The UK Brexit vote to leave the EU

Anti-Brexit feeling expected to help SNP in European elections
The Guardian Libby Brooks and Severin Carrell,The Guardian

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/anti-brexi...163038165.html


The element of “scunner” – Scottish slang for disgust or dislike – will be powerful among Scottish voters in next week’s EU elections, according to the MEP Alyn Smith, who has represented the Scottish National party in Brussels for the last 15 years.

“There are people who are tired of the whole Westminster mess and just won’t vote, but there’s also evidence on the doorstep that especially former Labour voters who have yet to be convinced about independence are lending the SNP their support because we have a clear message on Europe.”

Latest polls show the SNP is the only one of the three major parties in Scotland which is not losing votes over Brexit, explained Prof Sir John Curtice, the elections expert at the University of Strathclyde.

Its support is holding firm at 40%, in line with its popularity in Westminster and Holyrood polling, boosted by substantial numbers of remain voters whose allegiances have shifted from Labour or the Tories since the 2016 Holyrood election. The party is now poised to win three and potentially four of Scotland’s six EU seats.

With the SNP presenting itself as the logical pro-EU option north of the border – where 62% voted to remain in the 2016 referendum – the party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, urged voters to treat both Labour and the Conservatives as pro-Brexit parties when she launched her European election campaign last week.

Curtice said the polling evidence suggested Labour’s vote in Scotland was more pro-leave than the rest of the UK yet, like the Tories, its support at this election had been eroding, leaving it likely to lose one of its two European seats.

Many of those voters who have switched to the SNP replaced leave supporters who ditched the party after Sturgeon explicitly linked her renewed quest for a second independence referendum to opposing Brexit, in 2016.

Kirsty Hughes, director of the Scottish Centre on European Relations and campaigner for a second EU referendum, noted that, since 2016, polls had shown that SNP voters had become more strongly remain. “There is still a chunk of pro-independence, pro-leave support,” she said, “but it’s a bit of a stretch for them to vote for Nigel Farage.”

Despite Farage being famously hounded out of Edinburgh by protesters in 2013, a year later at the last EU elections Ukip unexpectedly won a Scottish seat, nearly doubling its support.

Curtice cautioned that the final results – including a potential seat for the Brexit party – were difficult to predict since there were significant differences between the two most recent polls.

A YouGov survey for the Times put Tory support at 10%, on the edge of defeat, compared with Farage’s Brexit party on 13%, just behind Labour on 14%. A Panelbase poll, however, reversed those findings. It put the Tories on 16% (excluding don’t knows) – enough to save its seat, and the Brexit party down at 10%, while Labour was on 20%, comfortably able to hold at least one seat.

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s former Westminster leader who recently launched a polling organisation gathering data on Scotland’s views on independence, said he expected the result to reflect “the extent to which Scottish politics and developments across the rest of the UK have diverged”.

“I expect the results will confirm strong anti-Brexit feeling in Scotland and be a good result for the SNP, which will underline calls for a second independence referendum and cement the constitutional question at the heart of Scottish politics.”

Labour MP Wes Streeting tells Jeremy Corbyn to his face he should quit as party leader
Yahoo News UK Ross McGuinness,Yahoo News UK

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/labour-mp-...125503775.html

A Labour MP has told Jeremy Corbyn to his face that he should quit as party leader.

Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North, confronted his party leader at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

He told Mr Corbyn he needs to step down if the party is to have any chance of winning the next general election, Politics Home reported.

Mr Streeting said Mr Corbyn’s leadership has become “a bigger issue than Brexit” for the party.

Mr Corbyn is mired in internal fighting with his party over its position on Brexit and the upcoming European elections.

Politics Home reported that some backbenchers claim they have been banned from distributing their own campaign leaflets.

At the meeting in Parliament, Mr Streeting told Mr Corbyn: "What is being heard on the doorstep across the country and what people are saying in the tea room, but won’t say to your face, is that you are a bigger issue for us than Brexit.

“If you’re prepared to sacrifice our place in Europe because you think it will deliver a Labour government, why won’t you make way for a leader who can win a general election?”



Nigel Farage reveals he intends to stand as an MP for the eighth time

Hove MP Peter Kyle, who wants a second referendum on Brexit, said at the meeting: "Jeremy, I urge you to simplify our policy to make people realise that we are talking with absolute sincerity."

Mr Corbyn said at the meeting: "I do understand the frustrations about campaign material and the way in which they have been put to people. I'll be taking action immediately to make sure you get answers.

Theresa May given 24-hour deadline to say when she will quit
Evening Standard JOE MURPHY,Evening Standard

Theresa May given 24-hour deadline to say when she will quit

Theresa May was served a deadline of 24 hours by senior Tory MPs today to clarify when she will leave office, or risk being forced out by a rebellion of MPs and activists.

