The U.K. House of Parliament today voted down Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement for a third time. It was a smaller defeat (344 to 286) than the previous two tries, but a loss nonetheless. Several stalwart Conservative Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg reluctantly voted for the deal only because they concluded the alternative was no Brexit at all. The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, whose 10 MPs have kept May’s coalition in power, held firm and once again voted against it. While Labor is mostly pro-EU, their MPs for the most part nonetheless voted against the deal for political reasons. The Remain-dominated Parliament, including PM May, has already and foolishly ruled out a no-deal Brexit, which would trigger WTO rules, even though various public- and private-sector entities have come forward to say that they are prepared for that eventuality. Opinion polls suggest that the general public and rank-and-file Conservative Party members favor getting out of the EU without a deal.
Tag: EU (Page 3 of 3)
“Theresa the appeaser,” as some call her, has done it again. After repeatedly promising the British electorate that Brexit means Brexit, that the U.K. would officially leave the European Union on March 29, and that no deal is better than a bad deal, Prime Minister Theresa May has announced tonight in a televised address that she has asked the European Commission to extend the departure date to June 30. EU official Donald Tusk has said that the EU would agree to the three-month extension under the Lisbon Treaty only if the U.K. parliament first approves May’s negotiated withdrawal agreement, which Brexit champion Nigel Farage has described as a surrender document, and which the House of Commons has voted down twice already. Ironically, this Catch-22, however, means that a no-deal Brexit is still possible.
Following up this blog’s previous Brexit-related post, tone-deaf Theresa May appears to be indeed flip-flopping, setting the stage for the Labor and Conservative globalists in parliament, as well as some backpedaling pro-Brexit Tories, to thwart a clean Brexit, thus selling out the British people. The aptly named May seems intent on giving up her biggest bargaining chip with the EU, that being a no-deal Brexit, which would trigger World Trade Organization rules.
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.
Perhaps by announcing before the vote that she won’t seek reelection in 2022, beleaguered U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a non-confidence vote in the House of Commons, the British parliament.
Update: May is returning to London where she will face a no-confidence vote on Wednesday in the House of Commons. The results are expected to be released at around 4 p.m. U.S. Eastern time.
Brexit champion Nigel Farage admits that the pending withdrawal agreement is a good deal…for the European Union. For the United Kingdom, just the opposite.
In the Brexit back and forth, Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and her team essentially gave away the store, plus the farm and the fisheries, to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier with next to nothing in return. Given the one-sided outcome, Farage says it’s the worst deal in history.
In the June 23, 2016, referendum, the British public voted to leave or exit the EU and reclaim the country’s sovereignty, including control over its borders, Virtually the entire political and media establishment coalesced around the anti-Brexit or “Remain” viewpoint.
Leave Doesn’t Mean Leave?
May’s plan, which already gained the quick approval of EU top leadership, seems to be Brexit in Name Only or soft/fake Brexit, or even worse. That’s because the U.K. will lose its voting representation in the EU Parliament while still subject to EU governance if May’s plan goes through.
Speaking at the European Parliament where he is a member, Farage pointed out that the flawed deal “keeps Britain in the Customs Union and stuck with the EU’s rulebook.” See clip below.
I bet Barnier can hardly believe his luck that he has come up against someone as weak as @Theresa_May. pic.twitter.com/js1HZ379UD
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 29, 2018
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Perhaps one of the world’s best orators who speaks without relying on a teleprompter, Farage also predicted that the British Parliament, the House of Commons, would vote against the deal when it comes up on or about December 11.
He again insisted that a no-deal outcome would allow the U.K. to effectively negotiate individual trade deals under World Trade Organization rules when the country officially separates from the EU on March 29, 2019.
May Receives a Message
Several vocal pro-Brexit members of parliament have sent a letter to Theresa May asking that she change course before the vote because the deal she is pushing makes “a no-deal scenario more likely.”
Based on current atmospherics and what the bookies think, most parliamentarians in the Conservative and Labor parties intend to vote down the deal, but never underestimate the ability of politicians to cave.
A devoted globalist, May supported the Remain side in the referendum, but upon taking office as prime minister, promised that Brexit means Brexit and she would honor the will of the people.
She also said that no deal is better than a bad deal.
Related story:
Theresa May’s Brexit Deal Is a Tough Sell or Sell Out
Westmonster published the letter, signed by Brexiteer luminaries such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, David Davis, which reads in part:
“But while respecting your efforts, we have grave concerns that your proposal does not take back control of our borders our money and our laws; does not permit us to negotiate new trade deals with the rest of the world; and does not safeguard our own precious United Kingdom…Being unable to leave the customs union without the EU’s permission would place the UK into a legal black hole. This is unprecedented in international treaty law.”
The authors also note that May’s plan requires the British taxpayer to fork over to the EU an estimated $39 billion and “hand the EU the keys to our destiny.”
For reasons that defy common sense, Northern Ireland would also be subject to more onerous EU rules than the rest of the U.K. under May’s agreement.
