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Here is the conclusion of an excellent article published today by British MP Owen Patterson. The entire article is excellent and it very eloquently and correctly expresses what the policy and strategy of the new Prime Minister, the Tory Party and the UK Parliament should be in handling the Brexit issue from this point forward.
The incoming leader has, therefore, a clear remit on how to proceed. One thing is absolutely certain. There can be no further extensions to Article 50. Failure to meet the 29th March deadline has been near catastrophic for the Conservatives. Any further delay would surely prove fatal.
Any new leader must say, completely unequivocally, that we leave on 31st October at the latest, whether or not we have a new deal. We must seek to negotiate a wide-ranging trade agreement, but we must be prepared, if necessary in the interim, to go to WTO terms. We must also correct a significant mis-step by giving absolute clarity that EU citizens resident in the UK will continue to have the right to live and work here in any event.
The new Prime Minister and the new Cabinet will face a difficult task, but one which can be expressed very simply. If it wants to have any hope of bringing back the members and voters it is currently haemorrhaging, and if it wants to have any credible claim to believe in democracy, it must make good on the promises which the outgoing Government has broken. It must repair the trust which the mistakes of its predecessor have so profoundly eroded.
While this sounds like the position of Boris Johnson, the new PM does not necessarily need to be Boris Johnson and I suspect that Owen Patterson probably agrees with that.
In fact, I could be wrong, but I do not believe that Boris Johnson is anywhere near having a solid lock on this position, and I will not be the tiniest bit surprised if someone else wins the position. There seem to be almost as many contenders as there are for the Democrat presidential primary here in the US. The difference of course is that the only people who get to vote for who the Prime Minister nominee will be are other Tory MP's.
But whoever they choose, it needs to be someone who fits Owen Patterson's excellent profile nearly to the letter.
Candidates still appear to be getting into the race, but the litmus test issue for this contest is rapidly shaping up to be whether or not the candidates will unequivocally support a no-deal Brexit. We do not have a complete list of candidates here, and not all of those listed have addressed the issue yet. But they will certainly have to, if they want to be seriously considered.
It appears that turnout in the UK for the EU parliamentary elections may have exceeded 2014 and could be in the running to be the highest on record at about 38%. We will have to wait until tomorrow night for the official results and turnout figures. But who do you think these people are voting for?
Number Cruncher Politics, a non-partisan site, reports that based on figures from around 150 British councils, turnout in the U.K. was on average just over 2 points higher than in 2014. The pattern suggests a national British turnout figure in the high 30s, most likely 38 percent, it wrote.
Check out this Twitter thread for a breakdown of where turnout increased most.
According to Europe Elects, this means turnout in the U.K. for the European election was the highest — or second highest — it’s ever been. The last time turnout reached 38 percent was in 2004, when 38.5 percent of eligible voters went to the ballot box.
The PM crying outside No 10 has to be one of the most humiliating displays in British politics that I've seen.
She had to know that her legacy was going to be based on whether she achieved a real Brexit or not. If she had, she would still be Prime Minister right now and her legacy would be looking very strong indeed.
However, she did not, so she has failed. Completely. And that is very likely what she was primarily crying about.
The plan for replacing Theresa May is apparently for Tory MP's to take a series of votes through the end of June, with the Prime Minister candidate with the lowest vote total being eliminated from contention at the end of each vote, until there are two remaining. Then those two remaining candidates will have close to a month to campaign with Tory Party members (About 124,000 people), with a vote being held among that group at the end of July. From the BBC:
A statement from the party's chairman and the backbench 1922 Committee said nominations for the leadership would close in the week starting 10 June. MPs will then whittle the candidates down to two by the end of June, before party members vote for their choice ahead of Parliament's summer recess.
The statement praised Theresa May for her "dedication, courage and tenacity". Mrs May announced earlier that she will quit as Conservative leader on 7 June, but would continue to serve as PM while a leadership contest takes place.
Whoever those 124,000 people vote for will then become the next Prime Minister. Apparently no additional vote is required by the UK Parliament.
The UK Parliament has an annual recess from near the end of July until early September. So once the new PM is elected, they will all immediately go on vacation for the rest of the summer.
If that pattern is followed again this year, then there will be about three weeks left in October before the Article 50 Brexit date on October 31, 2019 for the Parliament to do whatever it is that they might try to do about this, if anything. Or, the new Prime Minister might just focus on running out the clock. Because if nothing else is done, the UK will leave the EU with no deal on October 31, 2019, as that is the default law of the land.
Last edited by Spartacus713; 05-25-2019 at 02:55 PM..
What a complete mess! If Boris gets in, they'll get BREXIT one way or another but the country could be in a shambles by the sounds of it. They've got the left and they've got the right but just like us, not enough candidates in the middle, if I'm understanding it.
Of course, "in the middle" could mean a lot of different things, and some things seem incompatible with other things. If all EU Citizens can stay in the UK to live and work, I think there could be complications surrounding that. I think they should be allowed to stay but there would have to be rules in place and probably a lot of other messy issues to address.
If Britain leaves, who do they trade with? Do they just struggle and fall into a deep recession while their leaders try to work on trade deals? Would the US trade with them? Would all the EU countries stop trading with them?
They're as deeply divided as we are over here. Some people will be better off if they leave and some people will be worse. Same as if they remain. But something has to happen because people can't plan for their futures when the future is so vague and unpredictable.
What a complete mess! If Boris gets in, they'll get BREXIT one way or another but the country could be in a shambles by the sounds of it. They've got the left and they've got the right but just like us, not enough candidates in the middle, if I'm understanding it.
Of course, "in the middle" could mean a lot of different things, and some things seem incompatible with other things. If all EU Citizens can stay in the UK to live and work, I think there could be complications surrounding that. I think they should be allowed to stay but there would have to be rules in place and probably a lot of other messy issues to address.
If Britain leaves, who do they trade with? Do they just struggle and fall into a deep recession while their leaders try to work on trade deals? Would the US trade with them? Would all the EU countries stop trading with them?
They're as deeply divided as we are over here. Some people will be better off if they leave and some people will be worse. Same as if they remain. But something has to happen because people can't plan for their futures when the future is so vague and unpredictable.
The US has already signed interim trade waivers and agreements with the UK, as have a number of other countries. With five months to go now, there is no legitimate reason why such an interim agreement could not be signed with any and EVERY country that wants one and that the UK would want to sign one with.
Even without these interim waivers and agreements, the UK can still trade on WTO terms, which is basically the basis for trade relationship between the US and the EU (including the UK) now.
As far as all of the 'Operation fear' hysterics about how the people of the UK will starve in the streets and medicines will not be available, etc., that is all just deceitful, hysterical nonsense promoted by the same establishment globalist left people who assured us that the US economy would crash in spectacular fashion if Donald Trump was elected president. Of course that was all a lie, too.
There are plans being developed. Perhaps they will all be worked out by Halloween.
Not sure what the plans are regarding the Irish border. Anyone know?
No backstop and no deal that includes any backstop. It seems that much is clear.
If nothing else is agreed to, then the UK will exit the EU on October 31, 2019, as that is the default law of the land. And after they see the election results from the EU Parliamentary elections tomorrow, they are probably not going to be as inclined towards any further chicanery as they were the last time they voted, before the Prime Minister resigned.
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