I listened this morning to Peter Wilding, of remainer think tank British Influence, talking to Nick Robinson about the EEA. Wilding makes a halfway credible defence of the EEA but it's very much the bubble line of argument rather than the more advanced arguments you'll find on the blogs.
What we learned from this exchange is that Nick Robinson has little understanding of the issues and does not know that Switzerland is not an EEA member. This is the real basics that a former political editor of the BBC really ought to know by now. The fact that Wilding did not pull him up on it shows that his own understanding is also quite shallow.
That is perhaps what prompts his new initiative to challenge the legality of leaving the single market. EUReferendum.com shot this down a while back but like all misapprehensions in this debate, it is one that refuses to die.
The technical arguments I need not rehearse, but this is a bit of a dick move on the part of Wilding. Resistance to the EEA comes from the Brexit hardliners, and launching yet another legal challenge only hardens their resistance as it reinforces the view that the powerful few are using their influence to overturn the referendum. It also marks a pretty dismal development when politics is subordinate to lawyers and judges.
The worst aspect of this is that this added pressure is largely unnecessary. There is no hint from Mrs May that she intends to play for a hard Brexit and this kind of activity makes the EEA seem like a Brexit in name only ploy that she must avoid. When you have a gin soaked Anna Soubry and Chuka Ummuna making the case for the EEA it becomes politically unpalatable. The best thing they could do right now is keep quiet and let moderate Brexiteers do the talking.
But this is really the establishment bubble all over. A media prattling on about something it has no understanding of, along with meddling from politicians who have no conception of just how repellent they are. And they wonder why we are leaving the EU!
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