The UK Brexit vote to leave the EU

[greybeard]

Nicola Sturgeon has handed Theresa May a lifeline with her call for a new referendum on Scottish independence
[The Independent]
Louis Staples
The Independent25 April 2019

If Scotland holds another independence referendum, it’ll be more disastrous than Brexit

Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans to hold a new referendum on Scottish independence. The first minister told the Scottish parliament she will soon introduce legislation to prepare for another vote by 2021 if Scotland is taken out of the EU.

I write this just a stone’s throw away from Holyrood and a short walk from the Edinburgh polling place where I voted in 2014’s historic independence referendum. But now, five years on, everything has changed – or so Sturgeon wants us to believe.

During her speech, Sturgeon suggested that the case for independence is "even stronger now", given the "profound changes" that have occurred since 2014.

She told Holyrood: "With all of our assets and talents, Scotland should be a thriving and a driving force within Europe. Instead we face being forced to the margins, sidelined with the UK."

Whatever your political persuasion, it is hard to argue with the diagnosis that Brexit has materially changed the UK’s political landscape. On the cusp of leaving the EU, the Britain which 55 per cent of Scots voted to remain a part of in 2014 no longer exists.


Brexit has been a political gift to the SNP. 62 per cent of Scots rejected it, in every single region – the most resounding Remain vote of the UK’s four nations.
A year on from a barnstorming performance in 2015’s General Election, the referendum result gave the SNP a clear mandate: oppose Brexit at all costs.

Throughout the Brexit process, the Scottish Parliament has found itself ignored and sidelined, despite frequent attempts to engage in dialogue with Theresa May.
The Brexit process has also highlighted empty promises that Scots were fed in the run up to 2014’s independence referendum, like the unionist campaign line that “Scotland shouldn’t leave the UK, it should lead the UK”.
Aged most badly are the frequent assertions by Better Together, the main unionist campaign group, that the only way to protect Scotland’s EU membership was to reject independence.

Brexit has also complicated the case for independence, however. The day after 2016’s Brexit vote, Sturgeon announced that a new referendum would be on the horizon.
This was seized upon by her opponents, particularly Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson, who claimed the SNP are “obsessed” with independence and Sturgeon should “stick to the day job”.

The backlash against Sturgeon’s eagerness to hold a new vote resulted in a bloody nose for the SNP in 2017’s General Election.
The party lost a third of its seats, while the pro-union Tories had their best performance in decades.

In terms of the future independence argument, key questions remain.
People weren’t convinced by economic factors like currency in 2014, so will they be swayed this time?
A million Scots also voted for Brexit in 2016, presumably including people who also voted Yes in 2014.
If they are given the choice, which union will these voters choose?

Having been to the polls in two general elections, two referendums and a Scottish Parliament election in the last five years, the Scottish electorate has become highly astute; it is also traditionally more cautious than in other parts of the UK.
Given how difficult, or impossible, the Brexit process has often seemed, will Scots fear causing more uncertainty and division with a vote for independence?

Still, Sturgeon does appear to have learned lessons from the 2014 and 2016 referendums.
Her speech yesterday stressed the need for a respectful, wide-ranging conversation, imploring her opponents to voice their arguments too.
She also proposed that the Scottish government set up a "Citizen's Assembly" to consider "what kind of country we are seeking to build".
Drawn from countries like Ireland, which have used such methods, this sort of participative democracy shows genuine commitment to a more inclusive debate.

Fundamentally, if Sturgeon does decide to hold another vote, victory for the independence camp is likely.
Complaints that she is using Brexit as an excuse to re-run the 2014 poll have quietened now that the Brexit process has become such an excruciating international embarrassment.
Despite the electoral reverses of 2017, Sturgeon has emerged largely unscathed and is often seen as a voice of reason, frequently attempting to guide May towards a softer Brexit compromise.
She also backs a People’s Vote, which is supported by a majority of Scots.

[norman]

I wish they won last time. In fact, I suspect they really did but the count was fiddled. Those nuke sub bases are a hot potatoe.

The sooner the Scottish delinquent vote is out of the mix, the better for the rest of us, and for Scotland too of course.


I have no problem at all with a hard border at Gretna or wherever. Quite looking forward to it.

edit:

Actually, the mistake last time was not letting the whole of Britain vote ( as we should have ). I've little doubt that if we'd all voted, there would have been such a big boot up Scotland's backside the result would have been unquestionably leave.

[greybeard]

The Catch-up: Major Brexit study reveals Remainers are in the lead

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/catch-majo...c=bell-brknews

Yahoo News UK26 April 2019
What happened?

A major new piece of research has been published today, analysing what the UK really thinks about the EU. The Eurobarometer survey, based on interviews with almost 30,000 Europeans, found that considerably more Brits now want to remain in the UK than want to leave. 45% said they would like to stay a member of the bloc compared to 37% who want to quit.
Pro-EU?

The research found a majority of Brits (54%) feel their country has benefitted from being a member of the European Union. There are significant generational divides on this issue in particular. Asked whether the UK has benefited from its membership, the youngest respondents answered yes by 66% compared with 40% among the oldest generation.
What about the rest of Europe?

