The newly-elected MEP used her maiden speech in the European Parliament to say that “Britain is right to be leaving this place”.
Nigel Farage facing some stiff competition as chief clown of the Brexit Party in the @Europarl_EN. By the way, when Widdecombe talks about “colonies liberating themselves from their empires”, is she really referring to the American Revolution of 1776?
“There is a pattern consistent throughout history of oppressed people turning on the oppressors. Slaves against their owners. The peasantry against the feudal barons.” Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe makes her maiden speech in the European Parliament.
Widdecombe gives her 1st EP speech & it’s fiery: ‘If I needed any convincing at all the best thing for Britain is to leave here ASAP it was the way those elections were conducted. If that’s this place’s idea of democracy that’s a serious betrayal of every country represented…
‘It’s not democratic at all and that is just one of many reasons why Britain is right to be leaving this place, hopefully on Halloween. It is right because there is a pattern consistent throughout history of oppressed people turning on the oppressors…
‘Slaves against their owners, the peasantry against the feudal barons, colonies Mr Verhofstadt against their empires, and that is why Britain is leaving. And it doesn’t matter which language you use – we are going and we are glad to be going…
‘I represent the South West of the UK and I found on my first day that this place, at least the powers that be, have decided to actually increase the size of fishermen’s meshes, thereby reducing their income by 40%. That’s what you do here…
…Widdecome signs off to cheers from her Brexit party MEPs and noisy heckles from the rest of the chamber: ‘That’s why we’re going. Nous allons. Wir gehen. We’re off!’
The great Ann Widdecombe kicks off for @brexitparty_uk in the chamber of the European Parliament today, the 4th July. We voted for our independence from this Empire – we want it now
It is disgusting that Ann Widdecombe would reference slavery and colonisation to describe our relationship with the EU. Her and Farage are bankrolled by elites – she’s part of the establishment which has created such a divide in this country.
Applications for French passports among Britons more than trebled to 1,300 in 2016, then more than doubled in 2017.
The latest ranking was compiled by the Henley Passport Index, which takes global mobility into account and is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The Henley Passport Index warned that Britain’s ranking could get even worse in the years to come.
The British passport has slid down the world rankings (Picture: PA/Getty Images)
“Throughout most of the index’s history, the UK has held one of the top five places in the ranking,” it said.
“However, with its exit from the EU now imminent, the UK’s once-strong position looks increasingly uncertain.
“The Brexit process has not yet had a direct impact on the UK’s ranking, but new research using exclusive historical data from the Henley Passport Index indicates that this could change, with consequences that extend beyond a decline in passport power.”
Dr Christian H Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the creator of the passport index concept, said: “This latest research appears to confirm something that many of us already knew intuitively: that increased visa-openness benefits the entire global community, and not just the strongest countries.”
But in its official response to the petition, the Department for Exiting the EU said: ‘It remains the Government’s firm policy not to revoke Article 50’ (Picture: EPA)
Theresa May has said she could still hold a third vote on her withdrawal deal this week if she wanted to
Actually, it would have been this ‘HOZA Friday’ – 29 March 2019 when Britain would have safely landed in BREXITland via autopilot.
It is not Theresa May’s fault. Not her fault. Maybe. Remember, we’ve had some stinkers for Prime Ministers in the past, but Mrs May isn’t rank and file, not one of them.
The honourable lady has seen a fair share of political adversity thanks to ‘Frankenstein Monster’ of Brexit – in its perpetual morphosis; swapping the European Union for a seat on Air Oblivion. It is jarring.
I’m not Tory but from word go I have rooted for the PM to succeed; there is this niggling need to reward her with a benefit of a doubt but events in Commons in the last couple days don’t accommodate that.
Don’t ignore the facts, especially the ugly ones. But do understand it’s your game. You get to write the rules ~~~ SONIA SIMONE
Time and effort have been squandered by political bickering; and the PM’s fretful frequent numerous trips to Brussels in a space of no time at all; quite unusual travel behaviour for a politician anyways – especially the leader of a country. The trips meant to reassure the British public that Brexit project is in progress and well, but ended up achieving the opposite. Frustration instead; despite the effort. There is dead inertia.
And Alas! Brexit is delayed.
“Brexit is like giving up a three-course meal… for the promise of a packet of crisps in the future.”
But the Prime Minister strikes me as someone who knows something that the eighty-plus million Britons, lawmakers included cannot put a finger on except that it is in the neighbourhood of existential pickles. The problem is she cannot say what it is; cannot explain or describe it.
That’s the only problem.
I don’t see Theresa May as a schemer or anything; she is just trying to do what is right in her mind in the face of pollitical ignorance and naivete.
Men and women in business face many risks and hazards. Those who persist never lack the courage to tackle the big challenges. Often they can cope with adversity but sometimes they cannot avoid succumbing.
The one thing business people rightly abhor, and struggle most to cope with, is total uncertainty. And the current state of non-play on Brexit brings us vastly more of this total uncertainty. The situation, with 46 days left to B-Day on March 29, leaves us all with few clues at all about what is happening and where this will land.
Business people on the islands of Ireland and Britain, and beyond on mainland Europe, cannot even guess what is happening next with little more than six weeks left. This is a flagrant abuse of enterprising people and their beleaguered employees and can no longer be tolerated.
