Don't believe hype: Cakeism is nonsense

President of the European Council Donald Tusk - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Cakeism is now a thing.

Coined in the pages of The New European by the likes of Bonnie Greer and Michael White it is a brand of politics aligned with populism – basically they tell the electorate, like Boris did, we can ‘have our cake and eat it’.

Of course, that is utter nonsense when it comes to Brexit.

And yesterday the president of the European Council Donald Tusk was blunt in his assessment of cakeism highlighting the ‘negative economic consequences’ of Brexit.

Speaking after sending the draft guidelines for negotiations to the EU27 Tusk said he hoped for an ‘ambitious and advanced’ free trade agreement.

But he added: ‘Our agreement will not make trade between the UK and EU frictionless or smoother. It will make it more complicated and costly than today for all of us. This is the essence of Brexit.’

And he added that although there would be zero tariffs on some goods there would be limited access for services. Oh dear – clearly poor old spreadsheet Phil didn’t get the memo.

Not long after Tusk spoke the Chancellor was on his feet saying: ‘I want to challenge the assertion that financial services can’t be part of a free trade agreement, to set out why it is in the interests of both the UK and the EU27 to ensure that EU businesses and citizens can continue to access the UK financial services hub.’

Good luck with that.

In the meantime the likes of Rees-Mogg, Johnson and Gove will carry on regardless telling everyone Britain can have its cake and eat it.