'A special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit'
European Council president Donald Tusk has hit out over Brexit in a speech today, saying there is a "special place in hell" for those who promoted Leave without "even a sketch" of a plan in place.
In strong words, Mr Tusk said:
"I've been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely."
His comments come after he said the EU was not making "any new offer" to Theresa May on the Brexit deal.
Of course, we knew even before the EU referendum in 2016 that Brexiters never had a plan for Brexit.
None of them could even agree with each other what Brexit meant. And they still cannot agree.
On 6 February 2016, four months before the referendum, the Financial Times ran a leading story headlined:
‘The flaw in the heart of the campaign for Brexit’.
And what flaw was that? The same flaw that exists today:
‘Advocates of departure from the EU cannot agree what OUT means’.
Below is Jon Danzig's response to the Financial Times article, three years ago.
And, three years later, nothing has changed. Nobody knows what Brexit means. Nobody can agree what Brexit means.
This entire mess is going to sink all of us unless we can stop the madness called Brexit.
? THE QUESTION THEY CAN’T ANSWER: WHAT DOES LEAVE MEAN?
Here’s a question for you, wrote Jon Danzig on 6 February 2016. Would you move home without knowing what your next home looks like? No, me neither.
But that’s what those campaigning for Britain to leave the EU are expecting you to do – vote to end our membership of the EU without knowing what we’d have instead.
The problem LEAVERS have is that they simply don’t know, and for sure they can’t agree.
As a result, two rival, irreconcilable ‘leave’ campaigns have been launched. UKIP’s leader, Nigel Farage, supports one (Leave.EU) and UKIP’s only MP, Douglas Carswell, supports the other (Vote Leave).
And as confirmed by the Financial Times, the two 'leave' campaigns are in disarray.
On the one hand, Mr Farage wants to curtail immigration and stop EU migrants coming to Britain.
On the other, Mr Carswell wants to promote a Singapore-style model for Britain, open to capital and migration.
Instead of Britain leaving the EU, these two prominent members of UKIP seem to be putting the case for leaving each other.
Or as the Financial Times put it this weekend:
“It is not just a matter of discordant personalities. Out campaigners have struggled to unite around a single vision of what Britain’s post-Brexit trading arrangements would look like.”
And this is the core problem for the LEAVERS – their Achilles heel. Explained the FT:
“They have also failed to provide a convincing explanation of how leaving the EU would give the British greater control over their destiny and improved economic prospects. This is not surprising because none of the models that is mooted for a future outside the EU is convincing.”
Some Eurosceptics are proposing the same model for Britain as Norway – but to participate in the EU internal market, Norway has to agree to EU rules, without any say in them.
Another option favoured by some Eurosceptics is for Britain to strike trade deals on a country-by-country basis. But, as the FT points out, that would mean British businesses having to pay higher tariffs to trade internationally.
As the Financial Times asserts, “When it comes to these models – and others – the problem is that Britain moves from being a rule-maker to rule-taker.”
If Eurosceptics can’t even agree among themselves what it would mean for Britain to leave the European Union, it seems a bit rich to expect that voters will know. They don’t know, because the LEAVERS don’t know.
On this basis, I can’t recommend anyone to vote to leave. Our membership of the EU is not that bad; and the options for leaving (whichever one you might choose) are not that good.
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- Reasons2Remain is a campaign for a democratic reversal of #Brexit. We believe that Brexit will do great harm to Britain, and that we didn’t have the full facts in 2016.
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Indie Publisher, based in Scotland. Helping people around the globe connect to new voices and stories which will inspire and entertain. Stories which will live on after we are simply echoes of cherished memories.
6 年And only 48 days before we crash out...
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6 年true
Founder, blogger, and podcast host.
6 年The Europeans have as much to fear from a 'No Deal Brexit' as do the British. If the UK were to tumble out of the EU without a meaningful deal, there is a real possibility that it may precipitate a crisis with a potential to cause Britain as a nation to miscarry. If that were to happen, the European Union will also suffer considerably.? Now is not the time for insults. We need each other. We all have much to lose.
Director at Adverse Mortgage Advisors
6 年We were lied to when we joined the EU, it’s a disgrace it’s taken 46 years to rectify