I'm not a politician or civil servant, I shouldn't be expected to know (unlike them) - to be honest I'm not sure what the best way out of this is
This sort of post shows the lack of any good solution to the problem and an indictment of nearly all politicians of whatever party who allowed us to get into it. While i'm not looking forward to what might happen during a referendum campaign, I believe a referendum, with an honest and respectful campaign, is the only way of addressing the grievances of whichever side loses. Remainers like me don't accept the 2016 result mainly because it was an unspecified option versus a clear option, and also because of the lies told and the potential illegal acts primarily by the Leave side.
With the benefit of hindsight, if Cameron really had to call the referendum then this issue should have been foreseen and the process laid down that a Leave decision would be no more than a mandate to negotiate a deal which would then be put to the public again.
That the Conservative government chose to go ahead with the invocation of A50 was partly policy, partly vote scoring.
While I'm broadly in favour of the EU I don't think it's perfect, and on this issue they bear a large slice of the blame. They refused to negotiate until A50 was invoked, with no apparent legal justification as far as I'm aware. If they'd allowed negotiations without that clock ticking in the background then the default option would have been to remain. I can't see that we'd have come up with anything much different from May's agreement and it could have been accepted or rejected on its own merits rather than trying to rely on the threat of no deal. If Parliament agreed a deal or to leave without one then A50 would have been invoked at that point, with the two year timeframe being the transition period.
I think it’s dangerous to consider the SNP as any kind of opposition. Never forget that their main raison d’etre is to achieve independence by whatever means they can. They’re certainly not there to stand up for or represent people in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
The idea of any kind of coalition involving the SNP fills me with horror. The DUP one hasn’t exactly been milk and honey, and I think an SNP one would prove worse.
Sturgeon and friends have attempted to turn Scotland into a hateful nation, and in that sense any criticism of Farage from their quarters is pot kettle black.
I'd say Sturgeon was the best leader of any British political party in recent history, and is actually putting forward a positive vision. I don't particularly agree with her but if I lived in Scotland (as I did during the early Thatcher years) I think I would support independence rather than rule by a Johnson or a Farage who aren't just totally opposed to the Scottish point of view, they don't even think about it.
Which side of the debate stayed at home more? I don't have a clue, turnout has always been low at EU elections (even in other EU countries, it is the first time in 25 years there has been a >50% overall turnout), though if I had to guess I would say it is more likely to be Brexiteers staying at home who don't think these EU elections should be happening.
Yet another reason we can't use these elections to get a definitive view of what the public thinks, though recent polls have suggested a smallish (but more than 52%) majority to remain. So bring on a referendum!
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