The Catholic church is in decline in the Republic of Ireland but the Democratic Union Party is always ready to fight the Battle of the Boyne. This is what it comes down to and nothing else.
Mr.George Soros is winning if Brexit isn't approved by the British parliament and would go for second referendum.
PM,Ms.Theresa May is winning the Brexit match in many ways as PM of UK and also as the supporter of "to remain".
First as the PM of UK who gave credit to the verdict of the 2016 referendum of Brexit despite its wafer thin edge for
'to leave' over 'to remain' though she was the ardent supporter of 'to remain'.
Second as the PM of UK, she won the agreement with EU and her cabinet approval for the Brexit -draft deal, but in case of a non-approval of parliament in the forth coming weeks, she won the match as the supporter of 'to remain". When UK decides to go for second referendum it is indeed like a fixed match, 'to remain' would win with an impressive
margin over 'to leave' since the supporters of 'to leave' in 2016 have experimented the pros and cons of Hard and Soft Brexit and stabilized their mind now to stay with 'to remain'.
Mr.David Cameron left Ms.May with an unprecedented critical responsibility on her shoulders with Brexit deal, she had been made a laughing stock by witnessing her struggle to give soul and shape to the proposed Brexit in the past two years but in 2018,she won the match as a referee of Brexit. Probably, Britain could have averted the infamous WW1& WW2, if the then PMs of Great Britain could have followed "May's way'.
1
@N.R.JOTHI NARAYANAN Your comment is as wonderful as it is confusing. The average UK citizen will be the real loser no matter how Brexit is resolved. If they leave, they lose in a short match, but if they stay the lose in a 10-hour 10 set match. Either way the real game is in the stands.
These are some of the best and well thought out comments to NYTimes I have read on any topic or opinion over the last decade.
1
Brexit, like most populist elections (e.g., US president, etc.) are the result of voters duped into supporting the cause. But, forgive my ignorance .... Isn't Scotland, like Ireland, part of Great Britain? I'm assuming only ENGLAND (not Great Britain) voted for Brexit. Had the other two countries (Scotland and Ireland) also voted, a different outcome would have prevailed. No? All Brexit means to me is a "divide-and-conquer" strategy to weaken a greater power. Like Brexit, a further Balkanization of the free world cannot be good.
1
The entirety of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, not to mention places like Gibraltar) voted on Brexit. "Leave" won in England and Wales, "Remain" in Scotland (heavily so) and Northern Ireland. The overall verdict was a win for Leave, by about 4 percent. (Turnout was heavy, just over 72%.)
1
This reminds me so much of divorce proceedings, just played out in its dramatic tragedy for all the world to see. Relationships of any kind are difficult to alter, as they only truly end if you simply walk away. Just like custody and alimony alter the relationship of married couples, so to are Britain and the EU are struggling to redefine their relationship while keeping trade and transportation intact. Sadly, it looks as though this international divorce will forever be defined by turmoil. Too bad for the kids - I mean, citizens...
It makes you appreciate that governments really are human creations.
5
There were and still are some very serious problems with the EU and its mantra of "ever greater union." More people than just British want to remain sovereign countries, rather than a small piece of the not-quite-democratic bureaucracy of the EU that is emerging as that greater union.
Brexit was a reaction to that, but it was the wrong reaction. Fixing problems with the EU need not mean leaving the EU.
In fact leaving doesn't fix them. It makes many worse, witness the Irish border and Scotland's feelings. Even Wales. Even The City, meaning the financial elite of London.
Too often the debate is between those who deny there are problems, and those who declare they are so fundamental and unfixable that one can only leave. They are both wrong. There has been no real effort to confront the issue of "ever greater union" and its bureaucratic translation into defective democracy.
4
@Mark Thomason Maybe the human dynamic is improved if the world reverts to smaller and smaller political identities. Europe back to individual nations, English and French Canada, the USA into four countries- North, South, Central and West. At least smaller nations can’t afford wars and the loss of their youth to them.