Coming just a month before the next round of European Parliamentary elections, support for the EU among all members is at a near record high. 61% of people across all countries said their membership is a good thing. Brits were the most likely to say their membership of the EU is a bad thing. The country second most likely to say being part of the EU is a bad thing was Italy, where 21% of people responded in this way. Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Ireland are the countries with the most positive attitude towards Europe. Outside the UK, a growing number of Europeans are concerned the EU is not moving in the right direction, with half of those interviewed saying this is the case.
What does this mean for Brexit?

Talks between Labour and the Conservatives continued this week to try a find a way to break through but there was no indication a solution is on the cards. Jeremy Corbyn came under increasing pressure to throw his support fully behind a second referendum after it emerged his party’s campaign leaflets for the EU elections made no mention of a so-called People’s Vote.

[A Voice from the Mountains]

Posted by norman (here)
I wish they won last time. In fact, I suspect they really did but the count was fiddled. Those nuke sub bases are a hot potatoe.

Decentralization of power seems to be the new trend all over the world. Britain wants to leave the EU, many Scots want Scotland out of Britain, then you have Catalonia, Alberta in Canada, California in the US (where many Americans would like California out too, but there's also the military and trade problems because they have so much of our Pacific Coast)...

Why is world government a terrible idea? Different cultures and peoples have legitimately different wants and needs, and enjoy living in different ways. You can't please everyone with a world government. Small governments give the best representation and provide people with the most leverage over abuse, and all sorts of other advantages. It's not as if international trade and cooperation go away completely. International, even global trade has existed literally since the Stone Age, and what did those people know of nation-states?

[norman]

Posted by norman (here)

. . . Those nuke sub bases are a hot potatoe. . . .

errr, about those nuke sub bases . . . .

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

Well, as I predicted about ten years ago, Germany is now pushing for a restructuring of the UN security council, and wants a permanent seat in that body...


http://fordhampoliticalreview.org/ge...ouncil-member/

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...uclear-bombers

[samildamach]

Jhonny mercer a Tory backbench mp,live on have I got news for you,claimed that the recent accusations against him are in retaliation for a failed blackmail attempt to get him to for for mays offer.
He also stated he is using the BBC for liable running the story,and has posted documents on twitter showing an integration of the u.k army in to a single point defnce union with the eu heading it.interesting revelations

[greybeard]

News
Local election results show there’s more impetus than ever for a second referendum
The Independent Editorial,The Independent

He is thought of as dry and vulpine, with a nice line in irony – yet what were heralded as the best results for the Liberal Democrats in decades has placed an uncomplicated, broad smile on the face of Vince Cable. So unused is Sir Vince at greeting good news for his party that you could almost hear the creaks as his facial muscles arranged themselves into such an unfamiliar contortion. At last he has something to hand on to his successor.

Not since the tuition fees fiasco poleaxed their credibility have the Liberal Democrats had so much to feel good about. Brexit, otherwise loathsome, has given them an unexpected bonus. Sir Vince decided to come out of the EU closet and tell the world that his party was, quite simply, the “Stop Brexit” party. Two words: it worked. The Greens, equally enthusiastic for Europe, also enjoyed their best night since the 1989 European elections delivered a shock third place to them. The recent Extinction Rebellion, and the powerful voices of Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, have rightly reminded voters that there is more to politics than Brexit – and the future of life on Earth is in real jeopardy.

The other group, or rather non-group, that did exceptionally and unexpectedly well were the independent candidates standing for their local authorities. Such figures were once relatively commonplace in the local government landscape, independent-minded folk of a practical and more politically neutral cast of mind who only wished to serve their communities without party favour. Some were, in reality, Tories in disguise, usually dedicated to keeping the rates (the forerunner to the council tax) down, but not all were, and one might have feared that a more vicious political culture had driven them into virtual extinction. Now they are back, another sign of the British electorate’s growing disillusion with our traditional party structures.

Perhaps it was just as well for the Liberal Democrats and the Greens that the local elections arrived too soon for Change UK to register and contest seats. Had they done so, they might well have split the vote in the broad, pro-EU, progressive movement, with grievous results. These three smaller parties may regret their failure to cooperate when the European parliament elections arrive, almost certainly, on 23 May.

Which leaves the much-denuded “main” parties pondering their own plight. The Conservatives were, at least superficially, the more badly abused by the electorate. In simple terms, as formulated by the veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bernard Jenkin, the party is “toast”. Even allowing for the fact that the seats were last contested in 2015, on the same day that David Cameron won an overall majority for them, it is a precipitous fall – and that was, in fact, a mediocre showing four years ago. Hundreds and hundreds of council seats lost, “key” administrations handed over to the opposition or to no overall control, often decent and hardworking people suffering from events far beyond their control (or, with Brexit, apparently beyond anyone’s control).

For Labour, the breakthroughs did not arrive. Like the Conservatives, their national equivalent vote share (allowing for the pattern of contests) is about 6 or 7 percentage points slower than last year, and that, it must be said, had to be a disappointment for Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues.