Members of the 1922 Committee executive, the party heavyweights who represent Tory backbenchers, said they were not satisfied with the Prime Minister’s latest attempt to delay her departure to late July so she can have another try at getting MPs to pass her thrice-rejected Brexit deal.

“We need a clear timetable from the Prime Minister as to what point she will be stepping down and we will elect a new leader,” said Bob Blackman, an executive member and MP for Harrow West.

Another executive member, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, told the Standard: “The problem of the hand-over date for the Prime Minister needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. Every week that uncertainty goes on is bad for the country and disastrous for the Conservative Party.

Campaign trail: Change UK’s Jessica Simor, MP Mike Gapes, Karen Newman, Annabel Mullin, Jan Vincent-Rostowski, Carol Tongue, Gavin Esler and Nora Mulready. Esler says his party are being targeted by the “Leave troll factory” (NIGEL HOWARD ©)

“She has had almost three years to negotiate this deal. Sadly, it is now time to hand over the reins to someone else with fresh ideas and the moral authority to lead the party.”

Sir Geoffrey added: “It would be infinitely preferable that the Prime Minister should set out this timetable herself rather than face the prospect of a vote of no confidence in her either by her parliamentary colleagues or by association chairs.”

The comments from the MPs make clear that Tories are not satisfied with the package Mrs May took to the Cabinet yesterday, which gave a strong signal that she intends to resign by the end of July if her deal is passed.

Privately, Tories are demanding a fixed timetable, including a pledge to go if her deal is shot down again, and an early start to a leadership contest so her successor has time for a Cabinet reshuffle and to prepare new policies for conference speeches.

MPs think a critical week will see the introduction of the delayed Withdrawal Agreement Bill on June 4, a vote on the Bill on June 5, and the Peterborough by-election on June 6. On June 12, it will be six months since the December vote of confidence which Mrs May won, and the 1922 Committee could vote on whether to change the rules to allow another. At the last such vote, it was defeated by a margin of two but at least one member has changed their mind. On June 15, members of the National Conservative Convention, which represents local party officials, will vote in an emergency meeting on whether to change the rules.

Nigel Evans, another executive member of the “22”, wrote on ConHome that Mrs May must show leadership and say when she is going: “My message to Theresa May is straightforward: the existential threat to my party is so real that every day of continued dithering and delay means that the bad place we are in becomes worse, and her successor will be handed a mission impossible of a job.”

Mrs May and Jeremy Corbyn held fresh talks last night, fuelling speculation the Bill could be a vehicle for cross-party co-operation, or even a deal. But the DUP’s Nigel Dodds predicted it was “highly likely” that it would be defeated a fourth time and Labour sources said they had not agreed any deal.

Former Brexit minister Steve Baker said: “Driving it through over the heads of the DUP appears to eradicate the Government’s majority. What is the Government thinking?”

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox served another warning today that Britain retaining a customs union with the EU would be a “major disincentive” to trade globally.

He said in a speech to the Institute for Government: “There would be a major disincentive for other countries to want to negotiate with us in a period where they didn’t know when the end of our customs union with the European Union would be and it’s likely, therefore, we would delay those discussions. That’s not something I want to see.”
Change team on poll war footing … but voters need convincing

Election Focus

In A north London gastro-pub, Britain’s newest political party is gathered over glasses of wine to discuss the European elections.

There’s “vegan fish and chips” on the menu of the Old Dairy in trendy Stroud Green. Around the room conversation is flowing as 20 or so volunteers and three election candidates talk enthusiastically. They are almost all disgruntled ex-Labour stalwarts looking for a new future that has Europe at its heart.

Welcome to Change UK, the party co-founded by Chuka Umunna which hopes the May 23 elections will provide a breakthrough moment. “The mainstream has become stranded in the wilderness,” said first-time MEP candidate Nora Mulready, who quit Labour after 20 years in January last year.

Carole Tongue, a former Labour MEP and deputy leader of the European Labour Party, said she jumped ship six weeks ago because Jeremy Corbyn has obliterated any pro-European sentiment Labour had.

“You’re looking at a woman who worked to ensure that Labour was a pro-EU party from 1984 to 1999,” she said. Spirits are high. They are clear what they stand for. But will the public embrace this bid to break the mould? One poll yesterday had the party as low as one per cent, and analyst Peter Kellner asks in a blog: “Has Change UK blown it?”

Wimbledon, an area that voted 62 per cent Remain, could be fertile ground for Change UK. Staff at Creams British Luxury cafe said they knew about the party but were divided on whether it would get their vote. James Hall, 20, from Ireland, said voting for a united Europe is a priority, adding: “I will look more into Change UK.” Colleague Shaun Bushby, 21, said: “It’s healthier for politics to have two new parties on the scene, the Brexit Party and Change UK. If Change UK does well at the EU election it will be interesting to see what their agenda is.”

