Letter from the Cabinet Office says it will happen as soon as possible, but in any case before there is another election. Didn't happen did it. I cannot see what others proposed or didn't has to do with another broken promise.
I don't think you understand manifestos. They are guidelines of what the prospective political parties intend to implement in the following five year period if in government, not in the first year. Leaving the EU obviously must take precedence over non urgent domestic issues.
It is of course absolutely clear that the extension of democracy would, in Tory eyes, be a non urgent issue.
What do you include in your definition of non urgent domestic issues? NHS, Crime, Housing? I will admit that they are doing nothing to sort those problems.
"What is the country we wish to build once we have left the European Union? Only once we have answered this question can we properly and fully answer the second question - what agreement do we want to strike with the European Union? What do we value more, parliamentary sovereignty and control, or market access and trade? Four months on, and there are still no clear answers to these basic, critical questions. All we hear, day after day, are conflicting, confusing voices. If this continues, and ministers cannot agree among themselves on the future relationship the Government wants, how can this prime minister possibly negotiate a clear, precise heads of terms for the future relationship with the EU?" Taken from the Lords debate by a former Brexit Minister. This sums up the problem. The government ministers have different ideas, so the referendum meant different things to different people. There is no agreed idea of where the government wishes to take the country.
Lord Bridges is a fervent remainer, friend of Osborne and Lord Hill, the former EU commissioner. He left the government just before he would have been sacked. Like Lord Adonis he just wants to reverse the democratic decision reached on freedom day.
So which part of that extract from his speech do you wish to disagree with? It is what he said, not who he is that matters.
The proposed change of voting rights for expats should be intertwined with the proposed UK boundary changes to reduce the size of parliament and make constituencies fairer. This could be done later in the parliament when Brexit has been sorted.
Sorry don't have the time except to say the HoL is full of whinging unelected freeloaders living on borrowed time. I never thought I would agree with Paddy Pants Down.
We are still waiting with anticipation to know which part of the speech you find fault with ? I suspect we will either be waiting for an eternity, or you will change the subject by importing some gossip from the Mail or Express.
There are dozens if not hundreds of complicated issues relating to brexit. I am sure getting a fair deal for expats is on the list but I cannot see it being at the top - but of course it would be for you and other expats OFH - that is natural. Everyone will have their own view on why the referendum was promised and held and I suspect that view will depend as much on political leaning as on anything else - on this there can be no "truth" - only opinion. However it was held and the UK has now to deal with it. I am quietly confident that none of the major parties, nor unions, CBI etc really though we would vote brexit. As a result little if any thought was given to what would happen if we did vote brexit. That is apparent from the political shambles that has resulted since. Before people jump on their political bandwagons I would hazard a guess that if instead of just resigning Cameron had instead called a General Election and Labour had come to power we would have seen exactly the same mess. Rail if you like about how awful that is but try crying at the moon - it is as worthwhile. The EU and UK have divergent interests in negotiations and the EU have the better hand so if anyone thinks our government could come up with a deal that remotely matched what we forfeit they live in cloud cuckoo land. If anyone on here has the answer to how negotiations should be conducted, what the UK wants and how to solve a problem like EUer then please post it here to educate first us and then send it fedex to Theresa.
The ex pat issue works out differently for different people depending on time of residence, and on which country they are located in. There are about 140,000 British people living in Germany - the vast majority being of working age (nobody retires to Germany do they ?). They are mostly bilingual, and pretty well integrated into the German system - I do not know one single Englishman here who pays taxes in the UK, or who still uses the NHS or BUPA. As you know British ex pats lose their voting rights after 15 years absence from the UK. In Germany full voting rights are conditional upon naturalization - so if a Briton has been here for longer yet has not obtained German citizenship then they end up with no voting rights whatsoever (apart from local and Euro). Can a person be legally disenfranchized in this way ? I personally do not have this problem as I have dual nationality - but for many others it is different. Another problem is that of recognition of academic qualifications - up to now you have had a right to automatic recognition (easier in theory than in practice) but when Britain leaves this will change - British qualifications will then be of no more value here than American ones. This will not alter things for people like me (I've been here for 28 years) but it will change things for those with less residence. Another point is that of pensions - some of mine will be German, some British - all no problem until Britain leaves. How can it be that there are so many changes in our lives and we were never asked ?
First - I think you need to address that to OFH not me as I have no knowledge of the subject. All I said was that I am sure it is something the government should look at if it is an issue for some -but it will not be the top priority. Second - how exactly do you think you would be asked about "so many changes in our lives" I do not defend the Referendum. I would never have had it and if I had, it would not have been a simple majority straight binary vote. But time to argue that is long gone. If you really want my opinion then make me PM and I will undemocratically overrule the referendum result and declare it not in the interest of the UK.
I think you have hit the spot by saying that it doesn't matter which party was in charge, the country would still be in a mess. As a government minister has said today, can any responsible administration lead the country into something that they know will disadvantage it. Of course it will be argued that this is not the intention, but while no one is allowed to know what the plan is because of "showing our hand", total hogwash because you can read the EU guidelines on line, the people arguing to withdraw Article 50 will continue to gather support. How do the government get out of the problem of their own making? They can plough on regardless, but whatever deal they come up with will still leave the country split down the middle, and if the economic situation does get worse, people in the Labour heartlands who did vote to leave will change very quickly. Polling already suggests that this is happening. The only way out for the Tory party is to take a strong line. This would mean telling the truth that the country will suffer at present, so they will withdraw Article 50 and call an election to get approval. They will not do it of course because they fear they would lose, but they are treading a very unsteady course to one being called anyway.
Yes - I broadly agree with you. All roads lead to a worse outcome. Where I disagree is on your "only way out". I have no faith that the Tories - who contain the most Eurosceptic people - are capable of anything. My "only way out" would be for an alliance of Labour, Plaid Cymru, SNP and LibDems to say "stop". Work to defeat the bill and cause an election at which they campaign for a grand alliance to reverse brexit - campaigning on a single issue. If elected that would be the people's mandate.
I did actually say that was the only way out that I could see for the Tory party who currently hold power, even if only by the support from the DUP. I agree that a grand alliance would be an interesting option, but so far it seems to be the Labour party are against as they believe they can win power. I think that most of us want what is best for the country,however party politics seems to be failing the country big time.