Given that Labour is facing the most divided and weak administration in decades, it ought to have been winning seats and votes across the board. Rather than their infamously fudged policy on Brexit and the second referendum succeeding in attracting both Leave and Remain supporters, as probably happened in the 2017 general election, it now seems equally unattractive to both sides of the European debate. The voters are no longer fooled by Labour’s obvious non-policy.

Neither have Labour and the Tories got much to look forward to in the European elections next month (assuming they are held). The remarkable intervention of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party – like Change UK it registered too late to fight in these local elections – threatens to punish the Conservatives still further, with many of the Tories’ own councillors (or ex-councillors) and other activists going “on strike” for the duration. It could be that the Conservatives, in just a few weeks, will fall to their lowest vote share in any national election during their entire domination of the British political scene. There may be regions – London, for example – where they finish behind not only the Brexit Party and Labour but also the Liberal Democrats and, possibly, the Greens and Change UK: sixth place in a major election in the capital city. It would be a truly humiliating experience for them, a shock even by the current miserable standards. By the same token, Labour too will fall further from its unimpressive performance this week. To adapt an old slogan, Labour’s Brexit policy isn’t working. It doesn’t add up, and the country, and Labour, knows it.

Brexit, then, is once again proving utterly unmanageable and disruptive for our traditional party system. It has already forced defections and splits, and both the main parties appear increasingly like disorderly gangs barely able to bear their own company. The parties, by contrast, that have a clear unequivocal message – the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Brexit Party – are benefiting from the public mood and yearning for clarity. The great irony is that the very stasis that both Labour and the Conservatives find themselves in will merely strengthen the position of their respective leaders.

The deadlock on Brexit that is wrecking normal political life, as well as the economy, can only be broken by a popular vote, one way or the other. Dramatic as the results are and will be, nothing in the local or European elections results will shift the policy of the government or of Labour. That means, as we all know, a referendum is inevitable. Then normal politics can, at long last, be resumed, and the Brexit fatigue can end. It is what, in its inchoate way, the electorate has been trying to tell our leaders.

[greybeard]

Brexit: anger grows at May-Corbyn bid to stitch up deal
The Guardian Toby Helm and Michael Savage,The Guardian

Last-ditch efforts by Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn to strike a compromise on Brexit looked doomed on Saturday as the party leaders faced mounting revolts from their own MPs and activists.

Following Thursday’s local elections, in which both the Conservatives and Labour were punished severely by voters for failing to break the political deadlock, May and Corbyn have insisted their parties must now urgently agree a way forward in cross-party talks which will resume on Tuesday. On Saturday the prime minister reiterated her appeal, saying: “We have to find a way to break the deadlock. I believe the results of the local elections give fresh urgency to this.”

But opposition MPs and Tory Brexiters warned any deal the leadership teams stitch up behind the scenes would face inevitable defeat in parliament and cause more acrimony in the parties.

The Observer can reveal that 104 opposition MPs, mainly from Labour but also SNP, Change UK, Green and Plaid Cymru, have written to May and Corbyn insisting they will not back a “Westminster stitch-up” unless there is a firm guarantee that any deal is then put to a confirmatory referendum.

The MPs say: “The very worst thing we could do at this time is a Westminster stitch-up whether over the PM’s deal or another deal. This risks alienating both those who voted leave in 2016 and those who voted remain.” They say that, “whatever the deal” is, it must be the subject of another referendum so voters can have the “final say”.

Separately, senior Tory MPs insisted that any deal struck with Labour that involved anything close to a customs union – Corbyn’s central demand in the talks – would be rejected by more than 100 of the party’s MPs, who would see it as a betrayal of May’s promises on Brexit.

Nigel Evans, executive secretary of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said: “If there is a compromise that turns out to be a kind of ‘Brexit in name only’ involving anything close to a customs union there would be more than 100 Tory MPs who would never support it, particularly following the local elections.”

Another member of the 1922 executive said that, even if a cross-party deal were struck that could command the support of two-thirds of Labour MPs, it would then be likely to be opposed by two-thirds of Tory backbenchers.

As both parties continue to digest the local election results, which saw the Tories lose around 1,300 seats in their worst result since the 1990s and Labour shed more than 60, anger at the leaders’ handling of Brexit intensified among MPs and members.

Alanna Vine, chair of Cheadle Conservative Association, said: “Our party’s failure to deliver Brexit has been toxic. If we don’t change course – immediately cease discussions with Corbyn about us remaining in the EU customs union and stop endlessly extending our leaving date – our party will be wiped out for a generation.”

Alexander Curtis, chair of Hertford and Stortford Conservative Association, said: “Colleagues have paid dearly for our prime minister’s failure to believe in and back the decision of 17.4 million voters to leave the EU. People are sick of our incompetence and inability to deliver and to honour our promises. We will be annihilated in the Euro elections if we break another promise and adopt Corbyn’s customs union plan.”

Writing for the Guardian, Bridget Phillipson, Labour MP for Sunderland South, said her party’s loss of councillors was not the result of leave voters deserting but that the area’s remain supporters “gave us a bloody nose and showed us their support is not unconditional”. She adds: “It should be a source of shame to us all that Labour’s position on the most urgent challenge our country faces has been to wallow in fudge for three long years.”

