It’s no secret that with just eight days to go until the UK is officially set to leave the EU, Brexit is a bit of a shambles.
It was revealed on Thursday night that the EU would allow Theresa May to delay the UK’s departure from March 29 to May 22 – but only if she managed to achieve the near-impossible and get a deeply-divided parliament to back her Brexit deal. (Good luck with that.)
So the PM *probably* didn’t need the serious shade her work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd appeared to be throwing out about Brexit... via a thinly-veiled letter about ‘Hastings Pier’ (Yes, really.)
In a letter to her Hastings and Rye constituents that was shared on Twitter, Rudd said she was “incredibly disappointed” that the pier would not be reopened by the end of March “as originally planned”.
“Following discussions with the Pier owner, I understand the extended closure comes as a result of fresh structural damage.”
While Rudd has been told by the owner that the pier will re-open in May, “these assurances must be backed up with actions”.
“Our town cannot keep experiencing delay after delay,” Rudd said, calling on pier bosses to carry our repairs “as a priority”.
She added: “There must also be much improved communication with the Hastings community from the owner.
“The Pier belongs to our town and we must always remember that.”
Sound like a familiar situation...? Of course, Rudd could legitimately be very concerned about the pier.
But it doesn’t take too much imagination to think, as Brexit spirals into crisis, one of the UK’s top politicians could have something else on her mind...
Rudd’s followers on Twitter were certainly quick to pick up on the similarities between Hastings Pier and the UK’s departure from the EU.