May's Brexit in name only is a betrayal of the nation

The Prime Minister, who believes in Brexit in name only, is forcing Britain down a middle-way where we will never truly be free to benefit from the Brexit dividend. No Deal would be a far better deal than this elaborate soft squidgy fudge

Surrendering with a smile

Joshua King

On 6 July 2018 12:50

The Prime Minister’s Brexit plan, put to the Cabinet at the PM’s country retreat, Chequers, today is a clear derogation of duty and makes a mockery of our democratic system. Theresa May is setting the nation on course for the softest possible Brexit - the worst possible outcome.

In a meeting with the European Research Group on Tuesday, the Chief Whip, Julian Smith MP, promised the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan would follow the Conservative Manifesto ‘to the letter.’ This means Leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union.

However, it is clear Mrs May has no plans to honour the spirit of those commitments, as she seeks to sign Britain up to a re-named Customs Union and an ever so slightly diluted Single Market membership.

In terms of customs, the Prime Minister is offering what ITV’s Political Editor, Robert Peston, described as ‘largely the Customs Partnership rebranded’.

This option would mean the United Kingdom acting as the European Union’s tax collector, and in practice operating under a system similar to the Customs Union. Mrs May believes this is the only way of avoiding border checks on the island of Ireland. It is ridiculous this one issue is actually controlling and weakening the United Kingdom’s whole global future after Brexit.

Britain would also effectively be tethered to the Single Market in terms of goods by having to conform to ‘regulatory alignment’. This means European standards and laws would continue to dominate the UK market without the UK having any say over the content of those rules.

This obviously has implications for the Customs Union too. While technically Britain would be able to sign free trade agreements with the rest of the world, in practice this ability would effectively be neutered, as Britain would hardly be able to offer better terms to prospective trading partners while still being burdened with weighty, anti-competitive EU red tape. Hardly ‘taking back control’, which is what 17.4 million people voted for in the EU Referendum.

Preferential access for European citizens is also a part of the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan, in a manner not too distant from the free movement of people ensured under the Single Market. Immigration played a very important part in the Referendum result, not just to lower numbers, but to stop the arbitrary and discriminatory policy of allowing any and all EU nationals to come to Britain at the expense of those from the rest of the world.

When Theresa May said ‘Brexit means Brexit’ she at least, in some way, knew what Brexit is supposed to mean. As displayed in the Manifesto and first set out in her Lancaster House speech, the Prime Minister knows Brexit means leaving the Single Market, Customs Union, and all related agreements.

However she never truly understood the spirit of those commitments and the motivations behind them. This is because she was and still is a Remainer at heart, and has surrounded herself with died in the wool Remainers like Philip Hammond, Olly Robbins and Greg Clark to name only a few. May views Brexit as a damage limitation exercise and will clearly do all she can to achieve a ‘Brexit in Name Only’.

To any rational person, it is clear ‘Project Fear’ has been a huge failure. As unemployment continues to reach record lows, exports keep improving, the economy keeps outdoing the gloomy predictions and the predicted recession never happened; each and every Fake News claim continues to unravel before our eyes.

So many big, exciting and emerging nations are queueing up for trade deals with us, except they are being deterred by May’s consistent inconsistency. All the evidence points to Brexit being a massive success if properly grasped.

The Prime Minister is forcing Britain down a middle-way where we will never truly be free to benefit from the Brexit dividend. While refusing to drop the weighty baggage of our European Union membership, we are driving in circles on what should be a journey to global liberation.

If accepted by the EU, May’s Brexit plan to Get Britain Out of this antiquated political project, would do nothing to deliver the best Brexit for the United Kingdom. It would be yet another betrayal by the political establishment over the people, who would once again have to continue demanding changes to our relationship with the EU for decades. It is clear why so many people are disenchanted with mainstream politics, and this is a wrecking ball to the fabric of our nation: democracy.

