Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Maladict]

Scotland and London to unite and leave the UK?

Sturgeon says a second independence referendum is "highly likely". She says taking the UK out of the EU against the will of Scots is "democratically unacceptable".
Sturgeon says she intends to explore all means possible of maintaining Scotland's place in the EU. She has called for an urgent meeting with the President of the European Commission.

Sturgeon says she has talked to London Mayor Sadiq Khan who shares her views about London's place in the EU.

[Sheilbh]

Labour MPs have tabled a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn. They want to fight.

[The Larch]

Joint statement by Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, Mark Rutte, holder of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, on the outcome of the United Kingdom referendum

President Tusk, President Schulz and Prime Minister Rutte met this morning in Brussels upon the invitation of European Commission President Juncker. They discussed the outcome of the United Kingdom referendum and made the following joint statement:

"In a free and democratic process, the British people have expressed their wish to leave the European Union. We regret this decision but respect it.

This is an unprecedented situation but we are united in our response. We will stand strong and uphold the EU's core values of promoting peace and the well-being of its peoples. The Union of 27 Member States will continue. The Union is the framework of our common political future. We are bound together by history, geography and common interests and will develop our cooperation on this basis. Together we will address our common challenge to generate growth, increase prosperity and ensure a safe and secure environment for our citizens. The institutions will play their full role in this endeavour.

We now expect the United Kingdom government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible, however painful that process may be. Any delay would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty. We have rules to deal with this in an orderly way. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union sets out the procedure to be followed if a Member State decides to leave the European Union. We stand ready to launch negotiations swiftly with the United Kingdom regarding the terms and conditions of its withdrawal from the European Union. Until this process of negotiations is over, the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union, with all the rights and obligations that derive from this. According to the Treaties which the United Kingdom has ratified, EU law continues to apply to the full to and in the United Kingdom until it is no longer a Member.

As agreed, the "New Settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union", reached at the European Council on 18-19 February 2016, will now not take effect and ceases to exist. There will be no renegotiation.

As regards the United Kingdom, we hope to have it as a close partner of the European Union also in the future. We expect the United Kingdom to formulate its proposals in this respect. Any agreement, which will be concluded with the United Kingdom as a third country, will have to reflect the interests of both sides and be balanced in terms of rights and obligations."

[HVC]

can you set max voting ages in referendums?

[HVC]

Classy

Nigel Farage has admitted that it was a "mistake" to promise that £350million a week would be spent on the NHS if the UK backed a Brexit vote. 

Speaking just an hour after the Leave vote was confirmed the Ukip leader said the money could not be guaranteed and claimed he would never have made the promise in the first place.

guess Brits can't make fun of American Trunp supporters anymore

[FunkMonk]

Well, at least America destroyed its secessionists.

[frunk]

I thought Scottish independence was a bad idea, because the idea of deciding such important matters with a 50%+1 threshold sounded dumb.  Now it seems clear the only way to out from such nonsense is to actually separate.  So now I think it would be a good idea for Scotland, NI, Wales, London and every other conceivable political unit to hold 50%+1 referendums on independence, if just to get away from such destructive methods of decision making.

[Monoriu]

Labour MPs have tabled a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn. They want to fight.

Both the Conservatives and Labour don't know party loyalty

[garbon]

Scotland and London to unite and leave the UK?

Sturgeon says a second independence referendum is "highly likely". She says taking the UK out of the EU against the will of Scots is "democratically unacceptable".
Sturgeon says she intends to explore all means possible of maintaining Scotland's place in the EU. She has called for an urgent meeting with the President of the European Commission.

Sturgeon says she has talked to London Mayor Sadiq Khan who shares her views about London's place in the EU.

Yeah here is the exact text:

I have made it clear to the prime minister this morning that the Scottish government must be fully and directly involved in any and all decisions about the next steps that the UK government intends to take.

We will also be seeking direct discussions with the EU institutions and its member states including the earliest possible meeting with the President of the European Commission.