3
Brexit has become more of an issue than Angela Merkel leaving. It is like which should we do, cry or just wave goodbye to both. But each created their own nemesis. But in England's case, to leave the EU, forget the cost, it makes sense. England is too proud to walk behind the EU in a parade. Thank God, they know their heritage is more important than to be an island on the perimeter of the EU. They make me proud. And if there is a second referendum and vote to stay within the EU, sad, they will never be known as England. Time will absorb them and only those reading this column will remember the glorious history of a great nation.
1
Just a quick correction on the Benjamin Mueller section - Ian Blackford is the Leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons. The actual leader of the Scottish National Party and the Scottish First Minister is Nicola Sturgeon. It's slightly misleading.
4
Little England lurches on, not ahead mind you. But, just like the trump voters, those who fervently want this can proudly declare the enhancement of their manhood in the public square.
1
Cabinet meeting finally ended, after five(!) hours.
The only good meeting on Brexit is the one where England recants and apologizes. Everything else leads to a weaker UK, a weaker EU, a weaker Western alliance, weaker economies, more chaos on trade and trade agreements, more nationalism and segregation. Good job, everyone!
1
This appears to be the end game of the shell game that was Brexit from the beginning; enticing the sheep with trinkets and forget me nots, then shearing them with extreme prejudice and abandon.
2
I do so wish the New York Times would explain Brexit to us, all in one place and all at one time. I fear my own ignorance of British politics is immense, and at the very least needs updating. I'm sure many reading my comment would agree. Our insularity is blinding us to what is rapidly becoming an epic disater for our friends in the U.K. and Europe, and may well engulf the world with vitriolic unrest.
Plus, I know our president sides with the Brexiteers and I can feel in my bones he, and they, are wrong. Please help us understand why this is or is not so.
3
The Make Britain Great Again (MBGA) people are a little bit ahead of the MAGA people, and are closer to the forced realization that they've been duped and that what they voted for will only make Britain a lot less great than what it was.
3
Give it ten years, the younger generations will be in power and we’ll ask to join again - and this time it’ll be no half measures; no keeping of the pound, no exception of Schengen, no special monetary favours. Like it should have been all this time, without us keeping one foot permanently out of the door and allowing certain people to wallow in their wounded pomposity.
Finally this might get rid of the post-1945 delusion that Britain is still some kind of heavyweight, get rid of the arrogance of those who stress the “Great” in Great Britain and who believe our way is better than those funny foreign types - but I fear the revisionism is already afoot. It won’t be reality that caused a deal to be terrible, no it’ll be the EU’s fault, the Remainers’ fault, those who didn’t “believe” in the unicorns of British optimism or exceptionalism enough - but not the Brexiteers fault, no, not those who preached histrionically to the cameras yet ran away from any responsibility or effort, not those who fell for their idiocy. Brexit would have been wonderful if only....if only....if...
Watching reality break over them continuously for the next few years will be the only consolation for the rest of us.
9
If only the U.S. could suffer a similar humiliation. We need to be taken down a peg or three.
1
The financial viability of Europe is infinitely more important than one politician's career. What is best not only for the United Kingdom but for all of its related continental countries is all the matters. Ex-politicians can always go off and write a book.
@NGKrishnan Every country longs for glory. I think your moralizing obscures fears you failed to articulate in your post. Peace.
At this point, I've come to terms with the idea of Brexit as a great and necessary humiliation for Britain. The promises of the Leavers were never achievable. The brexit we are getting is the only one that was ever possible. It turns out our negotiating position was not as strong as we had imagined. Who knew? Our nation will step down from the world stage and fade away like the setting sun. All that remains will be a sort of retirement home for foreign money.
14
"Our nation will step down from the world stage and fade away like the setting sun."
That happened in 1956, with the failure of the Suez operation, followed by declared withdrawal from "East of Suez" and wide scrapping of the Royal Navy.
Brexit is just a brief rousing of those who deny that.
2
Those of us who voted Remain knew about our lack of bargaining power.