No Deal would be a far better deal than this elaborate soft squidgy fudge.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/6833/may_s_brexit_in_name_only_is_a_betrayal_of_the_nation

Remain’s ‘Project Fear’ lies should fool no one

The true shamelessness of Project Fear has reached a crescendo roar. As the clock ticks down to Brexit, they become ever more desperate; lies, such as BMW quitting the UK come, and then go. As Remain thrashes around in its death throes, its ugly, dishonest, anti-democratic face is there for all to see

Even Juncker must be shocked by the lies of Remain

Joshua King

On 30 June 2018 11:37

If you have a browse of the newspapers today, you’re likely to find a curious feeling of déjà vu sweeping around you. Propaganda warnings of post-Brexit chaos, Armageddon, and catastrophe, fill what seems to be every page.

Special interests, business lobbying, and mainstream media spin continue, as they did during the Referendum campaign in 2016. This time however, the true shamelessness of Project Fear has reached a crescendo roar.

Everyone by now is well versed in the ‘Project Fear’ tactics designed to scare off voters. During the Referendum campaign such scare stories reached an almost laughable hysteria.

Prime Minister David Cameron implied a third World War could be on the horizon. Chancellor, George Osborne, warned of an immediate emergency budget – which, of course, never happened. Anna Soubry MP claimed a recession would occur simply by a vote to Leave. There were many more lies from Remain, too many to mention. Of course, once the truth transpires which shows a particular claim to be false, there is rarely even a minor mention of it by the press.

To their credit, the Great British Public saw through these hysterical lies and voted against blindly conforming to the mainstream opinions and forecasts, which are continuously flawed, or some might suggest, misleading.

Stories about Airbus and BMW have been the latest part in the Project Fear campaign to dominate coverage. Regarding Airbus, even headlines by the so-called ‘neutral’ BBC read: ‘Airbus warns no-deal could see it leave UK’, and ‘Airbus UK exit warning for thousands of Welsh jobs.’

Of course, Airbus never said this. Furthermore, no mainstream media outlet felt it appropriate to mention the judgement last month from the World Trade Organisation’s Appellate Court which, after nearly a decade of investigations, declared Airbus had been in receipt of $22billion of illegal subsidies from the EU. Hardly a credibly neutral company to be taken seriously during the Brexit process.

BMW were alleged to have joined Airbus in claiming they will leave the UK in the event of ‘No Deal’. Yet only days later this myth was dispelled when Ian Robertson, BMWs Special Representative to the UK, rubbished this Fake News and said the scare stories had been taken from a quote which was used out of context! “We are committed to our operation in the UK, our workforce here, and the fact we sell 250, 000 cars here.” Robertson said, at the car industry’s annual summit in London.

Remoaners seem to continuously paint themselves as having the monopoly on morality: they are the virtuous ones, the truth-tellers, the fact-checkers.

The entire Remain campaign in 2016 was crafted on a strategy to intimidate voters with scare-stories. Countless falsehoods were told by Remainer advocates, many of which have been swept under the carpet: such is the privilege of losing in politics.

What makes Project Fear so shameless is the fact that after so many Remain lies, and forecasts which have been proven to be categorically wrong, they still continue.

The outcome of such an aggressive ‘Project Fear’ strategy is – as arguably happened during the latter stages of the Referendum campaign – the public will stop listening to forecasters and politicians. The merits of peaceful debate will seemingly decline as the public perceive no good to come from engaging with politicians who are only interested in advancing their own agenda at any price, instead of building the best solution.

In the long-term, there is a serious concern that every time a trumped up claim is made, the integrity of our democratic system is further undermined.

Remainers who refuse to accept the result of the Referendum to Get Britain Out of the EU must stop the needless lies, hyperbole and exaggeration.

Such unprincipled short-termism is a cancer upon our society. Remainers must also contemplate what the true price of subverting democracy would be; the anger, division, and feeling of betrayal by Leavers would be genuinely catastrophic for the nation.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/6829/remain_s_project_fear_lies_should_fool_no_one

Is the Commons about to destroy Brexit?

With Labour's position on the Brexit vote next week utterly shambolic, opportunistic, and incoherent, and the unelected (and corrupt) Lords lacking all legitimacy, it is up to members of parliament to show decency, respect democracy, and allow for the Brexit people voted for

Ultimately, Brexit will be down to them

Joshua King

On 7 June 2018 14:10

The most important piece of legislation in a generation reaches a pivotal stage next week, as The EU (Withdrawal) Bill returns to our elected representatives in the House of Commons.

