Nigel Farage is the most influential politician in recent British history. His UKIP party forced David Cameron to give us the EU referendum that allowed us to vote to leave this pernicious institution. His Brexit Party (TBP) forced the Conservatives to ditch Theresa May, who was working to keep us in the EU, replacing her with Boris, who is taking us out. Amazing achievements.
But now he is being a nuisance, a hindrance. Because Boris is honouring the referendum Farage has now become irrelevant. He does not like this so is grimly hanging on to power. Harming the very movement he has worked so hard for. Firstly he is putting up TBP candidates against Conservative candidates in the upcoming General Election. If he persists with this it will split the Leave vote and could very well give us a Labour+SNP+Green+Libdem coalition that would definitely ignore the referendum and keep us in the EU.
Secondly Farage is saying that the agreement Boris has made with the EU is not Brexit. This is quite simply not true.
Let’s start with the fundamental nature of large and complex agreements like this. They always, always involve compromise. Give and take. Otherwise they are just unconditional surrender. Each side has a position. After negotiations with give and take an agreement is come to that respects both positions and which both sides can work with. This is how the world works, no one side ever gets everything that they want.
Now lets look at what this agreement is. It is long and complicated and it is written in legalese. Virtually everyone who criticises it has not read it. Mostly it is about the technical matters involved in our divorce. The mechanics, the paperwork, the practicalities. As such the vast bulk of the agreement would be exactly the same whoever was negotiating it. However, as negotiated by Theresa May, the agreement enabled the EU to retain too many powers over the UK after Brexit. So it was not really Brexit. Boris has removed or massively diluted these measures. That this involved removing or changing about 5% of the original Theresa May agreement is about right. What you would expect.
The next thing to look at is that the EU are our friends. The institution of the EU itself is venal, corrupt, harmful and dangerous. But the countries of the EU and the people who live there are our friends. We do huge amounts of trade with them, which many British jobs depend on, we have common security and defence problems, our shared European culture goes back thousands of years. Many of us have family or friends who have married Europeans or who live there. So it is utterly essential that our divorce with the EU is amicable. That we can work together after we have left. Which means that the Boris agreement is the beginning, not the end, of a process. For instance we haven’t even started on the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and the UK that will be essential for both of our futures.
It is also worth noting that the deal has several constituent parts and that one of the most important, the Political Agreement, is not legally binding. We can ignore it.
Anyone who knows and understands all of the above knows that the Boris deal is a very good thing indeed. It is approved of by every single Brexit supporting Conservative MP, even the most cynical. They proved this by voting for it in the House of Commons, when they had refused repeatedly to vote for the Theresa May deal.
Now lets look at Martin Howe QC, he is a leading barrister in the fields of intellectual property and EU law. He was called to the bar in 1978 and became a QC in 1996. He is Chairman of Lawyers for Britain. And he is the expert on our EU deals, being the legal contributor for Brexit Central (articles HERE) Briefings for Brexit (articles HERE) and the Telegraph (articles HERE). Martin said that the Theresa May deal was Brexit in name only (BRINO) and he says that the Boris deal really is Brexit. Not only that, he says that Farage is wrong. And he gives detailed legal analysis of why in a Telegraph article (click HERE).
It is telling that TBP candidates for the upcoming general election are now bailing out (click HERE). They understand that Farage is now sabotaging the Leave cause. That what Farage is now saying and doing is working towards keeping us in the EU.
So there you have it. As this blog has proved previously Boris is the real thing and anyone who believes in democracy and who wants the best for this country should vote Conservative at the General Election. It really is considerable folly to do otherwise.
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This analysis fails to address the ongoing interpretive power of the ECJ which we will remain subject to and which will always find in the EU’s favour because it’s not a court but a device to further the interests of the EU. If our judiciary (our rule of law) remains subordinate to the ECJ how can that be described as regaining our sovereignty?
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The agreement states that the rulings of the ECJ on UNION (EU law) is what should be used for INTERPRETING EU law. As we will be sovereign and working through the EU law that has been transfered into our law this makes sense. Eventually we will get rid of EU law and create our own laws, and the EU will have no jurisdiction over OUR laws nor is it for them to interpret them. But in the meantime unless we want to become lawless while we debate and vote on our own laws, we should interpret the EU law which is temporarily our law as ruled by the ECJ. There is a difference between interpreting law and having the ECJ as the alternate power. Law in itself is a complex matter and can be interpreted in a number of ways, which is why it makes sense to use the ECJ interpretation of EU laws when it comes to our courts ruling on them. If this does not happen there could be numerous appeals for convicted criminals to get off on technicalities due to a difference in interpretation I am no legal expert, but it just makes sense for this to happen this way. Also not forgetting that the WA is a temporary agreement which only stands during the transition period and will then be replaced with a free trade agreement (or no deal if an agreement can’t be reached)
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I am at a lose with who to believe and I lay the blame on Boris who has falied to explain the deal and understand our worries on what it lreally means.
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This article is very disappointing, no facts. All figures here are Establishment figures.
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“Let’s start with the fundamental nature of large and complex agreements like this. They always, always involve compromise. Give and take. Otherwise they are just unconditional surrender. Each side has a position. After negotiations with give and take an agreement is come to that respects both positions and which both sides can work with. This is how the world works, no one side ever gets everything that they want.”
You’re assuming that a deal has to be done now, it doesn’t. We can leave with no deal and not pay the EU £39bn, that will compensate for any loss of trade that might occur. Then we enter into FTA agreements with the EU with no time limit and with the EU haemorrhaging jobs. Who will be in the stronger position then I wonder?
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“The next thing to look at is that the EU are our friends.”
This is business, they are our competitors and Merkel has said that the EU needs to stop the UK becoming increasingly competitive, hence the “level playing field” clause in the agreement you want Boris to sign.
https://www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-sees-post-brexit-uk-as-potential-competitor-to-eu-emmanuel-macron/
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Martin Howe’s “I can understand a political judgement that the revised deal is still a bad deal, but is tolerable†is much quoted to support Boris’s deal.
But Martin Howe says also that “the deal is bad, and is worse than a no deal alternative”.
Howe gives some examples of ‘many severely negative features’:
https://lawyersforbritain.org/this-flawed-deal-is-a-tolerable-price-to-pay-for-our-freedom
The Bruges Group Barristers’ summary of Boris’s deal: http://www.brugesgroup.com/blog/the-revised-withdrawal-agreement-and-political-declaration-a-briefing-note
Ben Habib is worth a follow eg https://twitter.com/benhabib6/status/1191667587039531008
That said, I agree we need to vote tactically Con/TBP.
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Here is a really good and insightful legal analysis of the Boris deal which looks at all sides of the argument. The “give and take” referred to in my article above. This is highly recommended and very well worth a look: https://lawyersforbritain.org/this-flawed-deal-is-a-tolerable-price-to-pay-for-our-freedom
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The problem with the ‘vote Tory for Brexit’ message is that in many working class Leave voting constituencies, such as the south Wales valleys and NE England, a Tory candidate has virtually no chance of topping the polls. It’s a cultural thing. It is in these seats that TBP might be able to take seats and further the Brexit cause rather than hinder it.
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Just look at this.
Farage and the Brexit Party have been telling us a pack of lies about the Boris Brexit deal.
And the hard of thinking have taken these lies in, hook line and sinker.
.
My critique of the Boris deal above is far, far more accurate, because it is based on the TRUTH:
https://order-order.com/2019/11/11/brexit-party-critique-boris-deal-actually-theresa-mays-old-deal/