I also be communicated over the weekend with each EU member state to make clear that Scotland has voted to stay in the EU and I intend to discussion all options for doing so.

I have also spoken this morning with [London] mayor Sadiq Khan and he is clear that he shares this objective for London, so there is clear common cause between us.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

So, is Cameron going to end up in the history books amongst the worst PMs in history or not?

It seems that, even if he announced his resignation for October, he has not activated Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which is what would officially trigger the process of leaving the EU, and doesn't intend to, leaving that task for his successor. I'm sure that a few more months of uncertainty will do wonders for everyone's situation.

His short term tactical dodges have failed abysmally, history will not be kind.

We now enter the next stage of the crisis; which is how does a house of Commons which is 75% pro-remain negotiate for a British exit?

drag it out for about a decade and then call it off due to changed political realities.

[mongers]

Well, Britain may have just gotten Donald Trump elected.  Thanks a lot guys.

Yeah, what I said in the US politics thread, this is a boast to Trump.

[Sheilbh]

So, is Cameron going to end up in the history books amongst the worst PMs in history or not?

Quite possibly. It was an extraordinary gamble by him, and by EU institutions in the renegotiations.

It seems that, even if he announced his resignation for October, he has not activated Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which is what would officially trigger the process of leaving the EU, and doesn't intend to, leaving that task for his successor. I'm sure that a few more months of uncertainty will do wonders for everyone's situation.

I doubt Article 50 will be activated for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if we have an election to get a mandate for negotiating withdrawal. If we don't know what we want yet, and so much of this is unthinkable, there's no reason to start the timer.

[Valmy]

Scotland and London to unite and leave the UK?

Sturgeon says a second independence referendum is "highly likely". She says taking the UK out of the EU against the will of Scots is "democratically unacceptable".
Sturgeon says she intends to explore all means possible of maintaining Scotland's place in the EU. She has called for an urgent meeting with the President of the European Commission.

Sturgeon says she has talked to London Mayor Sadiq Khan who shares her views about London's place in the EU.

Oh yeah nothing dysfunctional about this Sheilbh. Clearly this vote has established the clear will of Britain.

But of course I find it slightly annoying that Sturgeon holds that leave is against the democratic will of Scottish people. Um correct me if I am wrong but if the Scots had voted 100% remain, remain would have won. Nearly 40% of Scots supported Leave that is not insignificant enough to declare that the Scottish people did not have their democratic will expressed. Enough supported Leave to ensure its victory. But then I tend to reject ideas that 50.0001% is 'the people' and 49.99999% is 'not the people'.



Hey weren't you the one playing the 'old white people deciding things for all time' card? Seems like that is what happened.

Classy

Nigel Farage has admitted that it was a "mistake" to promise that £350million a week would be spent on the NHS if the UK backed a Brexit vote. 

Speaking just an hour after the Leave vote was confirmed the Ukip leader said the money could not be guaranteed and claimed he would never have made the promise in the first place.

This is a perfect example of how undemocratic and dangerous and destabilizing these referendums are. In a representative body if Farage had tried to sell his Brexit bill like this he would have had to put his promises into said bill in order to get support. In this farce he can just promise the sun and the moon to voters and when they vote for his policy, expecting to get the benefits promised, can just be ignored. And it is not like the voters can even punish him the next election in a few years. Now the 'will of the people' is 'Leave' regardless of what lies and false promises they were fed.

It is this kind of populist dysfunction that has been so destructive around the world for centuries and has held so many countries down. And now Britain is embracing it despite its disastrous track record.

But, as I said before, the EU model has just as dysfunctional and disastrous record of failure. I predicted back in 2000 on the Paradox boards this is how it was going to end up if they did not make it a federation.

[mongers]

Who are Britons going to blame now that Brussels is no longer there?

This.

[Valmy]

Who are Britons going to blame now that Brussels is no longer there?

This.

America probably