The Good Friday agreement is under threat – but it’s key to resolving Brexit We achieved peace in 1998 by involving people on all sides. May and Corbyn must see why a confirmatory vote is so essential
It is precisely because of such issues as the border that there should be a confirmatory vote on whatever now emerges from the Brexit process in parliament. The Irish border question is a metaphor for the entire negotiation. It is not possible for the UK to have frictionless trade with the EU if it remains outside the single market, so the question is how much friction is compatible with the Good Friday agreement, and that in turns defines any Brexit agreement that will pass through parliament. Such is the variation of Brexit deals that have been debated, and the vastness of the Brexit promises made in 2016, that any agreement is unlikely to be what the public voted for. The UK people should have the final say. They should be asked if now, knowing all that they do, they still wish to proceed, on whatever basis is agreed by government and parliament.
Following the Good Friday agreement, there were two referendums. The referendum in Northern Ireland, on the agreement, based on facts not promises, clarity not ambiguity, received a 71% yes result. The related referendum in the Republic of Ireland achieved a 94% yes. There is now time for a confirmatory referendum given the EU has expanded the Brexit deadline to 31 October. It is this that must be pursued, and May should take the lead in that process.
It was not solely through the signatures we scribbled on 10 April 1998 that peace came to Northern Ireland. It was the values people ascribed to it as a result. Reconciliation. Tolerance. Mutual trust. Respect for the views of others. A shared desire to reach the right conclusion on terms that all but the most extreme can live with and accept. That is the approach needed on Brexit now. The extension gives us another chance. We must not waste it. We must use it wisely, and deliver the three Cs – calm, clarity and a confirmatory vote. Only then can come the fourth C: closure.
Brexit warning Huffpost UK reports the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has warned there will be "no chance whatsoever" of a trade deal between the UK and the US if Brexit causes "any harm" to the Good Friday Agreement. Ms Pelosi is said to have used a speech at thee London School of Economics on Monday night to warn that peace in Northern Ireland "must not be "bargained away".
The Daily Mirror leads with a government-funded study by Southampton University that warns one in four hospital wards in England is operating at unsafe staffing levels. It says "one in 10 NHS posts are unfilled" and "at some hospitals one in five nursing posts are empty". The Royal College of Nursing expresses concern lessons have not been learned from the "Mid Staffs scandal" - when hundreds of patients died due to poor care linked to inadequate staffing. The Daily Mail, which also carries the story, includes a response from the Department of Health. It insists that thousands more nurses are on wards or in training and that its long-term plan "will ensure the NHS stays the safest healthcare system in the world".
Brexit LIVE: Germany doubts if UK actually wants to leave EU as NO PROGRESS made GERMANY’S foreign minister has questioned whether or not the UK really wants to leave the European Union - a week after extending the Brexit deadline to October 31.
Deluded Brexit ‘purists’ are killing off their dream of leaving the EU, says LEO McKINSTRY THE DREAM of British independence is fading. Due to bungling by our political class, the quest for national liberation has been turned into a nightmare of procrastination and paralysis.
Last week, the Brexit saga plumbed new depths of humiliation, as Theresa May was forced not only to beg the EU for a further delay in our departure but also to plead for support from the Labour Party in a desperate attempt to break the current stalemate.
Our country should have left more than a fortnight ago, yet, absurdly, we are now likely to participate in the elections for the European Parliament next month.
"Brexit is dead," said one Cabinet minister yesterday
Yet even now, there is still a chance that we could leave the EU soon if only a majority of MPs would back the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement.
So far her deal has been defeated three times by an incongruous alliance of unyielding Brexiteers and Remainers and the bulk of the Labour Party. But if the Commons faced up to its democratic responsibilities and finally backed the deal, then Britain could begin the journey to freedom. On the other hand, if the rejection continues, our nation will sink deeper into the quagmire of inaction, where the only certainty will be the betrayal of the 2016 vote for Leave. Some Brexiteers still cling to the idea of a pure Brexit, but Parliament has repeatedly made clear that it will not support any departure without a deal. If there were any real push for such a step, MPs would simply revoke Article 50, by which our EU membership ends. Besides, the EU, to avoid any risk of No Deal, will keep granting further extensions after the current new deadline of October, as Donald Tusk, the European Council President, hinted at the Brussels summit last week. It is equally deluded to think that the EU would be willing to re-open negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement. Even if such talks were held, they could backfire, since the other 27 member states might insist on far less favourable terms than Mrs May achieved. President Macron of France, who sees himself as the guardian of the federalist project, has already declared that his "patience" with Britain is wearing thin.
