Thursday, November 3

Brexit court defeat for UK Government

Whether you are pro or anti Brexit, this is the correct decision. To have it otherwise would see this country ripped apart like at no time since the English Civil War. The rule of law MUST be upheld, even in the face of 27% of the UK who will now complain about "democracy".
This isn't just about the benefits or otherwise of the European Union, this is about who we want to be as a nation: the multi-cultural, international hub of the world that everyone likes (except maybe Robert Mugabe) or a nationalistic and xenophobic inward-looking quasi-dictatorship. Look at history, at nationalistic governments - when did they ever turn out well for its citizens? Many will say "oh, you're taking it to the extreme, it'll never happen here." I'm sure that's what they said in Germany circa 1928, in Srebrenica, in Zimbabwe, in Rwanda, in the numerous military junta in Latin America, in a Trump-led USA (God help us all!)...
I don't know who is advising this government but the constitutional law is very clear and, in 2010, the law declared that all referenda could be at best advisory, due to Parliamentary sovereignty. They can appeal all they want but this is a legal decision, not a political one.
And, when MPs come to vote on whether to commit suicide - sorry, I mean trigger Article 50 - I hope they and the general public remember this: they are NOT there to represent the views of their constituents but their best interests and those of the country at large. Do teachers do what the children in their care want them to do? Do doctors just go with what the patient wants, regardless of the health implications? No, they look after the best interests of those in their care.
One of two things is happening within government: either the lunatics have taken over the asylum and are looking forward to ditching environmental regulations, labour legislation, human rights, scrapping the NHS, ditching benefits entirely, etc...or this was part of Theresa May's grand plan: to say "I did all I could but the law is the law, it must be respected whether we like it or not". I really hope it's the latter because the former doesn't bear thinking about.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37857785