Twenty things MPs worried about Article 50 could say

Posted on January 22 2017

I'm all for democracy. It's blank cheques I don't believe in.

I'm happy to jump off cliffs, but only when I've found out what's at the bottom.

I'll happily vote for Article 50 but only when I know it won't cost you your job.

I can live with migration controls. But I think capital controls are even more important.

I believe in free trade. That's why I want to stay in the biggest free-trade zone that's ever going to offer us membership.

Of course I want a free trade deal with the USA. I'm just not sure Donald Trump understands what they involve.

Please don't tell me I'm moaning. I'm downright objecting to the Tories being reckless with your money.

I buy good ideas, but only when I know what they cost.

Of course we're demanding the government tell us what's going on. That's what being in Opposition requires.

We're not opposing Brexit. We're just saying that right now the government hasn't got a plan to deliver it.

You want to know what we'd do? Simple. We'd set out a plan that makes life better for you.

Let's be blunt about this: if the Tories turn Britain into a tax haven there won't be any money for the NHS. Of course we have to oppose that.

So you don't like migration? Does that mean you want two million British people living in the EU to be forced to come home?

Let's face facts. If Trump and the EU impose tariffs on us, as looks likely, who the heck are we going to trade with?

If the UK cuts migrant student numbers quite a lot of our universities will go bust. You think I shouldn't talk about that?

Of course I'll vote for Article 50, just as soon as the government tells me where the replacement doctors and nurses are coming from.

We voted for Brexit. We didn't vote to do it badly.

Hard Brexit only works for the Daily Mail. For real people it's going to mean a loss of income and I don't think that's what they voted for.

I'll vote for Article 50 just as soon as someone in the government can tell me what doing so might mean for the UK.

When the facts change I reserve the right to change my mind. I'll vote for Article 50, but I'll need another vote when I know what Brexit really means.

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3 Responses

  1. Keith Macdonald says:
    January 22 2017 at 10:14 am

    Really it’s the first of these that matters. The Brexiteers promised repeatedly during the referendum that there would be no economic war with the EU. We would get access to the single market without freedom of movement because it was in the interest of the EU to offer that. We were not going to undercut the EU on social protection.

    There was nothing said about effectively excluding Parliament from the negotiations or confining the key decisions about Brexit to the Conservative coalition.

    There is therefore no mandate whatsoever for the kind of Brexit now being sought by the hard right. MPs are entirely justified in thwarting the Brexit process until we have rock solid guarantees that it will be under the democratic control of Parliament and not the elite leaders of the 35% of the electorate who are Conservative voters

  2. Pilgrim Slight Return says:
    January 22 2017 at 11:16 am

    Great.

    How about:-

    ‘I’m happy to jump off cliffs but like the best extreme sports enthusiast – only with parachute and a crash helmet thank you very much ‘ – implying the need for a soft BREXIT?

    ‘Of course I want a good trade deal with the USA but if Trump insists on putting America first, then who comes last? The UK perhaps? So you want me to walk away from a win/win trade deal with the EU and sign a new trade deal with the US that means a win for them and a loss for us – because that is what putting yourself first means?’ – waking up to reality of who we are dealing with outside of the EU zone.

    ‘Leaving the EU trade zone means that our trade is highly likely to be conducted under WTO rules which means tariffs being imposed so this means you will loose your job because the things you make will become more expensive and that the prices of stuff you buy will go up (at the same time as you lose your job). Tell me – How an earth does that benefit the people of this country?’ – again, waking up to the reality of being outside the EU.

    ‘Let me be clear – voting for Article 50 as it is proposed now is the same as me being asked to sign a blank cheque to be filled in by someone else in my absence, without consultation and without my knowledge. Would you do that? Of course you wouldn’t – and that is precisely why we must not sign the equivalent blank cheque by voting for Article 50 until we know exactly how Mrs May will take us out of Europe.’ – trying to explain the nature of the Article 50 vote and why voting against it as proposed is a wise thing to do.