To protect British interests, this Brexiteer group also recommends that the short-from, so-called Brexit Political Declaration have the same legal effect as the complicated, EU-friendly Withdrawal Agreement itself. They also advocated a Canadian-style free-trade deal that would free Britain of the heavy-handed EU oversight and bureaucracy.
May’s FrEUdian Slip https://t.co/qOcXGdVclj pic.twitter.com/hJ0BGEsmoc
Perhaps channeling John Kerry in a completely different context, British Prime Minister Theresa May was against Brexit before she was for it, which perhaps is all you need to know about the status of the negotiations with the European Union over the withdrawal agreement.
In a June 23, 2016, Brexit referendum, the U.K. voted to leave the EU and reclaim its sovereignty, The U.K. is formally scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, 2019.
As Home Secretary (roughly equivalent to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary), May supported the Remain — i.e., anti-Brexit — side, but upon taking office from predecessor PM David Cameron, declared that Brexit means Brexit.
That she dragged her feet on invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to get the Brexit ball rolling, however, probably was a precursor to what has turned out, by many assessments, to be a virtual capitulation to the EU in the divorce settlement.
May has been criticized for giving away the store, the farm, and the fisheries in the negotiations over exiting the EU and in so doing, betraying the will of the British electorate. “Throughout, her overriding priority appears to have been: give the European Union whatever it asks for; then, when it grumbles that it’s not enough, give it some more,” Breitbart London asserted.
https://youtu.be/xRT6CnCK348
Brexit in Name Only
Although many of the nuances of the complicated agreement which, to the surprise of no one won the approval of EU leaders, may be lost on those of us on this side of the Atlantic, May’s approach appears to be Brexit in Name Only.
May’s Conservative Party itself may be Conservative in Name Only, but that’s another matter.
Critics have argued that with all the one-way compromises and concessions, it forces the U.K. into vassal-state status and serfdom to the EU instead of a “proper” Brexit.
In an interview with the British online magazine Spiked, an Oxford professor gave the Brexit deal less than a ringing endorsement, adding that May’s inner circle of paper pushers wanted to stay in the EU.
“May’s deal seems to mean the most extraordinary set of constitutional innovations. It would give, for an indefinite period, power over a large part of our economy and legislation not only to a foreign power but also to an unelected committee. The EU will have the power to decide upon and implement a whole load of laws and regulations. We will be required to accept them and we will have to pay for the pleasure. I cannot think of any historical precedent for this – certainly not in any democratic country. It is astonishing that any government could for a moment consider this acceptable.”
May apparently never got the memo that good policy is often good politics, especially for careerist politicians who want to keep their jobs above all else.
By championing the current deal, she risks driving a wedge in the Conservative Party, losing her premiership, splintering the coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland that is propping up her control of government levers in parliament, and possibly handing the reins of power to Jeremy Corbyn and the far-left Labor Party in the 2020 election, or possibly before.
By any measure, even if she is devoted to the globalist, corporatist agenda, how does this make any sense as practical matter?
Brexit Deal or No Deal?
According to Conservative MP Priti Patel, the EU outmaneuvered the May administration at every step and “instead of being bold enough to prepare to walk away from negotiations, we’ve succumbed to the EU’s bullying tactics.”
Does it sound to you like Obama’s handling of the Iran nuclear deal?
Brexit architect Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party who is a member of the European Parliament, has said, and continues to say, that no deal is better than bad deal.
According to Farage, the current proposal is the worst deal in history.
He added that a no vote would allow World Trade Organization rules to kick in, allowing the U.K. to negotiate trade arrangements with any country without the heavy-handed oversight by the Brussels-based EU bureaucracy. President Trump has already said that he would put the U.K. at the top of the list for a new free-trade accord.
Watch Nigel Farage on the BBC in which he maintains that May and her team have given in to virtually every demand from the EU.
https://youtu.be/a1fQX1Wk3aA
As an aside, Farage is no fan of de facto EU boss Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor as evidenced in the clip below.
Catch up on my latest European Parliament speech from earlier in the week. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LSPVYBowQB
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 18, 2018
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Northern Ireland Expects the Same Status As the Rest of the U.K.
DUP official Sammy Wilson made these observations in Westmonster about the so-called “confidence and supply arrangement” through which his party is keeping May and the Conservatives (a.k.a. Tories) in power after she lost the parliamentary majority in the ill-advised June 2017 snap election.
“In return we expected the Prime Minister to bring back a deal from Brussels which freed the UK from the EU Customs Union, Single Market and the dictats of the [European Court of Justice]. We also expected her to ensure that the demands of the Irish Government and the EU negotiators to keep [Northern Ireland] tied to the EU would be resisted. She publicly and privately promised to honor these requirements which were part of her election manifesto but as the deal which she presented to the Cabinet and Parliament clearly shows she has broken her promises to the electorate, her own MPs and the people of [Northern Ireland].