But lawyer Sarah Prickett, 32, said: “I will probably vote but I don’t know who for. I don’t feel very enthusiastic.” She did not know much about Change UK but her friend Nicky Tibbs, 30, a teacher, interrupted: “That’s Chuka’s party. I’m not especially interested in it.”

David Kugler, 27, who was born in Hungary but has British citizenship, said: “I was thinking more of Labour.”

Sue Page, who works at pet store Creature Company, voted Leave in 2016 and may not vote next week because she has no faith anyone will listen. “I’m in two minds,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know what it will achieve.”

She too admitted she did not really know about Change UK. Polls suggest the party is losing ground to the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

Gavin Esler, the former BBC presenter, is one of the big guns that Change UK hopes will wake up the voters. “I was born in a council house and I know the Nigels, Borises and Rees-Moggs weren’t,” said Esler, who grew up in Glasgow and is frustrated that Brexiteers like Nigel Farage pose as “real people” against a Remain elite. “The Leave troll factory has been attacking us, but they wouldn’t if we weren’t relevant. They wouldn’t be trying to strangle us at birth.”
By Kate Proctor

Asked if a vote was another “throw of the dice”, he said that if MPs voted down Mrs May’s deal Britain would head either for a no-deal exit or for the cancellation of Brexit.

He added: “Yes, there’ll be an opportunity for MPs to decide … whether they want to vote for Brexit or not. I think MPs will have to look and see whether they want to continue down a path inexorably that takes us either to the potential of revocation of Article 50 or leaving without a deal and asking whether that’s the best course democratically or economically for the UK? MPs will have to face that decision.”

He said MPs would “have to face the political consequences of failing to carry out their part of the bargain” if Brexit was stopped.

Not that I know anything about it but as far as I can see.
There are three options.
Leave without a deal.
Dont leave.
Accept the May deal.

No matter the leader the European Union is not for changing.
So a new PM is not going to have any other than the three choices.
So the May deal would be unacceptable--just left with the other two I assume.

My money on not leaving---Ive been wrong before--smiling.

Chris

Brexit disarray returns: talks about to fail as May's premiership fades
[Reuters]
By Guy Faulconbridge
,Reuters•May 17, 2019

https://news.yahoo.com/brexit-talks-...060519832.html
European Union flags flutter as uncertainty over Brexit continues, in London, Britain April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Files


By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday as last-ditch cross-party talks teetered on the brink of failure in the twilight of Prime Minister Theresa May's premiership.

Nearly three years after the United Kingdom unexpectedly voted in a referendum to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever indeed quit the European club it joined in 1973.

Brexit talks between May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party are about to close without an agreement, the BBC said, hours after May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June.

"If the talks are not going anywhere, from my point of view that leads to only one conclusion," Hilary Benn, the chairman of parliament's Brexit committee, told BBC radio.

"There are only two ways out of the Brexit crisis that we've got: either parliament agrees a deal or we go back to the British people and ask them to make the choice."

After the Brexit deal that May struck with Brussels was defeated a third time by parliament, she announced on April 2 that she would open talks with Labour. But the two parties have failed to agree on major issues such as the opposition party's demand for a post-Brexit customs union.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran socialist who voted against membership of the EU in 1975, has said that May refused to budge on key demands.

May's hands have been tied, knowing that to make concessions to Labour would lead to fury in her divided party. Labour has feared that any compromises on issues such as workers' rights would be torn up by May's successor.

The two party leaders will now move to a second phase, aimed at agreeing on a process for parliamentary votes designed to find a consensus, the BBC said.


MAY ENDS IN JUNE

May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June, after a fourth and final attempt to push her Brexit deal through parliament.

May has promised to step down after it is approved by lawmakers. But many in her party want her to quit if the deal is rejected again and others are demanding her immediate departure.

Boris Johnson, the face of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, said he would be standing as a candidate to replace May as Conservative leader.

"Tories must go with Boris Johnson if they want to survive or they’ll end up as dead as a dodo," Sun columnist Trevor Kavanagh said. "Even sopping wet Remainers can see the writing on the wall and want Theresa May out as fast as possible."

The winner of a leadership contest will automatically become prime minister and will take control of the Brexit process, which has plunged Britain into its worst political crisis since World War Two.

Johnson has been one of May's most outspoken critics over Brexit and supports leaving the EU without a deal. But the current parliament has repeatedly said it doesn't want a no-deal Brexit.

A YouGov poll for the Times ahead of European elections on May 23 showed that the far smaller Liberal Democrats opposition have overtaken Labour while the Conservatives have been pushed into fifth place, with the newly-formed Brexit Party in first.

