General News Theresa May pledges 'hard' Brexit

I still want a second referendum. It's better for everyone if we stay. She's been saying brexit for so long that it's basically a joke by now and it is a joke. It's a joke that people want an unstable country that's horrible to people that can't control their situation...

 

It's no secret that I voted remain and I'm still smarting from the decision to leave the EU, but now that the decision has been made we do need to get on with it, for the sake of all concerned. It's going to be complicated and I really do wonder if a deal is achievable two years after triggering article 50, but the UK and EU must pull out the stops to make it happen. Playing politics and having the UK leave without a deal would represent a messy divorce and lead to a period of great instability in Europe and beyond.

Having made the decision to leave, I found myself in broad agreement with Theresa May on Tuesday and I didn't feel she was making unreasonable demands. It was regrettable that she inserted a warning that has been widely interpreted as a veiled threat to make the UK the worlds biggest tax haven, but she didn't actually say as much. Even so, I think it would be better to avoid any such statements because Boris Johnson will only crank it up a level when he is released from the watchful gaze of Foreign Office diplomats.

I find it hard to believe that the UK will be better off after Brexit and I think the current strength of the economy gives a false impression. Inflationary pressures are already building due to the weakness of sterling and once Brexit becomes a reality all of this may worsen, dampening consumer confidence and output. I really hope I am proven to be wrong about this, because a weak economy with inflation is a terrible scenario and it's not like we haven't been there before. You don't need to be a student of political history to remember the stagnation + inflation of the 1970's, early 80's and, to some extent, early 90's.

As for comparing Theresa May to Donald Trump, well, that's quite a stretch. Conservative she may be, but only the most extreme wing of the UK Conservative Party comes anywhere close to Donald Trump. I think mainstream conservatives across the whole European continent are dismayed by the election of Mr Trump actually.

 

Besides the fact that the UK vote FOR Brexit is questionable, since it was a bare majority victory, the actual exit of the UK from the EU (assuming it actually happens) will likely be a mistake of historical proportions for both the UK and the EU. At this point in time, I question whether or not it's even do-able within the next two years...

 

¨The ECHR can bind the hands of parliament, adds nothing to our prosperity, makes us less secure by preventing the deportation of dangerous foreign nationals – and does nothing to change the attitudes of governments like Russia’s when it comes to human rights. So regardless of the EU referendum, my view is this: if we want to reform human rights laws in this country, it isn’t the EU we should leave but the ECHR and the jurisdiction of its court¨ - Theresa May in her own words.

I clearly remember her not caring about the thousands of migrants who drowned and she did things to try to muzzle the Brititsh press.

Also, how does deporting criminals born and bred in Britain to countries they barely have any ties to comply with human rights?

---------- Post added 19th Jan 2017 at 07:26 PM ----------

What was the reason for that?

 

Regrettable on both counts really.

I see your point Aussie, but I still think it would have been better to avoid issuing warnings, at this early stage. I'm sure it was all discussed at length with colleagues and advisers and maybe they arrived at the same conclusion as you, but it just didn't feel right to me when the rest of her speech was careful and reasonable. I think it diverted attention and led to the usual shrill commentary.

 

What a question! Okay, I'll give it a go...

In the 1970's it was just about everything. Weak government, rising oil prices, spiralling costs, extortionate pay demands, industrial unrest, power cuts, soaring public debt, a currency crisis, IMF bailout... In the early 70's it was so bad that a three day week and state of emergency was declared and by 1979 rubbish was piling up in the streets and the dead were not being buried. At it's height inflation was running at almost 27 percent.

Mrs Thatcher tried to sort it all out with shock therapy in the early 1980's, by closing down manufacturing, doubling VAT (tax on goods and services) and hiking interest rates, resulting in recession, mass unemployment + high inflation and social decay.

By the late 80's/early 90's the UK economy was overheating and ultimately crashed shortly after John Major became Prime Minister. With inflation at almost 10%, another currency crisis and surging interest rates the cycle started to repeat.

So there you have it, a condensed history of British economic/political chaos 1970-1995.

 

You're living up to your username! :roflmao:

 

They're not getting services. They might get access to goods, but not services.

 

If Theresa May takes Britain out of the ECHR they won´t have to worry about the legal consequences of deporting criminals many of whom have no ties to the country they are to be deported to.

At least Cameron tried to abide by human rights when he said ¨“We should be using all of the influence we have to sign prisoner transfer agreements with those countries. Even, if necessary, frankly helping them to build prisons in their own country so we can send the prisoners home.¨

She didn´t want the UK to help in rescue missions. She was ok with migrants dying to discourage them from attempting the journey. I think it was pretty heartless.

When she was Home Secretary she proposed that the state vet tv programmes before they were broadcasted. She got into a lot of trouble with her colleagues over that.

---------- Post added 20th Jan 2017 at 06:26 PM ----------

OMG!!! That must have been so awful!