127 words

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present

Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Power to notify withdrawal from the EU

(1) The Prime Minister may notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.

(2) This section has effect despite any provision made by or under the European Communities Act 1972 or any other enactment.

2 Short title

This Act may be cited as the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017.

And in those 127 words, the Government is hoping to be able to pass through Parliament legislation that will allow it to trigger Article 50, or give the EU notification of our notice to leave the EU. Although, the bill fails to define what the EU in the context of the bill is. Is the European Parliament, or is it the Single Market, is it the Customs Union, all three, two from three.

A number of amendments are being proposed, some of which might make it to the final bill, the Government is hoping none will. Jeremy Corbyn, the waste of space that is the Labour Leader is stating that there will be a 3-line whip on the vote, and so supports the bill. And any front bench member that votes against it will be sacked from the shadow cabinet. This coming from an MP who voted with the conservatives more than he did from his own party.

All we want, and may MPs want is proper oversight, that the best deal is indeed obtained for Britain, and if not, be able to stop it. High hopes, but then coming from a PM who said there would be no running commentary, only to produce a running commentary. Also said there would be no bill on the triggering, and yet there is a bill. And there would be no vote on the deal there will be a vote, although that may be a Hobson's Choice by then. But if the process can be reversed, either by Britain alone of by the agreement of the EU27, then who knows?

The PM visited Washington this week to meet with Trump, and was photographed holding hands as they walked down stairs together. It might yet become an image to haunt her. Trump said that Britain would get a quick trade deal, but what would that deal look like? All through the election campaign, Trump has always said that it would be America First (sic), jobs and business for America, and where there is a trade deficit, a new deal would produce a surplus for the US. And as Britain is in the black in trade with the US, any deal would be far worse than what we have now. How's that for a special relationship? Of course I could be reading that wrong, and the US might grant Britain special status, flowing us with great deals and not wanting to get access to the NHS or aerospace industry.

Even when the US President introduced immigration controls that appeared to be unconstitutional and against international agreements, May did not criticise; so that is what wanting a post-Brexit deal is, siding with demagogues. Her second international visit this week was to Turkey where she signed an arms deal with that country's leader. Another leader that stomps on free press, and liberties, all in the name of trade. See how our values are up for auction for the prices of some aircraft wings or jam exports?

Reality will always stalk and beat the Brexiteers, but hubris will never allow them to admit the poor hand they have dealt themselves, and think issuing threats to the EU about what we would do if our two of clubs isn't allowed to win is as hollow as a hollow thing.

Do I think Brexit will happen?

A few months ago, I thought not, but I see that there is resolve, hard resolve to deliver something, no matter how bad, to show that it could be done. In the background there are MPs who are pushing for a harder than hard Brexit, regardless of the pain it will cause in the short and long term. One would like to think when they sau=y "how hard can it be" they really don't understand the question. They do, but any pain would not affect them, but suits their political view to blame all the country's ills on the EU or immigrants.

If the Article 50 process can be reversed (The Dublin Case), then a bad deal might be avoided, at which point, the whole thing would grind to a halt. To kill Brexit, we need to stare into the abyss as a country, and see the pain and disaster, and never want to repeat it. At the moment, I think there will be a Brexit, and at the moment, it will be hard, as that is the easiest, and maybe the only Brexit that can be delivered. Even then, demands and threats make even that impossible.