Brexit: Government offering fresh MPs' vote on second referendum and no-deal outcome
The Independent Andrew Woodcock,The Independent Fri, 17 May



Theresa May has offered to give MPs the opportunity to vote on a second referendum and a no-deal Brexit in a series of “indicative votes” in the first week of June, according to a document leaked from cross-party talks.

The document, obtained by The Independent, suggests MPs would be invited to vote on whether to rule out any Final Say referendum. And it makes clear the Prime Minister is ready to give Conservative MPs a free vote on the issue, so long as Jeremy Corbyn does the same for Labour.

It is understood that the plan was drawn up by the Government as it became clear that the talks would not produce a compromise Brexit deal, but has not been agreed by Labour.

The document emerged just moments before Mr Corbyn pulled the plug on the talks process, which has stretched over more than six weeks but appears to have foundered on the issue of post-Brexit customs arrangements and Labour concerns that any deal could be torn up by a future Tory leader.

The plan set out in the leaked paper envisages a series of four votes to take place on June 5 on:

Whether the UK should leave the EU with a deal
Setting a new deadline of July 31 for Brexit
Ruling out a second referendum
A package of Goverment concessions to Labour on issues like workers’ rights and participation in EU agencies.

Crucially, the paper indicates that the two sides have not agreed on post-Brexit customs arrangements. It proposes a separate series of “elimination ballots” on a range of four options, from Labour’s favoured comprehensive customs union with a UK say to a looser arrangement allowing Britain to forge its own deals elsewhere in the world.

Results from the four indicative votes and the elimination ballots are unlikely to be known in time to shape the drafting of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill, due to come back before the Commons in the week of June 3, says the document. But under the indicative votes plan, MPs’ preferences would be reflected in draft Government amendments to the legislation.

The plan was denounced by People's Vote campaigners as a "cynical" attempt to block a second Brexit referendum.

Labour MP Alex Sobel, a supporter of People's Vote, said: “This is the battle plan for a desperate Prime Minister to freeze the people out of the biggest decision facing the country in two generations.

“Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this proposed stitch-up is that it has been drawn up with the idea that Labour could be persuaded to sign up to it.

“If this cynical plan shows anything, it is that Theresa May hopes her legacy will be to stop the public from having the Final Say on a deal that neither Parliament or the country wants. It seems she is perfectly happy to trade any promise she has ever made on Brexit just so long as she can keep the ultimate decision in the hands of politicians.

“For Labour the choice is now as much moral as it is political.

“It can choose to endorse a Conservative plan that cuts people out of the decision by propping up an ailing Government’s decrepit strategy that will dismay both sides of the Brexit debate. It can choose to defy the overwhelming majority of its members, voters and MPs. It can choose endorsement of a broken Brexit deal that breaks most of the promises made for Brexit and in which any concessions will doubtless be ripped up by the hardliner chosen by the Tory members to replace the Prime Minister."

“Or Labour can now take a stand and make it clear there is no prospect of Labour ever agreeing to any Brexit deal that is not handed back to the people for the final say.”

EU will not renegotiate Brexit deal with new UK PM, says Irish foreign minister
PA Ready News UK By David Young, Press Association,PA Ready News UK

Simon Coveney described political events at Westminster as 'extraordinary'.

The EU will not renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal deal regardless of who the UK’s next prime minister is, Ireland’s foreign minister has warned.

Simon Coveney described political events at Westminster as “extraordinary”, as he questioned the logic of politicians who believed a change of leader would deliver changes to the agreement struck by Theresa May.

“The EU has said very clearly that the Withdrawal Agreement has been negotiated over two-and-a-half years, it was agreed with the British government and the British cabinet and it’s not up for renegotiation, even if there is a new British prime minister,” he said.

“The personality might change but the facts don’t.”

In a scathing assessment of the political situation in the UK, Mr Coveney told RTE that Britain could trigger a no deal by “default” if its MPs failed to get their act together.

He said he believed Mrs May was a “decent person” trying to find a middle ground position, but had been thwarted by an “impossible” Conservative Party.

Mr Coveney said the UK should not assume another extension will be granted by the EU if a deal is not agreed by the latest October deadline. He said the EU was set for major changes and challenges as a result of the European elections and would likely be prepared to devote less focus on Brexit going forward.

“That’s my concern – that Britain will fail to get its act together over the summer,” he said.

“There will be people like Nigel Farage and some within the Conservative Party who will be making the proposition that ‘look, we have had enough of this, let’s just leave on WTO (World Trade Organisation) terms without a deal’ – in my view not fully understanding or not being honest about the full consequences of that for Britain and Ireland.”

