9 Lessons in Brexit

“Remember the words of Ivan Rogers the next time you hear some posh boy in a suit telling you ‘no deal’ wouldn’t hurt at all and might even be a jolly good thing.”  J.K. Rowling

Two and a half years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the political debate over Brexit seems as intense and as complicated as ever. Who and what can we trust? And how on earth do we make sense of it all?

Ivan Rogers, the UK’s former ambassador to the EU, is uniquely placed to tell some home truths about the failure of the British political class and the flaws, dishonesty and confusion inherent in the UK’s approach to Brexit so far.

In this short, elegant essay, Rogers draws up nine lessons that we, as a soon-to-be ‘third country’, need to learn from the last few years, if the next few years – indeed the next decade – are not to be even more painful.

““Ivan Rogers on blistering form, setting out the unpalatable truths of Brexit that effectively got him sacked as our man in Brussels.” ”
George Parker, Political Editor, The Financial Times

““Ivan Rogers irrefutably makes clear what an oxymoronic fantasy a managed ‘no deal’ is.” ”
Simon Schama

““Cuts through the guff spoken by government, ERG, Labour and pretty much everyone else.” ”
Robert Peston

About Ivan Rogers

Ivan Rogers is a former British civil servant, with a long career of serving governments of all colours. From 2013 to 2017, he was the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EU. In this position, he was the UK’s most senior negotiator with other Member States and the European institutions.