We will leave the EU on 31 October

Some have doubts we will leave the EU on the date stated by the PM.

There are many good reasons why he has to stick to it.

1. The EU has made clear it will not re open the Withdrawal Agreement and offer  the 21 to 45 months delay in leaving without the Irish backstop.

2. The EU is not offering talks on delay in exit without the Withdrawal Treaty.

3. A significant number of Conservative MPs would not vote for the Withdrawal Treaty without the backstop as it contains many other undesirable features.

4. Labour shows no wish to go into coalition with pro EU Conservative Ministers should the government want to change its mind on this central policy, to get through a Withdrawal Treaty which delays and undermines Brexit.

5 Even this Parliament would not vote to revoke Article 50 and then repeal the leaving legislation, recognising that would be a provocation too far of the majority who want Brexit.

The best course remains for the UK to leave on 31 October as promised, whilst offering comprehensive free trade talks and a no tariffs exit on that date.

265 Comments

  1. Ian Wragg
    August 2, 2019

    Time will tell.

    1. Peter Wood
      August 2, 2019

      Does anybody trust Mr. Johnson… I think not.

      We have to hope that JRM will manage the business of the house to avoid any change to the law and that fear of a GE resulting in a wipeout of the Conservatives by TBP will keep the PCP in line. It’s a knife edge position.

      The Conservatives lost the by-election because they put forward a ‘damaged’ candidate who should have been replaced by the local association. AND the PCP still don’t seem to have adequate plans in place to leave the EU on WTO terms, in short, CREDIBILITY.
      Voters have been fed scare stories for the last 3 years, and the PCP have done almost nothing to defray those concerns; that argument has been lost due to incompetence.

      1. Lifelogic
        August 2, 2019

        Boris will have some trouble delivering a real Brexit even if he is sound and trying his very best to deliver. Too many traitor MPs plus bollocks to Brexit Bercow plotting against him and indeed against the UK’s interests.

        1. NickC
          August 2, 2019

          Lifelogic, Boris only has a majority of one now. The obvious thing to do would be a general election. But with the Fixed Term Act, a two thirds majority is needed to call one. Labour got 5.3% in Wales – incredible! So which MPs would vote for a general election? MPs have got themselves into a right pickle. And all because they would not vote for the UK to actually leave the EU. MPs are caught out because of their own duplicity.

        2. Simeon
          August 2, 2019

          One of many strong arguments for a GE. If the case had been persistently and consistently made by BJ that a GE was the best way to deliver Brexit, and then, just as importantly, make a success of it, I think people would have more faith in him. As it is, the only Brexit this present Parliament delivers is some version of the WA/WT that amounts to a BRINO, probably as a prelude to re-accession at some later date.

          As an aside, what is the plan for the remainer MPs? (I’m talking about those with principles, rather than the lobby fodder who happily voted for the WA; these latter would undoubtedly vote for anything they are told to, and so are an asset to a good leader, distasteful though that may be…)

  2. Nigl
    August 2, 2019

    If he can last that long? Yesterday’s vote showed why you need an accommodation with Farage. Split your vote let the Lib Dem’s in.

    1. jerry
      August 2, 2019

      @Nigl; Except Nigel Farage is another Barbara Castle! You might need to think about, or even research, that…

      1. Simeon
        August 2, 2019

        The Conservatives have nothing to fear from the Brexit party if they deliver a clean and proper Brexit. If they do not, then we’ll be talking about ‘Boris Castle’. BJ has staked his political career on delivering Brexit. The consequences of failure are clear. The Conservative party has no divine right to exist. It’s future is now in BJ’s hands. Good luck with that…

        1. Sir Joe Soap
          August 2, 2019

          Its even

        2. jerry
          August 2, 2019

          @Simeon; Non so blind as those who choose not to see, UKIP/TBP can not obtain Brexit, they can Brexit though…

          “The Conservative party has no divine right to exist.”

          Nor, for that matter, does Brexit, should a europhile party or coalition gain a working parliamentary majority either via the FTPA (after a lost NC vote) or a GE, even more so after a GE…

          1. jerry
            August 2, 2019

            Oops, UKIP/TBP can not obtain Brexit, they can STOP Brexit though…

          2. Simeon
            August 2, 2019

            You are correct in saying that the Brexit party cannot deliver Brexit now – at least not directly (they may be able to exert an influence indirectly). The Conservatives have the power and therefore the responsibility. Duly, they will therefore be held accountable. The only ‘Brexit’ the Brexit party, and indeed the ‘Spartans’, would want to stop is a BRINO.

            Brexit does not have a divine right to exist. I have consistently suggested that it may not happen. But if indeed it does not happen, in defiance of a clear democratic mandate, there will inevitably be consequences. The Conservative party, as the party of government, as the party in power, will naturally, and rightly, bear the brunt of those consequences.

            If your desire is to see a BRINO – not necessarily because you think it is itself a good thing, but because you think it will preserve the integrity (!) of the Conservative party – and this desire is thwarted, then I would hope that you reserve some blame for the Brexit party, and indeed others sufficiently clear-minded to discern what a real Brexit is, and what isn’t. I myself would be giving them credit for this.

            As others have famously said (oh, that they truly meant it), a Brexit based on the WA is worse than no Brexit at all. But if a stitch-up it is to be, then there will be plenty of voters ready and willing to mobilise against a treacherous political class.

          3. jerry
            August 3, 2019

            @Simeon; “The have the power and therefore the responsibility.”

            Except the Conservatives do not hold that much power since the 2017 GE and with every lost seat, due to defection or by-election, that power ebbs away even further, this is why I am so critical of UKIP/TBP, why do they stand against the ONLY party that is 1/. able to and 2/. willing to bring forth Brexit if they do truly desire Brexit.

          4. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Jerry, There is no such entity as UKIP/TBP. And why should the Brexit party or UKIP stand aside? We’re in this mess because of Conservative MPs, so why keep voting for them? If you keep doing the same thing, don’t expect different results. So people have decided to do a different thing: vote Brexit party. Tough – stop advocating a partial Leave and just maybe people will return to the Tory party.

          5. Simeon
            August 4, 2019

            The present government’s power is somewhat limited, though this has far more to do with the appalling errors of May’s government than anything TBP/UKIP have done. Nevertheless, BJ had the opportunity to publicly set the agenda as soon as the leadership race began. He could have made the case that to deliver a clean and proper Brexit you need a Parliament willing to do so. He had the opportunity to make all the relevant arguments, set out and justify an unequivocal position, and once in power set the agenda. Granted, the nature of this Parliament may still have proved an insurmountable obstacle, but when the crunch comes, as it inevitably will, and the people have their say again, BJ would have actually earned some trust as a result of the consistency and coherence of his position. At this point, TBP would be an ally; Farage has said he’d do a deal with the devil to deliver Brexit.

            As it is, the nature of this Parliament points to one path more than any other. My prediction is this:

            a) The present government will not secure any changes to the WA for two reasons; first, the changes sought by the UK are too difficult to deliver, mainly because altering the finely balanced WA will undermine EU unity; second the EU has no incentive to open the WA because it can see as well as anyone else that this Parliament will stop a no deal.

            b) Meanwhile, the present government will continue no de preparations, but will not be proposing any legislation that would give Parliament the opportunity to bind its hands in this regard.

            c) As 31.10 approaches, it will become clear that the only way for Parliament to prevent no deal will be to vote down the government. This will duly happen.

            d) What happens next is uncertain, but I suspect that at this point a temporary government will be cobbled together, perhaps led by Rory Stewart, or Keir Starmer, or Yvette Cooper. They will legislate for a new referendum, probably with the option of remain or no deal, with Brexit postponed to allow this democratic event.

            e) What then happens, God knows. Who would win the referendum is uncertain. What government would emerge subsequently is even more uncertain. But whatever happens, it will be messy. And whatever happens, TBP will be there, campaigning for exactly the same thing as always – a clean and proper Brexit – either to ensure it is delivered, or to seek to overturn the result of the referendum if it goes the other way. They could justify this by claiming, with a high degree of legitimacy, that the original instruction by the people was sabotaged, undermined and betrayed.

          6. jerry
            August 4, 2019

            @NickC; The Brecon by-election was won by a electoral pack between the LibDems/Greens/PC, three septate parties that have certain policy commonality between them, have I suggested they are now one party?…

            UKIP/TBP share policy commonality too.

    2. JoolsB
      August 2, 2019

      Exactly.

    3. agricola
      August 2, 2019

      The Tories can only accommodate with Nigel Farage during an election and afterwards. The Lib/Dums are living off the disarray in Labour. In denying the referendum result they are neither liberal nor democratic. The ever remain BBC will cosy up to them so anticipate much dishonest speculation on our airwaves.

      1. Lifelogic
        August 2, 2019

        “In denying the referendum result they are neither liberal nor democratic.” Indeed nor are they liberal or democratic in so many other ways. It is a satirical name one assumes. Still at least Ed Davey did not win I would not want to see any more of him.

        The Anti-Democratic, Government knows best, tax borrow and waste, Illiberal & full of greencrap party would be a better name.

        Or the Mad “BBC think” party.

    4. Hope
      August 2, 2019

      Lib dumbs went in with Greens and Pliad to form Remain pact. Tories should have done a deal with Brexit Party. Torries also put up a convicted criminal! Tossers.

      1. Everhopeful
        August 2, 2019

        I read somewhere that NF refused a pact because the Tory candidate had voted for Mrs M’s WA.

        1. Lifelogic
          August 2, 2019

          Sounds sensible of Farage, but nearly all of the Cabinet, Boris, Mogg and the junior ministers voted for it at some stage. They were prepared to put the UK into servitude.

        2. Hope
          August 2, 2019

          Johnson stated last week he will not make a deal with any other party. Specifically after being asked about the Brexit Party.

          I accept Mayhab was responsible for putting forward a criminal for election. 2009 expense scandal a distant memory for her or the Major sleaze govt. where Major proprogued Parliament not to be asked questions over cash for questions!

      2. Lifelogic
        August 2, 2019

        Exactly complete and utter idiots. Brexit party deal is needed even if Boris delivers. So many Conservative MP need deselecting and ditching anyway.

        1. Lifelogic
          August 2, 2019

          “10 tax free ports to be created after EU exit” – Well if 10 are a good idea why not make the whole of the UK a tax free port, free of unnecessary checks and paperwork and with liberated planning laws?

          Why should this just apply to 10 ports rather than others who will be the lucky owners? It is just discrimination and unfair competition. I though this woke government wanted equality. They even have Rudd as Minster Women and Equality. And a competition authority.

          All places are equal but some are more equal than others it seems.

          1. Sir Joe Soap
            August 2, 2019

            Why not make NI one large freeport?
            Wouldn’t that solve a certain small problem?

        2. Lifelogic
          August 2, 2019

          “A no-deal Brexit would result in an instant shock to the UK economy” says Mark Carney.

          Replacing Mark Carney and his project fear would surely be an instant boost to confidence and the economy. The many has made huge mistakes and is full of green lunacy too. A far better person could be found for about 10% of his remuneration. What are they waiting for?

        3. Lifelogic
          August 2, 2019

          The government and the BBC of course seem to be blaming the failure of the Toddbrook Reservoir Dam on “heavy rain” and “Climate Change” how convenient – but not remotely true.

          A dam need to be strong enough to hold the water behind it up to the height of the dam (heavy rain or not) . If it rains too much you simply have release the water or it simply spills over the top.

          The fault lies with a failure to maintain its structural integrity and/or to monitor it properly. Thank goodness it did not result in another Aberfan it could have been even worse. It seems that a primary school is located just below with dam.

          Like most things in the UK it was probably too many pen pushers, lawyers, politicians, PPE types, box tickers and bureaucrats and far too few decent engineers, builders,scientist and actual doers. Let us hope the RAF chaps in the Chinook helicopter (dropping off tonnes of aggregate) plus releasing the water as quickly as safely possible will rescue the situation.

