24th May 2019 https://nfind.uk/brexit_cliff_edge/index.php/newsletter=71 brexit_cliff_edge

Economic Impact

The Independent The announcement that British Steel is to enter insolvency is the latest example of how uncertainty over Brexit is threatening livelihoods across the country. This does not just affect the 5000 workers at Scunthorpe but also a support staff of 20000 across the whole supply chain. Sadly many other firms face the same danger because of Brexit and the loss of European customers who are uncertain about future trading relations. One recent estimate put the economic damage Brexit has already inflicted on the UK at 600m a week. Try sticking that on the side of a bus. Meanwhile leading business groups including the British Chambers of Commerce expect the economy to remain weak throughout this year as investment stutters while major manufacturers from Airbus to BMW warn that a nodeal scenario could well force them to move operations and jobs abroad. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/british-steel-brexit-jobs-europe-employment-nationalisation-bailout-a8925706.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Economist However the Brexit Party fares at the ballot box it has won the battle for clicks. It has spent no more than most of its rivals on Facebook ads in the past month. But it has got dramatically better results. The partys Facebook pages have attracted 2.2m likes shares and comments more than all the other parties combined and some 30 times more than Change uk a proRemain upstart which outspent it. https://www.economist.com/britain/2019/05/25/the-brexit-party-wins-the-battle-for-facebook-clicks 25th May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Sky News Whoever takes over from blearyeyed Theresa May as prime minister tear today gone tomorrow will face the same Brexit crisis that has brought about her downfall. The new prime ministers first problem will be that the parliamentary arithmetic wont have changed since Theresa Mays humiliating Commons defeats earlier this year. A Brexiteer prime minister could still be thwarted by a proRemain House of Commons. The next problem is Brussels. https://news.sky.com/story/sort-brexit-and-win-an-election-five-things-on-the-next-pms-to-do-list-11727360 24th May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Daily Mail Nigel Farage is heading for a landslide victory in the European Parliament elections and Boris Johnson has raced into a big early lead in the battle to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. They are the main findings of an opinion survey which concluded at midnight on Wednesday after it became clear that Mrs May was on the brink of resigning. The Survation poll for the Daily Mail shows Mr Farages Brexit Party well ahead in the European elections on 31 per cent trailed by Labour on 23 the Conservatives on 14 and the Lib Dems on 12. Nearly seven out of ten Tory voters said the reason they did not intend to vote for Mrs May yesterday was because of her failure to deliver Brexit. Calls for her to step down were backed by 57 per cent of Conservatives with 25 per cent against. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7064837/Farage-course-thrash-Tories-Euro-Election-polls-close.html 24th May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph With the public having voted in the European Parliament elections on Thursday the latest polls show that Nigel Farages Brexit Party was likely to gain the most votes in the UK. Although the vote took place in the UK on Thursday the results are not expected until Sunday evening due to most other EU member states casting their votes that day. The Conservatives are on course for their lowest ever share of the vote in a nationwide ballot and could even slip into fifth place behind the Greens. Establishment parties are expected to suffer across the EU both at the hands of the populistRight as well as resurgent liberal parties. The result is likely to be a more fragmented European Parliament https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/23/european-elections-brexit-party-polls-latest-2019/ 24th May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Belfast Telegraph Theresa May has been urged by Cabinet colleagues to scrap her heavily criticised Brexit legislation as speculation mounted about her future. The Prime Minister was involved in a frank discussion with Home Secretary Sajid Javid while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt made clear he did not believe her Withdrawal Agreement Bill WAB could get through the Commons. The Prime Minister will discuss her leadership in a meeting on Friday with backbench leader Sir Graham Brady amid speculation she could set out the timetable for her exit from Number 10. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/cabinet-ministers-urge-may-to-ditch-her-brexit-plan-as-she-clings-on-to-power-38142286.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian The European commission has described a claim made by the Conservative leadership hopeful Dominic Raab about a key EU officials views on Brexit as fake fraudulent and pure disinformation after it was spread in an election campaign video. Raab who resigned as Brexit secretary last year over the deal struck with the EU claimed in November that the commissions secretary general Martin Selmayr had boasted that losing Northern Ireland was the price the UK would pay for Brexit. The quote attributed by Raab to Selmayr has been used in a twominute video posted on a Twitter account called NI in Union urging voters in Northern Ireland to support unionist parties in the European elections. The video features images of bombings and says Northern Ireland has been threatened before and that voters should stand up and make their voice heard. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/brussels-rejects-fraudulent-raab-claim-used-in-election-video 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Sun Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid told Theresa May her Brexit offer was flawed but neither told her to resign in visit to No10. Theresa May is today expected to lay out a timetable to step down within weeks. In a lastditch bid to buy more time for her Brexit deal the PM is set to refuse spiralling Brexiteer demands to quit immediately despite losing much of her Cabinets support allies say. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/9142375/theresa-may-timetable-resign-in-weeks/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian In the likely event of a Conservative wipeout and Brexit party triumph expect to hear Tory calls for a leader to replace May who can tack to the right and mop up the millions of Brexit party votes. Arguably something similar happened in 2015 when David Cameron made his fateful referendum promise. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/european-election-predictions-uk-parties-brexit-labour-conservatives 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Change UK has run a lastminute Facebook advertising campaign to try to shore up its support amid dismal poll ratings for the European elections but most other parties have mostly avoided large spending on online campaigning. The upstart proEU political party formerly known as the Independent Group spent 87000 on Facebook adverts in the seven days up to Wednesday becoming the biggest single political advertiser on the social networking site following predictions it could fail to elect a single MEP and faced with the potential resignation of the partys interim leader Heidi Allen. Not all Change UKs adverts have hit the spot. In one example highlighted by iNews the party spent at least 1300 promoting Facebook adverts saying it was campaigning to remain in the UK. