‘Nations stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action,
but not the execution of any human design.’
Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767)

15 February 2019

On the Record | A Valentine’s Day Defeat for Theresa May

Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘A Valentine’s Day Defeat for Theresa May’:

What a Valentine’s Day in Parliament. One would think Britons have fallen out of love with liberty. This after the Government lost another vote — its tenth, according to BBC bean-counters — on its Brexit agenda. Yet it’s no time to lose heart for those who stand with Britain’s desperate, heroic dash for independence from Europe.

The Government defeat came on a more-or-less status quo motion: To stand by the Withdrawal Agreement, during ongoing lobbying efforts with Brussels to alter the Irish backstop, by inserting binding text introducing a sunset clause or allowing unilateral termination. The EU is rebuffing both overtures.

Government opponents have also been thwarted in their attempts, after voting down Prime Minister May’s withdrawal proposal in January, to derail Brexit. Such ideas as extending Article 50 and postponing the March 29 exit, or holding a second “People’s’ referendum,” or taking Brexit from the Government and giving responsibility to Parliament, or removing the possibility of a “no deal” Brexit.

All have gone nowhere.

Read more . . .

Remarks are welcome on DMI’s Facebook page.

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My thanks to editor Seth Lipsky of The New York Sun.