The Brexit Times (News and Opinion)

From slick to risible: the bids for London's EU agencies are unveiled

The EU agencies, both currently based in Canary Wharf, east London, offer prestige to their host and an influx of high-spending visits from officials and experts. Britain has been given no option on keeping the organisations, home to about 1,000 staff and 40,000 visitors a year, despite some demurring by the Brexit secretary, David Davis. The British government is, however, expected to stump up the bill for the removal costs.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/slick-risible-bids-london-eu-agencies-european-council

A place to post things around Brexit that catch your eye

Ditching first-past-the-post really would be ‘taking back control’

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/01/first-past-the-post-taking-back-control-brexit

My personal view is that mature Democracys must always develope to be inclusive of All the citizens they represent I wasnt in the UK for the referendum nor did I see how it was dealt with I suspect the wrong system was being proposed only the Torys and the Communists thought the vote should be No although 100 or so Labour MP,s some that I recognise are to the "New Labour" direction were against I would like there to be much more collective discussion needed If everyones vote is to be important and Politics is to be a healing process rather than so polarised

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11609887

Britain will be committing economic suicide unless it is prepared to compromise to reach a comprehensive Brexit deal, a former head of the European Commission has warned.

Romano Prodi, the economist and former Italian prime minister, said the Brexit negotiations had made little progress in the first year after the referendum and urged both sides to begin making concessions on trade and immigration to reach a deal.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...exit-deal-suicide-for-uk-says-former-eu-chief

No 10 has revealed it will release Brexit policy papers on key issues in the coming weeks, as it continues to play down the idea that Theresa May is prepared to pay a divorce bill of about €40bn (£36bn) to the EU.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/07/government-to-release-key-brexit-policy-papers

Democracy should evolve and some are now more responsive than ours but none are perfect. I think AV and PR are not the answer because you lose the idea of constituency representation and accountability. Even the PM has to do surgeries. I also look at the likes of Neil Hamilton getting a Welsh Assembly seat due to party lists and know that is democracy.

I do quite like Germany's system though. It would mean that Farage would get a seat but like I said, no system is perfect.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Germany

Its getting the balance right

2015 under PR

SEATS WON UNDER A PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION SYSTEM

Conservatives – 242

Labour – 199

Ukip – 82

Lib Dem – 51

SNP – 31

Greens – 24

http://metro.co.uk/2015/05/08/heres...ok-under-proportional-representation-5188659/

“We’ve already had a referendum on PR”

The UK has never had a referendum on whether to change to a proportional voting system. The system put forward in the 2011 referendum was the Alternative Vote. This is not a proportional system, and shares the problems caused by disproportionality which afflict First Past the Post. David Cameron himself stated on one occasion: “I'm here today to explain as clearly as I can why AV is completely the wrong reform…let me take on this myth that AV is more fair and more proportional than the system we have currently”. As such, the outcome of the 2011 referendum did not indicate a rejection of, or indeed any comment upon, proportional electoral systems by the electorate.

In fact, only 28% of the electorate turned out in defence of First Past the Post - hardly a ringing endorsement!

“PR will damage the link between MPs and their constituents, whose interests they represent.”

Many currently feel unrepresented by their MPs - the majority of MPs won their seats with a minority of votes. Many MPs respond to constituents with template letters, failing to engage with the issues being raised. There are a number of PR systems that keep or even improve the constituency link. The Additional Member System (AMS) maintains the present principle of one-MP-to-one-constituency, while using top-up lists to ensure that the share of seats a party wins matches the share of the vote the people give them. Systems like the Single Transferable Vote (STV) use multi-member constituencies - meaning that a few, (for example, five) MPs are elected to represent a given area. One advantage of this is that many more people than at present have a local representative who is sympathetic to their views, who they can approach with their concerns.

For more information see our voting systems page.

https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/mythbusting/

Judge calls for clarity on status of ECJ rulings in UK after Brexit

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...y-on-status-of-ecj-rulings-in-uk-after-brexit

The three ‘whats’ of leaving the EU – Brexit Means podcast
The team look at what kind of transition Britain wants, what might be in the government’s position papers and what size of divorce bill Brexiters are willing to pay


Audio

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-whats-of-leaving-the-eu-brexit-means-podcast

Interesting article cropped up today where the EU are considering using a special EFTA court as an independant international court with EU AND UK judges in it. Even as a Remainer, the idea that the ECJ could have any jurisdiction over UK domestic matters was nonsense. The issue is that the Brexit divorce agreement is not an international treaty as such because the UK is not a proper signatory. The EU agree it and we apply it.

Since 2010 Ive studied the Directive 2004/38 Free Movement and every piece of case law thats come out

of the ECJ where National Courts have sought guidence or Citizens Protection from (some times) erant

National interpretations the UK has been particularly problematic in all areas from deliberate obstacles

and evasion mostly with its own Citizens Returning

Since June 16 Three million EU nationals and there Families perhaps 100,000 Brits and there familys

and 1.5 Million Brits resident in Europe some with Non EU Spouse have no idea what happens next

Having made my experience with the HO it is the ECJ that I trust with my rights not T May & Co

and I hope the negotiation from Europe will hold out and never entrust the rights of its folk with the

Government of the day in the UK ,its The Government that will make the rules the Courts follow and

they are not to be trusted, except to do the wrong thing

The BBC may be providing facts but it is biased in its reporting. The only counter to its institutional bias is provided by Andrew Neil but he may be losing some of his air time slots with Emily Maitlis tipped to takeover presenting his Sunday Politics show.

Everybody makes that claim sooner or later

Even Daivd Davis own aide has changed his tune.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/09/brexit-political-party-james-chapman-david-davis

Catchy headline

Boris Johnson should be jailed over Brexit claims, says ex-David Davis aide

Without Irish unification, a hard Brexit is impossible

"Is Northern Ireland the poison pill of hard Brexit? The visit of the new Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, to Belfast today is remarkable. This is not just for the astonishing sight of a southern politician who believes passionately in gay rights visiting the still conservative north – given how long the south’s reactionary Catholicism has been butt of northern ridicule. The visit is also part of Varadkar’s campaign to exploit Brexit as a tool of unification. The north-south border is one of the three “starter” issues of British EU withdrawal, to be resolved before a post-Brexit deal can be discussed."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/04/ireland-border-eu-brexit-unification