3
For years I worked for one of our nation's largest companies. It was a great and fair company with good pay and benefits and fair annual raises. Then it lost its way. Non creative boards along with serious competion and what's left of it is now shrinking quickly into obscurity. Rome, Egypt, Spain, Russia, China, the Third Reich and many other world empires and want to be empires have faded back into both actual or mental smallness, their dreams of grandeur gone. The same will now be true of the U.K. They were already fading fast, but in unity with the other small nations of Europe, they were hanging on and had a place. But then its citizens were suckered with fall dreams, lies and English oration to vote against their own self interest. They will now see what obscurity looks like at close hand. What out my fellow citizens of these United States, we are likely to be next.
6
" A key sticking point is the Irish border. Negotiators are trying to find a way to allow people and goods to pass through without the imposition of border controls."
The Irish border was always there and apparently no one who promoted Brexit gave her any thought. Ditto, now, with Scotland, who voted by a crisp 62
5 to remain in the EU. As many warned, the real purpose of Brexit was/is to break up the UK by dividing her people even more. Expect an increase in "troubles" with Ireland and Scotland.
Boris Johnson bailed the moment any actual work was required. That tells everyone all they need to know about the Brexiteers.
9
Re: The Brits and the Brexit negotiations.
The first law of poker applies to any negotiation strategy. If you don’t know who the other sucker at the table is, then there’s probably only one, and it's you.
Two years of meetings and what's the result? A no-exit Brexit. That's the best the Brits could have got. But it's a very good day for the EU and in spite of what D Trump and S Bannon think, what's good for Europe is good for the US.
6
As an expatriate Briton now living in Canada, I mourn what Britain has become. My parents, lifelong socialists, voted to leave the EU because of the “migrant problem.” I was aghast and appalled by this decision. After all, I’m a migrant myself and their daughter in law, who helped produce a beautiful grandson, is Polish. Both of us have meaningfully contributed to the fabric of our adoptive homelands. My parents now regret their decision, but it’s too late. They succumbed to the sophistry and prevarication of Johnson, Gove, and Farage - a nefarious triumvirate who saw an opportunity in David Cameron’s rash decision to hold a referendum to raise their own profiles. They never expected to win and, at least, Johnson and Gove were muted by terror that they had. Now, their deceit was laid bare.
It is no exaggeration that the Trump’s, Johnson’s, Gove’s, Farage’s, and Putin’s of the world share an agenda of deconstructivism. The demolition of the state allows an elite to prosper while the rest wallow in virtual anarchy. It is simply the most viciously self serving mantra since fascism. However, these individuals only light a fuse, it is the populace that enable ignition. Until people care about reality and analyse with conscience every nuance of our practical and shared existence, petty thinkers will proliferate. Brexit is a disaster and was utterly avoidable. It will deliver Britain, probably the EU, to wanton capriciousness and lasting exploitation of prejudices.
16
See how it's possible to shoot yourself in the foot even in a country with strict gun control?
9
If Americans really knew anything about the European Union, and how it affected individual countries and people, they would never be for it. If they understood the price individuals pay in their taxes to upkeep two systems of government -- one of which has never balanced its budget, or even had a successful audit -- they'd be up in arms. Would Iowans, New Yorkers or Texans kowtow to laws made in California? Because it is the EU's legal system of extraordinarily liberal human rights that allowed clerics to incite violence that plagued British streets for years, while the cleric and his sycophants collected government handouts for their whole families. Only when America finally agreed to extradite Hamza did it stop. He now languishes in an American jails. You don't need to read about many of those articles before you say: "Let's get out of this nonsense and live by our own laws," which have worked for us for centuries.
Or, how about all Americans let the Californians decide what sort of toasters you can buy? What sort of vacuum? Oh, and Hershey wouldn't be considered chocolate in the EU.
But those are the small issues when compared to the rampant corruption of a never audited EU Parliament. One sort of government corruption is enough for most people.
The one positive that young Remainers kept pointed to was that it "Made traveling easier." Or that they didn't trust UK politicians, but they apparently did trust EU politicians.
Ok, Mr. Devlin: Please point me to the last audit conducted on the Montana state government. Oh, you can't? Didn't expect you could.
1
Chalk up one more fool who doesn't understand the dangers of European nationalism that keep most of the continental powers invested in the EU...
2
It was an act of insanity to put this to a simple majority vote in the first place. Any referendum of such serious nature should require a super-majority to pass. Give me a year and a billion dollars, I can convince 50.1% of the population to pass almost anything.