“Instead of a deal which frees the UK from the shackles of EU membership she has volunteered to handcuff this country to the EU and then has handed the key to the EU to allow [chief negotiator] Michel Barnier and Co to decide if or when they will let us go free. In the case of [Norther Ireland] the handcuffs have been applied and the key has been thrown away.”
Nonetheless, May is stubbornly pushing Parliament to approve the deal in a vote that is scheduled for on or about December 11.
Several high-profile “Brexiteer” (Leave-supporting) members of the cabinet, including former London Mayor Boris Johnson, previously resigned from the government in protest over what they consider a deal that will keep Britain under the EU thumb.
Note that in the U.K., the “government” is equivalent to the administration in U.S. terms. Moreover, unlike here where a senator or congressman would have to step down to take a position with the administration, members of parliament routinely and simultaneously become government ministers and thus hold two jobs. Johnson and his like-minded colleagues still retain their seats in the House of Commons, the British parliament.
Brexit Deal “May” or “May” Not Get Through Parliament
Flip-flopping is always possible in politics, especially if inducements are on the table in exchange for votes (e.g., remember the “Cornhusker Compromise” and the “Louisiana Purchase” that, among other things, enabled Obamacare to pass?).
Many Conservative MPs have already announced they are voting against the deal, however, and even parliamentarians in the opposition, more globalist Labor Party, including Corbyn, have denounced the deal.
From Bloomberg Politics:
“Euroskeptics in May’s Conservative Party hate the withdrawal agreement and are vowing to oppose it because it forces the U.K. to keep close to the EU’s trade rules. Many pro-EU politicians in Britain also regard it as unacceptable because the U.K. will have no say over the rules it must observe.”
According to polls, the British public overwhelmingly wants a full Brexit rather than May’s watered-down version, but she doesn’t seem to be listening.
And making matters worse for those outside the globalist cohort, the transition period could be open ended and be equivalent to continued EU membership, as Breitbart London reported.
“The Remain-voting Prime Minister’s deal with the European Union — if ratified by the British Parliament and European Parliament — could condemn the United Kingdom to ‘perpetual purgatory’ or even no Brexit at all, as Britain’s departure would be followed by a lengthy ‘transition’ period in which it would remain subject to all the rules and regulations of an EU member-state, but without representation in the EU’s institutions.”
While all this is going on, the deal also requires the U.K. to continue to pour billions of taxpayer money into EU coffers.
The Spectator of London outlines five different scenarios that could emerge upon the upcoming Brexit vote in parliament.
May Makes Her Move
Theresa May spoke in the House of Commons on Monday to try to sell the Brexit deal to many skeptical lawmakers after which she will go on a Brexit sales-pitch tour try to convince the public at large.
The prime minister’s presentation starts at about the 14-minute mark.
Added: On his LBC radio show, Nigel Farage critiqued Theresa May’s Commons selling job.
I don’t think Theresa May is convincing anyone with her Brexit deal. #FarageOnLBC https://t.co/zHZ1Fe7sv0
The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP or Ukip) may be on the comeback trail in the aftermath of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan, which is seen as a capitulation to the European Union.
May has been criticized for giving away the store, the farm, and the fisheries in the negotiations over exiting the EU, which won’t officially occur until March 29, 2019.
This turn of events prompted Brexiteers David Davis and Boris Johnson, along with several lesser known politicians, to quit May’s cabinet, which is a reflection of widespread opposition to May’s plan. (Unlike the U.S. system, U.K. cabinet members are separately elected on their own as parliamentarians, so quitting the government means that they still retain their seats in the House of Commons). Other Conservative Party officials have also resigned their positions in protest over May’s proposal.
From Breitbart London:
“It was at Chequers — the Prime Minister’s countryside retreat — on July 5th and 6th 2018 that May nailed her Brexit colours to the mast. Her proposals would see Britain effectively remain inside the EU’s Single Market for industrial goods and agricultural products forever. The country would sign up to a free trade area regulated by a so-called ‘common rulebook’ dictated by the European Court of Justice. It would remain subject to EU state aid rules and keep its employment, environment, consumer protection, and social regulations at least as stringent as the EU, and would also agree to collect customs duties on the EU’s behalf for goods destined for the bloc.”
Recall that on June 23, 2016, U.K. voters approved a referendum to exit the European Union and regain the country’s sovereignty. As leader of Ukip at the time, Nigel Farage is credited with compelling former Prime Minister David Cameron to reluctantly authorize the referendum in the first place.
Theresa May, Cameron’s successor as both Conservative Party leader and the country’s prime minister, is part of the globalist establishment that supported the Remain side, but she vowed to honor the will of the people. In was probably a precursor to what was to come when she dragged her feet about invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which was necessary to begin the EU divorce process.
What I know in my heart is that if @theresa_may stays as Prime Minister we will not get control back of our borders, our laws, our courts, and our money. It will be a fudge and leave us in a very bad place. pic.twitter.com/Lkpcvdvgoy
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