Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Monoriu]

You guys talk about joining political parties as if it is something normal.  The idea of joining a political party is so outlandish that it has never crossed my mind.  I, as a civil servant, is rightly barred from it, but even if I am not a civil servant there is absolutely no way I will join a political party.  To me, it is like saying that you will make a trip to Pluto. 

[mongers]

You guys talk about joining political parties as if it is something normal.  The idea of joining a political party is so outlandish that it has never crossed my mind.  I, as a civil servant, is rightly barred from it, but even if I am not a civil servant there is absolutely no way I will join a political party.  To me, it is like saying that you will make a trip to Pluto.

Failure of imagination?

[OttoVonBismarck]

We're not Asian, we do lots of things you wouldn't understand. For example we don't live in shoeboxes, or eat durian.

That being said--and I'm far too lazy to read the text of Labour party rules, it looks like there's a lot of debate about whether Corbyn will be on the ballot or not. The Telegraph reported he was unlikely to secure enough nominations, but other sources say Corbyn's assertion is he doesn't need the nominations at all and is automatically on the ballot as the incumbent. It does seem that whatever body within the party makes the determination between differing opinions on the rules would wield a lot of power here. The party's national executive committee released a report indicating Corbyn would still be required to come up with 20% of the current Labour MPs to appear on the ballot. I'm unclear on who resolves a dispute between this committee and the actual party leader.

Interestingly it looks like if the leadership is vacant, it only takes 15% of sitting MPs to get on the ballot. So theoretically Corbyn could resign, and the 40 MPs that still back him would actually clear that hurdle. Not sure if there is some procedural rule against that.

[mongers]

Not sure what the point of people in Trafalgar square and Westminster demonstrating to stay in the EU, as that argument and vote has been lost. Looking at the youth of the crowd, I suspect a good few of them probably didn't exercise their democratic right to vote in the referendum in the first place.

[Martim Silva]

On the subject of fishing, I fail to see why this little farrago would still stand should we leave - unless we use continued access as a bargaining chip given the state of our fishing industry after 40 years in the EU -

The first rules were created in 1970. The original six Common Market members realized that four countries applying to join the Common Market at that time (Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway) would control the richest fishing grounds in the world. The original six therefore drew up Council Regulation 2141/70 giving all Members equal access to all fishing waters, even though the Treaty of Rome gave no authority to do this. This was adopted on the morning of 30 June 1970, a few hours before the applications to join were officially received. This ensured that the regulations became part of the acquis communautaire before the new members joined, obliging them to accept the regulation. At first the UK refused to accept the rules but by the end of 1971 the UK gave way and signed the Accession Treaty on 22 January 1972, thereby handing over an estimated four fifths of all the fish off Western Europe.

A quick look at the map of our EEA should demonstrate that our Fishing Industry should have some room to recover upon leaving the EU, even if it won't be immediate.

Agelastus, here is something that was posted today on Youtube, because of the results of the referendum. I believe you are the Languish person that will appreciate it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3_vLdxgh4

[OttoVonBismarck]

Not sure what the point of people in Trafalgar square and Westminster demonstrating to stay in the EU, as that argument and vote has been lost. Looking at the youth of the crowd, I suspect a good few of them probably didn't exercise their democratic right to vote in the referendum in the first place.

You see that here all the time, young people love to spend 12 hours a day protesting but can't spend 20 minutes voting every few years.

[grumbler]

You guys talk about joining political parties as if it is something normal. 

It is something normal.  That you can't imagine it (not that the Hivemind would allow it) isn't something to brag about.

[Monoriu]

Actually, I don't eat durian either

[sbr]

http://i.imgur.com/dhwPLtv.gifv

[Grallon]

So, have they found a way to overturn the will of the people as expressed in a lawful referendum yet? 



G.

[Monoriu]

I wonder if the Queen has a role to play here.  I know this is a really, really long shot.  But is there any possibility, however small, that she may, I don't know, withhold Royal consent or something?

[MadImmortalMan]

Man if you thought there was a constitutional crisis now... 

[Monoriu]

Man if you thought there was a constitutional crisis now... 

Ok, she withholds Royal consent "as advised by the Prime Minister, Parliament and/or the cabinet" 

[grumbler]

I wonder if the Queen has a role to play here.  I know this is a really, really long shot.  But is there any possibility, however small, that she may, I don't know, withhold Royal consent or something?

They just have to hold an election and elect a government that doesn't want to follow through.  In the Westminster system parliament is sovereign, not the people. 

I wouldn't at all be surprised if a party running on "fuck the referendum" got elected.  There's a whole lot of reconsideration going on as people discover that the school water fountains won't really be filled with kool-aid.

[Monoriu]

I think the whole referendum thing is monumentally wrong.  Our aim is to overturn this mistake by doing the following -

1. Refuse to invoke Article 50;

2. Talk to EU to know the specific exit conditions;

3. Announce the conditions to the British public;

4. Hold an election, and elect a party on a platform of "let's hold a second referendum on invoking Article 50 / approving the exit conditions"; and

5. Hold the second referendum and win it.