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/change-uk-facebook-online-adverts-spending-eu-elections 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Theresa May has indicated she is willing to change her new Brexit deal in order to stay in Number 10 despite facing growing calls to quit from her MPs. The Prime Ministers official spokesman has claimed she is listening to colleagues and will be holding on to push her Brexit deal through https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/23/brexit-news-european-elections-theresa-may-resigns-polls-latest/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Theresa May must finally confront her own destiny on Friday after Jeremy Hunt withdrew his support for her lastchance Brexit bill. In a pivotal meeting on Thursday the Foreign Secretary made it clear to the Prime Minister she must abandon the deeply unpopular plan on which her hopes of survival rested. Mrs May had agreed to announce the timetable of her departure after a vote on the Brexit divorce bill next month but after she cancelled that vote her reason for remaining as Tory leader also fell away. It leaves the Prime Minister cornered as she prepares to meet Sir Graham Brady her most senior backbencher on Friday morning to discuss her future. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/23/theresa-mays-day-destiny-arrives-ministers-withdraw-support/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Politico.eu It is widely accepted that only a referendum on Brexit could permit the government to abandon the U.K.s departure from the EU the European election wont change that. In truth both sides will likely take the result as vindication of their stance. Brexiteers will argue it backs a swift exit while Remainers will say only a peoples vote can end the political impasse. https://www.politico.eu/article/why-the-uk-european-election-is-not-proxy-brexit-referendum-nigel-farage/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Irish Times The mood in Dublin on Brexit has darkened in recent weeks with some political figures now wondering if the UK crashing out of the European Union in October without a deal can be avoided senior sources say. After warnings by Tnaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney at Cabinet this week that a nodeal Brexit was more likely than ever the Taoiseach insisted that he believed an orderly negotiated Brexit was still the most likely outcome. The Governments official spokesman said that a British exit on the basis of the withdrawal agreement was still Dublins centralcase scenario. However senior figures in Dublin say privately that the momentum in London appears to be heading for a nodeal outcome. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/senior-government-figures-fear-uk-is-inching-towards-no-deal-brexit-1.3901165 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent Boris Johnson could be summoned to court to face accusations of misconduct in public office over his infamous pledge to claw back 350m a week from Brussels for the NHS. Lawyers accused the former foreign secretary of lying to voters during the 2016 referendum campaign as part of efforts to launch a private prosecution by the Brexit Justice campaign. Mr Johnson who is a frontrunner to succeed Theresa May has already been rapped by the statistics watchdog for using the figure which was splashed across the side of a Vote Leave campaign bus. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-boris-johnson-court-nhs-vote-leave-justice-westminster-a8927211.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian The former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith has stepped up the pressure on Theresa May by urging her cabinet to resign en masse if the revised EU withdrawal bill is published on Friday. Downing Street is still insisting May plans to publish the bill despite Andrea Leadsoms resignation as leader of the House of Commons and speculation that the prime minister will have to set a date for her departure on Friday. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/duncan-smith-calls-for-mays-cabinet-to-quit-if-brexit-bill-published 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian JeanClaude Juncker has suggested that the UK is drifting towards another Brexit extension in October as he criticised MPs for prioritising the prime ministers removal over finding agreement on a Brexit deal. With May appearing on the brink of resignation the European commission president spoke of his admiration for her resilience and his disdain for the attempts to remove her. What I dont like in the British debate is it seems more important to replace the prime minister than to find an agreement among themselves Juncker said in an interview with CNN. This is a woman who knows how to do things but she is unable to succeed in doing things. I like her very much she is a tough person. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/23/jean-claude-juncker-criticises-mps-prioritising-theresa-mays-removal-over-brexit 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Express.co.uk Conservative MP Dominic Grieve has sensationally suggested he could quit his party potentially bringing down the Government in order to stop a no deal Brexit. The senior backbencher was speaking on the ITV Peston politics show. Theresa May is under intense pressure to resign as Prime Minister and could be replaced by an advocate of a no deal EU exit. Yesterday Commons leader Andrea Leadsom resigned from the Cabinet saying she no longer trusts the Government to implement Brexit. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1130865/Brexit-news-no-deal-EU-exit-Dominic-Grieve-Boris-Johnson-Dominic-Raab-ITV-Peston 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent One of Mays finest attributes has been the heartening way that on several occasions shes decided to go over the heads of the MPs who have rejected her so she can appeal to the public and be rejected by them as well. The most impressive attempt at this was when she cleverly tried to win people round by going on television and calling everyone an arsehole. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-brexit-party-european-elections-eu-vote-parliament-a8927576.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent Voter registration Brexit Extinction Rebellion and racial injustice were attempting to reshape a society in our image. As we begin to reflect on a remarkable European elections campaign its also worth looking at political grandees who have been brilliantly speaking out on behalf of young people. Ive seen both former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine and former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett speak in public and theyre always most passionate about the impact Brexit will have on the young. There is a genuine desire across generations to create a society in a modern age which reflects some of those old fashioned values. New rules to curtail the influence of money in politics electoral reform and a covenant for the internet. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/european-elections-2019-brexit-politics-millennials-gen-z-farage-corbyn-a8926801.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Politics.co.uk The truth about Brexit the plain and simple truth of it which noone can make go away is that it can only be done to a long timetable and with a lot of pain. It is fiendishly complicated. It requires the full capacity of the British political system for about five to seven years. The sacrifices it demands would probably never be accepted by parliament. And if you managed to get over all those obstacles your only accomplishment would be to make the country poorer and weaker than it was before. A true Brexiter someone who was really committed to doing this would not be lying and misleading like May or out on the street promoting their own pure ideological certainty like Nigel Farage. They would be honest about the timeframe and the trade offs. http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2019/05/23/this-prime-minister-was-destroyed-by-brexit-and-the-next-one 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Axios U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May appears finally to have reached the end of the road. A plan to resuscitate her Brexit deal was abandoned on Thursday. The London Times reports that shell announce a timetable for her departure tomorrow morning. The bottom line May came into office three years ago with a singular mission to deliver Brexit. Anyone would have struggled to do so. She quite clearly failed. May labored desperately to stitch together a party that nonetheless continued to fray. British politics are more polarized and gridlocked than at any time in recent memory https://www.axios.com/theresa-may-resign-prime-minister-brexit-dc2de28e-9f2f-4597-8ce0-69cb08688af2.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