He added: “The danger of course is that the British system will simply not be able to deal with this issue and even though there is a majority in Westminster who want to be able to prevent a no-deal Brexit it could happen by default.”

Mr Coveney said Ireland would continue its no-deal Brexit contingency planning .

He noted that political parties had largely spoken with the same voice in Ireland.

“In the UK no two parties seem to be able to agree on anything, despite the extraordinary dangers that Britain is potentially going to be exposed to in the autumn,” he said.

Noting the prospect of Mrs May offering pledges on technological solutions for the Irish border in her final bid to get the withdrawal treaty through Parliament next month, Mr Coveney said he did not have an issue with that as long as it did not undermine the border backstop provisions within the Withdrawal Agreement.

The Tanaiste said UK politicians who thought a new prime minister could strike a new deal did not understand the EU.

“For the EU and Ireland this has always been about the complexity of Brexit, trying to protect the EU, its integrity, its single market, its customs union, its members and also trying to respect the decision of British people,” he said.

“It’s always been about that. For Britain in many ways it’s been about party politics and personalities and many people seem to think that Britain would have got a much better deal if only they had a tougher prime minister.

“In my view that just is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the European Union operates.

“The EU is a treaty-based, precedent-based series of institutions, it doesn’t have a lot of flexibility and that’s why this negotiation has been about detail, regulation, legal provisions and so on.

“And I think the British Prime Minister understands that and that is why she has agreed to reasonable compromises in certain areas.

“But there are many British politicians who don’t, quite frankly, understand that or the complexity of politics in Northern Ireland and therefore they have tried to dumb this debate down into a simplistic argument whereby it’s Britain versus the EU, as opposed to two friends tying to navigate through the complexity of a very, very difficult agreement.”

:)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DPn0O2PRpD0

A dog's breakfast': May heading for another Brexit humiliation as attempt to win over MPs falls flat
Yahoo News UK Will Metcalfe,Yahoo News UK

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/theresa-ma...153142656.html

Theresa May has set out her last-ditch plan to rescue her Brexit deal, telling MPs they have “one final chance” to deliver a smooth exit from the EU.

Caving to pressure from Labour and Tory Remainers, the Prime Minister confirmed plans to let MPs decide whether to hold a second referendum - but only on the condition they vote for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

She said MPs will vote in parliament on whether to hold a second referendum, despite her belief that the 2016 vote should continue to be honoured.

She said: "The Government will include in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill at introduction a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum and this must take place before the Withdrawal Agreement can be ratified.

“If MPs vote against the second reading of this bill they are voting to stop Brexit.”

Theresa May deserted by her own MPs as Commons leader Leadsom quits
Yahoo News UK Andy Wells,Yahoo News UK

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/furious-to...065223761.html


Theresa May’s future as Prime Minister is hanging by a thread after Commons leader Andrea Leadsom quit as swathes of Tories deserted the PM over her latest plans for Brexit.

Mrs May is facing mounting pressure from her own party to resign or be ousted, but she insisted today: “I believe in what I’m doing.”

Cabinet ministers joined the revolt, signalling they were no longer willing to back PM after she buckled under pressure and opened the door to a second Brexit referendum.

Leading the charge was Mrs Leadsom, who quit the government at around 7.30 pm.

In her resignation letter, Mrs Leadsom said: “I do not believe that we will be a truly sovereign United Kingdom through the deal that is now proposed. I have always maintained that a second referendum would be dangerously divisive.”

A Number 10 spokesperson said: "We are disappointed that she has chosen to resign, and the prime minister remains focused on delivering the Brexit people voted for."

Other cabinet ministers requested private meetings with the PM to express their fury and demand she change tack or accept she no longer has a hold on power.

Tory backbenchers stepped up their attacks over the course of the day, making their opposition to Mrs May’s leadership clear.

However, the 1922 Committee - a group a powerful backbench MPs - decided no to change the rules of the Tory party to allow MPs another vote on Theresa May’s leadership.

As it stands, a leadership challenge cannot be brought until December as the PM survived a no-confidence vote at the end of last year.

The PM will meet the 1922 Committee on Friday, suggesting her job is safe until then.

And in a highly visible sign that Mrs May’s authority is slipping away, Brexit-supporting colleagues were absent for the start of Prime Minister’s Questions, with Cabinet ministers including Mrs Leadsom only appearing once the session was well under way.

A disastrous performance in the European elections could also precipitate her resignation on Monday.

The Conservative Party is careering towards a humiliation in the European Parliamentary elections.

The gloomiest polls for the Tories predict the party will win just 7% of the vote, behind the Greens and Lib Dems and trailing far behind the Brexit Party who are comfortably in the lead.

It all follows the PM’s last-ditch effort to unite MPs behind her deal yesterday, offering the possibility of a second referendum in an attempt to get Labour behind her.