          It seems some Canal Trust owns it. It it insured for public liability at up to say £1 billion? I could easily have been a huge tragedy and a massive claim. If so what was the insurance company aware of the massive risk they were taking on? Were they checking it was being maintained properly?

      3. Caterpillar
        August 2, 2019

        If TBP (and UKIP) hadn’t stood then Conservatives might still not have won, some votes may have gone to Labour. This would be bad for Conservatives.
        If Conservatives (and UKIP) hadn’t stood then TBP might still not have won as a negative picture has been painted of them by some media.
        The result as it stands shows the remain coalition at less than 50%,weak Labour and Tories leaking to TBP. This strengthens the PM’s position of leave by Oct 31 as otherwise votes and eventually seats will continue to leak – if UK leave on schedule then Cons can recover. If vote of NC / defections cause a GE then the Conservatives can do deal with TBP (e.g. Cons not standing in Labour seats that voted Leave and in which TBP did well in EU elections etc.)

    5. Charles Wardrop
      August 2, 2019

      Why object to NF for collaboration, at a critical time for Brexit, or indeed, later?

  3. jerry
    August 2, 2019

    I’m not so sure, let’s consider some other facts;

    1/. A majority of MPs hate the PM.

    2/. The working majority is now down to just one (thanks to UKIP/TBP).

    3/. There seem to be many disgruntled europhile Tory MPs.

    It is 1978/9 all over again, just like then, it will only take two defections or ill MP’s on the govt benches and the govt will fall should a NC vote be called…

    1. Know-Dice
      August 2, 2019

      Jerry, certainly Boris doesn’t have a working majority and we know that there are enough disgruntled ex-MPs/Cabinet members to bring him down.

      So, can Dominic Cummings “pull a rabbit out of the hat” for Boris…is there some cunning strategy in the background that we can’t figure out?

      Only time will tell.

      1. Stevez
        August 2, 2019

        Watch out for the G7 meeting in Biarritz later this month- if Boris sides with Trump against Macron and Merkel over Iran then the game is up- we will have become a vassalage of the US instead of the EU- so watch it- it’ll be in the body language

        1. Mark
          August 2, 2019

          I makes sense to me to ally with whoever will support the UK in trying to secure the release of a UK flag vessel and a British citizen both imprisoned in Iran. Doing so on the Iranian issue is hardly becoming a vassalage.

          1. Lifelogic
            August 3, 2019

            Indeed.

        2. Robert mcdonald
          August 2, 2019

          You mean a bit like we were when Bliar sucked up to Bush and took us to war ? Doubt if Johnson is so naive.

        3. Mitchel
          August 3, 2019

          “if Boris sides with Trump…”

          You might want to read 1 August article in Foreign Policy:”Iran Owns the Persian Gulf Now”:-

          “The Trump administration’s non-response to Iranian aggression has sent an unmistakeable message……….The United States is leaving the Persian Gulf.Not this year or next,but there is no doubt that the United States is on it’s way out.”

          Both Germany and Japan have declined to get involved in what they see as a potential provocation and Iran and Russia will shortly commence joint naval exercises in the area.

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      August 2, 2019

      No vote of Confidence will be called. Labour would be wiped out in an election. Only the Lib Dems are keen on an election (in the mistaken assumption that they are no longer the receivers of the dustbin vote) and they have hardly any MPs.

    3. APL
      August 4, 2019

      Jerry: “The working majority is now down to just one (thanks to UKIP/TBP).”

      Don’t forget Theresa May, calling an unnecessary election then losing thirteen seats.

      “spirit of co-operation” between the pro-Remain parties had led to Ms Dodds’s election, as he called for another EU referendum. –Adam Price (Plaid Cymru )

      “The Greens decision to withdraw from the by-election was “absolutely vindicated” by the result.” – Anthony Slaughter ( Greens)

      Finally, don’t forget Theresa May fielding the same candidate the Local Tory party had just censured for financial irregularities. A most unpopular candidate among her own party.

      After the Tories lost 1300 local election seats under Theresa May.

      May’s incompetence, looses another election. Quelle suprise!

      1. jerry
        August 4, 2019

        @APL; But UKIP caused those Tory seats to be lost in 2017, and they also caused the lost of otherwise winnable Tory seats in 2010, causing the coalition, Farage even boasted about it the morning after FACT.

        If you really do want Brexit, which UKIP/TBP do not (the EP is to much the grandstand and gravy train), then wake up for goodness sake!

        Vote UKIP/TBP, get Labour, or worse -a Coalition with the LDs and perhaps even the SNP holding the balance of power.

        1. APL
          August 5, 2019

          Jerry: “But UKIP caused those Tory seats to be lost in 2017,”

          It’s my opinion, that without the UKIP putting pressure on the Tories, we’d never have got a referendum.

          Before you point the finger at BREXIT/UKIP for the loss of Brecon and Radnor, you should ask why the Remain Tory leader permitted the same candidate that had been prosecuted under the PS Act 2009, – CAUSING the by election, to stand as the official Tory party candidate in this by election – Another attempt by a former Remainer PM to poison the well for Johnson.

          from wiki:

          In February 2019, Davies was charged with claiming false expenses, pursuant to the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. He pleaded guilty in March and, in April, was sentenced to a community order of 50 hours unpaid work and a £1,500 fine. Under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, this conviction triggered a recall petition. After receiving notice from the sentencing court, the Speaker of the House of Commons indicated on 24 April 2019 that he would be instructing the constituency’s petition officer to begin the recall process. The petition opened on 9 May and remained open for signatures until 20 June 2019. It required 5,303 signatures (10% of eligible voters) to be successful. The Conservative Party were officially registered as campaigners for the petition’s failure, while the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Plaid Cymru campaigned for its success.

          This petition was successful, receiving 10,005 signatures (19%), significantly in excess of the 10% of constituents required. Davies was removed from the seat, creating a vacancy to be filled at a by-election, in which he was permitted to stand.

          Jerry: ” and they also caused the lost of otherwise winnable Tory seats in 2010, causing the coalition, ”

          Firstly, the constituency switches pretty much every election. The real actual difference this election was that those bastions of democracy the Greens and Pliad Cymru denied their voters the ability to vote for their own party programs and RECOMMENDED their supporters vote for the Lib Dems.

  4. NigelE
    August 2, 2019

    Don’t let us down, Boris; else the Tories will be punished.

    1. Ken Smith
      August 2, 2019

      Boris not to let you down? You may as well hope the sun doesnt rise tomorrow
      Morning. Only a fool trusts Boris

      1. Dan Earley
        August 2, 2019

        Given that 160 MP’s and 66% of party members voted for him, I would suggest that you are mistaken.

      2. Simeon
        August 2, 2019

        Foolishness or desperation? Each case should be judged on its own merits. Worth noting that desperate people often act foolishly. But acting foolishly is not quite the same as being a fool. Repeatedly acting foolishly on the other hand…

  5. Dominic
    August 2, 2019

    Tories lose Brecon after pro-Remain bigots agreed to work together in order to prevent splitting the Remain vote. Prepare for a snap GE.

    The Tories and the BP must come to some sort of electoral pact to prevent a Marxist Labour government or indeed a Labour-SNP coalition

    White, working folk in the North of England simply refuse to vote Conservative. This is the result of decades of class and cultural indoctrination. Therefore the Tories should step back in northern constituencies they have no possibility of winning and allow the BP to run against Remain Labour bigots in Northern English seats

    The next GE will be about the UK’s membership of the EU.

    1. jerry
      August 2, 2019

      @Dominic; “Tories lose Brecon after pro-Remain bigots agreed to work together “

      Had UKIP/TBP “bigots” voted Conservative the Tory party would have won in Brecon, giving the Tory party a 2,000+ majority.

      “The Tories and the BP must come to some sort of electoral pact”

      Are you not being somewhat hypocritical? Funny how some UKIP/TBP supporters are desperately using these by-election defeats to seek the same type of electoral pact with the Tories [1] as the one you condemn between the Greens, PC and the LibDems in Brecon.

      [1] no doubt to legitimise UKIP/TBP, not help the Tory party, UKIP/TBP could do the latter by simply not standing candidates in seats they plainly have little or no chance of winning.

      “White, working folk in the North of England simply refuse to vote Conservative.”

      Indeed, and many non “White, working folk” do too, but its got nought to do with Brexit, the problems for the Tory party started post the April 1979 GE…

      1. NickC
        August 2, 2019

        Jerry, What is this UKIP/TBP entity you keep going on about? The reality is that UKIP and TBP are quite different, and even hostile towards each other (sadly). TBP is positioned much closer to the Conservatives – support is mostly ex-Tory voters (see Lord Ashcroft’s analysis). UKIP appeals more to ex-Labour voters than TBP does (in proportion). Presumably you are misled because you get your insights from the BBC.

        1. jerry
          August 2, 2019

          @NickC; “Presumably you are misled because you get your insights from the BBC.”

          Unlike you, no! For someone who so often complains about (alleged) BBC bias you must watch an awful lot of the Corporations output, or do you just repeat hear-say?

          UKIP and TBP are two and the same, less some unsavoury people that caused the need for a new party, a previous leader and other officals, same policies, the same method of campaigning and operation within the EP, and with much the same hardcore membership. If it quack, waddles and loves water….

          1. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Jerry, Don’t be silly. I have never paid the BBC’s TV Tax. Entirely legally. I don’t normally listen to BBC radio. But that does not mean I can entirely escape BBC output, so pervasive it is.

            Moreover if you stop taking in BBC output for a fortnight and then go back to it, the BBC’s biases, tricks, and fakery become glaringly obvious. It’s much less obvious if you watch/listen continuously.

            It is a plain simple fact that UKIP and TBP are two quite separate parties. There have been ex-Tories in UKIP, but I’m struggling to think of a prominent one at the moment. But TBP? – it’s riddled with ex-Tories, and most of it’s voter support is ex-Tory. TBP is almost identical to the ERG wing of the Tory party. If it quacks, waddles and loves water ….

          2. jerry
            August 3, 2019

            @NickC, “I have never paid the BBC’s TV Tax [..//..] But that does not mean I can entirely escape BBC output”

            Nonsense, but thanks for admitting that many of your rants are mere hear-say, considering you do not watch any broadcast or time-shifted TV… Of course you could be living abroad and thus can watch UK TV without breaking UK laws, but then does that not disqualify you from interfering in UK domestic politics?

            As for your second paragraph, the same is true of other broadcasters such as Ch4, Sky CNN & Fox etc. and other print/web media outlets such as the Morning Star, Daily Mail or Breitbart etc, that is why I always access multiple sources. I very much doubt you do.

            “UKIP and TBP are two quite separate parties”

            A bit like a Goose and a Gander are different birds, in some more detailed respects!

          3. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Jerry, Make your mind up. First you “know” that I “must watch an awful lot of the Corporations output”; then you think I “do not watch any broadcast or time-shifted TV”.

            I do neither, as I clearly explained. So both your claims are strawmen.

            In the meantime you have conveniently sidestepped the important point about Lord Ashcroft’s polling which shows support for the Brexit party comes predominantly from ex-Tory voters.

          4. jerry
            August 4, 2019

            @NickC, “I do neither, as I clearly explained. So both your claims are strawmen.”

            No you did not. You claim not to pay the TVL fee, thus you either 1/. do not watch any UK broadcast TV (thus your claims of BBC bias etc. must be hear-say), 2/. you do but are thus admitting to braking the law, or 3/. you live outside of the UK and thus disqualify yourself from the debate, even if a expat. Which one is it NickC. #1. #2 or #3…?

            The only straw-man is your own, what is more it appears to have two (if not three) faces!

            As for your last paragraph, it is you who clearly does not understand the significance of the Ashcroft polling data, yes UKIP/TBP are talking Tory votes, no one is doubting that fact, but in doing so it is weakening the only party willing and able to deliver Brexit.

            This is serious politics, not a love affair or beauty contest, as to who is the biggest or most populist political party, leader, or even individual MP. The figures from Brecon on Friday morning clearly show that had UKIP/TBP votes been cast for the Tory candidate the Govt would not had their working parliamentary majority cut.