The burden is heaviest for people in small and medium-sized enterprises, the engine room of the economy. They are left with the option of having to expend money and scarce time to put in place Brexit preparations which might not be needed.
Against that, they must weigh the risk of doing little to prepare for a no deal. It is a situation nobody should be obliged to face – much less the decent men and women who make things happen economically.
So, it is past time London and Brussels formally stated what is daily becoming the most likely outcome of this ghastly Brexit process: an extension beyond the deadline of March 29. Again, we must acknowledge that the UK government, and especially Theresa May, are most culpable here.
It is entirely up to London to formally seek such an extension. But, since the remaining EU 27 states must unanimously endorse such an extension application, Brussels also has obligations here to act and speak out.
The current vacuum means that millions of workers across the EU are deeply, and needlessly, worried about their futures. It is something all governments are hired by citizens to minimise – not make worse. It is part of the reason for the foundation and continued existence of the EU.
We know that Mrs May appears ready to push this one right to the brink in the hope of belated UK parliament ratification for a version of the Brexit deal she did with her EU counterparts on November 25 last. She and her supporters can argue that there are few other real options open to her. Some may even argue, in extremis, that from a business person’s viewpoint she is really on “the side of the angels” in taking such a drastic and high-stakes stance.
Key people in Brussels and the other EU capitals will lean again upon their well-worn argument that the next move must come from London. But that is to ignore their duty of care which is added to by other global economic storm clouds which are gathering.
It is time to acknowledge that there are limits to everything – especially the ongoing abuse of business people and their workers. Let’s speak plainly and own up to the need for postponement.
‘The British army will put 3,500 troops on standby to manage the fallout from a no-deal crash-out from the European Union on 29 March.’ Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
No government, or opposition, should countenance inflicting the hardships of war on its country. This is collective madness
AIWA! NO!|Jonathan Freedland , The Guardian|Late on Tuesday, the Labour MP David Lammy tweeted these words: “I just want to run through the corridors screaming ‘wake the **** up people’”. He’s right to feel that way. I know that British politics is meant to be conducted – by politicians and commentators alike – with polite restraint, all hints and understatement, but when madness surrounds us, then it makes sense to get mad.
And make no mistake, what we are witnessing is a collective insanity. We now learn that the British army will put 3,500 troops on standby to manage the fallout from a no-deal crash-out from the European Union on 29 March. The health secretary has announced that he has become the world’s biggest purchaser of fridges, so that the UK will have sufficient storage capacity for perishable medicine. In the same vein, he has chartered a dedicated NHS plane to ensure medical isotopes – vital for cancer treatment – can be flown directly from Holland to Britain in the event of a no-deal exit.
All this is the work of ‘responsible government’, ministers say. It would be, if they were bracing for a hurricane
The flights will come from Maastricht – yes, the same Maastricht that gave its name to the treaty which drove Europhobic Tories to fury a generation ago – at an estimated cost of £30,000 per flight. Meanwhile, the cabinet has drawn up plans to ration space on cross-channel ferries: it assumes that once France introduces checks and customs controls, as it will if we crash out, trade on the essential Dover-Calais route will collapse by 87% – triggering instant food shortages. No wonder all five organisations representing British businesshave joined together to say their members are “watching in horror”.
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All this is the work of a “responsible government”, ministers say. It would be, if they were bracing for a hurricane to hit these islands. Or a mass outbreak of ebola. But this is not same natural disaster, inevitably heading our way. This is a self-inflicted catastrophe, one we could easily avoid.
Instead of spending £4.2bn on no-deal contingency planning – precious taxpayers’ money that could be spent on nurses or teachers, or on ensuring that no one sleeps rough at night and no child goes to school hungry – Theresa May could simply announce that under no circumstances will the UK leave the EU with no deal on 29 March. She could explain that if her own plan is not approved by parliament, then she will extend or rescind article 50 to give Britain more time.
Indeed, it should be obvious. No deal would represent an unconscionable act of self-harm, a country punching itself hard in the face, visiting upon itself the kinds of trials and hardships associated with war – and no government should even countenance such a criminal act. That should be the reddest of May’s famous red lines – a commitment not to inflict catastrophe on her own country.
And yet, on it goes, each day getting worse. Today we have the government announcing its post-Brexit immigration policy, though it has merely announced more “consultation” on the most neuralgic questions. But what’s clear is that this government would like to close the door to EU migrants who are not earning an above-median annual salary. Which means cutting ourselves off from the care workers, nurses, junior doctors and others we desperately need. Once again, Britain shows all the sign of a nation bent on inflicting pain on itself.
Which is why Conservatives such as Nick Boles are right to say they would vote to bring down their own government to avoid no deal, if that’s what it takes. And why Lammy is right to want to run screaming through the corridors, sounding the alarm. It’s unconscionable that Tories are tolerating May’s games, as she delays the meaningful vote that could trigger the parliamentary sequence that might halt this madness. And it is no less unconscionable that Jeremy Corbyn keeps playing his own games, avoiding the formal vote of no confidence in this horror show of a government which, once done, would compel Labour to pursue other ways out of this quagmire. He is meant to be the leader of the opposition: his job is to oppose. And nothing needs to be opposed more urgently than this coming catastrophe.
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