An even bigger fantasy is the belief that the current logjam can be smashed by a Tory leadership contest, from which a Brexit true believer will emerge and then sweep the country at a general election. This is nonsense. The Tories are hopelessly tainted by their failure to deliver Brexit so far, as will be proved by the forthcoming European elections where they face a pincer movement from Remainers and a resurgent anti-EU movement, headed by Nigel Farage's newly created Brexit party. One early poll for the EU elections put the Tories on just 17 percent, far behind the combined total of 25 percent for the Brexit party and Ukip. The wider picture for the Tories is just as dismal. A swift general election would probably mean, not a boost for Brexit, but the arrival of Jeremy Corbyn in power. Yesterday the highly respected polling expert Martin Baxter revealed that the Tories are likely to lose about 60 seats at the next contest, with the arch-Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith among them. The internal Tory obsession with the leadership change is a self-indulgent distraction from the issue of delivering the 2016 result. The real choices facing Parliament are the Prime Minister's deal, a softer Brexit or no Brexit at all. The hardcore Eurosceptics claim they cannot vote for May's agreement because it is a compromise too far. "I would rather put a shotgun in my mouth," than vote for her deal, says Mark Francois, deputy chairman of the European Research Group. Yet May's deal delivers access to the European trading block without membership of the single market, as well as an end to free movement, large payments to Brussels, and the jurisdiction of the European courts.
The tragedy of Brexit is that Mrs May has been so woeful in selling the merits of her deal. As well as her botched 2017 general election and her reluctance to build a cross-party consensus, her greatest weakness has simply been her inability to communicate. One poll yesterday showed that 49 percent of the public would be willing to back her deal, if only she made her case for it. But sadly the Downing Street bunker rather than campaign platform remains her preferred arena. That has left the field free for her dogmatic opponents. In the process, the supposed champions of Leave have turned into Brexit wreckers
The arrogant elite stuck two fingers up at the people, says NIGEL FARAGE After 25 years of campaigning to get the UK out of the EU, I am the last person who wanted our country to be in this position. Frankly, I think it is an unforgivable state of affairs. But the refusal of the political class in Westminster to honour the referendum result of 2016 means that this unwanted election is upon us. We must make the best of it. Having said all of that, I wouldn't want anybody to think I am despondent. Far from it. And none of the 17.4 million men and women who voted for Brexit should be either. Before us all is a brilliant opportunity to bring about a revolution in Britain's political system. To that end, I want to emphasise with every fibre of my being how important it is that as many people as possible turn out next month and vote for The Brexit Party. I know that many reading this will be sceptical, thinking their vote won't make a difference. But without the people of our nation doing their democratic duty three years ago, we would not have won the EU referendum. On that occasion, we beat the Remain side by more than 1.3 million votes.
Remainers bang on about how close that result was, but I disagree. We won by a number equivalent to the population of Birmingham. That is a substantial margin of victory. The will of a majority of British people was crystal clear.
After June 2016, the overwhelming majority of MPs agreed to enact Brexit. But then Theresa May's shambles of a general election in 2017 - in which she was left with a minority government - changed things.
Remainer MPs, who make up 75 per cent of the House of Commons, started to backtrack. As time has gone on, this arrogant elite have stuck two fingers up at their own manifestos, lied to the electorate, and done everything possible to thwart the result.
They are now stone-deaf to the promises they made previously. Many are so out of touch it is as though they simply don't care anymore.
They have concocted all sorts of bogus arguments to try to kill Brexit. The sheer scale of their betrayal of the country is difficult to grasp. In light of this, the best option open to Brexiteers is to punish both Establishment parties and back The Brexit Party.
That is why I would urge anybody tempted to stay at home on May 23 not to do so. Please do not behave as though we have been defeated. Instead, remember that the 2016 result was just the first triumph.
We must now finish the job and change politics in Britain for good.
The Conservatives and Labour have been as bad as each other when it comes to choking off Brexit. In their own ways, both have connived to let down the citizens of Britain who voted to Leave in 2016.
But Remainers too should be deeply alarmed by the behaviour of our MPs in recent months. They should also vote for The Brexit Party.
Even if they didn't like the referendum result in 2016, they shouldn't be comfortable about the way democracy has been turned on its head.
Indeed, this goes way beyond old-fashioned party politics. A clear message must be sent on May 23 that people are not prepared to go on with this shattered order any longer.
I believe the European elections can be the vehicle for driving the fundamental change that is required in our politics. It is just the start of the revolution for which Britain is crying out. The Brexit Party is going to put competence back into British politics.
No decent person would ever invite anybody associated with violence, thuggery or criminality into their house.
By the same token, no selfrespecting voter should ever consider supporting a party with links to any of these appalling traits either. That is why you can count on The Brexit Party to field a wide range of candidates who are committed to openness, honesty, integrity, and promoting the public good.
After three terrible years in which the people of the UK have been deliberately misled by a group of conceited politicians who are ****-bent on pleasing themselves, we all deserve so much better.