            The significance, one more lost Tory [1] seat, one more defection or abstention from the Govt benches and the next important Brexit related vote might be in the hands of the Speakers casting vote, two more lost votes and the keys to N0. 10 might well end up with Corbyn via a very europhile grand coalition after a NC due to the (UKIP caused) 2011 FTPA, no GE required!

            [1] or even, perhaps, DUP

      2. Narrow Shoulders
        August 3, 2019

        @Jerry and @dominic

        Why are you so sure the Brexit party cost the Conservatives the byelection?

        Given the collapse of the Labour vote it is more likely that those voting Brexit party were labour leavers who couldn’t bring themselves to vote Conservative. The Conservatives were not going to win once Greens and Plaid stood down.

        I do feel that the only way the Conservatives retain power following a general election is not to stand against the Brexit party in Labour heartlands. Labour leavers will not vote Cobservative but Conservative leavers may well vote Brexit party

        1. jerry
          August 4, 2019

          @NC; “Given the collapse of the Labour vote it is more likely that those voting Brexit party were labour leavers who couldn’t bring themselves to vote Conservative.”

          Well perhaps, if you discount the party manifestos!…

          Also, whilst Labours vote collapsed it did so less than the Tory vote did.

          What is more likely, Conservatives voters simply sat on their hands, how else do you account for a 7,680 drop in votes to Conservatives. I accept that Labour voters also sat on their hands too, perhaps because Labour Brexit believers thought that a 8,038 Tory majority could not be over turned.

    2. agricola
      August 2, 2019

      Had the Brexit Party worked towards a conservative victory in Brecon the numbers were there for a Conservative victory. In the North of England the Conservative Party must work for Brexit Party victories assuming a general election. Boris and Nigel need to talk.

      1. jerry
        August 2, 2019

        @agricola; “Boris and Nigel need to talk.”

        That might actually loose the Tories even more votes, any perceived political lurch is not going to win votes, as labour found in 1983!

        1. agricola
          August 2, 2019

          It is not a lurch perceived or real. The conservatives must first prune their party of rogue socialist tendencies. Whenever the next GE is called the candidate list must be 100% Conservative. There is then common ground for cooperation with the Brexit Party.

          The BP would be strong wherever Labour have abandoned the leave vote. Generally in the North of England. Cooperation in which constituencies to contest could lead to a Brexit/Conservative government. I see neither as strong enough on their own to get an overall majority. Lack of cooperation could open the door to the four forms of socialism, not one of which has a clue as to how to run a successful economy.

          The future for a Conservative Party is first to deliver Brexit and then to put in place the building blocks to make a success of it. Without Brexit their support will plummet and then the Brexit Party might reprise the recent EU election at a GE. No party, be it run by Lenin or Pinochet, stands any chance of lasting if it fails to produce a successful economy. Political philosophy is worthless unless you produce the wealth to fund it. Bilk Clinton got it right when he said ” It’s the economy stupid”.

          1. jerry
            August 3, 2019

            @agricola; Of course it is a lurch, just as Cameron shacking-up with the LDs was, I wonder how many previously Tory supporting europhobes went on to join/vote for UKIP because of the 2010 coalition, it is naive to think that europhile Tory supporters could not shift their support if the party shacked-up with Farage.

            “[TBP] would be strong wherever Labour have abandoned the leave vote.”

            I’m not so sure, because for many voters in such areas any issues with our membership of the EU is a symptom, not the problem.

            The Labour party never wanted Brexit, and since June 2016 have wanted a very managed Brexit if there is to be one, yet Labour came within a few votes of winning the 2017 GE.

            As you remind us, Bill Clinton was correct, it’s the economy stupid!..

            People did not flock (back) to Labour because of Labour’s pre referenda Brexit policy, they did so because of Corbyn’s far wider leadership manifesto policies. Remember he was first elected as leader, by an overwhelming popular majority in 2015, some 10 months before the Brexit referendum.

            “The future for a Conservative Party is first to deliver Brexit and then to put in place the building blocks to make a success of it.”

            No it is not, at least all the time the party is in Govt, their first duty is to govern the country, Brexit or no Brexit – they need to put those building blocks in place what ever, something many believe they have and are still failing to do, hence the rise of Labour under Corbyn, and now that of the LDs, since 2016.

            [1] unless Corbyn’s wing of the Labour party are sidelined again, but that doesn’t look very likely, they seems to be Teflon coated, unlike some of the scheming Blairites

          2. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Agricola, Jerry is just exercising a little pre-emptive propaganda. If he says it enough times – ‘the Tories are quite separate from the horrid UKIP/TBP entity’ – he thinks he will begin to believe it himself.

    3. MickN
      August 2, 2019

      Dominic you have written pretty much what I was about to myself. I think that the quid pro quo should be that the Brexit Party do not stand candidates in the constituencies of those like our host who have steadfastly stood up for us leaving the Evil Empire. Swinson can hardly cry foul now that the precedent has been set can she ?
      One other point. Who the hell thought that standing the same person up as a candidate who had just been recalled and disgraced was a good idea?

      1. Enrico
        August 2, 2019

        One name “THERESA MAY”

        1. Lifelogic
          August 2, 2019

          May is so reliable as a broken compass one should ask her opinion on almost anything issue and then do the complete opposite. One would make a fortune that way. I wonder who she thinks will win the Ashes?

        2. Mark B
          August 2, 2019

          A Poisioned Pill

      2. Hugh Gunn
        August 2, 2019

        As I understand it Davies’ fall was bureaucratic not natural justice. Hence his loyal local party stood by him. Thank goodness for fair minded Conservatives.

        1. forthurst
          August 2, 2019

          Mr Davies, when confronted with an invoice in respect of his constituency office setup costs that put him over budget, decided to fabricate two replacement invoices which he then used to mop up the the outstanding setup budget, applying the other to his annual running costs budget. I think the invoice related to six pictures to put on the office wall.

          If you would like me to explain why this was dishonest and therefore why the constituency party was as idiotic as some of those around me who either select a wildly inappropriate candidate or continue to stand a candidate whose lack of a work ethic was weekly recorded in the local press, I will do so. FPTP needs to go.

          1. Narrow Shoulders
            August 3, 2019

            And on top of this in public office any scent of irregularity should be terminal.

            Resign and come back later if you must

      3. Simeon
        August 2, 2019

        The difficulty with this is that only about thirty Conservative MPs have been steadfast in their opposition to the EU. The ratio of Brexit party to Conservative candidates would be massively in the Brexit party’s favour. It would be the Brexit party allowing select Conservatives a free run, rather than the other way round. Sadly, this ain’t gonna happen.

        1. L Jones
          August 2, 2019

          According to the website standup4brexit.com there are 46 MPs who are pledging to do what it says in the title (including our host).
          Let’s hope they keep to their pledge.

          1. Simeon
            August 2, 2019

            That would be a larger number than voted against the WA at the third time of asking. As you say, let’s hope they can be trusted. A pity we cannot expect them to do as they pledge.

    4. tim
      August 2, 2019

      That is simply NOT true. I am white working class, born and bred Labour, but never again will I or any of my family vote Labour. 70% of people up here voted for Brexit no deal. Those same people will now vote BP.

      1. Horace
        August 2, 2019

        If true, you need to think again. You are voting for the end of the NHS, more expensive food and drink, removal of workers’ rights and consumer rights. You think Farage is on the side of the working class? Brexit is for the rich by the rich.

        1. Dan Earley
          August 2, 2019

          Would you mind posting some evidence of that?

        2. NickC
          August 2, 2019

          Horace, You think Remain champagne socialists are on the side of the working class?

        3. agricola
          August 2, 2019

          Fear mongering pure and simple.

        4. Treacle
          August 2, 2019

          Hasn’t it occurred to you that an independent, free and democratic country can give its workers any rights that it wants to? It doesn’t need to pay a foreign power £360 million a week in order to do this.

        5. L Jones
          August 2, 2019

          That rings a bell. Project Fear Mark II – am I right? No, wait – it was Mark III. Yes, that was it….. Or was it…..? Give us a clue.

        6. Original Richard
          August 2, 2019

          Horace,

          If you want to ensure the continued existence of the NHS as we know it then please make sure you support Brexit and thus be able to vote for politicians who say they will keep the NHS.

          For if we remain in the EU :

          1) The NHS will be sold (to put it in remainer terms) to the US by the EU in a trade deal in exchange for cheaper tariffs on German cars and French wine. We will have no veto when trade deals becomes either an EU competence or is decided by QMV, or worse still if we are stupid enough to vote for the EU’s WA.

          2) With “ever closer union”, and hence continued harmonisation of taxes and institutions, the EU’s healthcare provision will be harmonised. No other country in the EU (or even the world come to that) uses our free-at-the point of service system and hence when harmonisation comes it will not be along the NHS model.

          3) The UK taxpayer will eventually be unable to afford free healthcare to everyone in the EU who seeks it, made worse by the EU’s desire for continued expansion. And if social care is added to the taxpayer burden we will become the granny dumping nation of the EU.

          1. AlmostDead
            August 3, 2019

            I’m of the view that the NHS should be privatised. I’ve have used a number of healthcare systems in the world including Canada, US, Japan and Taiwan. I would rank the NHS at the bottom in terms of quality and access to care. Of the systems I’ve used, surprisingly the Taiwan system is the best in quality of care and price. The NHS is well past its sell by date and should be modernised.

      2. Ken Smith
        August 2, 2019

        Farage is laughing behind your back

        1. NickC
          August 2, 2019

          Ken Smith, And Hamas is laughing behind your back.

      3. jerry
        August 2, 2019

        @tim; You asked them all…! Or do you simply mean that 70% voted for Brexit. that you believe mean leaving on WTO rules?

        UKIP/TBP does not want Brexit, otherwise why do they take their EP seats and thus claim the €U ‘shilling’, they could have done as SF do instead…

        1. NickC
          August 2, 2019

          Jerry, Leaving the EU treaties and trading under WTO rules was always a possibility of the Leave vote. There were no conditions attached to Leave, either on the ballot paper, or the EU Referendum Act 2015. Moreover TEU Art50 allows us to leave the EU treaties without a withdrawal agreement. And the EU has refused to negotiate a trade deal until the UK has left anyway.

          1. jerry
            August 2, 2019

            @NickC; But so was a Brexit based around not leaving all the treaties, doe exactly the reasons yo suggest, what is more it was often debated here, being called Flexcit.

            As I’ve tried to point out before, admittedly without success, 17.4m people voted for Brexit but with 28 different (and legal) campaign groups all seeking the same Leave vote no one can possibly know just what the electorate actually wants from Brexit.

          2. Simeon
            August 2, 2019

            Jerry has a point about a lack of coherence in the (many) leave campaign (s). However, Jerry, it is crystal clear what a proper Brexit entails. The political nature of the Single Market affirms this. As I’m sure you know, remaining in the Single Market or even ‘just’ the Customs Union’ means accepting the primacy of EU law in certain areas. Therefore, it is simple logic that to regain our sovereignty, we must simply leave, but leave entirely. Having left, we, and the EU, can then perhaps come to terms on the nature of our future relationship. Logically, this is what the people voted for

          3. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Jerry, It doesn’t matter if there were 28, or however many, campaigns (ie: advocates), there was a binary choice of only two outcomes in the 2015 Act, and on the ballot paper: to remain in the EU, or to leave it. Remaining under EU control is remaining in the EU. The English word ‘Leave’ is quite plain, and its understanding is at Primary school level.

            It is absolutely clear that if Remain had won – however many Remain campaigns there were – there would have been no prospect of a fudged Remain where the UK left half of the EU treaties and agreements. It’s either in or out: no other options are practicable. It’s incredible that you still don’t see that.

            As for ‘Flexit’, you have to be aware of both the quarrel between North and Farage, and the fact that North got himself trapped into advocating an initial partial Leave due to his contention that it would take years to replace EU law with UK law.

