Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:47 pm
Tue Oct 02, 2018 4:37 pm
Boris Johnson calls for Government to 'chuck Chequers' in speech to Conservative Party Conference
Leaving the EU on the terms of the Chequers plan would be a "mistake" and would be the "perfect" way for the UK to return to the EU, Boris Johnson has said in an eagerly-anticipated speech at the Tory conference in which he told the audience to "chuck Chequers".
The former foreign secretary said currently the UK did not appear to be "taking back control" but was instead "forfeiting control" to Brussels, which was a "constitutional outrage" and that if the Chequers plan was agreed on, the UK would be "paraded in manacles" in front of the EU.
He added that the Prime Minister's Brexit blueprint showed that the "UK was unable, ultimately to take back control", and we would be "humiliated" if we left the EU on its terms and ended up "half-in, half-out".
Mr Johnson - who quit Mrs May's Cabinet in protest over her Chequers plan - told the hall that it was "sad" and "desperately wrong that we are preparing to agree terms with Brussels that would make it difficult if not impossible" to do "proper free trade deals" with the rest of the world if the Chequers plan was agreed to.
He continued: "We will not only be prevented from offering our tariff schedules, we will be unable to make our own laws, to vary our regulatory framework for goods, agrifoods and much much more besides.
"This is politically humiliating for a £2 trillion economy."
He also warned that "if we cheat the electorate - and Chequers is a cheat - we will escalate the sense of mistrust.
"We will give credence to those who cry betrayal, and I am afraid we will make it more likely that the ultimate beneficiary of Chequers will be the far right in the form of Ukip, possibly others, and therefore the far left in the form of Jeremy Corbyn."
His call to "chuck Chequers" and "truly take back control" was met with rapturous applause and cries of "chuck Chequers" returned.
Mr Johnson said it was this, not the Chequers plan which needed backing "because if we get it wrong we will be punished. And if we get it right we can have a glorious future.
"This Government will then be remembered for having done something brave and right and remarkable and in accordance with the wishes of the people."
He won a standing ovation from audience members at the end of his speech.
Tue Oct 02, 2018 7:36 pm
Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:05 pm
Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:39 am
Wed Oct 03, 2018 3:40 pm
rebbonk wrote:You are spot on Melisandre. I think we will have a brexit in name only. Far too many well placed people have far too much to lose if we truly leave. It will be a fudge and dressed up as 'giving the people what they asked for'.
The already low expectation of our politicians will fall even lower and they will be wringing their poor little hands asking why!
Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:53 pm
Coventry MPs say they won't rule out backing Theresa May on Brexit deal
COVENTRY’S Labour MPs fear a ‘no-deal’ Brexit disaster and say they have not ruled out supporting Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposals to prevent this outcome.
They said they will not support a second referendum or a so-called ‘people’s vote’, and would keep the pressure on Mrs May to call a General Election.
In the 2016 EU referendum, 55.6 per cent of Coventry voters voted to Leave the European Union.
Coventry South MP Jim Cunningham, Coventry North East MP Colleen Fletcher and Coventry North West MP Geoffrey Robinson predicted tragic consequences for Coventry in the event of a no-deal break with the European Union – and also spoke of the damage Mrs May’s Chequers deal with cabinet members could do.
Jim Cunningham MP response:
“The main thing for me at this stage is to see what deal Theresa May brings back from the EU before I, or the Labour Party as a whole, fully commits to supporting or opposing that deal.
“I can admit that the deal is unlikely to be acceptable for me or the party and I’m unlikely to back it, but let’s wait and see."
Colleen Fletcher MP response:
“I will support the Labour Party position. The outcome of negotiations is still unclear but Keir Starmer’s comments at conference indicated that Labour will vote against a deal that is based on the Chequers proposal.”
Geoffrey Robinson MP response:
“Labour recognises that leaving the EU with ‘no deal’ is the worst possible deal for Britain and that it would do damage to our economy and trade.
“We will reject ‘no deal’ as a viable option and, if needs be, negotiate transitional arrangements to avoid a ‘cliff-edge’ for the UK economy."
Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:37 am
Leaked letter reveals EU concession by May as she ABANDONS Northern Ireland
The letter leaked to The Times newspaper suggests Mrs May could sign a deal which would tie Northern Ireland to the European customs union and single market if future talks collapse. It was sent to Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds, leader and deputy leader of the DUP. This could threaten the support of the 10 DUP MPs Mrs May relies on for her Parliamentary majority, potentially bringing down the Government.
As part of an exit deal with the EU, the Government is reportedly considering accepting a so-called ‘backstop’, which would see the whole UK remain tied to the EU customs union if future talks on a long-term trading relationship collapse.
This would leave the UK subject to trade deals and regulations drawn up by the EU, with little or no say over what goes in them.
The UK is insisting on the right to withdraw from this backstop, to stop it becoming a permanent relationship.
In response, Mrs May’s letter claimed the EU is demanding a “backstop to the backstop”, which would keep Northern Ireland tied to the customs union to prevent a hard border with the Irish Republic should the UK as a whole pull out of the initial backstop without a deal.
She wrote: “I am clear that I could not accept there being any circumstances or conditions in which that ‘backstop to the backstop’, which would break up the UK customs territory, could come into force.”
However, the DUP believe the wording suggests the Prime Minister will accept a second backstop being placed in the withdrawal agreement, which will then be legally binding.
If Northern Ireland remains tied to the EU customs union it will continue to have much of its trade policy and product regulation set by Brussels, rather than Belfast or London.
Unionists worry the divergence from the rest of the UK will in time threaten the British union.
Mrs Foster told The Times: “The Prime Minister’s letter raises alarm bells for those who value the integrity of our precious Union and for those who want a proper Brexit for the whole of the UK.
“It appears the Prime Minister is wedded to the idea of a border down the Irish Sea with Northern Ireland in the EU single market regulatory regime.”
Fri Nov 09, 2018 11:43 am
Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:13 pm
rebbonk wrote:This is going to turn out a BREXIT in name only. May is selling us all down the river, and very cheaply!