Willow904 wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... gle-market
There's no mandate for either option, this is May's essential problem. People weren't asked if they wanted to curb immigration or if they want to remain in the single market. A vote to leave the EU gives us no insight into people's thoughts on these issues. There is far too much being tied to the EU vote which, although not unreasonable inferences are just that - inferences. Guesswork doesn't provide a sound basis for a mandate for such a huge decision. We need an election or further referendums in order to provide the democratic mandate on which to proceed. That's not to say we'll get one, but May does need to be challenged on the democratic basis for her decisions at every step.A number of senior figures, including the chancellor, Philip Hammond, according to the Sunday Times, are thought to believe that all options including staying part of the economic area should remain on the table.
But many Brexit campaigners, including cabinet members David Davis and Liam Fox who will lead negotiations, are thought to believe Britain may have to quit the single market in order to impose adequate border controls.
It is an absolute mess isn't it and it is astounding that the Government does not seem to have understood this as a scenario from when the referendum was announced, or at least during the campaign when it became apparent of the different strands of the 'Exit' campaign
The 'Remain' campaign always was being sold on there being a different meaning to a 'Corbyn Remain' when compared to a 'Cameron Remain' which was perfectly acceptable to me. In a 'Remain' scenario these differences would have caused some later debate and tension but were manageable as it would not need a definitive answer in reality
What was not explored enough was whether a 'Leave' vote was for a 'Johnson Leave' or a 'Farage Leave' though and as the Exit requires a definitive answer to that things are truly in a mess because no-one knows - and there is no mechanism to answer it. The differences between the different wings of the Leave campaign were talked about but in hindsight the emphasis on needing clarity was hidden away behind other things - Project Fear and Immigration being two. The MSM played their part in this as well - never seriously demanding an answer from the Exiteers
It is actually a perfectly simple scenario to have envisaged though and the fact the Tory Governmental Incompetents never worked out how to deal with it is one of their big failures in this whole sorry story