Watching Brexit from over the pond is an increasingly surreal experience

The situation is messy beyond belief. Although I’m grateful (for now) that Britain still has a relatively healthy welfare state, unlike the US

I’ve now been working from the New York office for just over two and a half months, and my days now revolve around the upcoming 2020 US election rather than daily Brexit updates. That doesn’t mean, however, that Americans don’t turn to me – in bars, in my shared house, in restaurants, at meetings and sometimes even on the street – to explain exactly what’s going on in the island of my birth.

Two weeks ago, when I was live on Canadian radio discussing how the US had received Justin Trudeau’s SNC-Lavalin scandal, the presenter suddenly cut in with: “And could you just explain quickly what Brexit is all about?” It was the day Theresa May was due to bring her deal back to parliament for the second time; rumours (later confirmed) abounded that she would be forced to promise her resignation; the idea of another general election was being floated; EU officials had been making sarcastic asides about the state of UK politics. I tried as best as I could to summarise that situation for outsiders, but after I’d spoken for about 10 minutes nonstop, the presenter cut in with: “I think it’s safe to say we’re now even more confused than when we started.”

“Now you’re getting the real feel of Brexit,” I replied.