Displaying items by tag: brexit
Why the EU Will Never Allow an Easy Brexit
(Brussels)
We thought it would be good to add a little European flavor to today’s coverage. The Financial Times has written a very insightful piece about the EU and the effect Brexit has had on it. In particular, it cites Donald Tusk, one of the EU’s top policymakers, who says that Brexit has been a “vaccine” against anti-EU parties across the continent. “As Europeans see what Brexit means in practice they also draw conclusions … vaccine against anti-EU propaganda and fake news”.
FINSUM: The EU has seen what Brexit has done to quell any anti-EU sentiment within the Union, which means it will never let off the gas pedal in making Britain’s departure a hellish ordeal.
A Second Brexit Referendum Looking Likely
(London)
The journey of Brexit has been long, winding, and utterly confusing at times. However, it is all headed for a dramatic conclusion. PM May has called for a Parliamentary vote on her plan on March 12, just a couple of weeks before the UK is supposed to formally depart the EU. However, the pushback on the left has been so strong that opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn now looks poised to call for a second referendum on EU membership. He announced the position yesterday, marking a major change in position.
FINSUM: We absolutely dismiss the view that holding a second referendum is “undemocratic”. The vote was almost three years ago now and no one could have foreseen the deal Britain might get, so it only makes sense to have another vote.
A Second Brexit Referendum Looms
(London)
If you look at it from the outside, a second Brexit referendum has had the feeling of inevitably for at least a year now. The chaos and unexpected fallout from the fraught negotiations between the EU and UK have made it seem likely that the British people would need to settle the matter with another vote. That expectation is now looking likely to turn into a reality as Britain’s opposition party, Labour is backing a plan to bring forward a second vote.
FINSUM: In our mind, the claims that holding a second vote is undemocratic are ridiculous. On the one hand, no voter back in 2016 could have known how this Brexit mess would actually progress, which means the people should get a second chance to decide on the deal at hand. On the other, how can a whole nation voting on an issue ever be considered undemocratic?
The EU’s Move to End Brexit
(Brussels)
So far Brexit has been the complete mess everyone expected. The whole deal looks like it is hurdling towards a chaotic no-deal departure. Parliament looks very likely to reject PM May’s deal, a vote on which she has delayed in order to save face. However, the EU has just extended a major olive branch by virtue of its judiciary. The top EU court just ruled that the UK can unilaterally back out of Brexit at any time despite the fact that they have formally enacted Article 50, or the official leaving process from the EU.
FINSUM: All they have to do is hold a Parliamentary vote or second referendum and this whole mess would be over. IT is a long way from something that simple happening.
Britain May Be Careening Towards a No-Deal Brexit
(London)
The Brexit situation seems to be getting worse and worse (or maybe better and better, depending on where you stand). In an embarrassing defeat, PM Theresa May just lost a Parliamentary vote regarding her Brexit deal which now gives Parliament the right to vote on any final deal. Parliament also ordered her government to release the legal advice they had received regarding the departure from the EU, an unorthodox move that shows a lack of faith in the PM.
FINSUM: What this means is that Parliament now essentially has the right to block Brexit, or call for a second referendum. Sterling plummeted on the news.