9
Brexit is a referendum on the EU as much as a declaration if independence from it. The EU may not last much longer and Britain may be the canary in the coal mine.
3
Brexit vote was because of sad longing of Britain for a glorious past.
It was said nicely that “memories of the war made some feel more defiant, recollections of empire made them deluded. Our colonial past, and the inability to come to terms with its demise, gave many the impressions that we are far bigger, stronger and more influential than we really are. At some point they convinced themselves that the reason we are at the centre of most world maps is because the Earth revolves around us, not because it was us who drew the maps”.
It was through this distorted lens that a majority voted to leave.
Britain has clearly overplayed its hand. Preferring to live in the past rather than learn from it, diminished in the present and clueless about the future.
28
Brexit is a flashpoint referendum of one worldview versus another. Short term pain will be offset by long-term freedom to pursue economic and social goals. The EU wasn't conceived to smother national self-determination but it did. The British colonists who founded the USA jumped ship in the 1600's to escape similar tyranny.
3
Boris Johnson, Tony Blair and Justine Greening all agreeing with each other about this deal tells you all you need to know. Not to re-litigate the rights and wrongs of the campaigns (mostly wrongs in the case of Leave), there is only one question of importance now - which arrangement with the EU will be best for the UK and its generations to come? Voters were invited to jump off a tall building, they have taken a look and now see that there would be only a very hard landing. Forget "the will of the people", forget tired jokes about "fog in the Channel, Continent cut off", forget who won the WW2. Yes, the EU has many problems and urgently needs reform, but the answer to the question for the UK is unquestionably to stay in the EU. Nothing else comes close.
16
This Brexit mess seems to be heading for the inevitable place where the UK leaves with no agreement with the EU. The EU itself is under strain from the austerity, bank bailout policies, of Brussels, primarily at the behest of Germany. Now the Christian Democrats in Germany are sinking and the whole edifice of the EU could be undermined. Trump is seen as a more baleful influence than Putin. Trump's trade war policies are a disaster. Trump may have drove a stake through the heart of NATO as Germany and France find ways to end US dominance and create their own security structure independent of the US. The same with the EUs trying to find ways around Trump's and congressional sanctions. This has led to efforts to end the USs dominance of world finance and the dollar as the global currency.
5
Brexit was a bab,bad idea. Now they are finding out how harsh reality is.
12
Is democracy a bad idea too?
1
Democracy by referendum = bad idea.
4
The Electoral College is a bad idea.
4
Wasn't the Leave campaign fined for violating the maximum it was allowed to spend? Fined? A fine is adequate to redress the results of the election, which will be dire? How does the fine redress the direness? Instead, how about throwing out the vote that was contaminated by this violation?
And didn't the single largest donation to Leave come from Arron Banks, many times more than any other person's donation, among them many far richer than he? Isn't there some question about where the money that he donated came from? Isn't there some question about the prospect of his receiving from Russian interests a profitable business opportunity?
Shouldn't this matter be investigated before the vote can be called uncontaminated and hence conclusive?
The Brexit issue should be put in the context of the unity or disunity of Europe. If anyone doubts that it is Putin's objective to destroy European unity, and with it the unity of the west, so as to enable him to consolidate his power in Russia, read Timothy Snyder's book The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America.
Putin's helping to engineer the election of Trump is a part of this same strategy as is Putin's support of separatist movements in Europe besides that in England. A weaker West means a stronger Russia which means a stronger Putin.
26
It seems that May has done her best in an impossible situation. Her detractors offer nothing but criticism without providing alternative proposals, without which these criticisms ring hollow. She should give the parliament and the British people her own take it or leave it deal then let them decide. The British people must inform themselves of the consequences of any decision. May's career is secondary. Should her efforts fail, she should leave her Labor and Tory colleagues to themselves.
1
Leave just after breakfast.
2
The Empire Strikes Back
In every great story about rebellion, there is a point in the story where those in power find a way to hobble the momentum of their opponent.
It would seem from initial reports, that this 'deal' is less about listening to the democratic voice of the 17 million U.K. voters who said that they wanted their democracy back, and more about maintaining the status quo.
