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Theresa May's plan for another Brexit delay has gone down badly in Europe
France, which has taken a firmer line over Britain's demands, floated the idea of offering only a two-week extension, in order to prepare financial markets for Britain leaving the EU without a negotiated deal. The other option, floated by Germany, was to demand more information from May, in order to justify offering a longer extension. There was no support, it would appear, for the UK's suggested June 30 date.
There was no support, it would appear, for the UK's suggested June 30 date.
[emphasis added]
Reading the rest of the article it becomes clear to me we're again seeing the UK government totally oblivious to the reality of the situation. Unquoted bits of the article make me think the EU isn't going to put its political credibility on the line to save May and the Tory Party.
I'm thinking she's going to get turned down. She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
So it boils down to whether EU leaders think the UK participating in the EP elections is a good idea or not. Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, previously said it would be "beyond strange" for a country leaving the EU to participate in the elections (and indeed have a say in the nomination of the next Commission). May has sought to address this concern by promising to act with "sincere cooperation" and not adopt the disruptive tactics as threatened by Rees-Mogg.
The UK's education minister Nadhim Zahawi has said that for the UK to take part would be "equivalent to a suicide note for the Conservative Party", and it seems likely that extreme Brexiteer parties would do well - mainly at the expense of the Conservatives. But would Remain and second referendum supporting parties do better than Brexiteer parties?
The EP elections could become, by default, a proxy for the the General Election and Second Referendum May is so desperate to avoid. A disastrous performance by the Conservatives would put added pressure on May to step down but would Corbyn fare much better if Remainers abandon him for the Lib Dems?
So the looming EP elections could put a lot of pressure on both leaders to resolve their differences and agree a deal, and, failing that, go some way towards demonstrating where the balance of public opinion lies.
Either way, it could be an advance on the current logjam in the HOC. I'm not sure the EU has a lot to lose by allowing this process to run its course. 30th. June is not a long time away, and if the situation is not clarified or resolved by then, the EU Council can always allow the UK to leave, one way or the other, on 30th. June, by refusing any further extension.
In some ways this is now becoming more and more like a hostage situation where the police are desperately trying to open up and maintain a line of communication with the hostage taker - firstly to buy time, and secondly to avoid the situation spiralling out of their control. At the moment the EU holds all the cards. Why play them before you have to? Index of Frank's Diaries
Javid: new passports; May: no votes scheduled by 12 April but "offering to enshrine in law a plan that would hand parliament a say in future trade talks with the EU" ... after she's replaced; Lavery: determined to split Labour over persistent referendum demand; Varadker: encouraging "flextension" rather than "rolling extensions every couple of weeks, every couple of months."
## Mental disorder ... you know the rest Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
I suspect the Tories would do disastrously, and Labour not much better so the EP elections could upset the whole apple cart of UK politics and bring some new realities into play. In Northern Ireland Sinn Fein traditionally top the poll with the DUP and Ulster Unionist Party sharing the final two seats. I don't see that changing, but It will be interesting to see how the DUP do and whether the SDLP can launch a serious challenge for the final seat. Index of Frank's Diaries
As to the results: I wouldn't expect anything drastic. I assume the Tories will lose some support since their whole strategy of absorbing UKIP is on fire. How much the TIGllers will cut into Labour's support I couldn't guess. From where I'm sitting they are too blatantly an anti-Corbyn outfit to run as a single issue anti-Brexit party.
She has been all along, long on bluff and bluster, short on any plan, tone-deaf and stubborn as a mule.
If she wanted to remain, she couldn't have done a better impersonation of a humble servant of the people's democratic will to leave, as expressed via Brexerendum.
Corbyn, if he wanted to leave, could be going for an Oscar too. 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
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