Edging closer to the abyss

As another year draws to a close, it’s always good reflect on the last 12 months, and hopefully look forward to the coming year with a degree of optimism.

And that’s exactly where we were this time last year, heaping praise on the government for clarity on its ambition for the EU Exit transition period.

After all, we all knew that a seamless transition maintaining the status quo until new arrangements could be put in place would be vital for the food and drink manufacturing industry. And we stressed the importance of the need for frictionless trade on both sides of the Channel from day one of Brexit, in the hope that our plaintive voices would be heard.

Twelve long months on, however, we appear to have slipped ever-further down the greasy political pole, and are now caught up in the chaos that will inevitably ensue thanks to a further delay in the Brexit process.

It’s hard not to fear that the continued political machinations will somehow edge us closer to the abyss of a no-deal departure.

I’d love to be proved wrong, but right now the prospect of a soot-sodden Santa appearing at the bottom of my chimney on Christmas Eve, and presenting me with the keys to a new Ferrari, seems a far more realistic possibility. And I don’t even have a chimney.

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