Angela Merkel is clear. If some in Britain still have illusions that they can have the same status as when they were EU members, they should think again. In other words, when you divorce, you lose conjugal rights. You also lose some material possessions. The departure of the European Medicines Agency is going to provide a 1 billion Euro boost to whichever country is the new host. Presumably that is what the UK is going to lose. Perhaps more, as the pharmaceutical industry may also see relocations to the new HQ.
We are also going to hear about the government's track record on dealing with air pollution according to those pesky EU rules before the General Election. The government have lost a legal bid to keep those hidden until after June 8. We can only surmise it is not going to be good reading for them.
Theresa May has said people need to vote in this election for the national interest. I take it she will be voting for anyone but her party and other KIP parties, such as UKIP and Redkip. She must have meant it when she talked about the Liberal Democratic values of Europe. She will be voting Liberal Democrat on June 8.
Better believe that than her appeal to people to back her because the EU is ganging up on Britain. They're not, they're using collective power to get the best deal for the EU, something the UK as a member benefited from and is now rejecting - and something we remainers warned of. The British people need to gang up on the quitters who led us into this valley of death, and the turncoats like May working hard to take us even further into the abyss.
Don't hand her free votes and an even bigger blank cheque. Lending her your votes, as she is asking people to do to strengthen her negotiation hand is a ploy, one that will be used as a mandate for more cuts, more austerity, less investment, more public debt, and more privatisations of services, especially the NHS. And your vote will not strengthen May's Brexit hand one jot.
What it will do, if the Tories have a big majority, is encourage them to take the easy way out every time. EU playing hardball? Scrap some bank controls and cut taxes to make it a bigger tax haven. US wanting some concessions over a trade deal? Sure, we'll scrap workers rights and buy your chlorine washed chickens. Parliament will need a strong opposition to keep the UK a half-decent country for the majority of its people and not just May's chosen few. Even more importantly, only a strong opposition can mobilise any Tory rebels and reject a bad deal. Best still would be to ditch the Tories altogether, of course.
They are not able. They have only just realised that sanctions are currently imposed by the EU, not the UK. However, apparently, the UK intends to match EU sanctions, because it is afraid that not doing so will weaken its position. Yes, people, project fact strikes again. The UK on its own is a supplicant vis a vis larger countries and blocs. This is of course is just one of many areas where the UK will now have to find the resources to act alone rather than as a member of a Union, and it will not be the most complicated.