As the days - and even hours now - tick down towards Brexit deadlines there appears one obvious solution available to the EU that I have seen little talked about.
It is very clear that Boris Johnson wants to leave the EU and blame Brussels for this happening. The reasons are readily apparent, with a home electorate who will applaud him for doing so.
The counter to this should be apparent: the EU should say that there are issues still to discuss in his plan. They should add that they are worthy of further consideration. And in that case they would like to offer an extension of, say, three months in order to do so.
This then means that Johnson has to choose to leave the EU. Of course some will cheer him for that. But it makes it his choice. And given that it would be illegal for him to do so in the UK, it would be seen as him creating the post-Brexit chaos if he tried to exit.
Will it happen? I have no idea. No one has. But for Brussels, who are as keen to avoid blame as Johnson is to apportion it, the tactic seems like an obvious thing to do.
As ever, I live in hope.
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I didn’t know they could do that without being asked.
The EU can offer….or at least propose
The EU is good at finding ways around rules
The Benn Bill says if he’s offered an extension, then he has to accept it!
This is all madness. The thing is there is no majority in the house of commons to do anything. All we are doing is kicking the can down the road. That is not helping.
What we need to do is get a road map to where we want to be in 5 years time. Which is obviously solidly back in the EU.
I actually believe there is no route to that position that does not pass through BREXIT. It won’t be good. It will cost a fortune and people will suffer. But I think the alternative may be worse. A constant barrage from a very strong anti-EU brigade, preventing us from ever being fully part of the European project. A constant risk of returning to BREXIT. No stability.
If we leave, we can test the Brexit people’s idea. Hey, no-none knows everything – maybe it will work out (very very unlikely). If it doesn’t, we can then have a general election. Parliament can sort that at a time of their choosing. Brexit is deiscredited as an idea. We apply to rejoin as a united kingdom.
There is no risk-free, consequences-free route out from where we are now.
Your conclusion is true
James wrote that (at some future date) “we apply to rejoin as a united kingdom.”
You may well find that, by then, Scotland is already an EU Member in its own right!