‘… were legislation introduced the day parliament returned from the party conference recess, on 9 October, the earliest Thursday on which a referendum could be held would be 28 March – the very day before exit day. Of course, the introduction of legislation so soon is very unlikely, and there is plenty of scope for delays along the way…’
EU referendum
Brexit: debunking myths about the EU position
The current domestic debate in the UK thus represents the beginning of the Brexit process, not the end, and it would benefit from a greater understanding of what drives the EU in this process.
Brexit: No means Yes
‘Doubtless anti-Brexit campaigners are hoping that this finding will help persuade Labour MPs representing constituencies where a majority voted Leave in 2016 that a change in the party’s stance would not be so harmful electorally as some of them at least seem to fear. Those fears might always have been exaggerated…’
Corbyn, antisemitism and nothingness
‘From bursting onto the political stage and leading the Labour party to a glorious defeat in 2017, Jeremy Corbyn seems to have spent 2018 as the “Where’s Wally?” of Westminster. The general sense of absence and anonymity is almost palpable.’
Sturgeon’s strategic passivity
‘Certainly, the tawdry displays of English chauvinism, the ugly racist sentiments behind it, the Dad’s Army nostalgia for empire, quite apart from the liars and cheats that delivered Leave, are reason enough to stay in (and reform) Europe – and quit the rotting ship of the British unitary state before it’s too late.’
Labour, SNP, ‘People’s Vote’ and a Brexit Deal
‘Fudging both the timing of an independence referendum and the SNP’s position on a ‘people’s vote’ looks like getting more difficult as Brexit D-day draws nearer this autumn.’
Reforming referendums: how can their use and conduct be improved?
‘Campaign spending categories make it almost impossible to tell what campaigners are spending on social media. The Commission recommends that these gaps in transparency be closed and that a repository of online political advertising should be created.’
Leave voters don’t want a ‘Global Britain’
‘For them (Leave voters), Brexit wasn’t about rebooting Britain as a global player, in fact it was about recognising we have limited capacities—particularly economically—and that these should be focused almost exclusively domestically.’
Brexit’s most elaborate fudge may not save May
‘The question is not whether the EU will accept or reject these plans. Of course it will reject them. The question is whether the EU will engage in discussion about a future trade relationship, even knowing what these plans are.’
Brexit, devolution and local government
‘One thing is clear – the days of a neat division of powers between UK, Scottish and local government are gone. Brexit will paradoxically make these multilevel dynamics very much like those of the regionalised states in the EU27,’ the bead of COSLA office in Brussels writes.