          4. jerry
            August 3, 2019

            “it is crystal clear what a proper Brexit entails. “

            Yes, as it was to each and every person who voted leave, but just what was “it”, Flexcit, or WTO, how does anyone know from a single [X] on the referendum ballot paper.

            Stop projecting what you want as what everyone else wants ‘logically’, you have no mandate to do so and by doing so are subverting the very democracy you say you demanded back.

            If you want to know what “it” means, and thus what the majority want, have the guts and common democratic decency to actually ask them – otherwise you are behaving no differently to the EC, the plebs have a vote but they’ll still get what we want!..

          5. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Jerry, You haven’t asked “them”, either. You are projecting your own desire for a cosy half-in/half-out solution. Want to know why people are deserting the Conservative party and voting Brexit party or UKIP? The answer is in your own semi-Remain rants, echoed by a majority of Tory MPs.

            Leave means out of the EU – it always did. Even Flexit is a precursor to a full exit. And the Tory party isn’t going to allow us to leave – Boris has said so a week after he got in. Do you wonder why we don’t trust the Tories? It’s over, Jerry, the CP is done.

          6. jerry
            August 4, 2019

            NicKC, “You are projecting your own desire”

            Oh look, Mr Pot has arrived!…

            “Leave means out of the EU”

            In the context of the 2016 referendum that is a 100% projection on your part, how do you know that 17m did not vote Leave because they wanted Flexcit (Norway option), meaning that a mere 4000 odd want a WTO exit, you can not as no one has ever been asked which of the 28 Leave manifestos they approved of, voted for.

            “Even Flexit is a precursor to a full exit.”

            Fine, Brexit can be in 2099 then, just as May’s WA suggests!

            “Do you wonder why we don’t trust the Tories?”

            Don’t tempt me, not that our host would allow my comments! Let me put it this way, I suspect the average UKIP/TBP supporter enjoys watching day-time morning TV…

          7. APL
            August 5, 2019

            NickC: “Even Flexit is a precursor to a full exit. ”

            And, by the behaviour of the remainers, we see why we couldn’t have adopted Flexit.

            Flexit might have been a good plan, if everyone were going to act in good faith. Clearly, they aren’t.

            The only way to get out, it to get out as soon as possible.

        2. agricola
          August 2, 2019

          The success of the Brexit Party at the EU elections was intended to put down a marker and slap the face of all those duplicitous politicians at Westminster who would thwart the decision of the UK electorate when they voted in June 2016. Should Boris fail by 31st October this year they are prepared to do it again.

          1. jerry
            August 3, 2019

            @agricola; “Should Boris fail by 31st October this year they are prepared to do it again.”

            Yes, at the next EP elections in 2024….

            Until then UKIP/TBP will be the also-rans, alongside the MRLP at the back of the stage on GE night. 😛

    5. Lifelogic
      August 2, 2019

      White, working folk in the North of England simply refuse to vote Conservative.

      Well perhaps this is because the Conservative have under cut their wages with open door low paid immigration, have buried the UK into the EU even more deeply, regulated us to death, have failed to deliver Brexit, have increased taxes to the highest for 50 years and meanwhile have provided dire and declining public services like the NHS, schools, universities, police, justice, social services, mental health care ….

      Then they want us to think the Conservative are a low tax party and good at economic management! Better than Corbyn/Mc Donnall/SNP slightly perhaps but still appalling and dishonest.

    6. Mark
      August 2, 2019

      Labour is now a Remain party but didn’t join the coalition. Their vote got squeezed also by some voters switching to TBP. In more normal constituencies, where there is no substantial vote for Plaid or Greens, the split between Labour and Lib Dems will be enough to prevent either winning to a far greater degree than before.

      1. Robert mcdonald
        August 2, 2019

        Labour is a don’t know party.

    7. Peter Parsons
      August 2, 2019

      I see James Cleverly has been in the media claiming foul. Tough. The result is a consequence of how the flawed and unrepresentative FPTP system operates, and if you don’t like it, the solution is simple, get rid of FPTP and replace it with a better system.

  6. Lifelogic
    August 2, 2019

    Indeed the only sensible course remains for the UK to leave on 31 October as promised, whilst offering comprehensive free trade talks and a no tariffs exit on that date. May’s vassal state W/A is totally unacceptable – even without the backstop.

    As the by-election in Brecon showed the Conservative need a deal with Brexit too. Also not to allow a convicted candidate to stand again which was idiotic. Encouraging that Labour are doing so badly. The voters are far more sensible that Corbyn/Mc Donnall.

    Is there no limits to Google’s (and prince Harry’s) hypocrisy on climate change? How do these people thing anyone can take them seriously? Have they compensated Damore for his appalling treatment by them yet?

    1. J Bush
      August 2, 2019

      I suspect May re-selecting the MP the constituency rejected was just another ingredient to be added to the poison chalice she handed to the next PM.

      I wonder where in her Christian values she got that gem?

      1. Lifelogic
        August 2, 2019

        Indeed

      2. Lynn Atkinson
        August 2, 2019

        May did not deselect. The Conservative Association in the constituency reselected!

        1. Sir Joe Soap
          August 2, 2019

          What happened to candidates being “foisted” on constituencies by CCHQ?
          Conveniently ignored when it’s convenient or again was she just plain stupid?.

    2. Shirley
      August 2, 2019

      Agreed. It was sheer stupidity to offer a candidate that the constituency had already kicked out. If not stupidity … did they deliberately set out to lose?

      1. Lifelogic
        August 2, 2019

        Certainly an idiotic plan. True it was not the greatest offence in the world but voters are not going to go into such detail are they? It certainly showed he are rather stupid if nothing else.

    3. Lifelogic
      August 2, 2019

      I just listened to Dame Sally Davies on Desert Island. Why on earth have Trinity College Cambridge appointed this person as the new Master. The place will becoming …………….dumbed down.

      She complain of sexism (for being called Nanny in Chief). No…. lots of Nannying types are male but are called Nannying (and some real nannies are actually male too). It is the nannying that get you called that not your gender. The usual lefty obsession with “diversity” rather than merit. Doubtless Trinity will disinvest from BP and fossil fuels soon like those Art Gallery dopes. Let us hope she does not do too much damage to this great institution. Mind you I do like a bit of Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

      Perhaps the most idiotic thing that these nannying lefties (male or female) get wrong is that they think poor people cannot afford to eat well. Why? Healthy foods are actually far cheaper than fast foods or ready meals. No very many things are cheaper than a bag of dried lentils, porridge, a few apples, some bread flour, chick peas, a few carrots & a cabbage or similar.

  7. Richard Jansen
    August 2, 2019

    Thank you Sir for your reassurance on that.

  8. Mike Stallard
    August 2, 2019

    What people do not seem to realise is that unless there is some kind of agreement, the EU will simply not recognise our membership on Friday, 1st November.
    Parliament can say and do what it likes, the EU has decided.
    End.

    1. JoolsB
      August 2, 2019

      “the EU will simply not recognise our membership on Friday, 1st November.”

      Let’s hope so Mike.

    2. Fedupsoutherner
      August 2, 2019

      Mike, good!!

    3. jerry
      August 2, 2019

      @Mike Stallard; The EC have said, should the UK declare a GE before the 31st Oct the EC would (be minded to) put back the date yet again.

      And why wouldn’t they, when opinion polls suggest the next Govt will be europhile, if not very europhile, otherwise why didn’t TM and why doesn’t BJ not simply go to the country and gain a proper working majority?

      1. Mark
        August 2, 2019

        They might be minded to do so, but they can only achieve that if all 28 agree to the terms. That includes Boris.

      2. NickC
        August 2, 2019

        Jerry: “otherwise why didn’t TM and why doesn’t BJ not simply go to the country” – probably because of the Brexit party – especially now that Labour polled less than 5.3% in Wales. In Wales!!

        1. jerry
          August 2, 2019

          @NickC; Yes I suspect the upper echelons of the Tory party are scared of UKIP/TBP, after all they also most lost the 2010 Ge for the Tory party, thus causing the 2010 coalition, a most europhile one at that (Farage even boasted that is was UKIP that caused it…), and then in 2017 UKIP almost brought about Corbyn cycling up Downing Street, only the DUP standing in his way.

          1. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Jerry, And that’s not self-serving in which way? The era of holding your nose and voting Conservative (or Labour) is over. However much you advocate it.

            I have voted tactically in the past – it’s a waste of time. I’m going to vote for what I want. And a whole lot of people now think the same way. Why should I be frightened of some 1970s throwback who wants to nationalise Britain’s railways, when a majority of MPs want to outsource our whole government to the EU?

          2. jerry
            August 4, 2019

            @NickC. The only era that appears to be over is the one where people held their noses whilst voting UKIP/TBP.

            Remind us how many Westminster MPs, how many County or Local councillors, how many London Assembly members does your beloved UKIP/TBP have currently? After some success, admittedly, and the hyperbole round a couple of defections Conservative, talk about a dead cat bounce!

            Even in Wales things have not gone that well for UKIP/TBP, and like with the EP elections, if it wasn’t for (a Party List version of) proportional representation UKIP/TBP wouldn’t have a single AM either.

            “I have voted tactically in the past – it’s a waste of time. I’m going to vote for what I want.”

            Like so many did in the 2010 GE you mean, voted UKIP got the LibDemn in coalition. Like so many did in 2017, and almost got a Corbyn lead grand coalition of the LDs, the SNP and PC.

            Vote UKIP/TBP, get a europhile government…

      3. Noneoftheabove
        August 2, 2019

        Oh dear, oh dear!
        The EU can only GRANT a REQUEST, they cannot extend if Boris has not requested it.

        1. Mark
          August 2, 2019

          The EU could also propose an extension themselves, but the PM doesn’t have to agree it.

          …unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member
          State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.

        2. jerry
          August 2, 2019

          @Noneoftheabove; You forget that if the govt have lost a NC vote, during the now mandated FTPA procedure (even if a GE becomes necessary), they will also likely loose any vote to prevent the postponing of our Leave date if there is majority support in the House to form a grand coalition of MPs with that sole aim in mind.

          Parliamentary procedures could be used by Boris to force Brexit though, if necessary, but that first requires a working majority on the floor of the House, without one it’s game over, just as it was for Callaghan in March 1979…

      4. John Hatfield
        August 2, 2019

        I expect he will want to see us out of the EU first. He does not need an election to do that.

    4. agricola
      August 2, 2019

      The EU can control who joins but not who leaves, hard as they have tried to control how we leave via their surrogates in Parliament and our establishment.

    5. nshgp
      August 2, 2019

      We can get Malta to say no.
      The EU will take revenge on Malta, but the only get 107 million a year from the EU.
      We can pay that out of the 80-100,000 million a year cost of May’s deal.

      Costs are not the same thing as payments. Payments are just one of the costs

    6. tim
      August 2, 2019

      I am praying for it, but they will not let the golden goose free.

    7. Lifelogic
      August 2, 2019

      Great that is what I want. Then we can talk about free trade if they want to. As they sell more to use than we to them it would be in their interests but up to them.

    8. Leslie Singleton
      August 2, 2019

      Dear Mike–Nonsense–The EU can be remarkably quick and flexible in its own interest–Anything to keep us in and avoid the beginnings of break up blah blah

  9. Henry Carter
    August 2, 2019

    The UK will leave on 31 October, unless Mr Boris Johnson breaks a large number of promises. Perhaps, eager Brexiters, you should go have a look at Mr Johnson’s form book.

    1. jerry
      August 2, 2019

      @Henry Carter; Or the govt looses a NC vote of course, far more likely now after the success of UKIP/TBP last night in thwarting Brexit to keeping themselves on the €U gravy train and grandstand…

      1. NickC
        August 3, 2019

        Jerry, Your fixation with your imaginary UKIP/TBP entity blinds you to why the Conservatives really lost at Brecon. Your Theresa May allowed the incumbent fraudster to stand. So despite the ‘Boris effect’, the electorate were having none of it. With a decent honest candidate the Tories could have won; it was nothing to do with TBP.