In the Observer, the Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, whose party made strong gains, along with the Greens, on Thursday, suggests that if pro-remain parties are to stop Brexit they need to look at ways to work together after the European elections on 23 May. Cable says: “Once the immediate bunfight for votes is over, liberals and social democrats in all the parties need to look afresh at how we make an impact when a general election finally comes. Millions of voters are politically homeless and looking for a voice.”

In Saturday night’s statement May said: “We will keep negotiating and keep trying to find a way through. Because the real thing that matters now is delivering Brexit and moving on to all the other issues people care about. The longer that takes, the greater the risk we will not leave at all. We need to get out of the EU and get a deal over the line.”

On Saturday, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, suggested the government could reach a compromise with Labour on a post-Brexit customs union arrangement with the EU.

He said the local election results on Thursday were a call from voters to “deliver Brexit and then move on”.

[greybeard]

Andrew Marr on BBC today May 5th pointed out that the massive swing was to the Liberal Democrats who claim to be the main "no exit" party.
It would seem that the voters in local elections went for the party that was clearly for remain.
People do change their minds.
The politicians from other parties seem to be in avoidance of this.

Chris

[samildamach]

Of course the Tory's lost 1500 councillors and labour 80,the bbc reported this as a labour lose,so is Andrew marr biased?.
Had you forgotten the massive swing to independent councillors almost equal to liberal gains or the biggest amount of spoilt papers in voting history.
I voted liberal and iam a brexiter,they are just very good at local goverment.
Which party was there to vote for a protest?
Discount ukip from recent bbc hit peaces

[greybeard]

Gove says ‘democracy demands’ MPs back Brexit deal after election losses
PA Ready News UK By Tom Eden, Political Reporter, Press Association Scotland,PA Ready News UK Sat, 4 May


Michael Gove has issued a renewed plea for MPs to back Theresa May’s deal, claiming the Tories’ local election losses were because the party has “not yet delivered Brexit”.

The Environment Secretary argued that “democracy demands” that MPs vote for the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal and urged politicians from all parties to “unite to respect the referendum result”.

Speaking in his home city of Aberdeen, Mr Gove claimed that the withdrawal agreement “does recognise the hopes and concerns of Remainers and Leavers alike”.

Reflecting on the local election results which saw the Tories suffer net losses of 1,269 seats, he said: “If local elections down south tell us anything, they remind us that referendum verdicts must be honoured.

“Lots of hardworking Conservative councillors lost their seats because Parliament has not yet delivered Brexit.”
Scottish Conservatives’ party conference
Michael Gove at the Scottish Conservatives’ conference in Aberdeen (Jane Barlow/PA)

Talking up Mrs May’s deal, the leave campaigner added: “It enables us to leave the EU, while safeguarding essential interests and liberating us to enjoy new opportunities.

“I am all too aware of how hard the Prime Minister has worked and how dedicated she has been to secure a good Brexit deal.

“Which is why I hope that when Parliament returns, that MPs from every party will unite to respect the referendum result and back the deal. That is what democracy demands.

“And then we can concentrate on uniting our country behind the vision of a brighter future and restore trust to our politics.”

In a highly personal speech at the Scottish Conservatives conference, Mr Gove spoke about how being adopted drives his political ambition.
Scottish Conservatives’ party conference
Michael Gove spoke about how being adopted inspires his politics (Jane Barlow/PA)

He said: “From the moment I arrived, my parents gave me unconditional love. They gave me everything.

“As my mother said when she explained to me the circumstances of my adoption: ‘Son, you didn’t grow under my heart, you grew in it.'”

“My parents are the reason why I am in politics,” he added.

“I want to show them the chance they took and the love that they gave in choosing me has, in the end, worked out. I want to repay their kindness and love by doing whatever I can to help make others’ lives that wee bit better.

“And just as they gave me the chance to choose my future, I want to ensure that everyone has the ability to determine their own destiny. To be the author, and the editor, of their own life story.”

[greybeard]

European elections will take place in the UK on May 23
Yahoo News UK Will Metcalfe,Yahoo News UK

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/european-e...142854584.html


European Parliament elections will go ahead in the UK on May 23, after the Government determined that there is not enough time left to complete the ratification of Brexit before that date, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington has said.

The Government has accepted it cannot get its Brexit deal through Parliament in time to avoid European elections on May 23.

Theresa May's effective deputy confirmed the elections will go ahead, but said the Government was "redoubling our efforts" to get an EU Withdrawal Agreement ratified by the start of July so the MEPs elected this month never have to take their seats.

Mr Lidington was speaking shortly before cross-party Brexit talks with Labour resumed in Whitehall.
Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office David Liddington leaves the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, London, as Prime Minister David Cameron chaired a meeting with Chancellor George Osborne, Bank of England governor Mark Carney and other senior officials to assess the likely impact of the Greek referendum vote to reject the austerity terms demanded by its international creditors on the UK.
David Lidington has confirmed EU elections will take place this month. (PA)

Pressure on both sides to make progress was heightened by their poor performance in last week's local elections, which both Conservative and Labour leaderships interpreted as a message from voters to get on with delivering Brexit.

