Putting Hard Brexit back on the Agenda; Prime Minister Theresa May battles to hold party together as Brexit splits deepen, the amount of senior Conservatives who are unhappy is growing, 40 letters to the influential 1922 Committee asking for a leadership ballot, another 8 and the PM is in serious trouble, we must honour the people’s vote, end EU membership, regain our sovereignty

Dear All

In the past in back posts, I have favoured what some term as ‘hard Brexit’, I came to that view because the EU cannot be trusted, and I do not think it serves the UK national interest post Brexit that we end up by some convoluted means controlled by the EU by default.

23^rd June 2016 was pretty clear, the people of the EU wanted to end the membership of the EU, they wanted full sovereignty back, people voted for many reasons, as is the way of things, but the result showed people wanted complete detachment from this organisation.

The EU is an out of control organisation which is anti country and anti worker, the migrant crisis proved to be the tipping point, not just in the UK but elsewhere in Europe. People are rising up against the political elite which refuses to listen and operates to their own agenda.

In the UK, the people wanted that Theresa May as Prime Minister steered the Brexit Bill and take us fully out of the EU. Recently developments and resignations show that her job is now much harder. The Prime Minister is battling to hold together after a “catastrophic split” within her party. Her appeal to warring members to back her controversial Brexit blueprint will be exceptionally difficult, senior members of her own party are beyond unhappy.

What is the future of Brexit and that of the Prime Minister as it emerged that influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs has reportedly amassed 40 letters demanding a vote of no confidence in Mrs May.

The trigger point for a leadership election is 48.

I don’t want to see Theresa May go, I expect her to carry on and end the EU membership, but with so many Conservatives against her blueprint, and against her leadership, it seems that her threat to back her or “no Brexit”, might have been a mistake. As I understand it, once we put the letter of withdrawal in, the two year clock starts, I am not aware of a mechanism that allows withdrawal of the letter. If it doesn’t appear in any treaty then hard Brexiteers have recourse to law. Matters haven’t been helped by US President Donald Trump who criticised her Brexit approach.

Last night the eighth resignation over Brexit occurred, as Tory MP Robert Courts –who took over David Cameron’s old seat stepped down as a ministerial aide.

He insisted:

“I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life.”

Such is the strength of feeling, Eurosceptics have set up a “party within a party” in a bid to circumvent Tory whips and further frustrate Mrs May’s plans. What is needed is to return to the principle of the vote and honour what the people voted for. In politics, you see a lot of emotion; however, what is needed is logic. Theresa May has to provide a successful conclusion to Brexit which the people of the UK can get behind, if she doesn’t, she risks the future of the current government.

Leading Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg warned trust in Mrs May was waning, in the Conservative Party when it comes to removal of leaders, they are pretty brutal about it, when people come to see you and tell you it is time to go, it is usually your friends.

The amount of senior Conservatives ranged against the Prime Minister is a huge test for her, former Brexit Secretary David Davis, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. Mogg publicly accused the Prime Minister of being "a Remainer who remained a Remainer". This was compounded by David Davis who stated that Theresa May of being "astonishingly dishonest" for claiming there is no alternative to her proposals.

Former Brexit minister Steve Baker said she had presided over a "cloak and dagger" plot to pursue a much softer exit from the EU than he and Mr Davis thought they were working towards. He added the party faces a "catastrophic split” that “cannot be reconciled" which is code for there will have to be a change of leader. In Northern English constituencies, Conservatives have warned the Chequers plan has "gone down like a lead balloon" with voters.

I guess there must be many people who must be thinking, ‘how the hell did we all get here’!

I know I am, if there is no Brexit then that creates a major crisis which follows that the UK Government would have to dissolve and an election called. I don’t see those in power behind the scenes of the Conservative Party being enthralled by that idea. If another snap election was called it wouldn’t sit well with the public at all given we had one in 2017.

The damage post Chequers plan can be shown in a poll Labour four points ahead of the Conservatives Tories, while support for Ukip rose by five points. There is also a possible return of Nigel Farage which should increase that support.

The EU is attempting to sabotage the democratic vote of the people of the UK, they want to keep control of the UK by hook or by crook, that cannot be allowed to happen. The fight for Brexit has restarted again, a series of amendments to the Customs Bill has been tabled by members of the European Research Group (ERG). The intent is to scupper Mrs May’s plans for a "UK-EU free trade area" based on a "common rule book".

The Prime Minister could face a further challenge on Tuesday, from pro-EU Conservatives seeking to amend the Trade Bill to keep the UK in a customs union with the EU. The EU had offered two options: either the UK remain in the customs union and accept continued freedom of movement, or Northern Ireland would effectively be "carved out" from the UK. Neither of these was acceptable.

The EU is attempting to blackmail the people of the UK.

Theresa May said:

"Faced with that we had an option. We could go for no deal, no deal is still there, it is still possible, but I think the best thing for the UK is to have deal that sets a good relationship with our trading partners in the future. So if we were going to find something that was in Britain's interest, that delivered on the referendum and that was negotiable, we had to make what is a compromise but is a positive in terms of the benefits it gives us."

There is a third option…… hard Brexit which is what I said we should have done previously, when you know that you deal with people with no goodwill, you act accordingly.

Finally, the history of the United Kingdom is well known, we aren't going to allow ourselves to be blackmailed by the un-elected EU minions, and certainly not by despots and drunks.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University