        1. jerry
          August 4, 2019

          Hello …….. @NickC, the only person being blinded by love is you. Also nothing imaginary about who once lead UKIP and who currently leads TBP, nothing imaginary about were their membership base came from either, nothing imaginary about the similarity in polices. Quack-quack!

          The voting figures clearly show, had the UKIP/TBP votes gone to the Conservatives the govt would not now have had their majority reduced to a (possibly) critical level – everyone accepts that people might well have had to hold their noses. UKIP/TBP should have also stood down, it might not have changed the result, but it might just have done so.

          Politics can be unpalatable at times, do you honestly believe that the LDs and PC agree with many of the other Labour polices beyond Brexit, do they support Corbyn as leader, does the LDs agree with Labour’s defence policy etc etc. – UKIP/TBP need to decide what they want, Brexit or a grandstand in the EP…

          Yes a different Tory candidate should have been selected, that said, there have been quite a few candidate section howlers from other parties too, some far more serious than involving a wonky expenses claim. Thanks for encouraging me to read up on the actual details by the way, perhaps you should do likewise (before using any further inflammatory language), “technical” is the word that comes to mind having done so.

  10. Garland
    August 2, 2019

    OMG, after all this time you STILL think it is about tariffs!! As an economist, you would make a great Flat Earther. Have you ever used a computer? Do you still cook on an open fire?

    1. agricola
      August 2, 2019

      The smoothest exit is via the offer of a FTA (no tariffs), and by mutual agreement, retaining the status quo on trade until the FTA is agreed (again no tariffs). All the above after we leave on WTO terms on 31st October. If the EU are stupid enough to reject such an offer then it is WTO terms with no deal. QED.

      1. Dan Earley
        August 2, 2019

        I’m wondering if Boris and his team are putting together a bare bones FTA to offer to the EU, probably in September around conference season. If they give the EU 4 weeks or so to go over it, set the basic groundwork for a future relationship and so on. If the EU reject it then we leave with no agreement at all.

      2. Andy
        August 2, 2019

        Face palm. It is you Brexiteers who have voted against the status quo on trade. You rejected it remember. Seriously you are like toddlers.

        1. Edward2
          August 2, 2019

          But the Withdrawal Agreement doesn’t define very much regarding trade Andy.
          The EU and UK begin to talk about a trade relationship just after we leave.
          Japan traded OK with UK and Europe for over 40 years without an agreement until recently.

        2. NickC
          August 3, 2019

          Andy, No, we voted against continuing to be a province in your EU empire. It’s called self-determination; and it’s a human right – see the UN.

      3. AlmostDead
        August 3, 2019

        I would not expect an FTA to be finalised with EU for at least a decade. The EU is in no rush to make a deal and based on its experience with the Withdrawal Treaty its in no mood to rush into negotiations with a country in political turmoil. The EU is going to wait until the political situation has stabilised. I think this wait and see attitude will make it difficult to engage with the EU not just on trade, but on security, data and other outstanding issues. There is no chance of “retaining status quo” for either side. On the other side of Brexit our relationship with Europe (ie not the EU) will be significantly weaker for an extend period of time.

    2. NickC
      August 2, 2019

      Garland, Priceless!! Yet another Remain can’t construct an argument, resorts to name calling – “flat-earther”, “cook on an open fire”, etc – instead.

    3. L Jones
      August 2, 2019

      There are other ways of framing a comment, Garland, rather than resorting to juvenile insult. Especially as you are a guest on this private blog. I know our host probably allows your rude comment to pass his censorship so that we can make reply on his behalf.

      Am I the only one who takes exception to these disrespectful and small-minded people?

      1. sm
        August 3, 2019

        LJ, you are not the only one!

  11. Anthony
    August 2, 2019

    I don’t doubt the PM’s will to leave on 31 Oct. The people who doubt it are those who are so worried about no deal that they can’t believe Johnson isn’t worried about no deal and consequently will want to avoid doing it.

    My concern is how to prevent the Commons messing things up. The speaker will be aching to “reinterpret” standing order 24 or similar to take control of the order paper and pass a law requiring the PM to ask for an extension. What can the government do to defend itself from this?

    1. agricola
      August 2, 2019

      Governments are there to govern. They are empowered to enter treaties and leave them without recourse to parliament. Leaving the EU is leaving a string of treaties, the last of which in Lisbon was enterred into by David Milliband and Gordon Brown without a line by line discussion in parliament. Incidentally parliament has already invoked Art.50 and agreed the date of leaving. It is only the duplicity of May that finds us where we are.3

    2. NickC
      August 2, 2019

      Anthony, Not so. I doubt the PM’s will to leave on 31 Oct 2019, and I am a strong Leave supporter. Why? – because Boris stated that the UK could remain in the CU and SM for a couple of more years. Remaining under the control of the EU, in two of the most significant areas, is not Leave, by definition.

  12. BW
    August 2, 2019

    We will not leave the EU if
    1. We cannot force a by election of those turncoat Tories who have defected and no longer represent their constituents.
    2. We fight a by election with a convicted criminal as the Tory candidate.
    3. We split the Brexit vote at a by election between the Tories and Brexit party allowing the Lib Dems in. Instead of talking to Farage.
    4. We rely on Bercow not to allow Back benchers to take control again.

    1. NickC
      August 3, 2019

      BW, Well put. Please tell Jerry those are the real reasons, not his imaginary bogeyman (his UKIP/TBP entity), which he thinks can just be shouted down. The result is in the Tory party’s hands – they have the MPs in Parliament, not the BP, they must face up to reality and ensure the Leave outcome is implemented. Or call a GE – with sensible, honest candidates.

      1. jerry
        August 4, 2019

        @NickC; What did you not understand about bullet point #3 from @BW above?…

        The problem is as much UKIP/TBP as it is the other three put together if UKIP/TBP keep splitting the Brexit support. There is only one party able to deliver Brexit, it is not UKIP/TBP, although they can stop Brexit and quite likely have…

        The europhiles will now smell blood when parliament resumes, one more vote lost from the Govts Lobby and BW’s point #4 becomes a very real problem as it is not always up to the govt to decide parliamentary business, or what amendments are selected, whilst a Labour sponsored NC will always be debated what ever.

        “[the Tory Party] must face up to reality and ensure the Leave outcome is implemented. Or call a GE – with sensible, honest candidates.”

        They can not do the first without a working majority though, so tell me NickC, if Boris did call a GE, would UKIP/TBP stand any candidates? After all if the House is again left hung with NOC, any splitting of the eurosceptic vote in individual constituencies that causes a europhile party to come up the middle and win might be vital in deciding the future of Brexit.

  13. Noneoftheabove
    August 2, 2019

    As long as the PM does not request an extension of time, I shall be satisfied.
    We will leave the EU on Halloween.

    1. Peter
      August 2, 2019

      Boris Johnson can’t exist in a bubble though. His predecessor tried that, and look where it got her. If he doesn’t have parliament and the country on his side by the 31st October, then the decision will be taken out of his hands.

  14. Kevin
    August 2, 2019

    The Brecon & Radnorshire result was predictable. The Lib Dems walked
    off with exactly the percentage of votes they had been projected to get
    mid-month. Meanwhile, it has been claimed that the Brexit Party refused to
    make way for the Tories because of Chris Davies’ support for May’s deal. Thus,
    you had a split vote and no meaningful “Boris bounce”.

    1. Mark
      August 2, 2019

      The poll forecast a 28% vote share for Davies. He got 39%. That is a bounce.

  15. Mark B
    August 2, 2019

    Good morning- again

    1. The EU will act in its own interests. It will seek a backstop before and after we Leave.

    2. The EU will grant an extension if the UK were to hold a GE. This will come with further concessions.

    3. So the Conservative Party is majority Remain. Now we know 😉

    4. If they offer Labour the chance of winning a no confidence vote then which will mean Remain, which happens to be Labour’s new policy, then I think they might.

    5. No, but the next one, a Labour, LibDem and Nationalist coalition will.

    The best course is for this government is to either :

    A. Hold another GE now, or

    B. Put before parliament to revoke Art.50 and make it a Three Line Whip not to do so and a confidence vote at the same time. Those that vote against the government and for revoking Art.50 get kicked out and we get a GE. New government and fewer Remainers.

    Then we Leave.

    1. bill brown
      August 2, 2019

      Mark

      Interesting analysis, I am not sure I wold come to the same conclusion as the government will most likely have another or mixed colour

    2. Simeon
      August 2, 2019

      All very sensible. If only we could be confident the government was as sensible.

  16. John Sheridan
    August 2, 2019

    I hope you are right Sir John, but I worry about the PM’s commitment to deliver a clean Brexit.

    His talk of staying the Single Market and Customs Union for one to two years more, makes me think that he will sign up for the Withdrawal Treaty minus the backstop. He buckled and voted for the Withdrawal Treaty on the third vote; not a good sign.

  17. Andy
    August 2, 2019

    This is indeed the best course.

    It guarantees the swift reversal of Brexit, the permanent destruction of the Tory party and – ultimately – prison for those MPs criminally negligent enough to allow it to happen.

    1. Jagman84
      August 2, 2019

      Only in your dreams, Champagne ‘Andy’. Holding a political view contrary to yours is still not a criminal offence. Electoral fraud certainly is and there’s plenty of that from people on your side of the argument.

      1. Andy
        August 2, 2019

        Holding a political view contrary to mine is, indeed, not a criminal offence. Nor should it ever be.

        But wilfully rejecting facts, dismissing evidence, slandering experts and knowingly forcing the country down path which the vast majority of the evidence suggests is immensely harmful is not holding a contrary view. It is deliberately – criminally – irresponsible.

        If you get your car serviced and the mechanic tells you that you need to replace your brakes immediately – and you don’t- when you crash you are responsible for the people you hurt.

        Brexit is no different.

        1. Edward2
          August 2, 2019

          Brexit is different because both sides are effectively trying to predict the future.
          It is an imperfect science.
          Your side used the doom laden predictions of Project Fear 1.0 during the referendum campaign and were wrong on nearly every prediction they made.
          Unemployment fell they predicted half a million more
          Numbers in work rose they predicted a fall
          Growth carried on they predicted a recession
          They predicted a fall in exports, it never happened.
          They told us taxes would rise by over £4000 per family, it never happened.
          They told us inward investment would dry up, it hasn’t, in fact it has carried on at high levels.
          Just a few examples of the failed predictions of your side.

        2. NickC
          August 3, 2019

          Andy, You still haven’t been able to marshal any facts to show why the UK should not join the majority of the planet out of the EU.

          It is you who rejects the facts of the EU empire’s anti-democratic control over the UK; you who dismisses the glaring evidence of the rest of the world; and you who ignores the fact that your “experts” are no such thing – because they got it almost all wrong.

          There is no greater harm to a nation than being denied our independence and self-determination. And that’s what harm you want to do.

      2. bill brown
        August 2, 2019

        Jagman 84

        I know Andy is not always very sophisticated in his arguments, but I am sure you can do better than this contribution?

    2. acorn
      August 2, 2019

      JR says. The best course remains for the UK to leave on 31 October as promised, whilst offering comprehensive free trade talks and a no tariffs exit on that date.

      It’s such a good idea that I can’t imagine why the rest of the EU 27 are not doing exactly the same thing! Or would that lead to a fallacy of composition problem?

    3. NickC
      August 2, 2019

      Andy, In a democracy it is the voters who decide. Leave is one of those decisions. The demos, not MPs, have sovereignty. So it is not a case of MPs “allowing” Leave. Moreover without our national democracy the EU could take away your rights, but you could not do a darn thing about it. You need democracy as much as I do.

      Of course you could try to squander your democratic rights, and mine, on an artificial sub-fascist political construct with ambitions of empire. The EU ideology is just another north western European attempt to impose rule by “expert” rather than rule by demos. It will in the end fail.

