Preparing for Brexit Just Got Harder

On Jan. 4, British Prime Minister Theresa May named Tim Barrow, a career diplomat, as the U.K.’s permanent representative to the European Union. It will be Barrow who must talk face to face in Brussels with diplomats from the EU’s 27 other member countries, building bridges with people who still feel bruised and angry at U.K. voters for supporting a referendum in June to quit the union. When his invisible work is done, politicians will step in, and formal negotiations will begin by the end of March.  Barrow has just 11 weeks to prepare. His predecessor, Ivan Rogers, quit without warning on Jan. 3 after clashing with May’s office. He was apparently frustrated with the unrealistic attitudes of his pro-Brexit political bosses in London, who cheerfully insist that leaving the EU will be relatively trouble-free.

In his parting message to embassy colleagues, Rogers spelled out what he saw as the most immediate problems. “I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power,” he wrote. The structure of the U.K.’s negotiating team lacks clarity, and there aren’t enough specialists for the talks, he added.