Mrs May had been hoping the talks would deliver a compromise deal in time to allow her to call off the European Parliament elections.

But, more than a month after the talks began, Mr Lidington acknowledged time is now too tight to get a Withdrawal Agreement Bill through both Houses of Parliament by the date of the poll.

[greybeard]

The Latest: EU chief rues failure to enter Brexit campaign
Associated Press Associated Press
https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/la...--finance.html


European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker talks to journalists during a news conference following a College of Commissioners meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. Juncker says one of his biggest mistakes in office was failing to get involved in the Brexit referendum and counter what he says were the lies spread during the campaign.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says one of his biggest mistakes in office was failing to get involved in the Brexit referendum campaign and counter what he says were the lies spread.

Juncker told reporters that he stayed out of the June 23, 2016 vote at the request of then prime minister, David Cameron, and that his mistake had been "to listen too carefully" to the premier.

Juncker says "it was a mistake not to intervene and not to interfere, because we would have been the only ones to destroy the lies which were circulated around."

Juncker, whose term of office runs out at the end of October, said: "I was wrong to be silent."



The British government is making a final push to do a Brexit deal with the opposition Labour Party, amid mounting outrage from Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party at the prospect of compromise.

Senior Conservative and Labour lawmakers are meeting to see whether they can reach a compromise. Several weeks of talks have so far not produced a breakthrough.

Almost three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, the date and terms of Brexit remain uncertain because lawmakers have repeatedly rejected May's divorce deal with the bloc.

That has led her to seek a deal with Labour — to the fury of pro-Brexit Conservatives, who are demanding May's resignation.

The head of a powerful Conservative committee is due to meet May Tuesday to deliver a demand for "clarity" about her departure date.

[greybeard]

Do they all believe what they say?
Who is telling the biggest whoppers?
Those who said we would be massively better off out of Europe or those saying we are better to stay in?
Either way the public are better educated on the remain or leave issues.
So why the fear of a referendum now?
Vested interests?
I wont vote regardless.
Tho slightly tempted to vote green next general election.
Chris

[greybeard]

Brexit: Renewed hope for second referendum as Theresa May's deputy discusses 'research' with opposition leaders
The Independent Lizzy Buchan,The Independent


Theresa May's deputy has given fresh hope to second referendum campaigners by saying another vote was "perfectly practical", according to two party leaders.

Change UK leader Heidi Allen said David Lidington, the cabinet secretary, had "clearly done his research" on the mechanics of a Final Say vote when she attended talks alongside Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable and Jo Swinson.

Sir Vince said Mr Lidington had asserted that holding another vote would be "perfectly practical" during the meeting.

In the wake of the Tories poor local election showing, Ms Allen said she felt there was "more of an open door" among senior Tories towards another referendum.

She told The Independent: “I set the meeting up with [David] Lidington, because I thought surely there must be a greater appetite to end this desperate madness, to get her deal through on the back of a people's vote so we can move on.

The mood in the talks was "very different" compared to previous meetings, Ms Allen said, adding: "I sense there might have been more of an open door there."

She said: "He was all over the detail of the legislation and how complex legislation would be, how many days of debate it might need, the timetable might look like, how it would fit around summer recess.

"He volunteered a lot of information so he has clearly done his research."

The Independent has been campaigning for a Final Say vote on any Brexit deal - a position that has been supported by more than a million people.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Cable told The Sun: “He was perfectly straight – he set out the government’s political position on it.

"And you have heard Theresa May say ad nauseam what a terrible idea it is.

“But it was very clear they are thinking about it, and they are doing a lot of practical planning in case it happens.

“David acknowledged that it was perfectly practical - it could be done within realistic time scales.

“There is an issue about the question. But they have thought about that - they could find a way of dealing with it.”

However a cabinet source dismissed his version of events as "wishful thinking".

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The government does not support a second referendum and is not preparing to hold one.”

The prime minister is under pressure to break the Brexit impasse after she could not secure Commons support for her deal, forcing her to delay the UK's departure from the EU until October.

Talks with Labour to find a way forward are about to enter their seventh week without a breakthrough.
image

[greybeard]

Tony Blair launches most critical attack yet on Jeremy Corbyn over Brexit
Sky News Jon Craig, chief political correspondent,Sky News


Tony Blair has launched his most critical attack yet on Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit policy, claiming it meant the party was "doomed to fail" in last week's local elections.

The former prime minister and leading campaigner for a second referendum says Labour's "destructive indecision" of trying to face both ways "pleased no one" and let down the country.

Writing in The Observer ahead of an interview on Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News, Mr Blair says that "despite everything" he will vote Labour in the European elections on 23 May.

But he urges Labour supporters put off by the party's "equivocation" to vote for one of the "unequivocal Remain parties" - the Lib Dems, Change UK, Greens, Scottish National Party or Plaid Cymru.

Mr Blair's latest anti-Brexit onslaught comes only days after he was attacked and mocked by Tory Brexiteers for claiming a second referendum would be a "healing process" for the nation.

It also coincides with a new opinion poll suggesting the Conservatives face a near wipe-out in the European elections and Labour is trailing badly behind Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.