      1. L Jones
        August 2, 2019

        Perhaps ‘Andy’ would like to tell us how she/he thinks his/her EU masters would punish us should we decide to remain shackled.
        Perhaps he/she could tell us how we might be expected to make redress for all the trouble and angst we’ve caused them. I’m sure he/she could suggest what we might be asked to pay to be allowed to remain – on their terms (of course).
        Or will they throw wide the door and welcome us with open arms, promising us we can return to the status quo of 2016 – the one that Andy knew he/she was voting for?

      2. Andy
        August 2, 2019

        What rights of yours has the EU taken away?

        I’ll wait.

        PS: you are not really going to say the right to have inefficient lightbulbs are you?

        1. Edward2
          August 2, 2019

          Try the European Arrest warrant as one example Andy.
          Overturning hundreds of years of Common Law, Habeous Corpus and the presumption of innocent until proven guilty.
          You can be plucked from this country on the say so of a court somewhere in the EU and kept in jail for months awaiting a trial.
          No magistrate or judge in this country can investigate the evidence laid against you, nor stop you being put in cuffs then stuck on a plane and being carted off.
          I think that is a travesty of justice and a dreadful rejection of proper human rights for UK citizens.
          But I expect you love it Andy.

          1. bill brown
            August 3, 2019

            Edward2

            The European arrest warrant has ben very helpful and useful across Europe according to most police forces in Europe and the UK

        2. NickC
          August 3, 2019

          Andy, I keep telling you, but you obviously don’t listen.

          Yes, the right to choose what suits my circumstances is one of them. One example is “inefficient” lamps. Yet you have no idea of the technologies. So the various good and bad of each pass you by – even though I have explained them – because you prefer propaganda to knowledge.

          One of the main topics the Referendum was fought over was immigration. An independent democratic nation can control who comes in and how many. The EU prevents that. The EU allows you to impose yourself on another EU states citizens without their consent. But what right have you to do that?

          Edward2 highlights the EAW, and its removal of the right of habeas corpus. There are innumerable other rights the EU has stolen from us, often outlined by others on JR’s blog, but you wilfully ignore them. Probably the most important one is the democratic right to remove the government.

  18. Fred H
    August 2, 2019

    Given the history of the activities to undermine, distort and abandon the REF result, until the day arrives and UK has left there is going to be doubt. What is not doubted is that should this not happen the Conservative Party will lose seats that were unimaginable just 4 years ago.

  19. Narrow Shoulders
    August 2, 2019

    Re 5. Are you sure? I would say that was on a knife edge. If around half of MPs can’t get a second referendum I think they would go for this option.

    Parliament is in favour of staying in.

    1. Lifelogic
      August 2, 2019

      Parliament is indeed in favour of staying in. The very many traitors to the UK in parliament the Bercow, Grieves, Soames types are determined to ensure that no sensible deal is offered by the EU, thus undermining the Boris agenda and hugely damaging the UK’s interest to. This will surely bury the Conservatives if these traitors get away with it. As we see with the by-election result of yesterday the Conservatives cannot win the next election without delivering a clean Brexit and doing deal with the Brexit Party as well. Brexit plus Conservatives 50% of the vote. Libdims 44%

      Not having convicted criminals stand as candidates would rather help too.

      My goodness I actually agree with Anna Soubry on something – anonymity for people accused of rape and similar (before it has even been investigated and charges have need brought). Alas it seems No. 10 do not. But then they are I hope rather busy on other matters.

  20. Bryan Harris
    August 2, 2019

    It is very clear, or ought to be, that if BP do not support Boris then He won’t be able to deliver.

    But what of the other defeatists in Parliament? I hope Boris has ways to distract them….

    How much Parliamentary time is left before the October deadline for remainers to cause further trouble, and what are they likely to do?

    1. 'None of the above'.
      August 2, 2019

      Not much Parliamentary time, at all.
      They are on holiday now until early September. Then Parliament recesses for 3 weeks or so of Party Conferences. This does not leave much time for the opposition to create any damage apart from a “No Confidence” motion from JC.
      Even if the Government loses, JC has 2 weeks under the “Fixed Parliament Act” to try to form a Government himself (good luck with that). Even if he succeeds in forming a Government he will have insufficient time to repeal any Acts of Parliament before 31st October and it takes at least 4 weeks to get through a GE.
      Any reasonable scenario takes us beyond 31st October when, by Law, we leave the EU.
      If the PM, foolishly in my view, decides to introduce legislation before Halloween it will give the rebels a chance to hijack the process with spurious amendments designed to prevent “no deal”.
      All Boris has to do is hold his nerve and not request any extensions to the Art.50 process.

    2. Mike Wilson
      August 2, 2019

      It is very clear, or ought to be, that if BP do not support Boris then He won’t be able to deliver.

      Why should they trust him?

      1. Bryan Harris
        August 3, 2019

        Boris is still the best chance we have of getting out this year, and that should be supported by all concerned

  21. Ian!
    August 2, 2019

    Good morning Sir John

    Again some clarity from you, to us that live in hope.

    Mrs May’s project to destroy the Conservative Party lives on in her remain allies in Parliament.

    As we have a UK Parliament that will go down fighting the people that put them there. The feeling is that even come November 1st we may have left technically, but with so many MP’s still requiring the UK to be ruled by a foreign power they will find a way to ensure their master in Brussels can manipulate the aim of being the UK’s political masters.

  22. Leaver
    August 2, 2019

    I remain skeptical. I think the poison between Cummings and Farage is a disaster, as the conservatives and the Brexit party will start to take chunks out of each other.

    Then there’s the problem that Westminster is located in London – or Remain central – and the risk of riots if Parliament is ignored. As well as the government having a majority of one. I can’t see anything going through parliament. Nor can I imagine Londoners keeping quiet if Bozo starts ignoring parliament.

    A general election would likely lead to the resurgence of the Lib Dems, making it very difficult for anyone to get a majority.

    Also this weird idea that we can simply leave without talking to the E.U. Like them or not, we need boats to sail and planes to fly. We cannot change our geography. No deal is dependant on the E.U playing ball. And while it is in their interests, we do need to play our cards carefully. Not much sign of Bozo doing that, but here’s hoping.

    In short, all roads look bleak from here, but I hope I’m wrong.

    1. Richard
      August 2, 2019

      Pretty sure there are a variety of no-deal agreements in place to ensure planes fly and for things to pass through Dover/Calais etc? This was all in place before March IIRC.

      1. Leaver
        August 2, 2019

        I agree. But it doesn’t change the fact that we are dependant on goodwill from the E.U to make these no deal arrangements work.

        If the relationship sours too much, can we be sure of their goodwill? I don’t trust them further than I could throw them myself.

  23. […] “Even this Parliament would not vote to revoke Article 50 and then repeal the leaving legislation, recognising that would be a provocation too far of the majority who want Brexit.” (link) […]

  24. A.Sedgwick
    August 2, 2019

    It will be a close run thing between a clean Brexit on 31st October and an election prior to that, when the CP will be decimated. Who knows what local associations will do about the majority of Remain MPs, even if they have time to organise new candidates. The CP, largely due to the road runner Cameron and the worst PM May, have created a perfect storm without the option of kicking the can down the road.

    The supposition that all Brexit voters will vote CP if the BP did not stand in a constituency is questionable.

    1. BJC
      August 2, 2019

      If the CP cannot recover and is destined for the scrapheap, would we not see a mass exodus of CP candidates to alternative parties, anyway? Wouldn’t it, therefore, have been wiser to play Remainers at their own game at this stage by working closely with Farage. Alternatively, have we perhaps discovered that his true objective is more about gaining power, than having a quick and clean departure from the EU? Now that would be interesting!

    2. sm
      August 2, 2019

      I agree with your last observation in particular.

      How many voters – for any Party, but especially Conservative – will shrug their shoulders and stay at home, thinking either ‘we don’t believe you’ or ‘we don’t trust you’, or probably both?

  25. Sea Warrior
    August 2, 2019

    I think that the EU will blink, as a result of pressure from the ROI, around the first week of October.

    1. Dave Andrews
      August 2, 2019

      I’m rather of the opinion that Varadkar will be told what to do by his Brussels masters, even if that means the RoI have to put up a hard border to protect the single market.
      This will be blamed on the UK of course – we forced them to do it.
      Why doesn’t the RoI follow our lead and come out as well? They can then look West to their many friends in the US, far more there than in mainland Europe.

      1. Shirley
        August 2, 2019

        I doubt they could afford it. The UK has been a net contributer for all but one year, and the EU demand £39bn for our release. How much would they expect from a country that has been a net recipient for all but one or two years?

        However, it is debatable whether the EU can demand anything from ex-members.

      2. Andy
        August 2, 2019

        Why would Ireland do that? They are an outward looking, pro-European country which benefits hugely, economically and otherwise, from being in the EU. Why would they leave? The Irish are not stupid.

        1. NickC
          August 3, 2019

          Andy, I beg to differ. Eire throws of the supposed yoke of UK rule, only to walk blindly into the yoke of rule by the EU. And the EU is a lot less democratic than the UK is.

        2. Original Richard
          August 3, 2019

          Andy,

          I expect Ireland to change their tune when the EU implements their intended corporation tax harmonisation.

    2. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      Sea W .. nah….. dream on.

  26. bill brown
    August 2, 2019

    Sir JR,

    Interesting scenario, which a number of us of course disagree with an which is also the scenario the BoE summarized to be the worst scenario possible for the UK economy last night as the IBF as well.
    According to your solution we still have to sit down and negotiate with the EU subsequently, so I see little gain in your solution.

  27. Simeon
    August 2, 2019

    Thank you for your attempt to address the concerns of many.

    However, with respect, your post is entitled “We will leave…”. You then list some reasons as to why we OUGHT to leave, and describe scenarios in which the LIKELIHOOD is that we would leave. What you don’t do is explain why we WILL leave, why it is inevitable, why it is set in stone.

    You have not explained why Parliament would simply allow the UK to leave the EU without some kind of agreement or deal when this is contrary to all the rhetoric, and indeed to the view of the House expressed in votes.

    I understand that there is, at present, no majority for any particular course of action (this might change if BJ returns with concessions – empty though they might be. Not all of your Parliamentary colleagues are as principled as you). In your view, this results in us leaving by default. In my view, this results in the can being kicked again.

    Put simply, I don’t believe anyone can be certain of anything. If this uncertainty persists to the point of a GE however, then one thing I am certain of is that the lack of trust in the Conservative party will seriously undermine support. The result of that? Only time can tell.

    1. NickC
      August 2, 2019

      Simeon, Yours is a rather more nuanced and likely scenario than that outline by JR. Regrettably.

      1. Simeon
        August 2, 2019

        I wish I could offer some cause for optimism. The best I can muster is this; the absolute worst case scenario is that the UK actually achieves a Brexit, but then proceeds not only to squander the many opportunities Brexit offers, but actually makes a complete mess of things, such that the people decide that it is better to be less free but governed better, rather than free but governed really badly.

        I’m not convinced our country is ready for Brexit. A small part is the lack of no deal planning (I think it a real stretch to believe that there was good no deal planning on May’s watch, and whatever one thinks about the present government, three months is very little time to achieve much). But the far greater part is that I don’t think the country is ready to elect a government that, in simplistic terms, makes good policy.

        The fundamental issue is that far too many people want government to sort their lives out for them – though I believe they have been encouraged to do so by successive governments for many decades. Whilst this culture of dependency persists, governments will continue to have a mandate to run people’s lives.

        1. sm
          August 3, 2019

          Simeon – your final paragraph is very accurate, and I wanted to write that it deserves a separate discussion, until I realised that it is surely a description of the basic difference between Conservative and ultra-Socialist philosophies.

          1. Simeon
            August 3, 2019

            I would argue that the conservative philosophy is no longer fit for purpose, the reason being that there is so little left to conserve, and so much that requires reform.

            There is also the point that there is a strong tradition of paternalism in Conservative thought and practice which is no longer appropriate in our time. (I’m not suggesting that helping our fellow man who is in need is wrong, but rather that this should not be legislated for.)

