Mike Vickers' Blog

I’m against BREXIT if only because I can remember WW2 and to me the existence of EU is an insurance against another major war in Europe.

And we are part of Europe however much the UK government believes we are an island apart.

We gain by being in the EU and I travel often to Italy (which itself is going through a difficult period)

I note:

Mr Tusk said yesterday: “I’ve been wondering what a special place in hell looks like for people who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely.”

I could follow this with the tweet by Mr Verhofstadt on the Brexiters:

“Well, I doubt Lucifer would welcome them, as after what they did to Britain, they would even manage to divide hell.”

Jeremy Corbyn’s five tests (tests look better than May’s red lines) in his letter to Theresa May:

• A “permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union”, including a say in future trade deals.

• Close alignment with the single market, underpinned by “shared institutions”.

• “Dynamic alignment on rights and protections”, so that UK standards do not fall behind those of the EU.

• Clear commitments on future UK participation in EU agencies and funding programmes.

• Unambiguous agreements on future security arrangements, such as use of the European arrest warrant.

These are all good, but I regret that Corbyn says nothing on Migration even of EU citizens.  Not surprising given what I have written above; EU Migration is, to me, the most serious issue of Brexit.  Even where we are now we failed to join Schengen.

I do not agree that the UK will NOT recover from Brexit: of course it will, as indeed will Scotland; but why go through the depression.

I agree with the article in the Guardian by Gina Miller

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/06/theresa-may-plan-doomed-deal-work-donald-tusk

Gina Miller is the lady who took the Westminster Executive to the Supreme Court and won.   The UK parliament does have a vote in the Brexit Deal.

Anyway, Miller’s proposal in her ‘letter’ to May looks to have benefit.  Odd that she brings up Cameron’s agreed changes to the UK’s position in relation to the EU and those all look a sensible balance in hindsight.
She writes:

“I implore you to seek to restart the constructive dialogue that your predecessor, David Cameron, began with Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, which showed real promise in terms of addressing the issues that were, just a few months later, to dominate the referendum debate.”

She agrees that the EU needs reforming and how better to do so than from the inside; a point made by Gordon Brown.

In my view:

• Brexit will occur. A second referendum will come to the same conclusion as the first.
• Exit Day needs putting back to the end of the year
• The Tusk Package agree by Cameron could form the heart of the new deal
• Corbyn’s five requirements need to be incorporated.
• But they must be augmented by a sixth: the free movement of European citizens.  A Brexit meeting I went to last week Mike Russell stated that Scotland needs immigrants from Europe to fill vital jobs and pay taxes; and it’s not just the top ones.

Looking at the Cameron / Tusk Deal, On Immigration it stated

“On in-work benefits: The Council would authorise that Member State to limit the access of newly arriving EU workers to non-contributory in-work benefits for a total period of up to four years from the commencement of employment. The limitation should be graduated, from an initial complete exclusion but gradually increasing access to such benefits to take account of the growing connection of the worker with the labour market of the host Member State. The authorisation would have a limited duration and apply to EU workers newly arriving during a period of 7 years.”

This looks to as a sensible balance and something that the Leavers might accept and would satisfy me as a Remainer.

You can find the BBC reporting of the Tusk Deal at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35622105

The UK has lost its sense of Balance.

And, as one brought up South of the Border and drowning in ‘English’ history, Balance has been one of the good aspects of English Democracy as it has evolved since Magna Carta and even before.