The stock statement in response to #Brexit petitions needs to be called out. "There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door, & no 2nd Ref" is fundamentally UNCONSTITUTIONAL as it binds Parliament and the People too.
/1.
Parliamentary sovereignty means one Parlt cannot bind another. This invalidates the "cannot reverse #Brexit" subtext of the above statement, as we've had a general election since #Article50 was triggered, so technically this is a different Parlt not bound by the previous one. /2.
The idea the People cannot speak again is ludicrous. It'd take a MAJORITY to #ExitFromBrexit. How is that undemocratic?Given the false prospectus on which #Brexit was sold, the chicanery & cheating of #VoteLeave & Brexit impact, it's the DUTY of Govt to give us #FinalSay Ref. /3.
I wrote to the Head of the Petitions Committee about this, but she replied it was the relevant Govt Dept who wrote the responses (DExEU?). I've also written to Baroness Taylor, chair of the Lords Constitution Committee, but have so far received no reply.
/4.
These details matter. It feels as if every jot of our Constitution is under assault by this #Tory Govt - part of the massive scope-creep of their malign #Brexit project. Ironically we are only now losing the parliamentary sovereignty #Leave pretended it cared so much about.
/5.
Sadly those who voted #Leave seem either not to have the constitutional background, or else not to care, or else to be taken in by the *they're trying to thwart #Brexit* mantra the #BrexitTaliban shrieks every time somebody points out they're trampling our Constitution.
/End.
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@TomTugendhat@Andrew_Adonis Let's look at the facts: 1. The Ref MPs voted for was advisory 2. Cameron then made it binding in the minds of voters who don't understand the niceties of our constitution, which was shabby & underhand of him, because he created a political imperative to take the Ref advice
/1.
@TomTugendhat@Andrew_Adonis 3. Parliament never formally made the decision to leave, but gave Mrs May the power to trigger #Article50 through the shameful A50 Bill (launched before its rubbish White Paper was released), which converted Parliament into an irrelevant rubber stamp in the #Brexit process.
/2.
@TomTugendhat@Andrew_Adonis 4. Under pressure from the Economic Ruin Group (ERG), Mrs May triggered A50 prematurely, without impact assessments and, crucially, without agreement in her party as to what form #Brexit should take, let alone a plan.
It's excruciatingly embarrassing that our press has pumped out so much bilge about the EU that .@EUlondonrep had to have a page on its website dedicated to "A-Z of Euromyths".
As it's Friday, I've picked out my top-ten stupid stories by the British press on the EU #Thread
In at N°10 in the Brit EU-#FakeNews Hit Parade: The S*n claimed the EU wanted to ban BAGPIPES. I'm sure Her Majesty the Queen would have had something to say about that, of whom more anon...
At N°9 in the Brit EU-#FakeNews Hit Parade: The Daily Telegraph, which is now almost as bad as red-tops for fake news when it comes to the EU, claimed the EU wanted to ban that most famous of British icons, the doubled-decker bus.
They were. Upbeat messages funnelled thru VoteLeave, nasty stuff thru LeaveEU. All parties open abt involvement of Cambridge Analytica, credited for the #Brexit *win*.
I have a degree in psychology. The method used here is what's known as conditioning (works on similar principles to grooming girls or radicalising boys to become jihadis). It's despicable. There should be no tolerance for these dark ops in a serious, modern democracy. #StopBrexit
If #Brexit were any good for this country, there'd be no need to lie & cheat to obtain it. I have never known such an underhand, duplicitous Govt as this one. I still cannot get over Davis & Baker lying about the #BrexitImpactReports. Why pursue a policy that makes us poorer?
Nope. That's not it. Let's start with fishing. Lucky today is the anniversary of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, so there are lots of facts swimming around.
/1.
The UN Convention is what divides the sea into territories (not the EU!) - you can read about it here: un.org/depts/los/conv…
/2.
We contribute 13% of territorial waters to EU, we have 35% of EU landed catch. That 13% is mostly Scottish waters.
/3.