Brexit: UK risks being flooded with dangerous products after leaving EU, experts warn
The UK could be flooded with dangerous toys, cars and electrical appliances after Brexit unless the government acts to keep EU safety standards in place, Which? has warned. Last year, the “Safety Gate” rapid warning system flagged thousands of products across the continent with serious problems. The number of serious safety problems highlighted by Safety Gate has jumped by more than a third in the past decade from 1,542 in 2008 to 2,064 in 2018.
After Brexit, UK authorities could face crucial delays in receiving information about unsafe products, unless an agreement is reached with the EU.
Don’t bet against the Brexit party winning the EU elections In 2014 Nigel Farage shocked Westminster by leading Ukip to victory in the last European parliament elections: the first time the Conservatives or Labour hadn’t topped the ballot in a nationwide election since 1906. Since then Farage has left the party and officially launched the new Brexit party to fight this round of somewhat unexpected EU elections. At the launch, Farage put his money where his mouth is, announcing he had placed a £1,000 bet on his newly formed party topping the ballot in next month’s vote.
At the weekend YouGov released the first YouGov/Times poll of the EU election campaign. Farage’s party currently finds itself in third place on 15%, within the margin of error of the Conservatives on 16%, but currently a way behind Labour who are on 24%. However, there are many reasons to believe they will make up that ground over the coming weeks, and Farage’s gamble looks like a fairly smart bet.
It is entirely plausible that we are facing another Farage-shaped upset at the ballot box The polling shows that a significant chunk of voters who backed the Conservatives in 2017 are dissatisfied with the direction the party is heading on Brexit. Just 11% think the government is handling Brexit well, compared with 84% who think they are handling it badly. Additionally, many more voters who backed the Conservatives at the last election think that leaving the EU without a deal – which the Brexit party is advocating – would be a good outcome than think Theresa May’s deal would be a good outcome (it’s 48% for the former versus 21% for the latter).
This is part of what is driving the drop-off in support for the Conservatives, with just a quarter (25%) of those who backed the party in 2017, and just 12% of leave voters, currently saying they will vote Conservative in the EU elections. The difficulty for Farage is that these voters aren’t yet moving en masse to his new outfit, but are fairly evenly dividing between the Brexit party, Ukip and undecided. This means the main challenge for the Brexit party over the coming weeks will be to cement itself as the main voice for dissatisfied leave voters
And that seems like an entirely achievable task. Firstly, the Brexit party has already achieved a 15% vote share as a force that is still fairly unknown, with the fieldwork for this poll taking place before the party officially launched last Friday. Many voters at this stage might not yet be aware of the party, and critically will not yet associate it with Farage. While a divisive character, Farage is still popular among the key voters he needs to win over. The majority (56%) of leave voters who backed the Conservatives at the last election still say they have a positive opinion of him.
Meanwhile Ukip, which is currently dividing the vote share, has not only lost its main salesman, but now finds itself being openly attached by him. It may be holding 14% of the vote share in our European parliament poll, but it is easy to see how much of this could shift away once the campaign gets going.
Turnout could also easily work to Farage’s advantage in next month’s poll. For the first time since 1999 the European parliament elections will not be happening on the same day as the local elections. That election had very low turnout, with just 24% of eligible voters registering their vote. The effect of this will likely be that fewer loyal supporters of the two main parties make the trek to the polling station. At the same time, those on both extremes of the debate who are energised by Brexit will make up a larger proportion of the electorate, further boosting the Brexit party vote share.
It is entirely plausible that we are facing another Farage-shaped upset at the ballot box. While there are more than five weeks of campaigning to go, I certainly wouldn’t bet against him.
The arrogant elite stuck two fingers up at the people, says NIGEL FARAGE After 25 years of campaigning to get the UK out of the EU, I am the last person who wanted our country to be in this position. Frankly, I think it is an unforgivable state of affairs. But the refusal of the political class in Westminster to honour the referendum result of 2016 means that this unwanted election is upon us. We must make the best of it. Having said all of that, I wouldn't want anybody to think I am despondent. Far from it. And none of the 17.4 million men and women who voted for Brexit should be either. Before us all is a brilliant opportunity to bring about a revolution in Britain's political system. To that end, I want to emphasise with every fibre of my being how important it is that as many people as possible turn out next month and vote for The Brexit Party. I know that many reading this will be sceptical, thinking their vote won't make a difference. But without the people of our nation doing their democratic duty three years ago, we would not have won the EU referendum. On that occasion, we beat the Remain side by more than 1.3 million votes.
Remainers bang on about how close that result was, but I disagree. We won by a number equivalent to the population of Birmingham. That is a substantial margin of victory. The will of a majority of British people was crystal clear.
After June 2016, the overwhelming majority of MPs agreed to enact Brexit. But then Theresa May's shambles of a general election in 2017 - in which she was left with a minority government - changed things.