ITV News Put 10 June in your diary. Because that is when the contest to elect a new Tory leader and therefore a new prime minister will begin I am told. Why am I confident of that Well it is the last possible date for the contest that the shop stewards for Tory MPs the executive for the 1922 committee deem acceptable. And perhaps more importantly it is the date that the PM has signalled to her closest allies that she can tolerate. https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-23/tory-leadership-contest-to-start-10-june-i-am-told-writes-robert-peston/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent Jeremy Hunt has broken ranks by becoming the first cabinet member urging Theresa May to abandon her Brexit bill because it is clear it wouldnt pass. In a facetoface meeting the foreign secretary told the prime minister it was too much to ask Tory MPs to vote for the doomed legislation The Independent has learned. It is understood that Mr Hunt did not ask Ms May to quit ahead of a showdown meeting on Friday when Tory MPs will demand a rapid timetable for her to go. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-bill-theresa-may-jeremy-hunt-deal-eu-leave-a8927676.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Evening Standard Theresa May caved in to her Cabinet today by dramatically halting her Brexit withdrawal Bill in a move that heightened expectations she will resign as Tory leader tomorrow. An isolated Prime Minister began the day by rebuffing members of her own Cabinet ... https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-may-caves-in-and-halts-vote-on-new-brexit-deal-as-her-leadership-enters-death-spiral-a4149661.html 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Politico Theresa Mays government pulled a planned vote on her Brexit deal scheduled for the first week of June. Mark Spencer a government whip told the House of Commons that the government still planned to publish the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week commencing June 3 but that a second reading at which MPs would have the opportunity to vote could not be confirmed. https://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-mays-government-pulls-june-brexit-vote/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

