Hard Brexit or Hard Brexit

[Brian Peacock]

Remainers welcome ECJ expert's view that UK can abandon Brexit

Remain campaigners have hailed a European legal opinion that the UK can unilaterally abandon Brexit, saying it greatly boosts their efforts to stop the process of exiting the EU.

A senior legal adviser to the European court of justice (ECJ), Campos Sánchez-Bordona, told the court on Tuesday he believed the UK could revoke article 50 independently, without needing the permission of every other EU member state.

Sánchez-Bordona, the court’s advocate general, said it was essential that MPs knew they could stop the Brexit process if they wished, dismissing the British government’s claims that the issue was hypothetical.

His opinion is widely expected to be upheld by the ECJ in Luxembourg within the next fortnight, following a long legal battle by a Scottish cross-party group of MSPs, MPs and MEPs, which began last December.

Chris Bryant, a Labour MP campaigning for a second EU referendum who became involved in the legal action in Luxembourg, said the advice meant “the terms of the Brexit debate have fundamentally shifted”...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... viser-says

From day one the government have maintained there's no procedural context in which Article 50 could be revoked.

[Rum]

It's not just a minister, the attorney general Geoffrey Cox, but the government itself which is being charged with being in contempt of Parliament over the non-publication of legal opinions upon which Mr May's government preferred Brexit solution is based.

It was interesting to hear a run of former Tory big wigs on the radio this morning (the government being wise enough not to put a minister up to justify its non-compliance with the sovereign will of parliament) pressing home the point that the government's legal advice is essentially covered by regular lawyer-client confidentiality rules. This, while obviously amounting to the government's media-facing excuse, is disingenuous and only reinforces the contempt of Parliament charge.

The point of all this is that if Parliament, as the sovereign body of the land, is to decide by the end of the week what form the next stage of the Brexit process will be and, crucially, if it's to seriously consider the government's proposed solution, it should be as fully informed on the legal considerations and ramifications as the government itself.

Unfortunately, at every stage of this shoddy affair, from the announcement of the referendum onwards, the Conservative government has sought to sideline Parliament and undermine its sovereign authority. We# no doubt all remember the reaction of the government and their friends in the press when the Supreme Court ruled that Brexit should be a parliamentary decision rather than a decision for government alone...



As I've said before, if we're to hold true the Leave campaigns' claims that Brexit was about sovereignty and Britain being free to make decisions for itself, about 'Taking back control', then that necessarily means acknowledging that, in our hotch-potch constitutional system, it is Parliament, not the party in power, which lends its authority to government - and not the other way around.

The government's willful non-compliance with Parliament's request that it makes its legal advice on its Brexit proposal available only confirms the self-serving nature of Tory politics, of their 'born to rule' attitude which, at every turn, has put their own political interests ahead of the interest of the nation. By their action they are not only in contempt of Parliament, but they are giving face to the contempt they have for the British people.

You put it well. The Mail forgets in its screaming headline that Parliament is sovereign and it can even, if it wished (though it won’t of course) ignore the results of a referendum.

On the other hand May will no doubt have her eye on the potential for chaos if she loses the vote for her bill and will in part have Had that in mind. The price of our parliamentary democracy?

[JimC]

I have contempt for our parliament as well. So sue me...

[Svartalf]

Ecary politico in this country, I hold in deep contempt too, who will sue me?

[rainbow]

Is Macaroon misbehaving again?

[Scot Dutchy]

From day one the government have maintained there's no procedural context in which Article 50 could be revoked.

The ECJ have to give their verdict until then the fat lady has not sung.

[JimC]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-07/ ... e/10592332

In a small owner-run supermarket in south-west London, Jo Elgarf walks down an aisle full of long-life food.

Nora Elgarf fears for being able to feed her family if British food supplies are impacted by a no-deal Brexit
Her four-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy and the drugs she takes cannot be stored long-term
People stockpiling supplies for the Brexit transition anticipate some public disorder
Cans of hot dogs, stew, rice pudding. Packets of lentils, cartons of milk. It is all here.

"They have a really long life on them and are easy to store," she explains, pointing out that two cans of baked beans can be purchased for less than 2 pounds and will last until the end of 2020.

"At the moment I tend to buy two for myself now and two for later on."

A mother of three, including four-year-old Nora who is severely disabled, Ms Elgarf insists she is not an American-style prepper. Her kitchen cupboards are full to overflowing, but there is no hidden food under the stairs or in the garage, and no bunker in her backyard.

But the fear of what Brexit may bring has her worried and she wants to make sure she can feed her family if food supplies are impacted by a potential no-deal Brexit scenario.

Rum, time for a big shop!

[Rum]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-07/ ... e/10592332

In a small owner-run supermarket in south-west London, Jo Elgarf walks down an aisle full of long-life food.

Nora Elgarf fears for being able to feed her family if British food supplies are impacted by a no-deal Brexit
Her four-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy and the drugs she takes cannot be stored long-term
People stockpiling supplies for the Brexit transition anticipate some public disorder
Cans of hot dogs, stew, rice pudding. Packets of lentils, cartons of milk. It is all here.

"They have a really long life on them and are easy to store," she explains, pointing out that two cans of baked beans can be purchased for less than 2 pounds and will last until the end of 2020.

"At the moment I tend to buy two for myself now and two for later on.
A mother of three, including four-year-old Nora who is severely disabled, Ms Elgarf insists she is not an American-style prepper. Her kitchen cupboards are full to overflowing, but there is no hidden food under the stairs or in the garage, and no bunker in her backyard.

But the fear of what Brexit may bring has her worried and she wants to make sure she can feed her family if food supplies are impacted by a potential no-deal Brexit scenario.

Rum, time for a big shop!

The fashion for hysteria has thankfully passed me by. Remember the millennium bug?

[Brian Peacock]

The government's own guidance on the possibility of a no-deal Brexit is for households to have at least two weeks work of food, including water, in the house come B-Day. Those on regular medication are advised to stockpile as well. Medical and veterinarian supplies are also to be stockpiled by the government.

Here's a link to the top 20 of the 70+ papers of guidance the government has published on preparing for no-deal Brexit: https://www.gov.uk/government/collectio ... th-no-deal

Now why do you think the Daily Mail haven't mentioned any of this? Is it because they knew there would always be a deal, or because they didn't want to frighten a readership who voted Leave?

[Brian Peacock]

In preparation for Brexit one of the UK's biggest high street banking groups, RBS, has moved £13bn of assets to the Netherlands.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... etherlands

[Brian Peacock]

[Rum]

If we really do end up with a no deal, I.e. so called ‘disorderly exit’ I will join any party whose main objective is to lynch every politician currently in office. It will be an appalling outcome - at least in the short term. I think I’d even consider moving to the Netherlands!

[pErvinalia]

Your anglo-saxon mindset wouldn't work for you there..

[Rum]

I love the Netherlands from what I’ve seen of it. Not so much some (well one) of its inhabitants.

[Jason]

I, for one, enjoy Scot - eccentricities and all.