Political Scrapbooking – Monday 04 and Tuesday 05 July 2016

What concerns me the most, as a historian, are the reports of UKIP party members now defecting and rejoined the Conservatives. This is not a good thing. This means those whose beliefs were considered too far right for mainstream politics, now feel mainstream politics has caught up – that they can rejoin a main political party and find their views supported. It is the most subtle and dangerous form of subversive politics. Racism and xenophobia now wears a mainstream face.

– A Cry Against Anti Intellectualismby Fern Riddell

Leadsom is having none of it. She says the situation is “nothing like” the “systemic crises” of the 2008 global financial crisis or 1992’s Black Wednesday. “I just don’t accept the premise that we have any economic issue with voting to leave…

Brexit Would Have No Impact On UK Economy, Says Andrea Leadsom by Emily Ashtpn for Buzzfeed

The research, carried out online among 18-75 year olds, finds that 89% of leave voters say that the referendum result was the right decision for the United Kingdom, while exactly the same proportion of remain voters say it was the wrong one. Similarly, 80% of leave voters say the result makes them feel more hopeful for the future, but 83% of remain voters say it makes them less hopeful.

Britain remains split as 9 in ten say they would not change their referendum vote, Ipsos MORI

But unfortunately for those who see the UK playing hardball over Article 50 the EU does have other options at its disposal if things get confrontational. The most obvious of these, says Prof Chalmers, is to use a qualified majority vote to pass laws specifically designed to punish the UK and squeeze national finances already under strain from Brexit-related uncertainty. These could, for example, include removing the City’s right to clear euros, or, say, changing terms of agricultural grants that would cut off funds to UK farmers.
Michael Gove avoids questions about invoking Article 50 Play! 00:44

In short, vicious targeted measures aimed at giving Britain the hurry-up. It would take seven to nine months to get the legislation through, but in Prof Chalmers’s view (and top eurocrats delight in saying the same) Europe can make things “pretty nasty, pretty quickly” if Britain delays unreasonably on Article 50 to try and weaken the EU’s hand.

The EU won’t let Britain dither around forever – here’s how it could force us to leave by Peter Foster for The Telegraph

4. Losing a triple-A credit rating is bad news after all

“If a downgrade happens, it is a huge blow for our economy, and will potentially set us back several years on repaying our debts, and returning our finances to health,” Leadsom wrote in 2009.

from 9 reasons you should be truly terrified of PM Andrea Leadsom in the New Statesman

With the resignations of Cameron, Boris Johnson, and now Farage, it seems few leading politicians are keen to “own” Brexit and its consequences. If those individuals wish to step back from accepting the consequences of Brexit, might that tendency spread more generally?

When will the United Kingdom invoke Article 50? by Tyler Cowen for Marginal Revolution

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