is largely based on Theresa May’s deal! It gets around the backstop by effectively implementing it from day one and imposing a regulatory border down the Irish Sea. Northern Ireland would effectively be part of the EU customs union and separated from the rest of UK.

But there is a bigger problem with Boris Johnson’s deal – a trade deal with EU is not part of the deal and this would still have to be negotiated!

So, under the Conservatives, Brexit would dominate the headlines throughout 2020, and if a trade deal wasn’t agreed by the end of 2020 then we would leave with no deal, in which case there would be years of protracted discussions with EU and Brexit will dominate for years to come.

Given that Scotland voted firmly to Remain in EU, there would then be intense pressure for Scotland to leave UK and rejoin EU.

If the Conservatives win this election, then the UK will be divided.

Labour would resolve Brexit within six months with a binding referendum between leaving EU with a specified deal or remaining in EU. Then we could move on to restore our tarnished international reputation.

Sam Corcoran MA(Oxon), FCA, CTA (Fellow) Labour & Co-operative Councillor for Sandbach Heath & East