Published in Gloucestershire ECHO Thursday 19 May 2022 Government to Blame for Another Stand-off Dear Editor, The PM told us during the 2019 general election that he would ‘Get Brexit Done’ but here we are yet another Brexit stand off between the UK and the EU. Instead of diplomacy and talks, the UK government is... Continue Reading →

Dear Alex I hope you have enjoyed, or are enjoying, your summer break. Whichever it is, you will have seen the recent major poll which showed Cheltenham, already a Remain town, moving even further to Remain (57.2%/42.8% in 2016 to 62.2%/37.8% now). This brings us even closer to the often talked about super-majority of 66%.... Continue Reading →

Dear Alex David Cameron made it clear (or ‘very clear’ to use his mantra) before the referendum that the outcome would be regarded as advisory and not binding (hence, the absence of any safeguard requiring, for example, the active support of a majority of the electorate). Advice can be accepted or rejected. If it is... Continue Reading →

Dear xxxx When people voted in the EU referendum last year, little was known about what a future deal with the European Union would look like. Sixteen months on, it is now very unlikely that any deal will be able to provide the same easy terms of trade and commerce with our most prosperous neighbours... Continue Reading →

We can’t reverse the Brexit vote unless public opinion shifts decisively against it. That would give MPs the courage to resist the current disastrous course of events. So what do the latest opinion polls tell us about the public mood? Until very recently, there has been little movement in the polling data for 15 months... Continue Reading →

I don’t like the use of referendums for major national constitutional issues, but am reluctantly coming round to the view that they are now an established part of our (unwritten) constitution.  There have been three UK-wide referendums (in 1975 and 2016 on EU membership; in 2011 on the Alternative Vote system).  They have also been... Continue Reading →

The Conservatives have removed the whip from two of their MEPs, Julie Girling and their former Leader in the European Parliament Richard Ashworth, for voting in favour of a non-binding European Parliament resolution which noted that “sufficient progress has not yet been made” in the Brexit talks to move to the second phase, but also... Continue Reading →

After the Party conferences, it is time to reflect on what really happened. And where we go from here. The LibDems, the Greens and SNP support remaining in the EU. But the two biggest parties are in crisis over Brexit.  Labour responds by denial, stifling any meaningful debate; the Tories by doing what they do... Continue Reading →