The poll, by Opinium Research, suggests the Brexit Party is way out in front on 34% (+6), Labour on 21% (-7), the pro-Remain Lib Dems 12% (+5), Conservatives 11% (-3), Greens 8% (+2), UKIP 4% (+1) and Change UK 3% (-4).

In his Observer article, the former PM writes: "Labour should never have put itself in such a position of destructive indecision.

"The local elections were terrible for the Conservatives; but, on any rational analysis, devastating for Labour.

"This is a government not in a state of disarray but of profound dysfunction. No one of any age or any political experience can remember anything like it.

"Meanwhile, we are almost 10 years into austerity with the public realm - Labour's political sweet spot - in disrepair.

"Yet Labour cannot even win the local elections for heaven's sake."

Mr Blair says that despite the best efforts of the shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leadership's "ambiguity on Brexit has brought it confusion, not shelter from principled decision on the most vital question of national interest".

He adds: "But leave aside principle. Even as a piece of political strategy, it was doomed to fail."

He continues: "Any strategy which tries to face both ways just ends up looking indecisive or unprincipled or both.

"What Labour should have done - from the beginning - is to argue that we accept the referendum result; but that once any negotiation concludes, we should be entitled to compare the future European relationship with what we have now; and if that negotiated outcome is unsatisfactory, reserve the right to give the people the final say.

"We could have explained the central dilemma between hard Brexit and soft, and critiqued the shambles of the negotiation's failure to resolve it.

"We could have mounted a proper attack on the nonsensical Brexit negotiating strategy of 'cake and eat it' instead of having our own version of the same strategy.

"We could have dismantled the Tories over the distractive effect of Brexit, an argument which would have grown in power over time as the political energy of the entire government got subsumed by Brexit.

"We could have made the correct case as to why Brexit is not the answer to anything - the degradation of the NHS, failures in the schools, rising crime and social disintegration, the inequalities in our society or indeed the climate challenge.

"We could have given leadership to the Labour Brexit vote; instead of which we tried to follow it whilst simultaneously trying to appeal to the anti-Brexit Labour vote.

"Result? We pleased no one; and most of all let down the country."

Mr Blair adds: "The European elections should have been the occasion for a large unified anti-Brexit vote.

"Instead, many Labour supporters are genuinely conflicted about voting Labour."

[greybeard]

By Jennifer McKiernan, Press Association Political Correspondent,PA Ready News UK



Gavin Williamson has described Theresa May’s Brexit talks with Labour as a “grave mistake”.


https://uk.yahoo.com/news/gavin-will...200000928.html
The former defence secretary, who was sacked over the Huawei leak, said pressing ahead with the talks will have “fatal” consequences.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he labelled Mrs May as “politically naive” for going into fruitless negotiations which he claimed were bound to fail.
Prime Minister Theresa May
Prime Minister Theresa May has come under fire from Gavin Williamson (Steve Parsons/PA)

The Tory MP for South Staffordshire said doing a deal with Labour on Brexit “sounds so simple and so reasonable, but it is destined to fail”.

“Even if Labour do a deal, break bread with the Prime Minister and announce that both parties have reached an agreement, it can only ever end in tears,” he said. “The Labour Party does not exist to help the Conservative Party.

“Jeremy Corbyn will do all he can to divide, disrupt and frustrate the Conservatives in the hope of bringing down the Government.

“His goal, and he has made no secret of it, is to bring about a general election.”

Mr Williamson said the Prime Minister seemed oblivious to the fact many Tories believe she is “negotiating with the enemy”.

“There is a clue in their title: Her Majesty’s Official Opposition,” he said. “Their priority is to derail the Government.

“Even if we get to a point where Jeremy Corbyn agrees a deal with the Prime Minister, when it comes to detailed scrutiny of the votes, Labour will revert to form.

“Even if it passes the first few votes, it will fail later.”
European Parliament election
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing pressure from his own MPs on Brexit. (Gareth Fuller/PA)

The former Cabinet minister said there was a simple calculation that a deal could pass with the combined votes of Labour and Conservative MPs, but “tough realities” must be faced if the deal was “far removed” from expectations.

Mr Williamson said this could mean Mrs May has support from “less than half the Conservative MPs” including those “on the payroll”.

That would lead to “knife-edge votes” and a “number of defeats” due to “up to 80” Labour rebels who want another referendum, he said, alongside SNP, Lib Dem and Change UK MPs who have pledged to vote against.

He said: “This is when Labour will finally kill it, if they have not done so already.

“Labour will be able to credibly say it is not what was originally agreed between them and the Prime Minister.

“It is politically naive to go down this route.”

Warning Mrs May she was turning her own supporters against her, Mr Williamson said that scenario “should be avoided at all costs”.

He said: “The Prime Minister needs to recognise that futile efforts to pull off this Labour deal are damaging us all.

“It is a grave mistake for any Prime Minister to fail to recognise when a plan will not work and it is fatal to press on regardless.

“We need to accept that these talks with Labour are fruitless and that not only will they not deliver the Brexit that people voted for, they are a betrayal of the direct instructions the people gave us in 2016 and 2017.”