ITV News Boris manoeuvres with his backbench colleagues have made it impossible for the PM to have her Brexit plan approved were she to put her Withdrawal Agreement Bill to a vote as she still promises to do because he has persuaded them there is an escape from the Brexit deadlock that is destroying their party but not while she is in 10 Downing Street. It has been put to me as uncontroversial and incontrovertible truth by senior members of the Cabinet whose Brexit credentials are at best moot. What Boris did was convince my colleagues that if he were PM he could persuade Brussels to ditch the hated backstop said one. Or rather that it is worth a go. And if he fails then it is full steam ahead to a nodeal Brexit though with proper preparation. https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-23/how-boris-johnson-sealed-theresa-mays-doom-and-is-the-agent-of-her-downfall/ 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

Daily Mirror A website apparently owned by Nigel Farage has started publishing articles attacking the Brexit Party leader. Recent posts on the websites blog include two videos from Channel 4 News probing his finances. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farages-official-website-publishing-16189715 23rd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Frances president Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to avoid Brexit polluting the EU after 31 October and that European leaders need to know when the UKs prolonged departure will come to an end. In April Macron stood alone at a meeting of the EU27 in championing a short Brexit extension in opposition to those willing to give the UK until next year to complete its withdrawal. The October deadline for the British government to have ratified the withdrawal agreement or face a nodeal exit was a compromise position brokered with the German chancellor Angela Merkel. Macron in a sign of the frustration in Brussels at the risk posed to its future agenda by the UKs continued membership told the Belgian newspaper Le Soir the EU needed a clear end date to the continuing saga. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/22/macron-wants-to-avoid-brexit-polluting-eu-after-31-october 22nd May 2019

