Article 50 Discussion

[honeybee13]

I know.   Now signed by nearly 2.5 million people.

 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584

[honeybee13]

Indeed.

 

She still seems to be counting on running it down to the wire so she can force her deal through. It will be interesting to see if she loses by more than 149 next time MPs vote on the deal yet again, after what she said to them in the televised speech the other night. She doesn't seem to have many friends these days.

 

[honeybee13]

There's a separate thread about problems with the forum, TJ, you might like to tell us about it on that.

[honeybee13]

That must have been quite an experience, fletch, and one that could go down in history.

 

I'm very sad to see that the lady who started the petition has had death threats for exercising a democratic right.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/23/more-than-4-million-people-sign-petition-to-revoke-article-50-brexit?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVS19XZWVrZW5kLTE5MDMyNA%3D%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&CMP=GTUK_email

[honeybee13]

Interesting article by Will Hutton in the Guardian, about taking back control.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/24/does-britain-really-want-an-isolated-future-buffeted-by-forces-beyond-our-control

[honeybee13]

The petition stands at 5,157,529 as at just now.

[honeybee13]

I think a lot has changed since May 2017, buckthorn.

[honeybee13]

Interesting article here by Peter Oborne who was for Brexit and now seems to have changed his mind.

 

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/i-was-strong-brexiteer-now-we-must-swallow-our-pride-and-think-again/

[honeybee13]

I see they've stood down 6,000 civil servants who have been working on 'no deal' arrangements - at a cost of £1.5bn. All that so that May could use no deal as a negotiating threat.

 

David Davis seems to have woken up and is suggesting rewriting everything in the agreement with the EU. They'll be pleased... But I think they're hoping that someone like Boris or Rees Mogg isn't elected, should there be a general election.

[honeybee13]

TJ, I totally agree that election tampering should be investigated. I wonder if some people think that what Trump did [allegedly] with help from the Russians is wrong but don't worry about possible misbehaviour by organisations during our referendum.

 

London, I've probably said before that I don't understand how Treeza and the ERG decided what kind of Brexit people voted for, given that the question was only Yes or No. If she hadn't decided on red lines dictated by the ERG as I understand it, we would have stood a chance of getting a decent deal.

[honeybee13]

I hope Farage stays long enough with this party to contest the election next month.

 

Does the Brexit party have any policies about what would happen after Brexit?

[honeybee13]

I can't remember if they publish the number of spoiled votes, TJ, do you know?

[honeybee13]

You're right.

[honeybee13]

I can see their point, London. Also, in the scheme of things, it's not all that long since women fought and died to get the vote.

[honeybee13]

I had the same thought, TJ, he was just adding to the traffic in Kent, which was going to have the worst problems anyway. It seems a needless waste of money to me.

[honeybee13]

I agree, hightail.

 

The vote was only yes or no without knowing what the options were.

[honeybee13]

And is this one going to expire in a couple of years too?

 

May must think Labour are daft. If they actually  sign anything that protects jobs, etc, they won't want it torn up as soon as an ERG type replaces Treeza.

[honeybee13]

What are the chances of them reaching a compromise that Europe won't accept?

 

Interesting article from the Guardian about the Conservatives' approach so far.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/06/emerging-labour-tory-compromise-brexit-mirage

[honeybee13]

That's worrying if it's the case, Jase.

 

Our politicians seem to be very bad at working together compared with some other countries, Germany for example.

 

I think it's particularly disappointing about ChangeUK who wanted to do politics a different way if I understood what they were saying and are now refusing to co-operate with anyone else or think differently, as far as I can see.

[honeybee13]

I see Treeza is blaming Labout 'divisions' for the break up of the cross party talks. No mention of any divisions within the Tories but they needed someone to blame apart from themselves.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/17/brexit-talks-tories-labour-likely-to-collapse-theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn

[honeybee13]

It's the d'Hondt system, UB, looks complicated to me. The Guardian has explained it.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/19/european-election-all-you-need-to-know-dos-dhondts

[honeybee13]

The chips seem to be down for May after the withdrawal agreement speech. The pundits don't seem to think she'll be around much longer.

[honeybee13]

It seems it may not be today but they think it will be soon. 

[honeybee13]

You could be right, UB.

 

I think a concern for a PM could be that if the 1922 committee changes the rules to be able to challenge the party leader more than once a year, it could lead to Conservative leadership being pretty tenuous.

[honeybee13]

Except Farage won't be in government, will he?