The Bill is fresh from 15 defeats over the Government by the Lords, and another farcical proposal by Labour on a ‘Single-Market deal’ to guarantee ‘full-access’ to the EU’s internal market (without any of the obligations that come with it).

The official Government position is to oppose every one of the amendments; however, this is highly unlikely in practice. In this article we detail what to expect from two very hectic days of voting next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill is an integral piece of legislation to the Brexit process, and repeals the European Communities Act (which signed Britain into what was then the ‘European Economic Community’ – the ‘EEC’), and transposes existing EU law into national law.

The minority Conservative Government, propped up by the Democratic Unionist Party, has an incredibly slim working majority of only 14, with 12 known Tory Remain rebels to contend with. Consequently, the smallest of backbench rebellions could be devasting to the Brexit process.

The key votes to watch out for will be the ‘wrecking’ amendments. If passed, these amendments would entail: Britain attempting to sign up to a Customs Union; for Parliament to delay, frustrate, and ultimately reverse Brexit; and for continued membership of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Membership of anything constituting a Customs Union while being outside the EU is something which only Turkey suffers from. It would most likely mean being subject to the trade policy of Brussels without having any say on the matter. Very importantly for Brexiteers, and for the global opportunities awaiting us, Britain would be unable to sign free trade agreements with the rest of the world after Brexit in this scenario.

It is now established Labour policy (as far as a Labour Brexit policy can be ‘established’) to remain in a Customs Union, and this amendment is surely something to watch. The respite for Brexiteers is that the actual wording of the amendment is rather innocuous, only requiring the Government to report to MPs by October on the ‘steps taken’ to reach a Customs Union.

This means a Minister could report back to the Commons saying ‘we did our best…..’ (as provocative as that might be). However, this vote -- regardless of outcome -- will not be the end of the Customs Union issue, as it is likely to rear its ugly head again during debates over the Trade Bill (another important piece of Brexit legislation) later this month.

Continued membership of the EEA (also known as the ‘Norway option’) essentially means keeping the contentious free movement of people, supremacy of the European Court of Justice over our own courts, continued large payments for Single Market access, and a new status for the UK as ‘rule-takers’ from Brussels instead of ‘taking back control’.

The Labour party’s Brexit position is consistently inconsistent, although Shadow Brexit Secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, has now stated the amendment on the EEA is too divisive to be official Labour policy. Sir Keir has, however, admitted his Party remains utterly conflicted over this, so we can expect a large number of votes from the Labour backbenches for this amendment.

The ‘meaningful vote’ amendment would mean Parliament could force the Government to re-negotiate with the EU, allowing Parliament to delay, frustrate, and ultimately reverse Brexit. This amendment would drastically weaken our hand, eliminating our capacity to walk away with our best bargaining tool of a threatened ‘No Deal’ – eradicating what’s left of the EU’s motive to offer fair terms. This will be an absolutely vital battleground, which Labour will be fighting desperately.

It is possible there are some amendments the Government will accept before the vote and back them to avoid embarrassment. One of these is on the so-called ‘Henry VIII powers’, which allows the Government to re-write some laws without consulting Parliament. Even ardent Brexiteer, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has stated the Government might lose this vote were they to contest it.

The Cabinet may also seek to make counter-offers to Parliament, known as ‘amendments in lieu’. These areas will be eagerly anticipated by Remainers looking for weaknesses in the Government’s position. Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, has signalled his willingness to make such a counter-offer after the defeat by the Lords, which required existing “rights, powers and liabilities … that contribute to the protection and improvement of the environment” to be preserved.

Tuesday and Wednesday next week will be historic days in the process to Get Britain Out of the EU, with some defeats widely anticipated.

It is vital for Brexiteers that the ‘wrecking’ amendments are not carried by the House of Commons, otherwise it would turn the Prime Minister’s Brexit fudge into a fully-fledged fudge cake.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/6811/is_the_commons_about_to_destroy_brexit