Under British law, the U.K. is scheduled to officially leave (or exit) the European Union on March 29. Because of opposition to her Brexit withdrawal agreement on both sides of the aisle for different reasons, there are rumblings that Prime Minister Theresa May may seek to extend the two-year, Article 50 deadline. This is occurring despite May’s Conservative Party promising to implement Brexit on schedule. Against this backdrop, seven pro-EU Labor Party members of parliament bolted the party to form The Independent Group [TIG] because Labor has gone hard-left under its leader Jeremy Corbyn and harbors anti-Semites. It’s difficult see how they define themselves as centrists, though, in that they want to keep the U.K. under the thumb of EU bureaucrats. They were later joined by three Conservatives who similarly oppose leaving the EU with no deal. Two additional Labor MP subsequently quit the party in protest over rampant anti-Semitism, Both declined to join TIG, one because he is pro-Brexit.
The increasingly radical Democrats, the U.S. equivalent to the U.K.’s socialist Labor Party, has also become anti Israel (which is merely a proxy for Jew hatred), including electing at least two fanatical anti-Semites to the U.S. Congress in the November 2018 elections.
Although like every country on earth, Israel has some issues, the staunch U.S. ally is the only multi-cultural democracy in the Middle East which grants equal rights to all its citizens, regardless of their ethnicity or religious faith (or lack thereof).
Are the Independents Really Independent?
While TIG breakaway club favors a second Brexit referendum, the so-called people’s vote, they all have declined to step down in favor of a special election to give the people in their constituencies a vote to approve or disapprove their new independent status. Moreover, the UK already has a low-energy, pro-EU party known as the Liberal Democrats.
Although they have concluded, logically, that the far-left, racist Labor Party can’t be reformed, they apparently think that the entrenched EU can.
In the June 23, 2016, Brexit referendum, the British public voted to leave or exit the European Union and reclaim the country’s sovereignty, including control over its borders and over trade.
Does Brexit Still Mean Brexit?
A devoted globalist, Theresa May supported the Remain or stay side in the referendum. Upon taking office as prime minister, she promised that Brexit means Brexit and she would abide by the vote. She also said that no deal is better than a bad deal. May has also stated that there would be no extension beyond March 29.
There is a strong suspicion that she will flip-flop on all these promises, however. Brexit hard-liners believe a postponement is camouflage for stopping Brexit altogether.
In negotiating the political/economic divorce deal, May and her team basically caved to every EU demand, resulting in a withdrawal agreement that is Brexit in name only or soft Brexit. As a result, she has been unable sell the deal to the House of Commons, the parliament, or to the British public.
For different reasons, her lackluster and dithering bargaining skills have alienated both the Brexiteers and the Remainers (a.k.a. the Remoaners). To date, the EU has shown no willingness to agree to any concessions.
A Bad Deal Is Still a Bad Deal
May, a Conservative in Name Only, proved to be an utterly incompetent negotiator, perhaps second only to how Obama gave away the store to Iran in the flawed nuclear deal, or how the Republicans capitulated in the most recent federal government funding measure.
Virtually the entire political and media establishment coalesced around the anti-Brexit or Remain viewpoint during the referendum season similar to how the Deep State and the U.S. media were part of Team Clinton
Rank-and-file conservatives overwhelmingly favor Brexit (even with no deal, which would trigger existing World Trade Organization rules), however, while many working-class Labor voters, equivalent to Reagan or Trump Democrats, also are pro-Brexit.
London-centric Labor officials are pro-EU, while the Conservative (a.k.a. Tory) hierarchy is divided. Many cabinet members have quit May’s inner circle over Brexit (although still retaining their seats in Commons). Three additional Remainers are threatening to do so unless the PM blocks a no-deal scenario.
From Big League Politics:
“As the March 29th Brexit departure date fast approaches, a ‘no deal’ Brexit appears to be on the horizon. This has made many Tories unhappy given their hopes for a negotiated Brexit, but members of the Democratic Unionist Party and European Research Group are content with what looks like an inevitable hard Brexit….What’s at stake in carrying out Brexit is national identity. The globalist smorgasbord of policies that the EU has foisted upon the UK is dangerous both culturally and politically…Should it continue along this path, the country will be become another globalist automaton for elites in Brussels to exploit.”