Political Shenanigans

BBC Fastforward almost three years and here we are its European Parliament elections time and although Eurosceptic parties are expected to make a strong showing at the polls theres barely a peep amongst them UK parties remaining the exception about leaving the EU. Why have European voters gone off the idea In part this is down to a growing awareness that the world out there is downright unpredictable with President Trump in the White House Russian President Putin at large around the European corner looming trade wars the environment in a mess and the threat of mass migration to this continent from poorer parts of the globe. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48364626 22nd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Spectator Corbyn has taken a senseless political risk by treating his voters as fools. The British Election Study estimated that two thirds of Labour voters went with Remain in the 2016 referendum. Now YouGov estimates that 88 per cent back Remain. Any party that goes with the 12 per cent rather than the 88 per cent will collapse. It is not a party for the many but for the few. The far left has been so busy fighting the hated centrists that it has forgotten to fight the right and far right. Existing and former Labour supporters have not been so negligent. They need only look at the tribunes of Brexit at Gerard Batten Nigel Farage Boris Johnson Jacob ReesMogg and Dominic Raab to know that they must be opposed. There is an almost primitive fear at work. If a film company had searched for characters guaranteed to set the tomtoms of liberal England beating out a warning it could not have found better candidates than these gentlemen. https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/05/corbyn-isnt-working-and-labour-is-being-picked-apart-by-its-new-enemies/ 25th May 2019

Political Setbacks

Huffington Post UK ProRemain Labour activists have launched a drive to push the partys leadership into an antiBrexit position. In the wake of European elections forecast to be a disaster for Jeremy Corbyn leftwing campaigners have published a motion calling for the party to adopt a radical remain and reform agenda at the partys conference in Brighton in September. It demands the party defends free movement and takes the position that Brexit is a rightwing project which is poisoning politics. Labours current policy is to secure a Brexit deal which includes a customs union and a strong single market deal and if the UK were facing a hard Brexit or a nodeal then to push for a second vote. The new motion is being pushed to local Constituency Labour Parties CLPs from next week. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/pro-remain-labour-activists-party-conference_uk_5ce6e8bee4b0a2f9f28bb0d6 24th May 2019

Political Setbacks

Daily Mail Mrs May will begin the day with a meeting with the Tories backbench shop steward Sir Graham Brady to discuss the exact timetable for her departure. She is then expected to address the nation from Downing Street to explain why she is leaving the job I love before she has realised her ambition of leading Britain out of the European Union Mrs May is expected to try to delay the start of the Tory leadership race until the week beginning June 10 to allow her to host Donald Trumps state visit without the indignity of her MPs voting on her successor at the same time. But she will stay on as Prime Minister while the Tory leadership contest takes place allowing a smooth transition to a new leader before the summer recess. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7064685/Theresa-address-nation-TODAY-pledge-Britain-new-PM-summer.html 24th May 2019

Political Setbacks

BBC Unless something extremely strange happens in the next couple of days it is now really nearly over. Several cabinet ministers have told me they expect Theresa May to announce her departure from Downing Street on Friday. A senior minister said Shes going to go if its to be done its best to be done quickly. Another said it would be unforgivable for her to try to stay on now. One of those who has been most loyal to her said It might be tomorrow or Saturday but it cant be past Sunday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48391351 24th May 2019