I've just voted.

Interestingly, The party at the very top of the list is called:

Change UK - The Independent Party. [what a laff]

I suppose that's not biased fiddling is it? I also suppose that will gain them all the very low IQ votes they can harvest from such a stunt.

Let's see if it does them any good or not.

I just haven't voted--smiling.
I think the polls have it right--winging it will be Nigel's party.
Winging it will be Conservatives.
Chris

Thousands of EU citizens have been turned away from polling stations and prevented from voting in the European elections.



https://uk.yahoo.com/news/eu-citizen...124040805.html

Voting in the elections began at 7am on Thursday morning but it wasn’t long before voters from other EU member states living in the UK began to say they had been stopped from casting their vote.

Many tweeted to voice their anger, and the hashtag ‘DeniedMyVote’ began trending before 10am.

An EU citizens' rights group the3million has branded the government and the Electoral Commission as “incompetent” and said the scale of the problem was “outrageous”.

Agata Patnya, an immigration and human rights barrister, was one of the first to tweet about the issue, saying she had specifically phoned her local council to check she could vote only to be turned away.

She tweeted: “Turned away from polling station this morning. Told I should vote in my EU member state. Called local council yesterday, they confirmed I could vote. Called again today. Apparently council had no time to send out forms to all EU residents. Nothing they can do now.

“I registered before the deadline. Have been here since 2005. Voted many times before. This is my member state.”

The main problem appears to be a second form that EU citizens had to fill out which was poorly announced, and most people said that there were not even aware this was a requirement.

A rule prevents people from voting twice, one in their host EU state and another in the country where they’re from, and this form was the Electoral Commission’s interpretation of that rule.

Stories have also emerged of administrative errors, a lack of correct forms being sent out to voters and late registration due to the council not processing the forms on time, causing people to become unable to cast their ballot.

Lukas Hardt commented saying: “I can't vote today because Glasgow City Council say they never received my registration form as an EU national. I posted it well in time, from a letter box in Glasgow. When I called them to enquire, it was too late. So disappointing! EUelections2019 #DeniedMyVote.”

Professor Tanja Bueltmann, a migration historian at the University of Northumbia, created the hashtag last night in preparation for the EU election.

She told Yahoo News UK: “I’m shocked. I thought there would be a number of stories, but not to this extent.

“The local council knew about the second form, but the Electoral Commission didn’t communicate clearly about how it should be carried out, which meant that some councils informed all EU citizens in their area, and others didn’t.


“This may have happened because they didn’t have enough staff or time, but they should have made sure everyone knew about it.

“Theresa May was aware of this problem, she was even directly asked in the PMQs, and completely failed to make arrangements, like allowing EU citizens to fill out the form on the day.

“There have also been stories emerging of people who had filled in all the correct forms, did everything well before the deadline, and still they are being turned away.”

CEO of the3million Nicolas Hatton said: “Today, we are seeing thousands of EU citizens turned away from the polling booths.

“It is outrageous that the incompetence and unwillingness of the government and the Electoral Commission have denied these people a vote.

“the3million is calling for a full investigation of this democratic disaster that has disenfranchised many of the European citizens most affected by the outcome of these elections.

“In the meantime, we urge all EU citizens who were denied their vote to complain on social media using #DeniedMyVote, and write to their MP and the Electoral Commission to express their outrage.”

This is not a new incident, as a similar matter happened at the last European election in 2014, though on a smaller scale, and the problem had been noted by the Electoral Commission.

This has also corresponded with UK citizens in EU member states being denied their votes as their voting cards arrived too late.

News
UK heading for another Brexit extension in October, suggests Juncker
The Guardian Daniel Boffey in Brussels,The Guardian



Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested that the UK is drifting towards another Brexit extension in October as he criticised MPs for prioritising the prime minister’s removal over finding agreement on a Brexit deal.

With May appearing on the brink of resignation, the European commission president spoke of his admiration for her resilience and his disdain for the attempts to remove her.

“What I don’t like in the British debate is it seems more important to replace the prime minister than to find an agreement among themselves,” Juncker said in an interview with CNN. “This is a woman who knows how to do things but she is unable to succeed in doing things. I like her very much; she is a tough person.”

Junker told CNN that he was “fed up” with the ongoing impasse but suggested that Brussels was resigned to a further request to extend the UK’s membership this autumn.

The UK has until 31 October to agree a deal, leave without an agreement or seek a further extension of the article 50 negotiating period.

Juncker said: “I hope they will agree among themselves, and they will leave [the EU] by the end of October ... I think it’s their patriotic duty to get an agreement.

“I am getting fed up because we are [just] waiting for the next extension.”

The commission president added that it was not about the “identity of the next prime minister; it’s about the withdrawal agreement”.

