Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Tamas]

BTW it makes perfect sense tha tthe House has accepted the Cooper bill, because it is the most badly worded, unclear, and needless bill to have been put forward regarding Brexit.

[The Larch]

And Juncker, as expected, rejects any delays after April the 12th.

That's not what I read - I read:

1. Juncker says if the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by April 12, a delay until May 22 would work.

2. Juncker says if the Withdrawal Agreement is not approved by April 12, no short extension is possible. 

...so a long extension with the UK standing for elections would be possible.  Not great, but possible.

Sorry, I did not explain myself properly. What I meant (and what Zoups has also said in the meantime) is that another short delay, as the one that the Commons voted yesterday on, and what May had said she'd ask for in order to strike a deal with Labour, was rejected. A long delay, with the UK accepting to take part in EU elections in may, is indeed available, but AFAIK that's not what the UK wants.

[Tamas]

BTW holding European elections in the UK would be an incredible farce. There would absolutely zero practical point to it, and it has been a way to went frustration even before the referendum, so probably the only people bothering to vote would be Farage's lot.

[viper37]

More details of the Cooper bill here:

Ah. For a minute I thought the bill that was voted on was a solution to Brexit. Well that was a nice minute.

Yeah, I feel exactly like you on this.  Silly bill.   

[celedhring]

BTW holding European elections in the UK would be an incredible farce. There would absolutely zero practical point to it, and it has been a way to went frustration even before the referendum, so probably the only people bothering to vote would be Farage's lot.

It is, but we can't really keep the UK around without representation. What I wonder is what would happen to their MEPs once they left.

[Grinning_Colossus]

They could be useful as hostages.

[celedhring]

I rather not keep Farage around more than strictly necessary. He could bite someone else and pass whatever vampire virus infected him to begin with.

[ulmont]

It is, but we can't really keep the UK around without representation. What I wonder is what would happen to their MEPs once they left.

Well, they wouldn't be MEPs anymore, since representation is of Union citizens and per Member States.

2. The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union's citizens. They shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats.

[Tamas]

I really am genuinely worried the influnece Farage's Russian agents/useful idiots could have in tipping European balance toward the populists.

[Josquius]

Interesting

https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1113535648688951296

This man was running the BBC's coverage of the brexit referendum too. Perfectly explains the massive pro brexit bias

[mongers]

Could be seen as the first test of the electorate's mood during the brexit crisis:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-47786885

Newport West by-election: Labour hold onto seat

5 April 2019 

Labour have held onto the Newport West parliamentary seat with a reduced majority following a by-election.

Union official Ruth Jones won the south Wales seat, which fell vacant with the death of veteran Labour MP Paul Flynn in February.

Labour saw their majority over the Conservatives fall to 1,951 from 5,658 at the 2017 general election. Mr Flynn had held the seat since 1987.

Eleven candidates stood, with the 37% turnout higher than some had predicted.

Newport West by-election result:
Candidate   Party   Number of votes
Ruth Jones   Labour   9,308
Matthew Evans   Conservative   7,357
Neil Hamilton   UKIP   2,023
Jonathan Clark   Plaid Cymru   1,185
Ryan Jones   Lib Dem   1,088
Amelia Womack   Green   924
June Davies   Renew   879
Richard Suchorzewski   Abolish The Welsh Assembly   205
Ian McLean   Social Democrat   202
Phillip Taylor   Democrats and Veterans   185
Hugh Nicklin   For Britain   159

Majority: 1,951; Turnout 37.1%, Votes: 23,615

Source: BBC Wales

Labour held on with a reduced majority, something to be expected following on from a much liked MP.

And the Tories held off the hard right, with UKIP making little ground.

So quite reassuring that this constituency of electors are behaving predictably and more level headedly than many MPs currently in the House of Commons.   

[Richard Hakluyt]

The right-wing vote will be very split in the next election. Farage is forming a new party, the Brexit party, as he can't abide UKIP any more. UKIP has embraced Islamophobia and racism........and Tommy Robinson.........they are now an overtly racist party. Meanwhile half the Tory MPs would support no deal, but many of those are thinking of the next leadership election, unpatriotic scum that they are.

The "good guys" are also split though 

[Josquius]

The bills as I understand it forces May to ask for an extension and avoid no-deal. Why not just vote for May's deal and be done with it. The EU already said it's either a year+ extension with european elections or no-deal exit on April 12th. There won't be another short extension.

Why the constant can-kicking? Even with a long extension, I don't see what could be fundamentally different. Another wasted day.

Because her deal is bullshit. It cuts down our options for no good reason. It is kicking the can down the road only ensuring that nothing but bad things like at the end of that road.
It's a transparent attempt to railroad us into a hard Brexit.

Dude, May's deal railroads us into soft Brexit. It would cement a de facto soft Brexit relationship until the EU, and the EU alone, decides it can be replaced with whatever final trade deal gets established, and the political declaration pretty much makes anything but a Norway model impossible.

May's deal puts us into a brexit in name only for now. However this is with a clear intention of getting brexit over the line to then work on harden it up. There is zero intention to have mays deal last forever.
Mays deal is temporary however it sets us on a path from which things can only get worse, indeed that is the stated intention.
There is zero point in cutting down our options.

[celedhring]

Looks like Tusk is putting forward the option of a 12 month extension that can be revoked if Parliament is able to pass something before its expiration.

[Liep]

37% is higher than expected?