If this is the case, it would leave the European Union without any legitimacy. But, it is not just this one event that has taken away this trust.
Lets not forget, that it was the European Union that impoverished millions of people in Greece over the last 8 years due to the conditions of the three bailouts.
And it turned a blind eye, when Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy sent riot police into the streets of Barcelona, and used violence to stop the referendum on Independence.
So it is no real surprise then, that those who rule in the European Union would have little interest in fulfilling the wishes of the U.K. voters.
But let us return to that story about rebellion for a moment. Because as we all know from reading our favorite book or watching our favorite movie, that events like these listed above have a good chance of swinging the momentum back once again in favor of the Brexiter Rebels.
4
Witty, insightful reporting here! Having a laugh at the enormous mess that is Brexit. Carl Zeitz writes: "Britain could do the unthinkable and let the 6 counties go except the 2/3 majority of Protestants would rebel against that....". Protestants are not even a majority now in NI! By 2020, it is projected Protestants, Catholics (in NI, this largely but not entirely equates to Unionist/Nationalist) will have parity. The special status being offered NI will be enormously valuable to that sad statelet to such as extent the Scottish National Party today are vehement they want similar status! Why the DUP supported Brexit defies easy comprehension, almost every major infrastructure project, its' new outstanding cultural and science endeavors, its agriculture, reconciliation projects supported by EU funds. A majority in NI voted against and the latest poll shows more than 60% would vote for reunification in the event of a hard Brexit.
2
Britain wants all the perks of the EU and none of the responsibilities. Unfortunately it lives in the la la land of believing it is a great world power instead of the little island nation that it is. The Irish border issue is a perfect example of trying to have their cake and eat it too. To Americans it is kine California being allowed to succeed from the Union and still have all the benefits of the United States. The British need to accept that they are no longer the world power of Queen Elizabeth the first. I predict that if they really do leave the EU, they will plunge into abject poverty.
15
All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again....
Sad, that the Europe and the UK have to deal with this self inflicted wound.
3
Much has been made of the broken promises of the leave camp - reasonably.
What of the following? No EU army? A solution to the refugee crisis? Monetary union after Greece? Fascism in member states? Turkey?
It is mendacious to compare the reality of Brexit with the fantasy of Remain.
5
Despite all their flaws, NATO and the EU have kept the peace in Euope for nearly 75 years.
If Great Britain leaves, that raises the chances that it will be followed by Poland, Hungary, and Italy.
Cam you spell World War III?
8
Bottom line--if they had it to do over, I suspect that Brexit would have failed in a national British landslide.
8
Currently polling in the UK suggests that in a second referendum Remain would win by about the same margin Leave won at the first.
To a complete outsider, whose sole qualification to say anything comes from watching the Prime Minister's question hour on You Tube every week (in other words, I'm completely unqualified), it looks to me as if a failed vote for the "plan" in Parliament should trigger a new referendum. It seems pretty clear that the British people didn't understand the implications of voting for Brexit. From the standpoint of an outsider, it also appears that a hard Brexit will damage Britain's, Europe's, and the whole world's economies (as if Donald Trump weren't trying enough). So how about a new vote (and while we're at it, could we redo the 2016 US presidential election)?
18
The day after the referendum passed there were admissions from multiple pro-Brexit "leaders" that the most popular changes promised were, in fact, unrealistic. Voters were sold a false bill of goods. The vote would have gone very differently had the question been, "Would you prefer that Berlin, rather than London, be the financial epicenter of Europe?" Another referendum would be best for the UK. There is far more at stake than any "political career."
12
Much more consequential than making or breaking "prime minister Theresa May's political career," the British cabinet's decision about a Brexit deal will make or break Britain's economic and political future. If it's broken, Theresa May's future in politics won't matter very much.
27
All of which underlines the abject stupidity of what the British voted for three years ago without understanding it and of the cynical creatures like Boris Johnson who promoted it in Trumpian fashion to advance their political careers.
The best solution would be a re-vote but the problem with that, even if the vote was to reverse, would be that it would be hardly credible. The EU would then have to trust that Britain would not turn about and vote a second exit when its voters were again manipulated by their version of the far right.
