I am teaching much of today and may have little time to react to the Article 50 ruling. I do, in any case, accept that there are lawyers better able to comment on its immediate consequences.
But what if, as expected, May loses? Three questions arise.
First, why did she take the case if this was the only likely outcome? Why waste the money? Why pretend she had an option when that was not the case? What sort of judgement does that reveal?
Second, why has she delayed doing anything until told to do so in that case? Is that the definition of taking back control? Wouldn't a white paper have made much more sense after the first hearing?
Third, why now be forced into a panicked reaction with too little time for real debate before the artificial 31 March deadline? What does that say about who is in charge here?
However looked at, appealing this case was a political act of misjudgment. In itself it may not be that important (I don't know the decision as yet). But the particular is not the political issue here. The political issue is about appearing to know what you're doing and being in control of it - which was the core desire of those who voted Brexit. And the last thing I expect Theresa May is going to look today is anything like being remotely in control.
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I hope you are teaching your economics and not the economics everyone else teaches! We need you to train the new thinkers your way, despite the opposite that everyone else teaches the next generation.
They get a lot of me….
As I’ve said before I got very interested in economics in my teens when reading about JMK and JK Galbraith. I lost interest when Hayeck and Friedman came into fashion. Hope there is not too much emphasis on neoliberalism in modern economic teaching.
Not in mine…..
And what is their response?
It was good last year
A new bunch today, for me
It’s ok though cos we’re going to get a really really favourable trade deal with the USA just when it has elected a protectionist president.
Can’t see farmers or rural communities being happy about the influx of US food and agriculture products. Who fancies growth hormones in their beef?
Taking back control, so we can hand it to the USA with a much worse deal. Nice one.
Genetic modification here we come…
Monsanto World
The 31 March deadline is based on the electoral timetable which assumes the next GE being in 2020. The Conservatives want the leaving of the EU to be concluded by 2019, with a year left for the dust to settle.
They might not have thought ahead about the consequences of the Referendum, but when it comes to something really important, like winning elections, their calculations are up and running.
May probably wants to be seen to be deferring to the Court so that of course they will get the blame and be public enemy number one if they insist that Parliament does its job?
Who knows – May might actually be relieved to go the way suggested by the SC? It could happen
If this is the case, expect Trump to advise her of the American way of how to fill a supreme court with your ‘own people’ when she visits him.
Reflecting further on your blog – if May is seen to court the EU to try to get a deal or even BREXIT postponed she and her party will be panned as well as self destruct. And since they are the vanguard of 1000 year Thatcher Reich, they will not want to spoil their party.
So Europe is a sort of no go area.
This means that we are now at the mercy of the countries outside of the EU with whom we have to make friends and do trade deals with. We will be in such a desperate position to get some sort of deal.
I believe that May’s PR will go into overdrive and make her look like a strong leader but I think that you are right – because of our weak position born of leaving the EU (and in a hard way) May and her ministers are going to be more or less driven or compelled by events and forces to get any sort of deal rather than in the driving seat – deals that could well be detrimental to the ordinary people in the UK.
It’s tumultuous really. And even that is an under statement.
we will get a far worse deal from the USA than from the EU
Yup, so much for taking back control eh? And 17.4 million idiots voted for this. Talk about turkeys and Christmas. British politics – dominated by lying and stupidity.