Europe, Referendum & Brexit (formerly Europe..IN or OUT??)

Mrs May has been told to "Quit in three months" by certain cabinet ministers.

I would say any defeat in Parliament next Wednesday must surely now hasten her departure before the summer, and the local elections could see a crushing Conservative defeat,

May won't put the Meaningful vote back to the House of Commons this week, but she says that the vote will be completed before March 12th.

On the other side, the EU wants Brexit to be delayed till 2021. They want negotiations on trade to be settled by then, so that an Ireland backstop won't be needed.

Labour are to support a second referendum.
Will they have the numbers to get the motion passed?

A rough guide, I believe that they would have
246 Labour, 11 Liberals, 35 Scottish Nationalists, 4 Plaid Cymru, 1 Green, + 20 Independant = 317

In addition there are 7 Sinn Fein

Against 314 Conservatives + 10 DUP = 324

What a CNUT !!!

https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/27923829339

Nice to see the spanish goverment saying to British citizens there they are welcome to stay if there is a No deal. the fact that UK expats make up a sizable contingent and own a lot of business that employ a lot of people

Is there a better way to heal political divides - through panels of ordinary citizens? Sonia Sodha asks if the idea of citizens' assemblies, which have been used around the world to come up with solutions to polarising issues. Proponents argue that they avoid the risks of knee-jerk legislation, winner-takes-all outcomes or the pull of populism. Many in the Republic of Ireland believe that deliberative democracy was crucial in reforming the law on abortion without causing major political upheavals. Could this method still come up with a better way forward for Brexit?

Audio Only 28 mins

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0002z9g

^Labour MP's like Emma Reynolds,Mary Creagh & former PM Gordon Brown have been floating the idea of these 'Citizen's Assemblies/ Panels' for about the past 6 months or so as a means of finding a pathway through Brexit that gets consensus from the wider public (& probably absolve MP's of any responsibility).I even read an article written by Gordon Brown mentioning pausing Brexit for 2 years to form one of these panels debating & finding consensus on various subjects ie trade,laws, immigration etc.In truth I have numerous problems with these hypothetical Panels such as who is the arbitrator that gets to choose each member,what is the criteria for qualifying to be a panel member (ie will it be based on education level,work experience,life experiences, ethnicity or religion or based more on political leanings,whether you're a trade union member or if you voted Leave or Remain etc).Also will every panelist be given adequate data & information that is available to MP's to find clarification, relevant knowledge etc on such topics. How many panelists will be chosen & would be deemed a fair reflection to represent the country ie 20,50,100,1000 etc considering over 30 million people voted back in the EU Ref back in 2016.No pollster tends publish findings on subjects with less than a 1000 people interviewed & so would a 1000 panelist members be the minimum requirement,who knows.And what if this Citizens Assembly finds a general consensus that backs effectively a Hard Brexit (or a clean break from the EU) or vice versa then it is revealed that 60-70% of the panel were Brexit voters or vice versa & the panel are a mainly Remain voters who want to stay in the EU then it would be discredited by the media & by voters.And most importantly at whatever consensus these panels come to on topics do they become part of legislation towards a Brexit decision or can MP's choose to ignore it & if so it renders these panels effectively meaningless.


The common denominator between every MP,media commentator etc like Emma Reynolds,Mary Creagh,Gordon Brown, Sonia Sodha (like southsidestu has mentioned) that is that they have been on record as backing a 2nd Ref or as some people call it a 'Peoples Vote' & so I question what the true motives behind supporting these Panels are other than I suspect to delay & then block Brexit by another means.These Citizens Panels/Assemblies may sound good in theory but in practice I think they would be a logistical nightmare,provide another layer of bureaucracy & absolves MP's of any responsibility.

May suffers defeat in Lords as peers back cross party support that demands Britain stays in a customs union with Brussels.

IMHO I think the Lords either should become an elected chamber or abolished as I feel they have made the whole process a dead dodo

think the lords is good as a Are you really want to do this ? it has done a lot with things like benefits that if it wasnt there would be 10 times worse

should be the same amount or Less than HOC and political appointees should be banned both Labour and Cons have bloody fucked it over the last 20 years