Urging Mrs May to “make the right choice”, the MP suggested new leadership was needed.

“We are now at a crossroads and it is imperative the Prime Minister makes the right choice,” he said.

“In order to deliver Brexit, there has to be a clear-sighted determination of what you are wanting to deliver, as opposed to delivering the lowest common denominator.

“The only way to deliver anything is by ensuring you have your own tribe and your own people with you 100% of the way.

“This is what has to be delivered – not doing a deal with Labour.”

[greybeard]

Nigel Farage angrily lashes out at Andrew Marr and BBC as he is grilled on controversial previous statements
Evening Standard Patrick Grafton-Green,Evening Standard

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/nigel-fara...110300422.html

Nigel Farage angrily lashed out at the BBC today because he was grilled on his controversial previous statements on the NHS, climate change and foreigners rather than Brexit.

The Brexit Party leader branded the interview with Andrew Marr “ludicrous” and “the most ridiculous interview of my life” as he was asked if stood by the comments.

It comes after a poll suggested that his party would earn more votes than Labour and the Conservative Party combined in the upcoming European elections.

Mr Marr argued that Mr Farage should be scrutinised because he is an “important figure” who is “trying to lead an insurgent party to try and replace the main parties”.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was not happy with Andrew Marr's line of questioning (REUTERS)

He asked: “Do you still want to replace the NHS with a private insurance system?”

Mr Farage replied: “I never did, I would like to take the burden off the NHS.”

But the MEP quickly added that the interview was “boring” and questioned why they weren’t talking about the “sea change” currently occurring in British politics.

Despite this Marr continued his line of questioning and brought up a series of other past remarks made by Mr Farage.
Nigel Farage was asked about a series of controversial statements he has made in the past (REUTERS)

They included views that worrying about global warming would be the “stupidest thing in human history”; on legalising hand guns; on saying he felt uncomfortable hearing foreign languages on trains; on stopping people with HIV from coming to the UK; and on admiring Vladimir Putin.

Mr Farage said: "What is wrong with the BBC? You’re just not interested aren’t you?"

"This is absolutely ludicrous. I’ve never in my life seen a more ridiculous interview than this," he said.

"You are not prepared to talk about what is going on in this country today.

"You’re in denial, the BBC’s in denial, the Tory and Labour parties are in denial. I think you’re in for a bigger surprise on Thursday week than you can even imagine."

Labour’s Job Ashworth later attacked Mr Farage for dodging questions on his record and failing to put forward any manifesto.

The shadow heath secretary said: "Nigel Farage doesn't want to stand on his record, because his record is one of wanting to privatise the NHS, it's on big tax cuts for the very rich and penalising working people in this country.”

Also Sunday morning’s interview, Mr Farage argued that the Prime Minister "has wilfully deceived us" over Brexit.

He added: "What she's put to Parliament three times isn't a deal, it's a new European Treaty. I didn't spend 25 years campaigning to leave the EU to sign up to a new treaty."

[greybeard]

News
Theresa May set to let MPs decide as Brexit talks hit buffers
Evening Standard JOE MURPHY, NIcholas Cecil, Kate Proctor,Evening Standard

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/theresa-ma...092833962.html

Theresa May set to let MPs decide as Brexit talks hit buffers

Theresa May is preparing to concede giving Parliament “definitive votes” to decide Brexit terms as furious MPs pile pressure on her and Jeremy Corbyn to abandon their talks.

With the cross-party negotiations now entering their seventh week without any sign of a breakthrough, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted: “This is a crunch week.”

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said that if the plug is pulled, the “next step” will be to hand power to Parliament to decide, not by the indicative votes once considered by the Prime Minister “but actually a series of definitive votes” to settle the matter.

Labour was also divided, with Mr Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson openly challenging his refusal to firmly back a second referendum.
Theresa May is preparing to concede giving Parliament “definitive votes” to decide Brexit terms (REUTERS)

In other developments today:

An exclusive opinion poll revealed the astonishing scale of the damage being inflicted on both major parties by the Brexit disarray, while the Remain-backing Liberal Democrats and Greens were surging upwards. The Conservatives have plunged to a humiliating fifth place in the capital, backed by just 10 per cent of Londoners in the European elections, the YouGov survey, commissioned by Queen Mary University of London, found. The Greens are ahead of them on 14, while the Lib Dems are on 17.

Mr Corbyn faces punishment from Remain-backing London voters in a general election, with his party’s vote share down from 49 per cent share in December to 35 per cent today. The Conservatives are also down from 33 to 23 in London, with the Lib Dems up from 11 to 21, YouGov found.

Nigel Farage claimed he should get a seat at the Government’s negotiating table with the EU should his Brexit Party take the most votes at the European election. “If millions of people voted for us, we need to have a say,” he told TalkRadio. In London, his newly formed party is poised to get a 20 per cent share on May 23, YouGov said.

Senior government aide Huw Merriman, who is parliamentary private secretary to the Chancellor, predicted “an absolute mauling” for the Conservatives in the European election, saying: “The public will blame the Conservative government because we were the party that brought forward the referendum.”