Remainer MPs, who make up 75 per cent of the House of Commons, started to backtrack. As time has gone on, this arrogant elite have stuck two fingers up at their own manifestos, lied to the electorate, and done everything possible to thwart the result.
They are now stone-deaf to the promises they made previously. Many are so out of touch it is as though they simply don't care anymore.
They have concocted all sorts of bogus arguments to try to kill Brexit. The sheer scale of their betrayal of the country is difficult to grasp. In light of this, the best option open to Brexiteers is to punish both Establishment parties and back The Brexit Party.
That is why I would urge anybody tempted to stay at home on May 23 not to do so. Please do not behave as though we have been defeated. Instead, remember that the 2016 result was just the first triumph.
We must now finish the job and change politics in Britain for good.
The Conservatives and Labour have been as bad as each other when it comes to choking off Brexit. In their own ways, both have connived to let down the citizens of Britain who voted to Leave in 2016.
But Remainers too should be deeply alarmed by the behaviour of our MPs in recent months. They should also vote for The Brexit Party.
Even if they didn't like the referendum result in 2016, they shouldn't be comfortable about the way democracy has been turned on its head.
Indeed, this goes way beyond old-fashioned party politics. A clear message must be sent on May 23 that people are not prepared to go on with this shattered order any longer.
I believe the European elections can be the vehicle for driving the fundamental change that is required in our politics. It is just the start of the revolution for which Britain is crying out. The Brexit Party is going to put competence back into British politics.
No decent person would ever invite anybody associated with violence, thuggery or criminality into their house.
By the same token, no selfrespecting voter should ever consider supporting a party with links to any of these appalling traits either. That is why you can count on The Brexit Party to field a wide range of candidates who are committed to openness, honesty, integrity, and promoting the public good.
After three terrible years in which the people of the UK have been deliberately misled by a group of conceited politicians who are ****-bent on pleasing themselves, we all deserve so much better.
"Criminals to be handed a clean slate" says the Daily Telegraph as it reveals that Home Secretary Sajid Javid wants to end the automatic disclosure of minor convictions to prospective employers. Mr Javid says he believes juvenile offenders should not be denied jobs. But some campaigners warn changing the rules could leave employers in the dark about potential risks. In its coverage of climate change protests in central London, the Daily Telegraph suggests the Metropolitan Police has run out of cells to hold the more than 200 activists who have been arrested. The Guardian asks the protesters to explain their motivation. It speaks to a student from Bristol who is "freaking out about the climate" and a 15-year-old schoolboy who describes the need "to do something drastic", but knows his parents are "going to be mad" if he ends up being fined. One officer complains cell capacity has "probably halved" in the past few years and says the issue is hindering their ability to "stop the disruptive antics".
As campaigners threaten to disrupt the London Underground, the Daily Mail asks: "So who are the eco protesters holding the capital to ransom?" Among them are a 54-year-old care worker from Stroud who, it says, "previously lived in the Dordogne in a luxurious home with a pool" and a 47-year-old biophysicist who is said to have become "an activist as a result of taking psychedelic drugs".
With official figures showing that one in 10 over-65s is still holding down a job, the Daily Express believes it may have found "Britain's hardest-working family". The six siblings from Barnsley "have a combined age of 475 years but still work up to seven days a week". The eldest is 90 and is thought to be Britain's oldest greengrocer. All six siblings, the paper says, insist anyone who mentions the word retirement should "stop swearing".
'I fear the clock will run down': EU chief blasts holidaying MPs and accuses UK of squandering its Brextension AGAIN, as politicians jet off during 11-day Commons break European Parliament's Brexit coordinator criticised MPs going on holiday He said there is a fear that coming to a cross party agreement will 'disappear' It comes after Donald Tusk said he still believes the UK might not leave the EU Mr Tusk also said that people shouldn't think that Brexit can be reversed
Tories face European election disaster as THREE THOUSAND people apply to be MEPs for Change UK - while three more Ukippers flee to join Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party The party set up by independent MPs will choose candidates this weekend It has been 'overwhelmed' by the number of people wanting to stand in May Ukip left with just four MEPs after latest defections to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party Accused Ukip leader Gerard Batten of taking party to 'extreme right of politics' Comes as Tories sink into disarray over the fact that elections are taking place
Pro-Brexit Leave.EU group accused of faking videos and forging images of migrants committing crimes Campaign group led by former Ukip donor Arron Banks accused of 'fake news' over viral video
Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has been accused of faking a viral video of illegal "migrants" and forging images purporting to show immigrants committing violent crimes. The group, which is led by businessman and former Ukip donor Arron Banks, staged a video that it claimed showed how easy it was for migrants to cross to Britain illegally, according to Channel 4 News.
The video was released in the weeks before the 2016 EU referendum and was watched hundreds of thousands of times. But Channel 4 said satellite data showed that the boat had never left UK waters, and footage appearing to show the "migrants" entering the country was filmed before they left UK shores.
