Brexit and bad weather puts UK farmers at risk of suicide, say charities
OK, Brexit is first on the list for the Gruan of course:
Brexit had created a “ticking timebomb” in the farming community.[A spokesperson] said: “These are unprecedented times. The farming community is facing a perfect storm, and greater emotional support is going to be needed. Without a Brexit deal, sheep producers have no idea whether they will be able to export this season’s lambs beyond 29 March....with the uncertainty over Brexit we really do fear for the mental state of some of our farmers.
but the article is more modulated as well:
...farmers were still struggling with the impact of the “beast from the east” snowstorms last year and the summer drought....“Whichever way Brexit goes, farmers are facing a £25-30 a head loss on this year’s lambs. It is going to be absolutely dire"...livestock farmers, in particular, were struggling to cope with winter feed bills and the additional cost of housing livestock.
Deepening uncertainty is the main goal of the Remainers, now, of course. The egregious G Miller,says M d'Ancona the Guardian:
... is now, I gather, seeking to reframe the way in which Westminster and Brussels contemplate the possibility of its extension. Armed with a legal opinion written by Kieron Beal QC and three other senior lawyers, the co-founder of the pro-remain campaign Lead Not Leave will argue that the EU council of ministers could itself, unilaterally, extend the article 50 deadline.
Apparently:
the EU has a legal duty to all its member states to ensure that any such withdrawal is not damaging to what article 13(1) of the treaty on European Union calls the “consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions”, or to the principle spelled out in article 13(2): “Pursuant to the principle of sincere cooperation the EU and the member states shall, in full mutual respect, assist each other in carrying out the tasks which flow from the treaties.”...she hopes to remind the EU that the legal, practical and moral obligation to prevent a catastrophic no-deal outcome is not confined to Westminster.
That might not work, of course, but there is Plan B (C?D?E?)
it is also feasible that – looking over the cliff edge – parliament will decide only to do so on the basis of the proposal put forward by the Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson: namely that the Commons backs the agreement, but then puts it to a public vote...It is an organic idea, rather than a static mechanism, and one that will only gain traction as the last resort of the truly patriotic [sic] – the choice of political maturity over populist madness [ie class distinction?].
D'Ancona hopes the two issues will come together -- so the EC agrees to an extension only if there is a promise of another referendum?
Any prolongation that does not allow time for serious debate from first principles or is not long enough for a public vote – nine months at a minimum – will be no more than a shabby exercise in political theatre.
As usual, I am amazed at what on earth drives these people to such lengths. What better would indicate the worst fears of the EU as Hotel California and show the limits of Parliamentary sovereignty? Fuck principles --let's do realpolitik
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