Downing Street and Mr Corbyn’s camp were due to resume the cross-party talks this afternoon. Mr Hunt said they had been “very, detailed discussions” despite the pessimism surrounding their prospects.

Asked if the Government could back a second referendum, he said ministers were aiming to honour the 2016 vote by delivering Brexit, but kept the door open by adding: “But let’s see where these talks go to.”
Jeremy Hunt posted on Twitter:

Mr Brokenshire said that if the talks failed, the Plan B would be to go back to Parliament. “To have almost not a series of indicative votes but actually a series of definitive votes to seek to get to a place of where that sense of where Parliament is, to be able to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, to be able to have that vote to see that we leave — that’s the next stage,” he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Labour leader faced fresh pressure from his deputy Mr Watson, who declared today that Labour is a “Remain and reform party” and stressed he would like to see a “confirmatory” vote on Mrs May’s Brexit proposals.

Backing shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer in an open challenge to Mr Corbyn, Mr Watson argued that it would be “very difficult” to get a sustainable parliamentary majority for a Brexit deal without a second referendum attached.

His intervention also highlighted the deep split in Labour over its EU policy. Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner recently said: “Labour is not a Remain party now.”

Sir Keir spoke out today ahead of a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, when MPs were set to demand that Mr Corbyn pull out of talks with the Government.

He believes that 120 to 150 Labour MPs would refuse to back a cross-party agreement if it fails to include another public vote on quitting the EU, which suggested it would be “impossible” to get it through the Commons given the level of Tory opposition.

Mr Watson echoed his concerns over the challenge to get a deal through Parliament without another referendum.

“The whipping arrangements for these deals is very difficult because MPs have hardened their positions within their parties,” he said. The deputy Labour leader argued that there would be a Commons majority by “plugging together” Mrs May’s plan with another public vote.

“So my idea of a confirmatory ballot is not a religious point or a point of ideology — it’s just how do you get an outcome,” he added, stressing he had reluctantly come to this conclusion and does not back a second referendum in all circumstances.

If the Prime Minister bowed to Labour’s demands and agreed to a customs union-based future relationship with the EU, then the shadow cabinet would have to decide whether to recommend another public vote, Mr Watson added, but he does not expect Mrs May to make the offer.

The poll of 1,015 Londoners was carried out from May 7 to 10 for QMUL’s Mile End Institute. Writing in the Standard, Professor Philip Cowley said the Conservatives were heading for their “worst result” in the capital since modern politics began.

[greybeard]

Brexit: May reveals plan for Commons vote on key legislation after late-night talks with Corbyn
The Independent Ashley Cowburn,The Independent

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/brexit-may...191200799.html

Theresa May has vowed to bring forward key Brexit legislation for a Commons vote in the first week of June in what could be her last move as prime minister.

After a face-to-face meeting with Jeremy Corbyn, the prime minister said the cross-party talks with Labour to find a solution to the deadlock at Westminster will continue - despite both sides being downbeat about any resolution being found.

It came as the cabinet set a summer deadline for the UK to finally leave the European Union, after an extended meeting on Tuesday lasting over two hours at Downing Street.

Ministers agreed it was "imperative" to pass legislation ratifying Brexit before parliament rises for the summer break in July, and decided not to terminate the talks with Labour, which are now in their seventh week.

Following discussions with the Labour leader, a Downing Street spokesman said: 'This evening the prime minister met the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons to make clear our determination to bring the talks to a conclusion and deliver on the referendum result to leave the EU."

"We will therefore be bringing forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week beginning the 3rd June," they added.

The spokesman also described the ongoing talks, which entered their seventh week on Monday, as "useful and constructive", adding further discussions will take place on Wednesday "as we seek the stable majority in parliament that will ensure the safe passage of the withdrawal agreement bill and the UK's swift exit from the EU".

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt also used a speech shortly after the cabinet meeting to warn that both the Conservative and Labour Party would be "crucified" by voters if they failed to respect the 2016 referendum result.

Referring to the cross-party talks, he told the Wall Street Journal CEO Council conference in London: "There is potential because when you look at the fundamentals it is actually in both parties' interests to resolve Brexit.

"Because both of us will be crucified by our base if we went into a general election having promised that we would respect the referendum result, not having respected it.

"And I think the lesson at the local elections is that the downside for Labour is as big as the downside for us. I don't think it's impossible that there could be a deal there."

But their was little enthusiasm in Brussels regarding any developments in Westminster, as a spokesperson for the EU commission said leaders of the 27 member states are on a "Brexit break".

They said the EU would only turn its attention to Brexit again "if there is something happening in London", as the UK's chief negotiator in the civil service, Olly Robbins, was expected to travel to the Belgian capital on Wednesday to discuss the future UK-EU relationship, post-Brexit.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and close ally of the Labour leader, earlier claimed there had been no "significant shift" from the government. "And, let's be absolutely straight, today hasn't helped," he said.

On the prospect of a new Conservative leader tearing up any agreement that is reached, he added: "Our big problem now is, if we are going to march our troops in parliament to the top of the hill for a deal and then that's overturned within weeks, I think that would be a cataclysmic act of bad faith."