It also reported that Leave.EU had staged images that the group said showed a migrant attacking a young woman in Tottenham, north London.
The photos appearing to show the violent attack were reportedly sent by a special forces veteran who works for Mr Banks to Andy Wigmore, Leave.EU's head of communications.
Channel 4 said leaked emails showed Mr Wigmore had then forwarded them to the group's media team with the message: "Migrants beating up girl in Tottenham Saturday...Can we get this ready to go as a press release."
It is unclear why the photos were seemingly never released. In response, Mr Banks told Channel 4: “Leave.EU is the biggest viral political campaign in the UK, with 3.7 million engagements last week on Facebook alone, dwarfing political parties and other groups. “Channel 4 is packed with ex-Guardian journalists and left wing activists, who create fake news for a living!
“The campaign must be doing something right to annoy all the right people consistently.” But Labour MP Jo Stevens, a member of the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee, said: “The video of the boat is very obviously fake and put together in a fake way. The photographs are a little bit more difficult to spot that, but clearly fake news with a deliberate intention of stoking hatred and anti-immigrant feeling and rhetoric.”
Leave.EU has previously been hit with hefty fines by the Electoral Commission in relation to activities during the EU referendum campaign. The group was fined £70,000 last year for breaking election laws and in March was hit with a further £60,000 punishment for data breaches.
Comments
We achieved peace in 1998 by involving people on all sides. May and Corbyn must see why a confirmatory vote is so essential
It is precisely because of such issues as the border that there should be a confirmatory vote on whatever now emerges from the Brexit process in parliament. The Irish border question is a metaphor for the entire negotiation. It is not possible for the UK to have frictionless trade with the EU if it remains outside the single market, so the question is how much friction is compatible with the Good Friday agreement, and that in turns defines any Brexit agreement that will pass through parliament.
Such is the variation of Brexit deals that have been debated, and the vastness of the Brexit promises made in 2016, that any agreement is unlikely to be what the public voted for. The UK people should have the final say. They should be asked if now, knowing all that they do, they still wish to proceed, on whatever basis is agreed by government and parliament.
Following the Good Friday agreement, there were two referendums. The referendum in Northern Ireland, on the agreement, based on facts not promises, clarity not ambiguity, received a 71% yes result. The related referendum in the Republic of Ireland achieved a 94% yes. There is now time for a confirmatory referendum given the EU has expanded the Brexit deadline to 31 October. It is this that must be pursued, and May should take the lead in that process.
It was not solely through the signatures we scribbled on 10 April 1998 that peace came to Northern Ireland. It was the values people ascribed to it as a result. Reconciliation. Tolerance. Mutual trust. Respect for the views of others. A shared desire to reach the right conclusion on terms that all but the most extreme can live with and accept. That is the approach needed on Brexit now. The extension gives us another chance. We must not waste it. We must use it wisely, and deliver the three Cs – calm, clarity and a confirmatory vote. Only then can come the fourth C: closure.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/14/good-friday-agreement-ireland-brexit-tony-blair-bertie-ahern
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/brexit-helped-drive-50-drop-london-financial-jobs-082102963.html
Brexit warning
Huffpost UK reports the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has warned there will be "no chance whatsoever" of a trade deal between the UK and the US if Brexit causes "any harm" to the Good Friday Agreement.
Ms Pelosi is said to have used a speech at thee London School of Economics on Monday night to warn that peace in Northern Ireland "must not be "bargained away".
The Daily Mirror leads with a government-funded study by Southampton University that warns one in four hospital wards in England is operating at unsafe staffing levels.
It says "one in 10 NHS posts are unfilled" and "at some hospitals one in five nursing posts are empty".
The Royal College of Nursing expresses concern lessons have not been learned from the "Mid Staffs scandal" - when hundreds of patients died due to poor care linked to inadequate staffing.
The Daily Mail, which also carries the story, includes a response from the Department of Health. It insists that thousands more nurses are on wards or in training and that its long-term plan "will ensure the NHS stays the safest healthcare system in the world".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-47942947
GERMANY’S foreign minister has questioned whether or not the UK really wants to leave the European Union - a week after extending the Brexit deadline to October 31.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1114810/brexit-news-latest-uk-eu-theresa-may-brexit-party-today
THE DREAM of British independence is fading. Due to bungling by our political class, the quest for national liberation has been turned into a nightmare of procrastination and paralysis.
Last week, the Brexit saga plumbed new depths of humiliation, as Theresa May was forced not only to beg the EU for a further delay in our departure but also to plead for support from the Labour Party in a desperate attempt to break the current stalemate.
Our country should have left more than a fortnight ago, yet, absurdly, we are now likely to participate in the elections for the European Parliament next month.
"Brexit is dead," said one Cabinet minister yesterday
Yet even now, there is still a chance that we could leave the EU soon if only a majority of MPs would back the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement.
