Thread by @Rachel5742

1. Worst national leadership in my lifetime forcing through the most damaging, misguided & missold policy I can remember. Ideology & vested self interest replace statesmanship, soundbites replace sound judgement & autocracy subverts democracy.
#Brexit harms us irreparably #FBPE

2. A flawed Leave campaign based on lies, deceit, disingenuity & over simplification & a #Remain one fought w/o any positivity from the Govt & no real commitment from Labour, whose leader was virtually AWOL, did no justice to #Brexit complexity & betrayed our democratic process.

3. A mere 37% of voters/26.5% of the Ppl voted leave in a legally Non-Binding test of public opinion which has been corrupted, on the basis of an illegitimate political promise & interpreted as being the irrefutable Will of the Ppl.
The 1st is insufficient to claim the latter!

4. On the basis of this an appointed unmandated PM chose to force thru her version of #Brexit w/o any refnce to our Sov Parl, on the basis of Prerogative power & party self interest, to assuage the Brextremists & appeal to the worst elements they represented & the far right.

5. But 4 the actions of a brave private cit, not Her Majesty's Opposition, May would've got away with it; the Miller case put paid to the Exec power grab & Parl Sovereignty was re-established...& promptly squandered by a Labour leadership again placing ideology & party B4 country

6. A Labour party whose leader stood outside Parl the day after the Ref stating categorically that #A50 should B invoked immediately because the Ppl 26.5% had decided; something not even the PM nor his appointed successor considered prudent & many warned wld hand control 2 the EU

7. So a new PM, one determined to ensure her party retained power & a leader of a divided opposition determined to gain it, each now representing the extreme of UK politics sought to take the flawed result & use it to play party politics placing that before the national interest.

8. Stage 1 the #A50 Bill...designed to get around the Miller judgement & put control back in the hands of the Exec, a real opportunity for an Opposition to enforce the due diligence so sadly lacking hitherto & build in checks & balance...but no Labour were whipped to support it.

9. And so it passed by a large majority undermining any attempt by the Lords to make up for the deficiencies in the legislation & exercise adequate scrutiny...a Govt with a majority, an Opposition playing along, both still failing to address or debate the implications of #Brexit

10. & then the unimaginable, not the least cos the PM stated it was.. #GE2017! Determined to ensure there wld be no Opposition, no scrutiny, no accountability to thwart her Exec #Brexit May went to the country confident & demagogic & returned humiliated a majority & mandate lost.

11. 2B fair, Corbyn inspired showing a campaigning flair sadly lacking during the EURef, proved he had something to offer, enough to consolidate his leadership...but he did not win...neither won but a £billion bung saw May back as PM in thrall to the DUP & her #Brexit vulnerable.

12. Negotiations & #EUWithdrawalBill, another attempt to impose Exec control thru Henry VIII powers..at last an opposition beginning to question this, a chance for the HoC to finally assert itself? Plenty on the social problems the UK faces..still little from Corbyn on #Brexit.

13. Phase 1 negs still incomplete have agreed only 1 aspect of the EU red lines but it's evident that as warned a premature invoking of #A50 gave the EU27 control as evidenced by the Govt conceding everything set out but wasting 18mths to do it. We are the supplicant & #Remain so

14. An what about due diligence? Neither party sought to undertake it before rashly invoking #A50 seemingly w/o any understanding of the process nor critically if it cld be revoked or if so under what terms...no, red lines closed off sensible options which needed to #Remain open!

15. Then there's Davis's fiasco re Shroedinger's Impact Assessments; more yo-yo than mature competent Minister of State, either a liar or exhibiting extreme negligence, continuing a Leave tradition so aptly demonstrated by the bus + £350m pw for the NHS. Shameful Smoke & Mirrors.

16. Ministers surviving in post when once either honour, integrity or a strong PM would've removed them from the job & this alongside an insidious subversion of our democ process where those questioning or opposing are deemed traitors, saboteurs or worse; what've we become?

17. Then there's the media, almost compliant with the Govt & Labour leadership line that this #Brexit, based on the opinion of only 37% of the elct & 26.5% Ppl voting in a non-binding Ref, is the Will of the Ppl & to doubt this somehow wrong. Not once has the media questioned it.

18. There R of course some v. fine journos & correspondents who know impartiality means a thorough challenging of political BS on an impartial basis but all too often it's a cosy chat between mates where Person A is given the same say as Person B. MPs must be held to account!

