WGPlus (Archive)

Editorial Commentary: ‘Who gets the blame if parliament vote on deal?’

If ever one was looking for an illustration of how out of touch some MPs are with public opinion, you would need to look no further than the recent proposed amendments to the Bill that will enable the PM to ‘trigger’ Article 50.

To take one (precis) example; Amendment 11 – To produce a report on effect of withdrawal on UK’s national finances.

Given some EU politician’s expressions of ‘We must punish them’, why would we want to tell them what would hurt us or benefit us the most?

One wonders just who would Remoaners and Brexiteers trust to produce such a report?  Would we ‘dust off’ the HM Treasury’s ‘Project Fear’ reports from last year?  Even the OBR would have great difficulty in undertaking the task of producing what would be accepted as a ‘neutral’ report.

Britain to enter recession with 500,000 UK jobs lost if it left EU, new Treasury analysis shows ~ HM Treasury analysis shows leaving EU would cost British households £4,300 per year

If any such amendment had succeeded in being added to the Bill and that had led to a poor outcome in the negotiations, then the Remoaners could not have blamed the government, because it would be as a result of their own actions.  If the Bill remains as it is, after passing through the Lords, then the government can be judged (in the future) on their actions and the outcomes.

Given that (again) all those ‘experts (such as the IMF) seem to have (previously) been seriously ‘wrong’ (at least so far), we should accept the fact that we won’t really know the impact until several years after Brexit, as there are so many (some unknown at this time) variables (including the future of the EU / Euro).  One should also keep in mind the old truism; Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.

EU News:  How the euro can survive ~ Defence: MEPs urge member states to show political will and join forces

Those who think that the EU is a ‘bed of roses’ for its members and that Brexit means leaving ‘Paradise’ might do well to watch the new BBC This World series on BBC2 (21:00 Thursday nights)

After Brexit: The Battle for Europe

The final irony was that the amendments even included one that said (in effect), ‘if the negotiated deal was ‘turned down’ by MPs, we should remain in the EU’hardly likely to encourage the EU to offer us a reasonable deal!

As for the House of Lords; Their role is to ‘improve’ draft legislation so as to minimise ‘the law of unseen consequences’.  That patently does not apply to this Bill, whereas they will have a fundamental role in ‘translating’ EU legislation into UK law so that it is ‘fit for purpose’.  One hopes that they realise that and don’t obstruct the ‘will of the people’ to leave the EU!

With regards to the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK after Brexit, it is up to the EU to come out now and say an agreement can be reached on that and UK citizens in the EU.  The only thing stopping an agreement being made is their refusal to make one yet.

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