And now Nigel Farage has resigned his position, saying he’s done his job. Another person that doesn’t want to have to deal with the cleanup after the party.
Since UKIP is likely to expell their only MP, they’re basically done as a political party. Farage should be sent to the Tower of London and imprisoned.
He was never in a position to have anything to do with the post-Brexit Britain.
I agree. Germany’s ideal outcome is that the UK not leave at all. But, if they are to leave, then they should leave reasonably quickly. The worst outcome is the UK being politically committed to leaving, but a prolonged period in which it takes no steps actually to leave. This is also a very poor outcome for the UK, of course.
I think “a sellable compromise” might be that the UK exits the EU but joins the EEA, participating in the single market (inc. free movement. Ostensibly this is to allow for a transition period while the UK makes a plan for life after divorce, talks to third countries about trade agreements, etc. But in fact the real agenda is a hope that the political climate in the UK will change,and a subsequent referendum or election will deliver a mandate to re-join the EU.
Except that rejoining the EU means starting from scratch. It means no rebate. It means a lengthy and uncomfortable conversation about currency. It means all the previous benefits the UK enjoyed from being a major player are unlikely to return as Britain does the walk of shame to the back of the queue.
Once we’re out, coming back will not be quick, cheap or easy.
Well, I’m making this up as I go along, I admit, but it seems to me that France, Germany, etc do want the UK in the EU, and are (obviously) willing to have it in on the terms that it now enjoys. So the game plan might be that the UK transitions to EEA membership without adopting the euro, and possibly retaining something vaguely analogous to the rebate in its financial arrangements as an EEA member. Then, a few years down the line, they negotiate re-admission to the Union on terms which preserve some of their EEA sweeteners (like sterling, and some kind of budget deal). The end result is that they get back in on terms which, if not the exact terms they now enjoy, are more like those terms than the terms that a complete newbie would get.
There is going to be no Article 50 till at least Oct, when the new PM takes over and I suspect there will be an election after that, with EU membership as the main issue. If (say) Labour wins with a election promise to stay in; and ignore the referendum, then…
Well with the Brexit guys jumping ship already, that does not seem like an unlikely senario.
But wouldn’t the Tories run on the same promise? If the new election is to be a confirmation referendum as well, doesn’t Remain/Leave have to break along party lines?
Doesn’t the fixed election law preclude that? I may not have a good understanding of it, but I don’t think that simply changing party leaders is an exception to the ban on snap elections.
There won’t be a general election this year. First, there’s the issue of fixed terms. Second, the Tories want boundary changes to kick in. Third, there are a lot of Tory MPs in marginal seats who want to stay in those seats as long as possible.
No. If both Tories and Labour run on an explicit platform of not exiting the EU, and if either of them win, the winner has a mandate not to exit the EU. The mandate you get depends on what’s in your platform, not what’s in other parties’ platforms.
If people don’t want to vote for a candidate committed to “remain” then they can vote UKIP.
(Whether both - or indeed either - the Tories or Labour would go into an early general election on a platform of remaining is another question, of course. But if they did, and if they won, they’d have a mandate for remaining.)
Can’t Parliament say “never mind what we said before, elections in X weeks”?
If both Tories and Labour think they can gain from early elections, what’s to stop them?
Meanwhile, in Conservative Leadership Election news:
Ken Clarke and Malcolm Rifkind are caught “unawares” on alive mike/camera feed discussing the leadership contenders.
Clarke favours May, despite calling her bloody difficult - “We used to work for Margaret Thatcher, and she was bloody difficult”.
“Mr Farrage. Now your entire campaign has been revealed to be lies and the UK faces disaster. Do you feel any responsibility for this?”
“Sorry, I’m a private citizen now. It’s nothing to do with me.”
Aye, “unawares” right enough, heh. Sly old dogs those pair.
The state of Ken Clarke 
. Even by his standards he’s looking a bit rough there.
The classic “two pints of wine for lunch after rolling home from Ronnie Scott’s at 5am” look.
Anyone who thinks that they didn’t know exactly what they were doing needs to be hit with the clue-stick. The camera’s pointing straight at Clarke FFS!
He’s 76.