            Though there is much in libertarian thought of value, and such instincts as they are exhibited by Conservatives are to be welcomed, I think that it is voluntaryism (that ‘y’ is important) that is most appropriate for modern, widely diverse societies. Freedom of association, or indeed of isolation, is key.

    2. Simon Coleman
      August 3, 2019

      He can’t explain because nobody knows, and it’s certainly not set in stone – not when the government has a majority of one! Mr Redwood is the King of Complacency who pays no attention to parliamentary arithmetic or processes. In his permanent state of delusion, he believes that there is a mandate for a No deal outcome, even though nothing was said about it during the referendum or the 2017 General Election. He told us we’d definitely be leaving on March 31st – that couldn’t be stopped. About a year and a half ago, he was also telling us that May was an excellent Prime Minister. If I were you, I’d take his predictions with an ocean full of salt.

      Reply Plenty of misrepresentations of my views in this. Try reading back copies of this blog to see how wrong you are. I did nit tell you Mrs May was a good PM nor rule out her delaying exit

  28. Kees
    August 2, 2019

    You will leave Oct 31st because EU has decided the Farage group in the EU parliament has to go- It would be unthinkable that the Farage/ Widdecombe act with the predicted distraction to business could be allowed to continue into next term.

    You will leave because the EU is not prepared to put up with any more threats from the ERG faction- “give me what I want or I’ll burn the house down”- no rational body is going to negotiate with that- and Boris is the leader of it

    Then Mark Francois said yesterday that even if the Backstop was deleted it wouldn’t do for him and his 60 ERG MPs- they want the whole lot thrown out- so what’s the point? you will leave Oct 31st

    You will leave and no point in offering comprehensive Free Trade talks with no tariffs on the way out- without the WA this is pie in the sky thinking.

    So relax- everyone accepts you will leave 31st Oct

    1. Stred
      August 2, 2019

      Oh dear, Dutch flowers, cheese and taste-free tomatoes will be too expensive for my wife to buy. Yippee.

    2. 'None of the above'.
      August 2, 2019

      As to your final point about FT talks, please take a look at the draft Tariff Schedule on the Government website. It’s quite a tome but worth ploughing through to the end.
      Well over 90% of items have a zero tariff, including vehicle components.
      You will note that imported completed vehicles, apart from those for agricultural use, breakdown or emergency services are to be taxed at between 11% and 22% depending on engine size.
      I imagine this will have at least two immediate effects:-

      Firstly, it will encourage European vehicle manufacturers to put pressure on the EC to agree FTA talks with us which will immediately remove the tariffs (GAT XXIV).

      Secondly, it may go some way to encourage foreign motor manufacturers to invest in UK manufacturing installations. This effect will depend on the manufacturers considerations over the economies of scale of building cars in the UK solely for sale in the UK.

      Off topic I know but I wish the MSM would challenge Remainers assertions with a demand for accurate evidence as much as they do Leavers.

    3. NickC
      August 2, 2019

      Kees, It is the EU that is saying “give me what I want or I’ll burn the house down”, not the UK. We would have been quite happy to fully leave, as outlined in TEU Art50, and with a free trade deal. The EU has prevented both in order to make it clear that any nation which has the temerity to leave will be punished. Even if it harms the EU as well.

      1. L Jones
        August 2, 2019

        In a nutshell, NickC.

    4. acorn
      August 2, 2019

      Kees, my number crunching group is coming up with similar thinking. The Withdrawal Agreement (WA) is actually a framework document for a future trade agreement; it has been specifically designed to be such. Also, it is designed to be acceptable as a WTO GATT 24 “interim agreement”, when times and dates are inserted into it; even though the WTO has had no enthusiasm for such nebulous agreements since 1995.

      Alas, leave voting Brexiters are too thick in the head to understand any of this. The word from Brussels is any possible EU-UK trade agreement is three to five years away at best. Meanwhile, a WTO Brexit is going to be expensive for the bottom three quintiles of UK households.

      1. Edward2
        August 2, 2019

        Typical remainer, never a comment without an insult or two, eh acorn..

        1. acorn
          August 3, 2019

          Is that all you’ve got left in your Brexit arsenal? No well researched counter argument? A page full of “denialists” comments, are just no fun anymore.

          1. Edward2
            August 3, 2019

            When you resort to calling all leave voters “thick in the head” and then come back demanding precise fact backed comment.
            Hilarious acorn.

          2. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Acorn, Leaves already pointed out last year that Theresa May’s WA was “actually a framework document for a future trade agreement”. An extraordinarily bad one. Where we remain under EU control and suffer the consequences – paying and obeying.

            What part of we voted to leave don’t you understand?

      2. Original Richard
        August 3, 2019

        Acorn,

        The EU’s Withdrawal Treaty was a trap, which is why even a remain dominated Parliament could not bring itself to vote for it.

        But don’t take my word for it, see what Mr, Macron said about the Withdrawal Treaty concerning fishing :

        “The UK will be trapped in a customs union after Brexit unless Downing Street offers European fishermen full access to British waters during the coming trade negotiations.”

        “The EU’s demands on fisheries needed swift resolution after 29 March 2019 or the talks on a wider trade deal would fail leaving the UK in the “backstop” customs union envisioned in the withdrawal agreement.”

        “It [the backstop] is a lever”.

        “We will concentrate our efforts in order to obtain access to the British waters before the end of the transition period. And of course all of our fishermen will be protected.”

        Fishing is just one of the reasons why the Withdrawal Treaty was totally unacceptable.

    5. tim
      August 5, 2019

      They will not let go of the golden goose, with out our money they go under, they would sooner burn the whole house than let her go.

  29. Paul Cohen
    August 2, 2019

    Mark Carney, Governor of BOE, should be kicked out forthwith for his unwanted interference when he speaks – he knows full well that his statements damage the negotiating abilility of those doing their best to rescue the impasse manufactured by Mrs May.

    Why should his statements be treated with rapt attention when his previous forcasts have been abysmally inaccurate – still waiting to hear from him for an explanation on this?

    We don’t need to harbour and listen to saboteurs.

    1. Sea Warrior
      August 2, 2019

      Let’s not forget that he is an ROI citizen.

      1. Harka
        August 2, 2019

        Stupid guy, Carney is Canadian, holds a Canadian passport, holds an Irish passport because of ancestoral reasons, and holds a British Passport also ancestoral. Stupid

        1. A.Sedgwick
          August 3, 2019

          Why does anyone need three nationalities? It should be illegal to hold more than one passport.

          1. tim
            August 5, 2019

            i have got 2 thought that was max

      2. Steve
        August 2, 2019

        Carney is a Canadian because Canadian born, he holds three passports as far as I know, Canadian, Irish and UK. but even with all of these European add on’s he is still thought of as being too North American in his way to be considered suitable as Chief of the IMF

    2. Harka
      August 2, 2019

      What you talking about? There is no negotiation. The negotiation was the WA, it’s signed off by 28 governments and remains to be ratified by the EU parliament and of course the UK parliament. Negotiations are finished, everyone is away on holidays now

      1. NickC
        August 2, 2019

        Harka, You are delusional. The dWA negotiated by Theresa May’s team was rejected three times by a Remain dominated UK Parliament and is dead. The dWA could not be “signed off” by the UK government without Parliamentary approval in this case – that’s what the term “draft” means in the UK. The UK is open to re-negotiate. The EU can do so, or refuse, that is up to them.

        1. Kees
          August 2, 2019

          NickC I don’t think many of the the EU MEP’s are happy to approve this Agreement either, a lot of them feel that too much time has passed and too much has been said, that its time now for Britain to leave

          1. NickC
            August 3, 2019

            Kees, Excellent. No defence of Harka’s poor understanding of the UK constitution, though?

    3. bill brown
      August 3, 2019

      Paul Cohen

      Get down form your high horse Carney was just doing his job and as far as lots of economists his forecasts were too optimistic

  30. Newmania
    August 2, 2019

    The pound has dropped but has a long way to go before it looks like a No Deal panic. Interest rates may have to rise in support as we go into Brexit recession. That would change the landscape
    The Brecon win for Remain is hard to read . Its a Leave seat and a good win but the key factor was the presence of the Brexit Party. I`m becoming uncertain that they will be do all the work just to hand over the winnings to an establishment again
    No Deal cannot go through ,there must be a GE.
    Why should Farrage stand aside ,Redwoods familiar, Comrade Corbyn is starting to wiff Labour are collapsing . Its not over yet

  31. nshgp
    August 2, 2019

    Will you introduce a spending bill where Remainer MPs get to decide on the spending cuts to pay the 80 bn a year cost of May’s deal?

    We need the right of consent in law so we can say no to you

  32. Old person
    August 2, 2019

    Brexit was never about just economic issues.

    BBC Parliament is running a series of Briefings on Brexit with some from the usual suspects.

    Imagine the surprise on viewing the Briefing from Prof. Vernon Bogdanor, a political historian, who cover all the issues with documentary evidence to back up his statements.

    He explains exactly why the Gina Miller Case is a game changer constitutionally for the United Kingdom.

    1. Dominic
      August 2, 2019

      VB’s a tedious bore and a Remain adherent. He only needs to accept the truth that was delivered to the nation in 2016 when the British electorate voted to leave the EU and dissolve its EU membership. On that basis his dry warbling’s are utterly without substance. He’s in total denial of the truth and he knows it. Hypocrisy is such a nauseating weight to carry around on weak shoulders

      1. bill brown
        August 3, 2019

        Dominic

        Are yo sure this is what people thought they voted for?

  33. glen cullen
    August 2, 2019

    So who at the Tory Party had the great idea to put up Chris Davies again as a candidate for the Brecon By-Election ?

    I am fearful that the Tory Party will not get us out of the EU on the 31st October

    1. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      glen…that is exactly what is wrong with the CP. clueless.

  34. David Maples
    August 2, 2019

    As Peter Bone, Esq., M.P. said the other day, it is probably too late now to hold an election before Oct 31, and therefore, ceterus paribus, we will leave by default ie without a deal. Also, ComRes say that holding a GE before Reformation Day, or after(if an extension has been agreed), is likely to result in a ‘hungish’ Parliament. Only a GE post no-deal will ‘cut the mustard’ for our latter day[would be]Winston Churchill.

    1. John Hatfield
      August 2, 2019

      Unless Boris disinters the Withdrawal Agreement of which there is much chatter at the moment. It has to remembered that the Tories are the party of big-business, as demonstrated by Phil the Snake Hammond. Has Boris been got at?

  35. Gareth Warren
    August 2, 2019

    I do fear all this talk of a deal with the EU is marching us to a compromise, the real solution to brexit is a deal with the USA.

    The government majority is low, but I do not believe many labour, rebel remainers or that awesomely charismatic change UK desire a election.

    My prediction is johnson will call one next year, but if brexit isn’t delivered one will likely occur in November.

    1. Brian Walden
      August 2, 2019

      He will call one in October. He will tell the voters the EU is unreasonably blocking the UK’s aspirations – the same old story, it’s their fault, not us Brexiters’ fault. But we’ve seen through it now. A raging far right Tory manifesto will lead to disaster at the polls. Boris plans to mimic Farage. How many Westminster seats has Farage’s ugly blame-foreigners ranting won? The Brexit game is nearly up

  36. formula57
    August 2, 2019

    “5 Even this Parliament would not vote to revoke Article 50…” – but we should be prepared for a Parliament of Quislings to do anything – and then, like Winston before me in another dark hour, I would pledge to die at the barricades with a machine-gun in my hand.

  37. ferdinand
    August 2, 2019

    Ardent Tory Remainers know that their political careers are over if they bring down the Government.Follow the money.

    1. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      trouble is there might be rather too many in their dotage who are happy to retire and pontificate from their mansions. Sod the will of the peasant class, and the needs of the country.