The DUP is a small party that is keeping Theresa May in power after Conservatives under her leadership, if you call it that, lost seats in the June 2017 snap election. The ERG is made up of Tory MP Brexiteers led by my Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The elites of both parties are essentially trying to circumvent the will of the people. Sound familiar?
It will also come as no surprise that the globalist British media continues to be mostly pro-EU, pushing many doom-and-gloom fake news stories collectively dubbed Project Fear.
Farage’s Return to Politics
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, the Brexit champion who is perhaps the world’s best orator, has vowed to head a slate of candidates for the new Brexit Party in the upcoming European Parliament elections, assuming the U.K. is still stuck in the EU by then.
Farage currently serves as a MEP in Brussels. Presumably the Brexit Party will also compete vigorously in domestic elections. The next national election is scheduled for 2022, unless the prime minister calls for early elections.
According to the London Telegraph, “Barring a monumental shift in the political landscape, the Independent Group will likely…only split the liberal vote in the UK and make it harder for a liberal party to come to power. Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party have a much more clearly defined ideological space to fill.”
From the Daily Mail:
“Nigel Farage is plotting to steal Tories for his new Brexit Party if there is a delay on leaving the EU, it was claimed on Friday. Catherine Blaiklock – a former UKIP candidate who is heading the party – threatened they would scalp senior Tories if the Westminster deadlock rumbles on.
“Mr Farage formed his Brexit Party to hang like a sword of Damocles over Theresa May, only ‘kicking in’ if she failed to leave the EU by March 29.
“The party – which officially launched earlier this month – said they would launch hundreds of candidates if the PM failed to deliver…
“Mr Farage formed the new group after he was left politically homeless, withdrawing from the UKIP party as the new leadership courted the far-right.
“He boasted of a huge appetite for his pro-Brexit party, claiming more than 15,000 had registered to join on the day of its formation. Ms Blaiklock claimed those numbers had now soared to over 150,000 and donations were pouring in from far and wide. “
The TIG cohort has yet to officially form a political party, but on his LBC radio show this morning, Nigel Farage and various long-winded callers discussed how it’s difficult for a third-party to challenge the electoral domination of Labor and the Tories.
The Brexit Party, however, could change the paradigm.
As alluded to above, Farage quit his beloved UKIP in December 2018 after it aligned itself with controversial activist Tommy Robinson. Other UKIP luminaries have also quit the party before and after this development.
UKIP found it itself embroiled in intra-party volatility since the charismatic Farage stepped down after the Brexit referendum. It has churned through several leaders and saw its market share collapse.
After winning the 2014 European parliamentary elections in 2014 (a stunning, unprecedented result for a third party), and gaining four million votes in the 2015 national election, UKIP appeared to be on the rise as a permanent force, but saw its vote total drop to just 600,000 in the 2017 snap election.
Several high-profile UKIP elected officials, such as Steven Woolfe, and various lower-level lawmakers switched parties or gone independent in the past few years amidst various controversies. UKIP holds no seats in the British parliament, (previously it had two) and suffered many losses in local elections, along with rank-and-file members bailing out.
While UKIP may be due for a bounce back to some extent, it seems like Farage’s Brexit Party will now occupy that political space.
Back in the day, the growing strength of UKIP under Farage compelled ex-Prime Minister David Cameron to authorize the Brexit referendum in the first place.
Election Night 2016 constitutes the most enjoyable political entertainment on YouTube. That said, in its heyday, Farage and other UKIP officials expertly debated smug liberal media interlocutors, as well as Labor and Tory officials, on British TV. Those clips can be also be found on YouTube.
Farage is a fixture in British media as well as a regular commentator on Fox News, where he described the EU as “the epicenter of the globalist project” and May’s initial agreement as the “worst deal in history.”
One thing that UKIP had going for it, before it seemingly imploded, is that it wisely never got bogged down in social issues.