Political Setbacks

Byline Times Chani Klapka one of the 3.1 million EU citizens resident in the UK and eligible to vote in the Euro Elections today describes her Kafkaesque experience. I am a German citizen and a UK resident since 2014. I have lived in Luton for 4 years. like thousands I have been denied a ballot at the polling station today on the grounds that I have not filled in a certain form that states my intent to vote in the EU elections in the UK. Others have been told their forms have not been processed despite them provably having been filed well before the required deadline. This form is required to receive a ballot at a polling station but the council is NOT required to provide it nor make residents aware of it. This we have only been told after calling the local electoral office at Luton Borough Council. At that point we were only given an email address to complain. At no point since well before the election have I been made aware of the requirement for this form. The EU Parliament website states that this form should be provided by the local council. https://bylinetimes.com/2019/05/23/denied-my-vote-one-of-the-three-million-eu-citizens-resident-the-uk/ 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Scotsman Nicola Sturgeon has urged EU citizens to insist on their right to vote following reports that hundreds have been turned away from polling stations because of confusion over additional requirements to register for European elections. Campaigners representing European nationals said they had received hundreds of complaints of people being denied a vote even though they are on the electoral roll. To be able to vote EU citizens had to complete the EC6 or UC1 forms to declare they would not cast a second ballot in their home country and submit them to their local council by 7 May. https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/brexit-democratic-disaster-as-hundreds-of-eu-nationals-denied-a-vote-1-4933514 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Channel 4 News Voters in the UK have been going to the polls in the European parliamentary elections. Well some of them have. Since the polls opened dozens of frustrated EU citizens living in the UK have been taking to Twitter to complain that they were being turned away from polling stations because they hadnt completed the correct paperwork. The Electoral Commission has blamed the situation on the very short notice given for the European elections which werent supposed to happen because of Brexit. https://www.channel4.com/news/eu-citizens-complain-of-being-denied-right-to-vote-in-uk-european-elections 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian The government is facing calls to launch an urgent investigation into the treatment of EU citizens in the European elections after many people reported being denied their democratic right to vote. Voters across the country told of their devastation at finding their names crossed off the register due to clerical errors by local councils. Experts said the situation was a scandal we knew was coming and that the government may have a case to answer in court. The affected voters said they felt they were being silenced as this was the only election they had a right to participate in being ineligible to vote in the referendum or general elections. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/eu-citizens-denied-vote-european-election-polling-booths-admin-errors 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian At least three local councils across England and Wales have admitted that they ran out of time to print and send postal ballots for the European elections to some overseas voters leaving them effectively disenfranchised. Three voters contacted the Guardian with details of papers that arrived so late it was impossible to get their vote back to the UK in time some landing only on polling day. There had already been complaints ahead of the election about missing or late ballots. Local councils told these voters that arrangements were affected by an extremely compressed schedule. The government had hoped to avoid holding the elections by getting a Brexit deal through parliament. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/three-councils-fail-to-send-out-postal-ballots-in-time-for-eu-elections 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Sun https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9137978/british-expats-and-eu-citizens-stopped-from-voting-in-euro-elections-thanks-to-poll-blunders/ 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/23/2m-eu-citizens-ex-pats-overseas-could-have-denied-vote-euro/ 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/european-elections-latest-eu-citizens-deny-vote-turned-away-why-what-do-a8927796.html 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/6c9e679e-7d7c-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7062171/DeniedMyVote-EU-election-day-chaos-British-expats-vote.html 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Politics Home https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/politics/news/104109/labour-slams-government-european-elections-%E2%80%98chaos%E2%80%99-eu-citizens-turned 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/european-elections-eu-citizens-polling-card-station-vote-a8927016.html 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/european-elections-eu-citizens-report-being-barred-from-polling-stations-2019-5 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/23/uk/eu-elections-denied-my-vote-uk-gbr-intl/index.html 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Independent A barrister who specialises in EU law claimed there were multiple breaches of EU treaties including Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which states that EU nationals have the right to voteunder the same conditions as nationals of that state of residence. Anneli Howard told The Guardian If EU citizens are being asked to fill out additional forms that UK nationals are not thats discrimination. While Ms Howard said she did not think it was likely any judge would declare council clerical errors had made the election unsafe she added that the treaty had direct effect and meant EU citizens could go straight to court. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/european-elections-vote-eu-citizens-problems-court-action-a8928071.html 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian Is this party really in a death spiral or will it always right itself Conservatism as the British default is so deepdyed in the national psyche its hard to think this is the end. This generation of Conservatives has brought us so low in this decade in austerity in stagnant incomes in devastated public services catastrophic productivity lost social security and lost respect abroad. In its visionless hopelessness the party may indeed have eaten itself. If so it may be replaced on the right by antiestablishment Faragism with even more sinister aims in power. Or else the demise of this great pillar of reaction could open doors to a chance of something better. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/23/end-tories-brexit-election-day-voters-farage 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian Boris Johnson lied and engaged in criminal conduct when he repeatedly claimed during the 2016 EU referendum that the UK sent 350m a week to Brussels lawyers for a crowdfunded private prosecution of the MP have told a court. A legal team assembled by Marcus Ball a 29yearold businessman who has accused the former foreign secretary of misconduct in public office and raised more than 200000 to finance the prosecution laid out their case in front of a judge who will rule next Wednesday on whether Johnson should appear in court. The case concerned the now infamous claim by Johnson about the 350m Lewis Power QC told Westminster magistrates court and was not about preventing or delaying Brexit. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/boris-johnson-lied-during-eu-referendum-campaign-court-told 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Byline Times An investigation by antiracism activists in Ireland has revealed that the Muintir na hireann People of Ireland website and Facebook community sporting over 10000 followers is the work of Jack Sen a notorious white nationalist who most recently came to prominence in the Channel 4 documentary Sleeping With The Far Right. The campaign is not associated with the Irish populist party of the same name that existed during the 1990s. Address details Google Analytics codes and other details on the site all point to Jack Seans home in Southport Merseyside as featured in the Channel 4 documentary. Image folders on the site also feature pictures of Sen with other white nationalists. When reached for comment Sen claimed that his involvement extended only to providing hosting for the site. https://bylinetimes.com/2019/05/23/growing-irexit-campaign-has-links-to-notorious-british-ethno-nationalist/ 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Huffington Post UK The 29yearold Remain campaigner had set up a desk outside the event with a sign that read A nodeal Brexit would be a disaster for the UK. Change my mind. As McCrae repeatedly shouts fucking traitor another man throws water from a bottle over Oluwole. McCrae is later seen in the video shaking hands with the man. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/niall-mccrae-femi-oluwole_uk_5ce64fd4e4b0547bd1326d94 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Sun Nigel Farage predicted to take more than a third of the Euro poll votes A survey carried out on the eve of yesterdays vote put the fledging party on a whopping 31 per cent eight points clear of the nearest challenger Labour on 23 per cent. The ... https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9143387/brexit-party-victory-tories-labour-election-humiliation/ 23rd May 2019

