IF ever there was something that should be kicked into the long grass, Brexit would surely be it. However, in keeping with her increasingly desperate and bloody-minded bid to get Brexit through as fast as possible at any cost, we heard Theresa May insist that she would be prepared to accept only a short extension to Brexit.
It beggars belief that we continue to hear the “will of the people” tripe spouted about the (knife-edge, 52 per cent to 48%) June 2016 referendum result given that the Prime Minister is determined to resurrect her comprehensively rejected deal. Oh yes, Mrs May, after seeing her deal democratically defeated by a massive margin on two separate occasions in Parliament, is utterly determined to bring it back for a third time.
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She underlined this intention in a dramatically convened address outside 10 Downing Street on Wednesday night, which was either entirely predictable or a total anti-climax depending on whether you have become used by now to Mrs May parroting the same old thing, and offering nothing new.
If this were a vampire-based horror film, as opposed to just a continuing economic nightmare, someone would surely be calling for the stake and the garlic right about now to try to ward off the attempt to bring the diabolical deal back to life.
The Prime Minister continues to talk about delivering Brexit, in line with the will of the people. The will of Parliament seems far, far less important to her. It is an utterly remarkable, as well as entirely lamentable, situation.
It has become clear that, in spite of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow’s welcome intervention to try to stop essentially the same thing being brought back again for another vote, Mrs May is utterly determined to have a third chance to try to force through her draft withdrawal agreement with the European Union.
This agreement would take the UK out of the single market, and end free movement of people, thus damaging the economy very significantly.This is a simple truth but one that seems still not to be understood by many.
Mrs May told Parliament on Wednesday that she had requested an extension of the Brexit date to June 30, having informed EU leaders it would be in no one’s interests for the UK to take part in upcoming European Parliament elections. She talked about bringing forward further domestic proposals in an attempt to resolve issues over the Irish border backstop – seemingly signalling more tiresome pandering to the Democratic Unionist Party.
The signals from the EU yesterday were that May 22, the day before the start of the European Parliament elections, would be the latest to which the Brexit date could be pushed, in terms of Mrs May’s current strategy anyway. You would imagine a more convincing plan for a way out of this mess, such as staying in the single market or a second Brexit referendum, might secure a longer delay.
The only two things businesses and households can rely on the UK’s Brexit crisis to deliver are a massive shambles and huge uncertainty.
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We must not overlook the damage done already. The UK grew by only 1.4% last year – its weakest pace since 2012. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development forecasts respective UK growth of only 0.8% and 0.9% for this year and 2020. Scotland, like all other parts of the UK, remains weighed down by Brexit.
The economy north of the Border outperformed the UK as a whole in terms of growth in the fourth quarter, according to Scottish Government data published this week. However, while Scotland’s growth of 0.3% was ahead of the 0.2% for the UK, this was weak by historical standards.
Over 2018, Scotland only matched the UK’s growth of 1.4%.
A raft of surveys have flagged the impact of the protracted dire Brexit uncertainty on businesses and the economy in Scotland, and UK-wide.
Business investment has, of course, been weak throughout the UK in the years since the Brexit vote. We should not be surprised about this at all, given the complete Brexit shambles having added dramatically to the woes of an already-weak UK economy and clouding visibility of what the future might hold.
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MPs were understandably exasperated on Wednesday as Mrs May carried on regardless with her seeming attempt to force everyone into submission on her Brexit plan.
Ian Blackford, Scottish National Party leader at Westminster, and Labour MP Yvette Cooper brought some perspective to the outlandish proceedings.
Calling for a new EU membership referendum, Mr Blackford said: “Her deal has failed, this House has voted against no-deal. Once again, the Prime Minister is acting in her own self-interest, not in the interests of the whole of the UK.”
We should remember that Scotland voted very convincingly to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum so, while Tory Brexiters might not like to listen, it is good to hear the SNP speak up on this issue at Westminster - especially at a time when Labour seems all at sea over Brexit at a Scottish level. And also given that there is no way the Scottish Conservatives will be speaking up in any significant way for the heavy Remain majority north of the Border.
Ms Cooper said: “What she (Mrs May) is doing, by sticking to this failed plan, is deeply dangerous for our country. In the national interest, I beg this Prime Minister to think again.”
Mrs May claimed on Wednesday it was “imperative that this Parliament delivers on the Brexit that people voted for”.
This brings us back to the curious double standard of the Prime Minister in trying to bring back her defeated Brexit deal to Parliament repeatedly, until she gets the result she wants, while holding up the 52%-48% vote for Brexit in 2016 as the only thing that matters. She views the referendum result as absolutely final even though the Leave campaign has been shown to be based on little, if anything, more than fantasy (with big new trade-deal moves promised by the Brexiters conspicuous by their absence). The polls signal the UK electorate’s view has changed since 2016, with many realising they were hoodwinked.
We are far, far into the realms of the ridiculous, as ideology prevails over basic common sense.
The minimum that we need at this stage is a long, long delay, with the hope that sense will prevail. Better still would be a swift abandonment of the whole shambles, once and for all.
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