Post by NightjarPost by YellowWhat will happen? Stay in the EU or leave without a deal?
The first isn't necessarily an option. It's not clear that Article 50
permits withdrawal of a notification made under it. The Scots are
trying to clarify that, but whether the Court will entertain such a
purely hypothetical case remains to be seen. Courts generally don't.
They're there to decide actual cases with actual facts.
The fact that Article 50 is silent on the matter manes that it would be
up to the EU to decide whether or not to accept an application to
withdraw the notification
Again, not necessarily. The scenario isn't contemplated in the Treaty,
so there is no mechanism to deal with it, which means that it may not be
permissible.
Anyway, why should the EU be able to decide whether or not to accept it?
What gives it any authority *not* to accept it? It didn't have any
authority to reject our original Article 50 notification, it just had to
accept it. So why should it be able to choose whether it accepts its
withdrawal?
Post by NightjarAs they don't really want us to leave, thy
would probably accept. That might well result in the matter being going
to the ECJ, but not until after the fact.
Another option, not discussed but definitely in Article 50, would be to
apply to the EU to extend the two year period. That would require a
unanimous vote by the other member states, but is not impossible.
Of course, but that would only be to conclude our leaving agreement, not
re-negotiate one that had been settled and agreed between the parties.
Post by NightjarThe present government won't propose it anyway. Nor will the Labour
Party, as far as their policy can be ascertained. They both 'respect
the decision of the people' in the referendum, you see, and are scared
stiff of any Leaver backlash alleging, quite correctly, that it would
be a betrayal of democracy...
Democracy is not about taking one vote and forever sticking by it. If
that were true, we would never change governments. Democracy is about
doing what the people want and the indication now is that staying is
more popular than leaving.
Some long-reaching decisions have to be taken that can't be altered
willy-nilly or on a whim. We don't elect a government for ever, but for
a (now) set period of 5 years, during which time we all agree that we
can't change what we decided. We know the rules, and we vote accordingly.
The rules for the referendum were also known before we voted. We knew
it was a big decision, one that will affect us, our families and our
children for decades to come, and we were told it was a once in a
generation choice we had to make. It's totally unreasonable that those
rules should now be thrown in the bin in even less time than we can
change the government.
That is exercising democracy, not denying it.