Among the many problems with May’s dire Brexit ‘deal’, its issues relating Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic loom large.
But the issues and wishes of Wales and Scotland do not feature at all. Neither get even a single mention:
Labour has six tests for a Brexit deal it will support. May’s attempt fails all of them – but it fails dismally on the test of its fitness for the whole country:
Does it deliver for all regions and nations of the UK?
It doesn’t even take them into consideration.
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No surprise there – the issues regarding a “hard border”in NI were discussed solely because of the UN-lodged british-irish Treaty (The belfast/Good Friday Agreement).
NI was already semi-detached from the UK
Wales and Scotland have nothing similar so nothing to discuss on their behalf. Remember the EU engaged only with the UK Govt.
FAR more important is that the deal scuppers any Corbyn-McDonnell economic policy that moves even slightly beyond Thatcher-Blair capitalism.
The relevant provisions are tucked away in the middle of the document. Pages 363 to 381.subject the UK to the full force of EU law as regards restricting State support for British industry (which includes any publicly owned industry) and restricting public ownership.
The deal writes “There is No Alternative” into law – forcing Corbyn to govern as if he were Blair.
Socialism is illegal…..soon to become a hate crime!
The question was put – quite deceptively, it turns out – to the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland whether they want to leave the EU or not. What was not asked was under what terms. Needless to say, the majority voted to leave – never mind the wafer thin margin. Now the question is: Are the terms of leaving the EU acceptable? May be we should put that question to the people again. That’s an entirely different question from the first. Shouldn’t the people be given a chance to vote on this deal? It is clear that there is not a clear consensus among the political elites on the deal, even within the Conservative Party government.
Of course, there will be arguments for and against the deal, and for different reasons respectively. The Blairites and big-business will argue against it because they want membership of the neo-liberal EU at all costs. The socialists will argue against it because it is was negotiated on neo-liberal terms and its attendant risks to labour rights, human rights, and environmental and health protections. The nationalists will argue against it because it doesn’t achieve complete severing of ties with Europe which they advocated for. In short, very few people will accept the deal in its present format.
The question is, what next after it has been rejected by the people? Does it mean that UK remains in the EU whilst a better deal is negotiated? Does it mean that the UK leaves the EU without a deal? Regrettably, both sides of MSM – that is the Leave and Remain camps – do not address these questions. As Corbyn said in the Der Spiegel interview, we have to ‘…recognize the reasons why people voted Leave’. That’s the starting point of any negotiations with the EU.
Wafer thin margin? Most MP’s will be delighted to win by 4%. The next stage is to vote the agreement down and have a general election. What most people who support a “People’s Vote” really want is Referendum 2 and should be honest about it. What they fail to realise is that you can’t do anything if you’re not in power. We need a Labour Government not another referendum!
The size of the margin was mentioned in relation to the far-reaching consequences of the decision, which is why in other democracies, the bar is set a bit higher than ‘even with a majority of one’ rule, sometimes two-thirds majority is required.
Actually general election is about the best course of action, if it wasn’t for two things: Fixed Parliaments Act and the possibility that the Blairite wreckers will be at it again, aided and abetted by the MSM. We failed at party conference to adopt automatic re-selection, but instead chose the modified trigger ballot system, which is still a bit of a tortuous process.
Labour can not do much when it is currently out of power. But it can influence the outcome of any deal negotiated, because, as Corbyn stated in the Der Spiegel interview, ‘…People voted Leave, or they voted Remain, but nobody voted to lose their job. Nobody voted to reduce their living standards or working conditions.’ Here we are talking specifically about the deal only. It is worth noting that Labour has set conditions that will allow it to vote for the deal in parliament – not oppose it for the sake of opposing. Thanks to Conservative Party factional politics, the parliamentary arithmetic means the government desperately needs Labour MPs votes. So the deal that meets Labour conditions will pass.
A lot of very interesting points made, although ‘a wafer thin’ majority? In what way was ‘the question deceptive?’ The biggest turn out in the history of British voting? What has been rejected by the British people & how do you know? What are the questions that need to be put & to whom? What are the problems that need to be addressed & rectified B4 ‘negotiations’ with EU? There are a lot of questions, gonna be a big questionnaire.