So far her deal has been defeated three times by an incongruous alliance of unyielding Brexiteers and Remainers and the bulk of the Labour Party.
But if the Commons faced up to its democratic responsibilities and finally backed the deal, then Britain could begin the journey to freedom.
On the other hand, if the rejection continues, our nation will sink deeper into the quagmire of inaction, where the only certainty will be the betrayal of the 2016 vote for Leave.
Some Brexiteers still cling to the idea of a pure Brexit, but Parliament has repeatedly made clear that it will not support any departure without a deal.
If there were any real push for such a step, MPs would simply revoke Article 50, by which our EU membership ends.
Besides, the EU, to avoid any risk of No Deal, will keep granting further extensions after the current new deadline of October, as Donald Tusk, the European Council President, hinted at the Brussels summit last week.
It is equally deluded to think that the EU would be willing to re-open negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement.
Even if such talks were held, they could backfire, since the other 27 member states might insist on far less favourable terms than Mrs May achieved.
President Macron of France, who sees himself as the guardian of the federalist project, has already declared that his "patience" with Britain is wearing thin.
An even bigger fantasy is the belief that the current logjam can be smashed by a Tory leadership contest, from which a Brexit true believer will emerge and then sweep the country at a general election.
This is nonsense.
The Tories are hopelessly tainted by their failure to deliver Brexit so far, as will be proved by the forthcoming European elections where they face a pincer movement from Remainers and a resurgent anti-EU movement, headed by Nigel Farage's newly created Brexit party.
One early poll for the EU elections put the Tories on just 17 percent, far behind the combined total of 25 percent for the Brexit party and Ukip.
The wider picture for the Tories is just as dismal.
A swift general election would probably mean, not a boost for Brexit, but the arrival of Jeremy Corbyn in power.
Yesterday the highly respected polling expert Martin Baxter revealed that the Tories are likely to lose about 60 seats at the next contest, with the arch-Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith among them.
The internal Tory obsession with the leadership change is a self-indulgent distraction from the issue of delivering the 2016 result.
The real choices facing Parliament are the Prime Minister's deal, a softer Brexit or no Brexit at all.
The hardcore Eurosceptics claim they cannot vote for May's agreement because it is a compromise too far.
"I would rather put a shotgun in my mouth," than vote for her deal, says Mark Francois, deputy chairman of the European Research Group. Yet May's deal delivers access to the European trading block without membership of the single market, as well as an end to free movement, large payments to Brussels, and the jurisdiction of the European courts.
The tragedy of Brexit is that Mrs May has been so woeful in selling the merits of her deal.
As well as her botched 2017 general election and her reluctance to build a cross-party consensus, her greatest weakness has simply been her inability to communicate.
One poll yesterday showed that 49 percent of the public would be willing to back her deal, if only she made her case for it.
But sadly the Downing Street bunker rather than campaign platform remains her preferred arena.
That has left the field free for her dogmatic opponents.
In the process, the supposed champions of Leave have turned into Brexit wreckers
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/1114415/Deluded-Brexit-purists-killing-off-dream-leaving-EU
After 25 years of campaigning to get the UK out of the EU, I am the last person who wanted our country to be in this position. Frankly, I think it is an unforgivable state of affairs. But the refusal of the political class in Westminster to honour the referendum result of 2016 means that this unwanted election is upon us. We must make the best of it. Having said all of that, I wouldn't want anybody to think I am despondent. Far from it. And none of the 17.4 million men and women who voted for Brexit should be either. Before us all is a brilliant opportunity to bring about a revolution in Britain's political system. To that end, I want to emphasise with every fibre of my being how important it is that as many people as possible turn out next month and vote for The Brexit Party. I know that many reading this will be sceptical, thinking their vote won't make a difference.
But without the people of our nation doing their democratic duty three years ago, we would not have won the EU referendum. On that occasion, we beat the Remain side by more than 1.3 million votes.
Remainers bang on about how close that result was, but I disagree. We won by a number equivalent to the population of Birmingham. That is a substantial margin of victory. The will of a majority of British people was crystal clear.
After June 2016, the overwhelming majority of MPs agreed to enact Brexit. But then Theresa May's shambles of a general election in 2017 - in which she was left with a minority government - changed things.
Remainer MPs, who make up 75 per cent of the House of Commons, started to backtrack.
As time has gone on, this arrogant elite have stuck two fingers up at their own manifestos, lied to the electorate, and done everything possible to thwart the result.
They are now stone-deaf to the promises they made previously. Many are so out of touch it is as though they simply don't care anymore.
They have concocted all sorts of bogus arguments to try to kill Brexit. The sheer scale of their betrayal of the country is difficult to grasp. In light of this, the best option open to Brexiteers is to punish both Establishment parties and back The Brexit Party.
