Chief Minister Howard Quayle was on the wireless the other day and told the nation (us) that if the UK (them) brex away from the European Union in a couple of months, as is promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then (we), the people of Isle of Man, could be in the soup.

It’s true to say that the UK will be in the same bowl of soup.

But there is one big difference. They chose to be where they are, and we didn’t.

We were dragged along for the ride. I think it’s because of something called Protocol 3 of the Treaty of Rome.

This Protocol 3 is to link the Isle of Man, via the UK, to a common customs agreement with the EU, which allows for the free passage of goods, services, and people between member states.

So if the UK goes it alone, we have to follow.

OK, so what? If the UK is no longer a member of the club, it still has to trade with them.

Both sides will still have goods and services to sell to the other, and the UK will take care to make sure that the Isle of Man will be included in any on-going negotiations between the parties, won’t they?

For the life of me, I just cannot understand how the UK could be so short sighted as to risk losing it’s position of authority and respect in one of the most important trading agreements in the world, and to actually withdraw from being a member of the group.

But political spiders weave tangled webs and I have absolutely no idea what was in ex-Prime Minister Cameron’s mind when he decided that it would be convenient to have someone else to blame when whatever plot that he was hatching went wrong.

So he set up a public vote to decide whether or not to leave or remain in the EU, and then promptly resigned.

I was told that as he left 10 Downing Street for the last time, he muttered ’Suckers’, as he walked away, but no-one will officially confirm or deny this rumour.

But sure enough, a referendum took place and that was the beginning of the end.

The ballot paper had asked one simple question. Do you want to leave the EU, or remain within the EU?

Unfortunately, there is nothing straightforward in politics.

We live in a democracy and, as such, an answer to a question can be decided by just one vote.

For the Brexit question, there was just over a 72% turnout and just over 50% of the votes that were cast said leave.

Politicians may be called many things, but they are not stupid. They knew perfectly well how complicated it would be to leave the EU.

The Union had not just happened, it had evolved over many years. There were rules and regulations to be followed and a growing membership of countries to be governed and considered. It is just not a simple matter of a couple of pints and a few sandwiches in the pub at lunchtime.

Political gambles can lead to political disasters, and the referendum decided that the UK would leave. We are a democracy and a nationwide decision can be won or lost by one single vote.

Prime Minister Cameron left office and then Prime Minister May struggled on for three years with a much-reduced majority until she too admitted defeat, and now Prime Minister Johnson, who has a working majority in the House of Commons of exactly one, has promised to complete the UK’s Brexit departure in less than three months.

Why do I feel so worried? What could possibly go wrong? I’ll tell you. Absolutely everything.

For years the Isle of Man has struggled up-stream against the tide of regulations and demands that have been forced upon us by Europe.

Our economy has prospered in spite of all the difficulties that have been put in our way.

I said at the start that we are all in the soup.

I just hope that our leaders don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pan.