Brexit - the end of the beginning - the negotiations begin

I have to say, Anya, that having initially thought this was 'Brexit' election I very quickly realised that stopping the tories destroying the NHS, education , the environment etc. is far more important. And stopping their progress towards being an elected dictatorship..

Thank heaven this election was called before the boundary changes which gave the tories even more of an advantage came into operation. This could be our last chance for some time to curb their power...

Unfortunately Anya I think it will come down to May vs Corbyn, which is exactly what the Conservatives want. May will win.

I despair that there is so much focus on May and that she will be given a blank cheque to do whatever she wants.

There are going to be an awful lot of tears.

Fitzy54
"Sequencing the negotiations" that's because the majority are men and as we know they are no good at multi tasking.
I know for certain that if we had a room full of women, this could/ would be sorted.

How can we get 'a parliament with less dogma' etc.? It'll be just more Tories and more of the same.

I think May is trying to sell a hard image to be like Thatcher - the Iron Lady, but she doesn't seem to have a clue IMO. But this election is going to be very telling.

Are people just fixated with Brexit or will issues such as the NHS, Education, the environment emerge as important?

The more I hear of Brexit and Theresa May the more I despair. The effect of Brexit on the economy has yet to be fully realised but we know that it will not be for the better. Multinationals are already trying to leave the UK.

As for TM she comes out with the same old sound bites lacking in substance which makes me think that she does not know what she is doing and is way out of her depth. Having said that Labour is even more lacking real leadership. I just hope that on the 8th June we get a parliament with less dogma that is not afraid to restore commonsense to the whole business. Most MP's voted REMAIN and presumably still think that way.

Did anyone see on the BBC TV news this morning, Theresa May won't be allowed to lead the Brexit negotiations? So much for planning to be a b....y difficult woman:
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/you-cant-lead-brexit-talks-eu-tells-may-23p7n9hf7

Oh Fitzy
Professor in EU law or you?
Which one should I believe knows more about the subject?

Michael Duggan is no doubt right up to a point but goes too far. There is absolutely nothing in EU law or constitutional principles that insists on sequencing the negotiations, and he has no idea at all as to whether any of their tactics or demands are aimed at inflicting a degree of punishment. In any event the EU make their own laws. As a group they can agree pretty much anything they like with us. All they then have to do is sign up to the right bit of paper to ratify it. Mr Duggan, I'm sure, could draft that for them.

My post today 11.03

I'm still waiting for ' anybody ' to explain to me how Sir Keir Starmer, Labour Shadow Minister For Brexit and Paul Mason (see durhamjens link ) think we can stay in the Single Market / Customs Union whilst leaving / not being a member of either the EU/EFTA/EEA ?

The EU have refused to negotiate over the 4 Pillars of the EU which are :-

The free movement of goods, capital, services and persons.

Keir Starmer / Labour state:-

Free Movement of People 'HAS TO END'

Free Movement of People 'RULED OUT AS IT IS'.

Freedom of Movement will have to have 'NEW IMMIGRATION RULES'

How can we 'CHERRY PICK' as Labour believes we can , well not only them but many posters too it seems.

Another Michael Duggan video:

Perhaps a counter view to Varoufakis?

There is a transcript with it.

eulawatliv.wordpress.com/professor-dougan-dismantles-theresa-mays-brexit-election-pitch/

Here in Liverpool, we’ve received numerous requests, to comment specifically on the Prime Minster’s claim that a general election was necessary in order to strengthen the UK’s hand in the forthcoming negotiations against the EU.

This short video will do just that.

To be clear: that EU position has not been dreamt up on a whim, and it has certainly not been designed to punish poor little Britain. In fact, it is the only interpretation which fits with the basic constitutional principles of the EU legal system as laid down in the Treaties (something which legal commentators like me have been saying for well over a year now, and a point made repeatedly by the major political actors across the EU ever since the referendum result).

^ It is somehow no longer legitimate to question the Government; indeed, to criticise the Government is apparently to endanger the national interest. Well: if the Government had listened a little more and a little better, it might not have made the fundamental mistakes that it has done. But in any case, I can’t think of anything less British than encouraging some sort of political Messiah complex, that appears convinced of its own authority and infallibility, feeding in turn a frankly dangerous urge to suppress legitimate debate.^

Viurakis on newsnight: "what [the EU] are going to be doing for the next two years is pushing London towards a defensive stance through leaks, through distortions and through a strategy of making Theresa May fight for her right to negotiate ...... There will be no real negotiations"
"The powers that be in the EU, their greatest nightmare is a mutually advantageous agreement with Britain because this in their minds would encourage others to [make demands] and possibly to get out of the EU; on the other hand [TM] has put the end of freedom of movement above everything else"
His take is that the outcome is inevitable failure. Makes a lot of sense.

daphnedill
You say you like juncker. And yet you abhor the system that he more or less single handedly set up in Luxembourg.

I've read it petra. It sounds like the kind of place some of the Brexiteers want London to be. Maybe they'll employ Juncker as a consultant.

- tried not thrived!

That's your opinion niggly. The Daily Express and Nigel Farage agree with you. I don't.

If was under the impression that most Tory Govts thrived to find a way for the rich to keep more of their money and the poor pay more taxes.

I guess Amber Rudd doesn't want to be home secretary any longer.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-theresa-may-juncker-latest-dinner-no-10-disastrous-parallel-reality-a7712706.html

Last month Poland was the only one of the 28 member states to vote against Mr Tusk's re- election ( he's Polish) as president of the European Union
It says something when your own member in the parliament doesn't want you to have the job.
But he still got another term, nudge nudge, wink wink.

He's an ODIOUS man.!!

If anyone wants to raise their blood pressure read up on Junckers time as prime minister of Luxembourg and the safe haven he gave to 340 multinationals to avoid paying tax.
If you do, you will wish you hadn't.

Love the menu MB!

This from Nick Cohen of the Guardian
"Juncker has dedicated his career to ensuing that society becomes * less fair*, that wealthy institutions and individuals can avoid the taxes that the * little people and small businesses* must pay.

"Everywhere do I perceive a certain conspiracy of rich men seeking their own advantage"
Wrote Sir Thomas Moore in 1516.
He might have been discribing juncker.

I like him too, Margaret and I think you are right. I've heard him speak German and he seems different. I believe he's done a good job and knows more about the EU than May does.

What kind of sense of humour do the Luxembourgish (or whatever they're called) have?

May has just threatened to be a bloody difficult woman, unlike Cameron then who just got out the begging bowl hoping to get a few scraps to bring back.

That dinner?