Wow...
Most global conspiracy theories are anti-Semitic and completely flaky. I don't believe the EU project is anything of that type, but I do believe it has a federal Europe as an ultimate aim, and its sights set on expanding into regions that have never been considered European. The EU has its origins in idealistic C19th plans for the avoidance of war and universal fellowship (there were many such movements of varying seriousness), but began to be adopted as a serious philosophic model in the ruins of 1945. I think members of the commission are less than transparent regarding their long term political ambitions and have adopted a position of expansion and unification by stealth. I do think the EU wants to move into what was the Ottoman Empire, and sees itself as one of three or four global powers, all of which is too Orwellian for my taste.
A majority of those who voted but only 37% of the overall electorate.
Without a compulsory - and arguably undemocratic - voting system, the percentage of eligible vote is meaningless. At no point was any such criterion mentioned in the run up to the referendum, and the turn out was larger than in almost all general elections on which governments are put in place, and at least as valid. I disagree with referendums, they're a mark of political cowardice, but unless government is to be deprived of the option retrospectively by statute, there's no way of nullifying the outcome on the basis of voting numbers.
Nor was the criterion of the referendum being legally binding, but they're happy to go along with that.
I don't expect the Government to nullify the referendum but I do object to Mrs May and company constantly referring to 'the will of the people' when the vast majority of the people either didn't express an opinion or actively voted against leaving the EU.
She's hoping that if she says it often enough and loud enough we'll all come to believe it.
Exactly. Especially since it wasn't clear (and still isn't clear) exactly what Brexit means.
Why is it unclear what Brexit means? The vote was to stay in or leave the EU. Any horse trading has to take that desire as a starting point. If the EU offer compromises on open border immigration and similar key sovereignty issues (and pigs fly), then a second referendum would be appropriate, as they were not on the table when Cameron offered the vote.
The question was: "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?"
There is no hard or soft Brexit, only Brexit. If the EU was negotiable on its conditions of membership there may have been a soft Brexit, and probably no Brexit whatsoever, but it's an all or nothing thing. That's the single biggest problem with the European Union, a one size fit all transnational fiscal and legal entity with a keen eye on widening participation. Would be members are signing up for a club with no obvious endgame or limits to its ambition.
I guess that explains why the UK uses the Euro, is a member of the Schengen Zone and receives no rebate on our contribution to the EU budget.
None of those are relevant to the demand for a referendum.
They do, however, provide a counterpoint to your contention that the EU is inflexible.
So why does there need to be any negotiation at all?
The EU is relatively easy to join, a country needs to meet a few basis economic and social criteria and you're in. By contrast the leaving process is - intentionally I would argue - cryptic and labyrinthine. To all intents it's impossible to get out of the EU. A potential leaver has to satisfy the EU as a whole and the individual nations within it to create the most basic reciprocity. Getting out will be the most almighty mess, as siren voices like Tony Benn have been telling us ever since we joined the Common Market. Is that a good reason to stay with tentacle's embrace? I don't think so. Britain is a test case and the way the EU deals with negotiations will prove it to be a benign and progressive international club, or a vindictive and ideologically lead autocracy. Time will tell which it is.
That, quite frankly, is bilge.
If the UK wanted to leave Europe, that would be the case. However we only want to leave the EU, which means honouring negotiations agreed to while we were members. We could tell the EU to sing for its supper, but I don't believe Britain has a quarrel with any European nation, merely the way the CM/EEC/EU has panned out. Like I say, we shall see how the negotiations unravel.