That is why I would urge anybody tempted to stay at home on May 23 not to do so. Please do not behave as though we have been defeated. Instead, remember that the 2016 result was just the first triumph.
We must now finish the job and change politics in Britain for good.
The Conservatives and Labour have been as bad as each other when it comes to choking off Brexit. In their own ways, both have connived to let down the citizens of Britain who voted to Leave in 2016.
But Remainers too should be deeply alarmed by the behaviour of our MPs in recent months. They should also vote for The Brexit Party.
Even if they didn't like the referendum result in 2016, they shouldn't be comfortable about the way democracy has been turned on its head.
Indeed, this goes way beyond old-fashioned party politics. A clear message must be sent on May 23 that people are not prepared to go on with this shattered order any longer.
I believe the European elections can be the vehicle for driving the fundamental change that is required in our politics. It is just the start of the revolution for which Britain is crying out.
The Brexit Party is going to put competence back into British politics.
No decent person would ever invite anybody associated with violence, thuggery or criminality into their house.
By the same token, no selfrespecting voter should ever consider supporting a party with links to any of these appalling traits either.
That is why you can count on The Brexit Party to field a wide range of candidates who are committed to openness, honesty, integrity, and promoting the public good.
After three terrible years in which the people of the UK have been deliberately misled by a group of conceited politicians who are ****-bent on pleasing themselves, we all deserve so much better.
Britain needs The Brexit Party.
And The Brexit Party needs you.
https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1114017/brexit-news-nigel-farage-european-elections-express-comment
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-donald-tusk-eu-remain-second-referendum-theresa-may-deal-a8871921.html
The UK could be flooded with dangerous toys, cars and electrical appliances after Brexit unless the government acts to keep EU safety standards in place, Which? has warned.
Last year, the “Safety Gate” rapid warning system flagged thousands of products across the continent with serious problems. The number of serious safety problems highlighted by Safety Gate has jumped by more than a third in the past decade from 1,542 in 2008 to 2,064 in 2018.
After Brexit, UK authorities could face crucial delays in receiving information about unsafe products, unless an agreement is reached with the EU.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/brexit-uk-product-safety-standards-dangerous-toys-a8870481.html
In 2014 Nigel Farage shocked Westminster by leading Ukip to victory in the last European parliament elections: the first time the Conservatives or Labour hadn’t topped the ballot in a nationwide election since 1906. Since then Farage has left the party and officially launched the new Brexit party to fight this round of somewhat unexpected EU elections. At the launch, Farage put his money where his mouth is, announcing he had placed a £1,000 bet on his newly formed party topping the ballot in next month’s vote.
At the weekend YouGov released the first YouGov/Times poll of the EU election campaign. Farage’s party currently finds itself in third place on 15%, within the margin of error of the Conservatives on 16%, but currently a way behind Labour who are on 24%. However, there are many reasons to believe they will make up that ground over the coming weeks, and Farage’s gamble looks like a fairly smart bet.
It is entirely plausible that we are facing another Farage-shaped upset at the ballot box
The polling shows that a significant chunk of voters who backed the Conservatives in 2017 are dissatisfied with the direction the party is heading on Brexit. Just 11% think the government is handling Brexit well, compared with 84% who think they are handling it badly. Additionally, many more voters who backed the Conservatives at the last election think that leaving the EU without a deal – which the Brexit party is advocating – would be a good outcome than think Theresa May’s deal would be a good outcome (it’s 48% for the former versus 21% for the latter).
This is part of what is driving the drop-off in support for the Conservatives, with just a quarter (25%) of those who backed the party in 2017, and just 12% of leave voters, currently saying they will vote Conservative in the EU elections. The difficulty for Farage is that these voters aren’t yet moving en masse to his new outfit, but are fairly evenly dividing between the Brexit party, Ukip and undecided. This means the main challenge for the Brexit party over the coming weeks will be to cement itself as the main voice for dissatisfied leave voters
And that seems like an entirely achievable task. Firstly, the Brexit party has already achieved a 15% vote share as a force that is still fairly unknown, with the fieldwork for this poll taking place before the party officially launched last Friday. Many voters at this stage might not yet be aware of the party, and critically will not yet associate it with Farage. While a divisive character, Farage is still popular among the key voters he needs to win over. The majority (56%) of leave voters who backed the Conservatives at the last election still say they have a positive opinion of him.
Meanwhile Ukip, which is currently dividing the vote share, has not only lost its main salesman, but now finds itself being openly attached by him. It may be holding 14% of the vote share in our European parliament poll, but it is easy to see how much of this could shift away once the campaign gets going.
Turnout could also easily work to Farage’s advantage in next month’s poll. For the first time since 1999 the European parliament elections will not be happening on the same day as the local elections. That election had very low turnout, with just 24% of eligible voters registering their vote. The effect of this will likely be that fewer loyal supporters of the two main parties make the trek to the polling station. At the same time, those on both extremes of the debate who are energised by Brexit will make up a larger proportion of the electorate, further boosting the Brexit party vote share.
