The phrase “have your cake and eat it too” has become part of the Brexit negotiations. How? And, more importantly: why?

The well-worn proverb “you can’t have your cake and eat it” is enjoying something of a revival in the heated exchanges over Brexit. Ever since Boris Johnson characterised his policy on cake as “pro having it and pro eating it too,” Brussels has sought to alert the British negotiators to the impossibility of adopting such an attitude.

In October 2016, European Council president Donald Tusk, taking a rather literal approach to the aphorism, called upon proponents of the ‘cake philosophy’ to carry out a scientific experiment: “Buy a cake, eat it, and see if it is still there on the plate.”

It appears that not all ministers took up this challenge, since, in November 2016, a page of notes scribbled by an aide to Conservative MP Mark Field caught on camera were found to contain the phrase: “What’s the model? Have your cake and eat it.” This embarrassing leak led to a formal denial that having one’s cake and eating it was official Government policy. Despite this, Theresa May’s speech last Friday was dismissed by one senior EU official as “still in the world of cakeism.”

YOU'VE HIT THE LIMIT

You have now reached your limit of 3 free articles in the last 30 days.
But don't worry! You can get another 7 articles absolutely free, simply by entering your email address in the box below.

When you register we'll also send you a free e-book—Writing with punch—which includes some of the finest writing from our archive of 22 years. And we'll also send you a weekly newsletter with the best new ideas in politics and philosophy of culture, which you can of course unsubscribe from at any time

Email

Prospect takes your privacy seriously. We promise never to rent or sell your e-mail address to any third party.
You can unsubscribe from the Prospect e-mail newsletter at any time.