The Irish border? Well if they are going to be consistent with what they voted for, it has to be closed. Or Britain could do the unthinkable and let the 6 counties go except the 2/3 majority of Protestants would rebel against that and in any case that notion is unworkable politically, historically and economically.
The PM has been more effective than expected but now she comes up against the wall of the far right and whether she sneaks this past them or not sooner to later they will find a way to gum it. up.
Meantime, Labor and Mr. Corbyn are a lesson for, among others, the Democratic Party here. If all you offer is no, you are not responsible enough to govern and when you do you will get no in return.
So what my party needs to do here in the House first is pass a multi-part forward looking program of legislation address climate change/environment, health coverage/prescription drug prices, infrastructure and voting reform.
12
@Carl Zeitz: I think the Democratic Party is in a potentially better position than the Labour Party in that they have the opportunity to elect a presidential nominee and devise a winning electoral message for 2020 (whether they succeed is another matter). But no matter how badly the Brexit debacle goes for Mrs May and her party, Labour are stuck with Jeremy Corbyn, thus limiting their electability and squandering their opportunity to provide an alternative to the policies that are currently causing British people considerable grief.
3
Eh, a leadership contest isn't entirely out of the question with Labour, either. (Mind you I think Corbyn would win one at present.)
If the Brexit dead-enders of Northern Ireland have concluded that nothing could be worse than unification with Ireland, perhaps they should consult a map and review the relationship between Ireland, England, and the Irish Sea.
18
Parliament should mandate a recount prior to a final verdict on Brexit. Evidence of fraudulent claims by Brexiteers like Johnson et al cast considerable doubt over the validity of the original argument. Britain needs to face up to the fact that separation from the continent is not in its best interests. The Empire is long dead and Britain is no longer a major player on the world stage. Its greatest strength in the modern world will be as a member of a united community of Europe. I say this as an expatriate.
27
@Etienne
Presuming by "recount" you mean recounting the ballots of the referendum, that would appear to be a "silly" projection of the current US midterm issues into Britain.
The challenges to the legitimacy of the referendum have to do with violation of the financial rules of that referendum, and that has notning to do with vote counting. A recount would yield exactly the same result.
The US aside, all other western democracies don't have voter suppression issues intertwined with recounting procedures.
2
Dennis,
You are correct. I should have been more specific. I meant a new referendum on Brexit. Mea culpa.
1
What is the purpose of a Northern Ireland.....except as a vestige of Protestant ascendency? They have always been the "vassalage" of Britain. The majority of the electorate on the island of Ireland voted to remain in the EU......this should be respected by all parties.
17
I voted to remain simply because the Irish Border issue was always going to be a show stopper. The movement of goods in a tariff regime requires paperwork and is generally restrictive. However the movement of people is highly emotive. The key emotive issue in England was to stop free movement, thus restricting immigration to an island becoming overcrowded and with creaking infrastructure. Any person with a right to be in the EU can demand entry to the Republic of Ireland. Its easy then to gain entry to the UK by crossing the border into Northern Ireland free of all controls. So the control of people entering the UK will in fact be control on people entering Great Britain with control points at all ports and airports in the UK to monitor people movement between NI and GB, two parts of the same country. There will be a border for people, even if not for goods (yet) down the Irish Sea. As a UK citizen that's a very bitter pill.
I think our prime minister has done her best. The brexit lobby raised hopelessly high expectations. Nevertheless this deal (as currently reported) is a shambles - an agreement to agree isn't an agreement. I strongly support a second referendum with a simple choice. Leave on the terms negotiated or remain.
38
The idea of a European union was an interesting one. The reality; far from it. Unfortunately, many of those nations currently entwined within it are only slowly coming to the realisation; 'if we'd only had known', but the difficulty of disengaging from it has them feeling, 'it can't get that much worse'.
It will.
A nation's individuality will seep away, as well it's individuality.
The coming near-term for the UK will be difficult, but the ultimate outcome will leave it in a much better condition, all around, than any of the nations still within the EU.