It is entirely plausible that we are facing another Farage-shaped upset at the ballot box. While there are more than five weeks of campaigning to go, I certainly wouldn’t bet against him.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/16/bet-nigel-farage-brexit-party-winning-eu-elections
"Criminals to be handed a clean slate" says the Daily Telegraph as it reveals that Home Secretary Sajid Javid wants to end the automatic disclosure of minor convictions to prospective employers.
Mr Javid says he believes juvenile offenders should not be denied jobs. But some campaigners warn changing the rules could leave employers in the dark about potential risks.
In its coverage of climate change protests in central London, the Daily Telegraph suggests the Metropolitan Police has run out of cells to hold the more than 200 activists who have been arrested.
The Guardian asks the protesters to explain their motivation. It speaks to a student from Bristol who is "freaking out about the climate" and a 15-year-old schoolboy who describes the need "to do something drastic", but knows his parents are "going to be mad" if he ends up being fined.
One officer complains cell capacity has "probably halved" in the past few years and says the issue is hindering their ability to "stop the disruptive antics".
As campaigners threaten to disrupt the London Underground, the Daily Mail asks: "So who are the eco protesters holding the capital to ransom?"
Among them are a 54-year-old care worker from Stroud who, it says, "previously lived in the Dordogne in a luxurious home with a pool" and a 47-year-old biophysicist who is said to have become "an activist as a result of taking psychedelic drugs".
With official figures showing that one in 10 over-65s is still holding down a job, the Daily Express believes it may have found "Britain's hardest-working family".
The six siblings from Barnsley "have a combined age of 475 years but still work up to seven days a week". The eldest is 90 and is thought to be Britain's oldest greengrocer. All six siblings, the paper says, insist anyone who mentions the word retirement should "stop swearing".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-47957110
European Parliament's Brexit coordinator criticised MPs going on holiday
He said there is a fear that coming to a cross party agreement will 'disappear'
It comes after Donald Tusk said he still believes the UK might not leave the EU
Mr Tusk also said that people shouldn't think that Brexit can be reversed
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6929505/MPs-squander-Brextension-senior-EU-negotiator-warns-politicians-jet-holiday.html
The party set up by independent MPs will choose candidates this weekend
It has been 'overwhelmed' by the number of people wanting to stand in May
Ukip left with just four MEPs after latest defections to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party
Accused Ukip leader Gerard Batten of taking party to 'extreme right of politics'
Comes as Tories sink into disarray over the fact that elections are taking place
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6927135/Tories-face-European-election-disaster-THREE-THOUSAND-people-apply-MEPs-Change-UK.html
Campaign group led by former Ukip donor Arron Banks accused of 'fake news' over viral video
Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has been accused of faking a viral video of illegal "migrants" and forging images purporting to show immigrants committing violent crimes.
The group, which is led by businessman and former Ukip donor Arron Banks, staged a video that it claimed showed how easy it was for migrants to cross to Britain illegally, according to Channel 4 News.
The video was released in the weeks before the 2016 EU referendum and was watched hundreds of thousands of times. But Channel 4 said satellite data showed that the boat had never left UK waters, and footage appearing to show the "migrants" entering the country was filmed before they left UK shores.
It also reported that Leave.EU had staged images that the group said showed a migrant attacking a young woman in Tottenham, north London.
The photos appearing to show the violent attack were reportedly sent by a special forces veteran who works for Mr Banks to Andy Wigmore, Leave.EU's head of communications.
Channel 4 said leaked emails showed Mr Wigmore had then forwarded them to the group's media team with the message: "Migrants beating up girl in Tottenham Saturday...Can we get this ready to go as a press release."
It is unclear why the photos were seemingly never released.
In response, Mr Banks told Channel 4: “Leave.EU is the biggest viral political campaign in the UK, with 3.7 million engagements last week on Facebook alone, dwarfing political parties and other groups.
“Channel 4 is packed with ex-Guardian journalists and left wing activists, who create fake news for a living!
“The campaign must be doing something right to annoy all the right people consistently.”
But Labour MP Jo Stevens, a member of the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee, said: “The video of the boat is very obviously fake and put together in a fake way. The photographs are a little bit more difficult to spot that, but clearly fake news with a deliberate intention of stoking hatred and anti-immigrant feeling and rhetoric.”
Leave.EU has previously been hit with hefty fines by the Electoral Commission in relation to activities during the EU referendum campaign.
The group was fined £70,000 last year for breaking election laws and in March was hit with a further £60,000 punishment for data breaches.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-leave-eu-faking-forging-videos-images-illegal-migrants-violent-crime-aaron-banks-a8873461.html