How to solve a problem like Brexit - the speech Mrs May could make

IN 2016 British voters took an historic decision; a majority of voters asked us, their Government, to execute their wish to leave the European Union.

It was unprecedented, it was a shock but it was also something this Government had simply not prepared for. For that, as your Prime Minister, I am sorry.

We didn’t recognise the anger you felt, the frustration with not getting a GP’s appointment, the inability to get on the housing ladder or your opinions on immigration.

We let those who promised you the earth and delivered little dominate the discussion while we offered nothing but scare tactics.

We called for unity to deliver Brexit but didn’t recognise the anger felt by those who wish to remain.

We didn’t listen, but we will learn.

The past two years has been riven with arguments, fall outs and scenes which have done little to re-establish trust in Parliament and elected MPs.

We now stand on the cliff edge, it is clear we will struggle to achieve a deal which will achieve what those who voted for us to leave wanted - a clean break with the European Union.

As Prime Minister I believe anything short of this would betray all those who voted in the
referendum, it would not deliver what Leave voters wanted and would never be accepted by remain supporters.

Therefore, as we asked for the people’s opinion on our relationship with the European Union we should now ask whether we should leave with no deal or remain.

I will ask Parliament to legislate for a vote this autumn; should it be approved then the choice will be simple, to leave or remain.

If your wish is to leave, your Government will exit the European Union on March 29 next year with no deal for the reasons I have stated above.

We will achieve the aims of a majority of voters who asked us to leave the European Union but we risk a period of economic uncertainty as we attempt to forge a new path in the world.

We will use the remaining months of our membership to put steps in place to ensure on day one of Britain’s Brexit, our banks will open, our supermarkets will be stocked and our flights will take off.

However, should you vote to remain, I give you my assurance it will not lead to further integration such as Schengen and there will be no debate or referendum on joining the Euro.

We will seek to reform the EU from within, proposing legislation to retain freedom of movement both in and out of our country but ensuring each of the member states can control immigration to benefit their individual economies.

We will seek to deliver better outcomes for our farmers, our fishermen and all those who find their daily work burdened by EU red tape.

We will oppose further attempts at integration with the threat of a further referendum. One which will be unambiguous, legally binding and require a super majority of 55-45 per cent.

Should it be needed, this result will be definitive and mean any further Conservative Government will not make the mistakes of the past and will deliver the clean break requested.

Let me be clear, a vote to remain would not be a continuation of the status-quo but an invitation to reform a deeply flawed institution.

Brexit has divided this nation for two years, it has put further strain on an already fractious union and has all but paralysed your Government.

The time for talking is over, now it is time to make that leap one way or another.

Britain deserves better, let us deliver together.

Brexit is a shambles but will anyone admit it?

WELL this is going well....

Halfway through the House of Commons debate on Article 50 and Labour MPs are resigning, Conservative MPs are seriously falling out with their own party's whips and there are so many amendments being suggested that we could be here until Christmas debating them.

Why? Could it be the sheer vacuous nature of the original referendum question put to voters?  It simply asked leave or remain when in truth a lot more information should have been provided in the event of a leave vote. It wasn't even made legally binding.....

Did all those wanting to leave want a 'hard Brexit'? Indeed did anyone want a 'soft Brexit' or is everyone so fed up now that all they want is a 'stiff G and T'!

As a remain voter you'd probably expect criticism of the current situation but I do so not to over-turn the democratically decided result but simply to shine a light on the mess in our Parliament.

A decision which will last for the ages has been hijacked by the alt right in this country to deliver a warts an all exit which a) we don't know if we will get from the EU and b) could do untold damage to our economy for generations to come.

Yes, the economy is doing OK at the moment thank you very much but we haven't got divorced from the EU yet. The only way to gauge the health of the economy is when we have packed up our things and left her for good.

The truth is satire and real life have blended into one almighty daily shambles where politicians of all sides have cast aside pretty much anything else for 'Brexit, Brexit, Brexit'.

Answering the Europe question was supposed to heal the Conservative party when in fact all that has taken place is some serious war wounds have been brutally picked open.

Labour is....well Labour, confused, muddled and rather like me on a treadmill - lots of noise but no real end result.

The Liberal Democrats are trying to step in as the anti Hard Brexit party and oppose the Government but when you can fit all their MPs into a booth at Wetherspoons its not easy to oppose more than 300 on the other side.

The Greens' don't want to leave at all like the SNP but any chance of upsetting the applecart is again thwarted by numbers.

The blame here should go to former Prime Minister David Cameron and his 'Deal or No Deal' referendum. Like on the Channel 4 show, voters were asked to open one of two boxes without truly knowing what was inside...

A poor piece of party management and a craven bid to win votes has reduced this process to an almighty shambles. Don't think the EU powerbrokers aren't watching and laughing.

No vote on the final deal could well cost the PM her premiership. She is walking the narrowest of tightropes; fall and the consequences are shattering, stay true and take a walk into the unknown.

We're leaving, but this divorce won't be a quickie, it will be messy and truly shambolic and to paraphrase the late Geoffrey Howe, our team captain is heading to the middle with a broken bat.

"There is no plan, they (the Government) should have had a plan," the words of Faisal Islam, Sky's political editor on June 26,2016.

How true those words still ring today....