5
Oh come now. You say you live in NYC in the United States, which is itself a model of a union - do you really think that the individuality of New York can be confused with that of Texas, or Hawaii? Individual nations working together on issues of mutual priority, that's the vision of the EU. I hope that the UK has a chance to reconsider, as everyone knows that a new vote could easily go to the other way, supporting retained membership in the EU.
15
Europe has had a long and bloody history of fighting within itself. Any system that allows talking and even arguing, to bring Europe closer together has got to be worth it. I have no fear of the UK being part of a European"Super State", in fact I welcome it. I don't expect immediate doomsday for the UK on leaving the EU, but we have made it harder for ourselves over the longer term.
Being in or out of Europe is irrelevant to the real deeper problems the world faces:- extreme (personal) financial inequality, Government debt, over-population, migration, rise of populist movement agitators.
I believe that the UK Referendum outcome was a protest vote by people who, with some reason, felt ignored or poorly treated by the Westminster elite and wanted to make themselves heard. It had little or nothing to do with EU.
21
In the 500 years before the EU was crated, Europe have a significant war about every 20 years. IMHO, because of the EU, there has not been one in the last 60 years. That alone is justification or the EU and for GB to stay in it.
3
Almost every politician on both sides of Brexit want it to fail, as they plan to use failure as a political weapon. The anti-Brexit side wants to say “told you so”, and the pro-Brexit UK Charlatans that sold Brexit with a thousand lies want cover (and power) by saying it didn’t go far enough.
When the Brexit bomb goes off, the headline really should read “Boris the Boor Blows up the British Economy”. Johnson has been the strongest proponent in sowing animosity toward the EU for his personal political gain. He now lives in fear that his charade will swallow him.
68
@TheUglyTruth: Boris = Trump Lite.
4
Boris is simply Trump with a more posh voice. The world would be better off without either of them.
1
Another referendum - NOW! The people did not know what they were voting for. The people need final approval before any deal is signed. The PM does not have that mandate!
66
"Critics on both left and right argue that the deal would leave Britain subject to European Union rules, but without any say in making those rules. They are also alarmed that Britain would not have a unilateral right to quit the temporary customs union."
Although we don't know yet know exactly what is in May's deal, if the above high level description of the deal is close to the mark, then it is easy to predict, IMHO, that this deal will fail ether in Cabinet or Parliament.
And if that happens, then surely and hopefully a second referendum will seen as preferable to a no-deal Brexit.
NI overwhelmingly voted to remain. The fact the brexit loving DUP have somehow become key in this Brexit agreement is just a reflection of the farce that NI politics, and politics in the UK has become. The DUP were also against the Good Friday Agreement. In fact the DUP are against everything that's not reminiscent of the 1950s and empire. (to the detriment of the people they represent). Sinn Fein is not going to change/fix this British own goal. Nor should they have to. Its not of their doing.
31
@John: It will be ironic if the decision of the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party to hold a referendum on Brexit ultimately results in the political disintegration of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland.
3
Northern Ireland may go first, but I cannot see Scotland being far behind.
May resemble the final Act of Hamlet, but I have inject a growing curiosity about what the heck the elected seven Sinn Fein Irish MPs are about, sitting on their hands (votes in the UK Parliament) at this absolutely crucial time in the history of Northern Ireland and, by voluntary default, making their local antagonists the DUP a deciding factor in that local history for at least another decade. Here is Canada the separatist Bloc Quebecois retained its larger agenda while participating in Parliamentary decisions it considered important for its beautiful Province. There's a point where political rubber meets the road, and Sinn Fein seems airborn instead.
3
Actually Sinn Fein whether you agree with them or not have been entirely consistent for 100 years. They have always refused to take their seats in the British parliament. This was true in 1918 and it's true in 2018. Airborn is not a term one could realistically apply here.
14
Public opinion in Northern Ireland is moving in the direction of a united Ireland because of Brexit. Why would Sinn Fein want to save the UK from itself?
6
Sein Fein have never taken their seats in the British Parliament. They are utterly consistent here. (Indeed my friends in the UK were making the joke after the last general election that they *would* actually take them this time, just to make it harder for the Tories to form a majority.)