UKH

Can't see anything other than referendum on Brexit with WTO rules and revoke Withdrawal Agreement on referendum paper.

May historically will not be judged so harshly as Boris, I reckon. She has carefully timed her resignation for June.

- her task seen as impossible.

In reply to MargieB:

I think there is plenty of harsh judgement to go around.

In reply to d_b:

I've created a new elementary Particle called a HarshOn which is currently inflating into a new universe wntirely composed of matter which can exhibit both SpinAgainst and Harsh Judgement on her.

In reply to MargieB:

I thought todays daily mail frontpage headline "End of May" was clever.

There was more written underneath - they probably ruined it with their words/way but I've conditioned myself not to read their meh if I can avoid it...

In reply to wercat:

She is out doing Boris in her final breath and making him take the historical responsibility for the extremes he set up. She is out politicking the outright politicker cause she can time when she goes and dump it in his lap. This is the last thing she can do. He'll win PM but do we really think WTO rules will win a referendum. I never knew what she thought really. She ousts Farage as a leader cause Boris will take over that support. But he won't get much support in the country as a whole. The Conservatives are really marginal now. That is a given she can't change

In reply to wercat:

Are you actually God?  Kept that quiet

In reply to MargieB:

I doubt it, the No.10 cleaner could probably out politic May. (no offence to cleaners).

Nope, it's the politcal inevitable that she probably will follow, getting her Withdrawal Agreement passed cause she adds a referendum. Ends there for May- she never defined the economic policy and Boris will do that and I can't see that winning a referendum. May Timing to leave after the vote was smart. Not much else.

I mean the Tories can't define Brexit, Can't do Green, Can't do NHS, etc but they can do "Et Tu Brute" really well.....I think we are in for a treat performance.

In reply to Andy Gamisou:

No, I just used the Large Hardon Collider.

In reply to MargieB:

Have I missed something - why on Earth, if Boris got the leadership, would he hold a referendum?

All he'd have to do to get a full-on no deal brexit is just not make any deal, and wait for the deadline.

In reply to skog: the beauty of a preordained second referendum for Boris is that he could blame someone else.

Boris doesn't do policy

In reply to skog:

Because Parliament can and would block "no deal". That's why there is talk of a general election - to alter the Westminster arithmetic. Problem being, for May's successor, that the Tories would almost certainly lose and see Brexit watered down. It's a stalemate that could only otherwise be resolved by a referendum. The difference however is that a  hard Brexiter might get to choose the question asked.

In reply to BnB:

With the UK's exit already in motion, the only ways for parliament to block no deal are to repeal article 50 (which I really can't see happening), or to agree a plan amongst themselves then get the EU to agree to it; the UK parliament can't unilaterally force the EU to agree to anything other than by repealing article 50.

It's still quite possible that the UK parliament could still pass the existing deal the EU has already agreed to (May's deal); it isn't completely impossible they could find common ground that the EU could agree to, but they've shown no sign of doing so so far, and they're almost out of time.

If Boris or another hardline brexiteer takes the leadership, unless the UK has already committed to a specific course of action, they can just run down the clock and it isn't obvious how parliament can stop them.

In reply to wercat:

Ah - I'd forgotten about that doohickey.  Although, I understand it has never been the same since Brian Cox spilt his yoghurt in it.

In reply to skog:

Parliament can press a new "Cooper-Letwin amendment" to require the government to seek a further extension to (or even revoke) A50.

In reply to BnB:

They've already rejected chances to 'lock out' no deal, and even if they change their mind, seeking further extension requires EU agreement, and the EU can't keep doing so without a clear and realistic plan in place, especially as Farage is about to get the UK to send along lots of MEPs whose sole purpose will be to make business diffcult - we're rapidly approaching the point where the EU is clearly better off without the UK.

I agree they could revoke article 50, but I'll bet you a Full English with a side of gammon that they won't (unless May suddenly has a change of heart, calls a referendum, and remain wins, anyway - a long shot, but I suppose it could happen)!

In reply to skog:

That's what I think May will do. She has made one idea quite clear, No Brexit is disastrous in her view. So if she follows the idea she doesn't want responsibility for that one she has to present her deal on June 4th with a referendum attached to it in the hope of avoiding an inevitable No Deal default position which I think even she would wish to avoid. She won't take the rap for a default no deal scenario. Boris then tries to turn the question around  to WTO rules on the ballot paper and  will probably succeed on that one -  but at least  May avoids going down in history  as responsible for that  . She is politic enough to achieve that. 

In reply to BnB:

Parliament cannot block no deal. They can only revoke art 50 which they won’t do. They could force a future Brexiteer PM to ask for another extension, assuming they are given the opportunity. At this point it is questionable as to whether the EU would accept such a request. My instinct is that the EU would never actually take the step to force the UK out.

I don’t see a way out except a general election. In which case the prospect of Farage as PM is actually far from unlikely.

In reply to Naechi:

Hardly original, people have been making variations on that pun since at least February.

"It might only be February but it's feeling a lot like the end of May." etc.

In reply to Andy Gamisou:

"spilt his yoghurt in it"  I do hope that is a euphemism!

In reply to MargieB:

Now May has resigned maybe we will have Boris get in as leader, refuses to have a confirmatory general election like May did when she replaced Cameron, Vote of no confidence in Boris, by Parliament. GE  then referendum with options........with Eu giving us an extension which they will give.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In reply to MargieB:

May didn't have a "confirmatory general election", rather a land-grab election in pursuit of a greater majority that went horribly and laughably wrong.

With the Tory party so low in the polls Boris is very unlikely to try anything similar, unless of course he can come up with a deal to join forces with Farage to secure the swivel-eyed vote, thereby effectively completing Farage's long-term mission.