19. So here we R facing 2018, the last opportunity to reconsider what #Brexit truly means 4 the UK, our country, our future, our children's futures. I am no Europhile I'm a patriot who strongly believes that our future was best served looking out into the World from within the EU

20. An EU which wasn't the hostile foreign dictatorship the lies & deceit of the far right Brextremists make it out to be, but 27 sovereign states together sharing common interests, values & rights & guarding Peace in Europe..our friends..our neighbours partners..our allies.

21. And why this insane #Brexit that can only leave us poorer, weaker, more isolated & with less influence in the World? For a false Sovereignty we never lost & to control borders over which we already had full control as evidenced by the fact I have to show a passport in & out!

22. Thatcher knew where our national self-interest lay & she was never one to be shy..we need to be at the table to exercise influence & control not outside but still subject to control without influence! Whatever the EU does in future will impact upon us even if we're out...

23. Brexiters think we were subjected to all these rules & regs forgetting we shaped many of them including the SM/CU...they're why things worked & mainly worked in our favour helping us grow & prosper, helped by EU cits who chose to live here & contribute to growing our country.

24. We were a lead partner, had control but were outside the Eurozone, not a part of Schengen (look it up) the grit in the EU oyster a bridge or gateway in & out to the wider World but with opt outs & vetoes protected by treaty..all of which are about to be stupidly thrown away.

25. Where R we now? Still a full member but not allowed to sit at the EU table..#A50 invoked the clock ticking; the EU27 now in control of our destiny, able to eat our cake before we get to look at it all able to veto a deal. Govt concessions from the start..TAKING BACK CONTROL?

26. And #Brextremists shout we won, get over it...sod the EU..saboteurs...traitors....just leave & don't pay...they're bullies! WTO..WTO..it's fine..Rees-Mogg, IDS Redwood, Lamont, Lawson etc all said so...we have Shroedinger's Minister for No Deal...yay #Brexit means #Brexit!

27. But no it's not fine...if we leave 29/03/19 w/o paying our dues our reputation will be mud. Threatening or friends is usually not a good way to go..take Boris Johnson (please someone just take Boris Johnson) & as for the WTO...it's bollocks they lied!

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28. At least 759 treaties 2B renegotiated if we leave...we can't transplant deals negotiated by us thru the EU; deals take years to secure & we can't set any up before we've left & unless we are outside the much of the SM & CU which then hits the economy.
ft.com/content/f1435a…

29. How many UK cits realise #Brexit'll remove fundamental rights? Oh they'll tell you we won't lose rights, even Labour will blame the Tories but if they don't #StopBrexit they'll be complicit too...a Brit Bill of Rights will be as safe as 1 Parliament. The ECJ protects you!

30. FOM of movement...much maligned & often wrongly & unfairly included as just immigration. No! No! No!

31. FOM is a basic human right...it's one of 4 basic freedoms at the heart of European democ; in the EU it lets all of live, work or study in any EU country.. but it is regulated. An EU cit can be repatriated after 3mths if no job, study or independent means. UK Govt chose not to

32. And don't fall for the BS you're rights are secure, nor those of EU cits living in the EU, nor those of UK cits living abroad...another #Brexit lie...the only way to keep the same rights is to stay in the EU/SM/CU & respect the 4 freedoms & ECJ oversight...nothing less.

*your

33. Repatriated rights are only as secure as 1 Parl, 1 Govt..Labour may try to make you believe they're safe with them & they mean it but #Brexit makes a lie of this..we lose FOM, we lose the basic right to take our Govt to the ECJ 4 breech of rights

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34. And if they get away with #Brexit the #Tories next step will be to go for the ECHR at some stage...why do they always say safe 'for this Parliament'? Much as politicians can only bring themselves to say 'Best Deal Possible'..never a 'Better Deal'.

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35. So where are we?

Both the Govt & Labour support an unachievable #Brexit, both wish to #Remain outside the SM/CU & both somehow consider that Democracy is best served by refusing to allow the Ppl a Rethink a Binding #FinalSay to Confirm #Brexit or #StopBrexit in 2018.

36. We can be fairly sure that the #Brexit negs have not gone well for the UK so far with little prospect of improvement...the PM/Govt have mishandled both #A50 & the negs woefully & #Labour play a cynical game hoping blame 4 the disaster unfolding will stick to the Tories-wrong!

37. May 3rd Local elections are a chance to let the main parties know what you think...if you back #Remain you need to ensure you don't give succour to leave backing parties...you can register a protest without hurting the balance in Parl..#Brexit is about the UK not party.

38. That both R forcing thru this #Brexit, treating a non-binding vote in which only 37% of voters supported leave, as binding is appalling in itself, that they seek to do so w/o seeking a Confirmation of that Will in a #FinalSay in 2018 + a #StopBrexit option is Autocratic! /END