If House of Lords try to stop Brexit they should be banished once and for all
If the referendum was held again today my guess is that even more people would vote Leave
SO now we are on our way. We can really believe the process of leaving the EU has begun. It’s going to happen.
Wednesday’s 384-vote majority for the Bill that will allow the negotiations for leaving to begin was one of the largest on record.
It could have been even larger if some of those who voted against had not ignored their constituents.
My guess is that if the referendum were held again today, the majority for leaving would be even greater than it was in June last year.
Remoaners complain about “propaganda” by the Leave campaign.
But the endless barrage of blood- curdling official warnings from the Bank of England, the IMF, the Treasury and the OECD must have had considerable impact and frightened some people off who really wanted to vote leave.
Today, people can see that at least in the short run these forecasts were wrong and they were also politically motivated.
The British people have had more than 40 years of the European Union in which to make up their own minds.
During that time Europe has changed out of all recognition. That is clearly demonstrated in the repeated changes of name, from the European Economic Community (EEC) which we thought we were joining, to the European Community (EC) and then to today’s proto-federalist European Union (EU).
All this was done by treaties on which the public had no say. A referendum in this country was long overdue, because Europe had changed.
After the result of the referendum was clear, the politicians should have come together and supported the Government in its negotiating strategy.
Those who carp and criticise are undermining the national interest and making it easier for those in Brussels with whom we have to negotiate.
There are still too many politicians in the Commons and the Lords who pay lip service to the result of the referendum, claiming they respect it but in reality never miss an opportunity to obstruct the process of leaving.
They pounce on and magnify every minor issue which might be a problem.
Some more blatantly say the referendum was consultative but not binding, even though the Prime Minister and the official leaflet sent to every house said the people’s vote would be final.
Others say that the process of leaving is too complicated to be practical.
That was the line of Sir Ivan Rogers, our gloom-laden former man in Brussels who felt everything would take decades, cost billions and was hideously too complex even to explain to Parliament.
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He seemed to care and know more about the objectives of the EU in negotiations than our own goals.
Ministers prefer civil servants who bring them solutions as well as problems, so one can see why ministers did not mind Sir Ivan resigning.
Next week the Commons will start the Committee stage of the Government’s Bill to start the exit process.
The danger is not so much that the Government will be defeated, but that some minor, apparently innocent-sounding amendments might be carried — this would delay the completion of the parliamentary proceedings and thus scupper Theresa May’s objective of triggering Article 50 and beginning the exit process by the end of March.
The threat to the Government’s timetable is potentially greater in the unelected House of Lords.
The Government does not have a majority, there is a large block of crossbench non-party peers and more than 100 Euro-enthusiastic Liberal Democrats.
Any amendments carried in the Commons will also have to be considered at length in the Lords.
And the Lords may decide to add their own amendments, which then have to be considered by the Commons, then maybe come back again to the Lords for further consideration, and so on.
In the end the Lords normally defer to the Commons after asking it to think again, maybe once, maybe twice or more . . . the scope for mischief is there.
If the Lords and the Commons in league with each other were to obstruct and thus sabotage the Government’s timetable, it is obvious what the PM should do.
She should immediately call a General Election in which she makes it clear first that we are definitely leaving the European Union and second that the House of Lords would be abolished.
I would be sorry to see it go. In many ways it does a fine job. But if it over-reaches itself, its days will deservedly be numbered.
LABOUR WILL BACK PLAN THAT WORKS FOR ALL
By BARONESS SMITH OF BASILDON
PARLIAMENT has now kick-started the process of Brexit by endorsing last year’s EU referendum and respecting the will of the British people.
The Article 50 Bill isn’t a referendum re-run. It’s about starting the negotiations.
Remainers and leavers must now work to get the best possible deal for our country.
In doing this, Labour will be working to ensure we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
We still want protections from dodgy companies selling faulty goods and rules to stop rip-off roaming charges on our mobile phones.
We still want our food, medicines and air quality to be safe, and for working people to be treated fairly.
And we don’t want to see prices shoot up because British businesses have to pay import and export tariffs.
We can achieve all this. But the Prime Minister, having dithered for months, must now explain her plan and start bringing the country together.
The Bill now in the Commons will come to the Lords shortly.
Labour peers aren’t going to block or delay the start of Brexit but nor will we give Theresa May a free hand.
As we get on with leaving the EU, the debate should be about how to do so in the interests of all Britons.
That’s what Labour will focus on – a Brexit that works for Britain.