Political Setbacks

Yahoo News A former economic adviser to Jeremy Corbyn has launched an extraordinary personal attack on the Labour leader calling him a proBrexit buffoon who was clueless about economics. Danny Blanchflower who served on the Bank of Englands monetary policy committee during the financial crisis joined other leading leftleaning economists on an advisory group after Corbyn gained power. But he has since distanced himself from the leader of the UK opposition and now urging voters not to support Corbyn over his stance on Brexit in the upcoming European elections. In a series of furious tweets over the past few days Blanchflower called Corbyn an uneducated fool and accused him of being clueless about economics. https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/jeremy-corbyns-former-business-adviser-calls-him-a-pro-brexit-buffoon-110252989.html 22nd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian Another senior Conservative peer has been suspended from the party whip for pledging to vote Liberal Democrat in the European elections after the punishment was imposed on the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine. Andrew Cooper the founder of pollster Populus who was David Camerons director of strategy in Downing Street tweeted I have come to the same conclusion as Michael Heseltine for exactly the same reasons and will be voting Lib Dem in Thursdays European parliament elections. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/22/trio-tory-labour-independent-peers-back-liberal-democrats-eu-elections 22nd May 2019

Political Setbacks

The Telegraph All political lives said Enoch Powell end in failure. For Theresa May the agony of the ending and the failure has been drawn out for longer than usual. But in the coming days it is certain that her premiership will draw to a close. The Cabinets patience has been finally snapped by the Prime Ministers latest tonedeaf Brexit proposal. Andrea Leadsom has resigned. MPs say there isnt a single colleague who thinks the PM should continue. Any Conservative made nervous by the prospect of regicide will find their minds made up by the European elections. The Governments failure to deliver Brexit and its continued attempts to deliver a Brexit deal seen by many Leavers as a betrayal is why they believe she must go https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/22/sorry-end-prime-minister-never-believed-brexit/ 22nd May 2019