(May 23, 2019)

European parliament elections take place across the UK and the rest of the EU Nigel Farage’s Brexit party and the Liberal Democrats have both seen surges in support in the polls leading up to the election.

(May 26, 2019)

Results of the European elections are declared from 10pm, with the Conservatives expecting massive losses.

(June 3, 2019)

Theresa May is planing to bring her withdrawal agreement back to to parliament for another vote.

(June 30, 2019)

This is the crucial date past which May said she would not countenance the UK staying in the EU. May must have passed her withdrawal deal before this date in order avoid British MEPs taking up their seats.

(September 5, 2019)

The Commons is expected to return from summer recess, bar any early recall to deal with a Brexit crisis.

(September 22, 2019)

The Labour and Conservative party conferences are held on consecutive weeks.

(October 8, 2019)

MPs return to parliament after the party conference season, 18 working days before the UK would be due to leave the EU.

(October 10, 2019)

This is the last practical polling date on which a prime minister could hold a general election or second referendum – the final Thursday before the next meeting of the European council.

(October 17, 2019)

EU leaders meet for the final meeting of the European council before the UK’s extension is due to expire.

(October 31, 2019)

The six-month article 50 extension will expire.

(December 12, 2019)

The next date on which Tory MPs can hold a confidence vote in Theresa May, if she remains at the helm.

Rowena Mason

The commission president’s backing is unlikely to dissuade many Conservative cabinet ministers and MPs from seeking to force the prime minister out of office.

Following the resignation of the leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, on Wednesday, May’s hold on power looked weaker than ever before.

With the EU refusing to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, Juncker suggested that there was little to be gained in changing the country’s leadership.

One of the stated reasons for Leadsom’s resignation was May’s offer to facilitate a vote in the Commons on a potential second referendum.

Juncker struck a sceptical note when asked whether he agreed with Donald Tusk, his counterpart in the European council, that the UK should hold a second Brexit vote.

He said: “I would like to say yes to a second referendum, but the result might not be any different. We are observers in a British stadium – it’s up for them to decide.”

As leader of the House of Commons, Leadsom had been expected to give details on Thursday of the withdrawal agreement bill. But she claimed in her resignation letter that she could not sign up to facilitating another referendum.

In her response, May denied that this was her intention. “I do not agree with you that the deal which we have negotiated with the European Union means that the United Kingdom will not become a sovereign country,” May wrote.

May said that any bill was likely to attract an amendment seeking to bring a second referendum about. “That is why at cabinet yesterday we agreed to bring the bill forward and allow those MPs who want another referendum to put their case,” the prime minister said.

Teresa May at this moment giving resignation speech.
10am Friday May 24th

June7th is the date

Chris

Theresa May resigns as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party
Yahoo News UK Matilda Long,Yahoo News UK


Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7.
Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7.

Theresa May has announced she is to stand down as Prime Minister on 7 June following months of mounting pressure over her failure to deliver Brexit.

Her voice cracking, the Prime Minister said it had been ‘the honour of my life’ to serve ‘the country that I love’.

In an emotional speech, Mrs May said she had ‘done her best’ to deliver the result of the EU referendum.

“It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” she said.

Mrs May will remain in post until a successor is chosen.
Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7.
Theresa May announced her departure outside Number 10 Downing Street this morning (PA Images)

The final straw of her doomed premiership came when a last-gasp effort to win support for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill backfired spectacularly and it became obvious her Brexit deal was dead in the water.

Brexiteers within her own party were enraged by the concession of the offer of a potential second referendum and customs union arrangement announced on Tuesday.

She also lost the support of many senior Cabinet members who made it clear her time was up.

Labour and the DUP also said they would not support the deal.

Andrea Leadsom dealt another blow when she quit as Commons leader on Wednesday evening saying she had lost confidence Mrs May would "deliver on the referendum result".
British Prime Minister Theresa May is seen departing from Number 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons on the eve of European Parliament elections. (Photo by Dinendra Haria / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
Theresa May's final attempt to deliver Brexit was a spectacular failure. (Photo by Dinendra Haria / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

Mrs May delivered her speech this morning shortly after meeting the chairman of Tory backbenchers at 9am. The timing means a new Tory leader - and therefore Prime Minister - should be in place by the end of July.

Her announcement means she will still be in power for Donald Trump’s state visit on 3-5 June.

It also comes the day after European elections, in which the Tories are expected to perform disastrously.

Boris Johnson is the current favourite to replace Mrs May.
‘Brexit means Brexit’

Theresa May’s failure to lead Britain out of the EU ultimately led to her demise as Prime Minister.

