Above, poison hemlock. In our article of the 21st (http://www.british-gazette.co.uk/2016/06/21/the-poison-chalice/) we drew the reader’s attention to the poison chalice that was the product of Vote Leave’s strategy.
For an adult, the ingestion of more than 100 mg (about six to eight fresh leaves, or a smaller dose of the seeds or root) of poison hemlock or to give it it’s Latin name – conium maculatum – can kill you.
It has now become clear that EU leaders never had any intention of offering the Chameleon a chance of better terms were the Brexit referendum result go the way it has. This is because there is pressure from the populations of other countries for withdrawal. As a result they were not prepared to give any real concessions. Those that the Chameleon was given would probably have been struck down in the European Parliament had the British People voted to remain.
What is clear is that IF Article 50 is finally invoked by the new Prime Minster the terms delivered to the UK at the end of it will be so extraordinarily bad, Austria’s ultimatum to Serbia in July 1914 will be positively balmy by comparison!
Of course this could be circumvented were the new British Prime Minister to adopt the Flexcit strategy of Doctor Richard North. This would be similar to but better than the so called “Norway Option”.
But this it seems is not going to happen.
As readers will know, this organ had repeatedly pressed the leave campaign to adopt Flexcit because it was the ONLY doable, practical exit strategy for Brexit. But this would have meant accepting the “Free Movement of People” and the Leave campaign was based on control of borders and immigration policy.
Mr Cummings had studied the situation as had Nigel Farage and both men had formed the same conclusion. The public’s concerns about unchecked immigration would be the issue that would win the referendum.
The problem with this wining strategy has now become all too apparent: the ONLY game in town (unless one admits to the British People that their raised expectations about the end of unchecked immigration is not going to come about any time soon) are the terms and conditions the leaders of the EU see fit to hand us! As for “negotiating” these terms and conditions – yes the terms are negotiated but between the twenty seven remaining member states! The UK will be reduced to that of supplicant, awaiting outside the conference chamber to find out what crumbs are to be offered!
Because the EU bureaucracy has been responsible for handling EU trade for so long, the country has no expertise and if Flexcit is not adopted the UK – or what is left of it – will have no choice but to accept!
There will of course be an alternative available. That is a decision NOT to accept the terms and a formal renunciation and abandonment of the withdrawal. If the UK feels it cannot accept the terms it has that option. The EU will probably had inserted a renunciation penalty clause whereby the UK will have to pay the EU compensation for all the time and wasted effort put in by the twenty seven member states!
It is highly likely that this choice and these terms will be put to the British people in a referendum.
Thus we can suggest this: those who enjoyed the referendum campaign can look forward to doing it all over again in a year or two’s time!
The one thing the British government has control over is the issue of the submission of Article 50.
A Professor Wyatt is of the opinion that EU leaders could infer they have been notified when the Chameleon attends on Tuesday. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36631518
This is nonsense. Herewith: “A spokesman for the European Council has issued the following statement clarifying how Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered – the mechanism to be used by a country withdrawing from the EU. The notification of Article 50 is a formal act and has to be done by the British government to the European Council. It has to be done in an unequivocal manner with the explicit intent to trigger Article 50. It could either be a letter to the President of the European Council or an official statement at a meeting of the European Council duly noted in the official records of the meeting. Negotiations of leaving and the future relationship can only begin after such a formal notification. If it is indeed the intention of the British government to leave the EU, it is therefore in its interest to notify as soon as possible.” (No it is not!)
Speaking the Truth unto the Nation