  38. bigneil
    August 2, 2019

    We will leave? – -anyone told the BBC that? – only a few days ago Radio Sheffield’s Toby Foster said straight out that we are NOT. Funded by threat of jail for not paying the license fee, the BBC should be cast loose to live off what they can get. The license is to receive broadcasts – -NOT just biased political broadcasts and repeats from the BBC.

    1. tim
      August 5, 2019

      you mean the British Brainwashing corporation

  39. BR
    August 2, 2019

    We shall see if Jeremy Marx brings a VoNC. Or if Lee switches to the LDs now that he could see the government have no majority – presumably he was dithering for that reason.

    I wonder if moves are afoot with Boris and co to try to bring the likes of Kate Hoey, Frank Field an other independent Labour MPs into a loose form of arrangement, or simply to have the whips talk to people on a vote-by-vote basis.

    Or… the nuclear option… to call a vote for a GE. But that needs a 2/3 majority now under the FTPA and with 5.28% in Brecon, I wonder if Labour would actually vote for it.

    You’ll have seen etc ed

  40. margaret howard
    August 2, 2019

    Where is that 10% ‘Boris boost’ that the Conservatives have boasted about?

    Brexit is in its death throes.

    1. Edward2
      August 2, 2019

      That was to do with polls, after he became PM
      Beware of by election results, political history show them to be an unreliable indicator of the next general election.

    2. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      did you mean Labour and possibly CP in its death throes? Brexit is the world subject ‘trumping’ everything before it. Imagine if California ran a campaign to exit the USA – it is that big a deal on the world stage.

    3. ferdinand
      August 2, 2019

      There are still one or two that agree with you.

  41. Dominic
    August 2, 2019

    Erdogan making threats again that unless Turkish citizens aren’t given Visa free travel throughout the EU he will in effect dispense with that nation’s responsibilities to maintain non-porous borders

    This is what is facing the UK if we fail to leave this bankrupt political entity that is the EU

    1. Dominic
      August 2, 2019

      ‘are given’

  42. Elli Ron
    August 2, 2019

    Sir Redwood,
    I hope you are right; there were worrying news that Boris is considering offering the EU a modified WA, where the only material change is the deletion of the backstop.
    I hope this is fake news, as you said, the backstop is but one of many fatal flaws with this “surrender deal”.
    In light of the recent by-election in which we lost to the LibDem’s although the combined Conservative+Brexit party had 49.5%, you may want to consider to Boris that an electoral pact with Farage may not be such a bad idea and certainly shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

  43. mancunius
    August 2, 2019

    JR – It seems the parliamentary Conservative Party has learnt nothing since it stupidly voted to keep ex-PM May in place. If Tory MPs truly supported Brexit, if they had seen that having two opposite views on the matter was no longer the affordable patch-over convenience they thought it but a poison pill, if they had kicked out the anti-democrats who want to stamp all over the people’s referendum vote in 2016, the Tory MP would have won the Brecon seat by nearly 2,000 votes, instead of losing by unnecessarily giving a full 10.5% share to the Brexit Party.
    Support for Johnson remains high – as long as he delivers what he promises, but as we see from their letters to their constituents, we see many Tory MPs trying to face both ways. After May’s turncoat act, the Conservatives will never be fully trusted with the nation’s affairs. And why should they, as they prefer having them decided in Brussels and Strasbourg?
    It is now five minutes to midnight. When are your colleagues going to realize the last-chance saloon has already shut its doors?
    I am so angry after three years of the government we elected deliberately squandering its time and opportunities, I could spit.

  44. James Bertram
    August 2, 2019

    My greatest fear is (1):
    1. The EU has made clear it will not re open the Withdrawal Agreement and offer the 21 to 45 months delay in leaving without the Irish backstop.

    There will be a fudge. The need for no hard border will be agreed, the Irish backstop will be quietly compromised or dropped, and Boris will attempt to get the rest of the horrendous WA over the line with an inducement of £39 Billion or more. Parliament will vote for this by the 31st Oct, and the 60 ERG hardliners will just draw their heads back into their shells (as many of them did by voting for May’s surrender treaty on the 3rd time of asking) – ‘it weren’t me, Guv’. This is the Cummings way.

    The people will not stand for this betrayal (again). Soon after, the government will fall to a vote of no confidence – and General Election. Arise, Sir Nigel.

    1. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      It could become a case of Mr Farage going to see HM, and being invited to form a government (actually a coalition).

  45. Ian
    August 2, 2019

    Hello all,
    Well here we are again, we have votes and no one can denie that the votes have always come back with a majority for Leave.

    Sadly there are too many Anti Democratic MPs in our Parliament, we have Parliament not working, we still have Democricy not working.

    If there is any law left in Westmonster, all those MPs voting Remain all the time, against there constitutes should be thrown out for the Betrayal of the people, and the government who has a duty to this Nation to carry out the wish of the people.

    Now will someone find the nuts to make that happen and quick about it.

    My money is on T B P , if Boris noes not engage with Nigel Farage then you are finished, I think the Tories are anyway, if you have no control, even of that Twit in the Bank, you deserve what is coming.
    Bring on the Election and stop the incompetent mess we look at every day.
    T B P is run as a company largely by people who have business backgrounds

  46. Mike Wilson
    August 2, 2019

    Looking at the by-election result – it seems the Tories need to stand down and let the Brexit Party fight parliamentary seats. It is clear that enough people do not trust the Tories to deliver Brexit – and, let’s face it, who can blame them – so they ought to make way for a party that people do trust to deliver Brexit. It would have been very interesting to see how that by-election would have turned out without a Tory standing. Especially one that had been recalled! The arrogance! Your party has a death wish!

    Which would be fair enough if the alternative were not Corbyn.

  47. Mike Wilson
    August 2, 2019

    How many Tory MPs are up for de-selection?

    1. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      my guess is NONE. How many would be de-selected if it went to Central Office? My guess NONE. This is the first problem the CP must remove. Then the 1922 must be revised with current issues taken into account, and be more accountable – including constituency voting on the officials.

  48. Christine
    August 2, 2019

    It will be political suicide for the Conservatives if we fail to leave on 31st October. Nigel Farage will follow through on his pledge to fight every seat. This will split the vote and we will end up with a coalition of Lib Dem, Greens, SNP and maybe Labour. Brexit will be lost.

    We see from the last two by-elections how splitting the vote loses the seat for the majority leave voters. We have one or two more by-elections coming up. Sheffield Hallam, in September, will be closely fought.

    Boris Johnson cannot carry on without a General Election for much longer; his slim majority means he will struggle to get his policies through the Commons.

    He needs to stop the rhetoric and do a deal with Nigel Farage to allow The Brexit Party to fight the Labour held and the Remainer Conservative seats.

    This will allow him to have a strong Government and Make Britain Great Again.

    If he makes a good job of the next 5 years then the Conservative Party’s future is secured.

    1. tim
      August 5, 2019

      sounds fantastic, but what if they have implanted Treason Mays brain into Borris already? I said they would

  49. David Maples
    August 2, 2019

    I see the Brexit Party is talking up the possibility of Boris extending beyond Oct 31! What can they hope to gain by this apart from stiffening the sinews of the Prime Minister? If the government sticks to the deadline, then two slices of the current political loaf(the Brexit Party and the Lib Dems)are about to be well and truly toasted!

    1. James Bertram
      August 2, 2019

      David – on the basis that Boris delivers a proper clean WTO Brexit (FTA afterwards) by 31st October then the Brexit Party gladly will be toast, butter and marmaladed.

  50. Lorna
    August 2, 2019

    I fully agree with your comments
    I am very surprised that The PM has suggested that we would remain in Transition ,Customs Union and single market for two years
    Even more shocked when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury stated there may be a short transition .When was this decided? .Two years is not short !
    Is this not the sort of double speak Mrs May so often indulged in ?
    This means that the WA warts and all is to be accepted if the backstop is Removed.
    Have the voters not had enough of duplicity ? I thought Boris was clear that the WA was dead !
    Pleased that there are still MPs like yourself who are prepared to keep your word
    Thank you for your efforts

  51. hefner
    August 2, 2019

    I recently had French friends asking me whether it now was “en avant toute pour le B-day” and collapsing into laughter. Then I got it: “Full steam ahead to the bidet”. At least those were not too concerned by the incoming Brexit Day.

    1. Fred H
      August 2, 2019

      they may need to go to the bathroom when their business or livelihood takes a big hit with no UK trade. Who will be laughing then?

      1. tim
        August 5, 2019

        you have never run a business simply, no deal allows the UK government to scrap thousands of import tariffs on non-EU imports, which will reduce prices; to save £39billion; regain control of fishing and to increase the level of democracy in the country.

  52. Jack Falstaff
    August 2, 2019

    There is no way voters should vote for the Conservatives or Labour in any General Election in the near future.
    If you vote Leave, then vote Brexit Party, and if you vote Remoan, then vote for the LibDems.
    The Conservatives are time-wasters and there is no reason to suppose any different.
    It was a sickener to see them ask that Tory candidate who had been deselected to stand again in Wales. Kamikaze stupidity in its purest form.
    Whatever the Conservatives do now, if we have not left by the end of October, it will only serve to split the Leave vote.
    After the end of October, the Conservatives should just die if they cannot deliver Brexit at this late stage.

  53. Ian!
    August 2, 2019

    Jane Dodd’s in her speech following her election, said her aim in Parliament is to ensure the UK remains in the EU. That’s after campaigning against a no deal.

    Clearly all along the HoC objective of no deal was code for remain.

    There has yet to be a deal that permitted the UK to leave EU control, so what can we conclude from this Parliament?

    The EU will win this battle, as so many of their loyal followers are in the UK Parliament.

  54. Simon Coleman
    August 2, 2019

    So, what could possibly go wrong this time? Your problem is – No deal is just a rotten idea, as the people of Brecon and Radnor have told you. If No deal does happen, there will be another referendum within 5 years. But if you’ve really put all your faith in Johnson to deliver it by 31st Oct., you must be desperate!

    1. Edward2
      August 2, 2019

      Over 50% voted for parties that supported leaving the EU
      Even with a Conservative candidate that had spoilt his reputation.

  55. hardlymatters
    August 2, 2019

    One thing we’ll have to get used to again is minding receipts for personal items and clothing bought overseas on our trips away especially regarding wrist watches and jewelry – if you are lucky enough? UK customs back in the 1960’s could be quite difficult in carrying out their duties, for instance when it came to declarations for personal effects, so I don’t suppose they will have changed that much- somtime’s you could put a crispy new ten shilling note into your passport and that would settle it- but hope it doesn’t come to that

  56. Tabulazero
    August 2, 2019

    Goodbye

  57. Alpha Male
    August 3, 2019

    Trump has done a deal with the EU. American beef will now be imported big-style.
    We expect every man Remainer to do his duty and get us out of the EU to stop babies being poisoned, crashed out dead.

  58. BR
    August 3, 2019

    He may have to ‘stick to it’ in the political sense, but can he deliver it with a majority of one, which is likely to be -1 with another traitor to democracy about to defect.

    I suspect he may have to either sit there proposing no amendable legislation until Oct 31, or try to call a GE. If the opposing forces believe that a VoNC could be won and the PM replaced with a stooge, who would attempt to revoke A50, then that’s what they will do.

    Let’s hope enough Labour and independent MPs are democratic enough to block that route. It certainly looks as though there is no way to get a deal through both houses without them tacking on ridiculous amendments, so the only option is the nuclear one – wait for WTO on 31/10 and then say to the EU “Ok, we’ve left your trade bloc, now what arrangements would you like?”.

    I’m reluctant to discuss these things in public now since the remoaners then start scheming to block any publicly-discussed approach.

    P.S. I hope the whip can be removed from some of the remoaners prior to the next GE (Grieve, Lee etc) if they haven’t already gone. Or simply facilitate their associations de-selecting them instead of getting in the way of that as Brandon Lewis did (why is he still in government?).

  59. Stevez
    August 3, 2019

    Of course you will leave on 31st Oct- I don’t think there was ever any doubt about that?

  60. […] We will leave the EU on 31 October […]

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