After campaigning for Remain during the Brexit campaign, she faced an uphill struggle to persuade anybody to believe in her born-again Brexiteer credentials.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis await the arrival of Prime Minister Theresa May before she delivers her keynote speech to delegates and party members on the last day of the Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central on October 4, 2017 in Manchester, England. The prime minister rallied members and called for the party to
Theresa May's proposed Brexit deal struggled to win the support of Brexiteer Conservatives. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Despite her often repeated soundbite of 'Brexit means Brexit', the deal she managed to negotiate with the EU was essentially deemed not Brexit-y enough for the hardline Eurosceptics in her party.

A number of her own MPs refused to be won over and voted against her deal - some of them on each of the three occasions she put it before MPs - and her last-gasp effort to win over the Commons was what eventually forced open the exit door.
'No deal is better than a bad deal'

Before January 2017 hardly anyone had an opinion on a no-deal Brexit. But after Theresa May introduced the notion that ‘no deal was better than a bad deal’, the idea of abandoning the difficult negotiations with the EU and leaving without an agreement was seized upon by Eurosceptic Tories.

Warnings about the consequences of no deal - food shortages, expensive groceries, miles-long queues at the Dover border, compromised safety for citizens - weren't enough to persuade rebel MPs to back a deal they feared could potentially tie the UK to Brussels indefinitely.

It was clear by spring of this year Mrs May no longer - or never had - believed no deal was a viable option. Unfortunately for her, Brexiteer MPs disagreed and remained willing to vote down her deal.
'Strong and stable leadership'

Theresa May inherited a slim majority when she took over as Prime Minister.

Cashing in on her apparent popularity and wishing to gift herself a smoother ride through Parliament, Mrs May called a General Election to take place in June 2017.
Attendees hold a placard bearing the slogan 'Theresa May: Strong, Stable Leadership in the national interest' at a Conservative Party general-election campaign event in Norwich, U.K., on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. May said she'd be willing to tear up human-rights legislation to combat terrorism in a move the Labour opposition said was an attempt to distract from her cuts to police, as security dominated the closing stages of the U.K. election campaign. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Theresa May's attempt to persuade the country to support her 'strong and stable leadership' in a General Election massively backfired. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

But her campaign slogan - urging voters to back her ‘strong and stable leadership’ - didn’t work. During the campaign support for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn surged and voters abandoned May.

She ended up losing her majority and was forced into partnership with the DUP, making it much more difficult for her to get Brexit legislation approved.
Crumbling cabinet

Theresa May premiership was beset by a record number of resignations.

36 minister have quit during her time in office, many in protest at the way she has dealt with - or failed to deal with - Brexit.
Cabinet resignations & dismissals 1998-2019. See story POLITICS Brexit. Infographic from PA Graphics
Cabinet resignations & dismissals 1998-2019

That works out at a rate of roughly 1.5 resignations per month, although in practice they tend to come in packs after a major event.

The resignation of Andrea Leadsom as Leader of the House of Commons is widely seen as the death blow to Mrs May, demonstrating beyond dispute that she is unable to win the support of the Tories.

Boris Johnson says he's willing to take the UK out of the EU without a deal
Yahoo News UK David Harding,Yahoo News UK


Boris Johnson said today he would take the UK out of the EU without a deal.

Mr Johnson confirmed his plan to run to be the next Tory party leader at a conference in Switzerland today.

Speaking just hours after a tearful Theresa May announced she was stepping down, Johnson said: “Of course I am going to go for it”.

The former Foreign Secretary is easily the front runner to succeed Mrs May, and was immediately installed as favourite by bookmakers thanks to his huge popularity with Conservative Party members.

He said today: “The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal.”

Quote:

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Posted by greybeard

Theresa May

“It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” she said.

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What the hell was stopping you, lass. Care to name names ? . . .care at all ?

There's a problem with Boris taking over too.

He was foreign secretary when the UK collaborated with the Fisagate criminals to stop Trump getting elected and get rid of him after he was. Heck it could even turn out that it was the UK behind the whole thing. He's not going to be anything more than an unstable temp. If that's where we are going, we might as well have Farage and be done with it, as initially frightening as that might look, even to me.

Quote:

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Posted by norman

There's a problem with Boris taking over too.

He was foreign secretary when the UK collaborated with the Fisagate criminals to stop Trump getting elected and get rid of him after he was. Heck it could even turn out that it was the UK behind the whole thing. He's not going to be anything more than an unstable temp. If that's where we are going, we might as well have Farage and be done with it, as initially frightening as that might look, even to me.

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I agree Norman.
Of the many challenges a border between N Ireland an the South remains a big one.
We exit without a deal that's them in the biggest mess imaginable.
A right wing Tory party is not electable as far as I can see.
That's if the next PM is right of centre
.
Funnily enough if the current Chancellor put his name forward that might be an answer.
He is well respected, a quiet one, but still waters run deep.
Who knows where this is going.
Chris