Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

No blackmail deals like Trump's? No wall? 600,000+ people go without income.

MPs who do not want the UK to leave the EU without a deal will later try to limit the government's financial powers in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The House of Commons will vote on a cross-party amendment to the Finance Bill, which enacts the Budget.

Several senior figures back the move, but International Trade Secretary Liam Fox called it "irresponsible".

Meanwhile, minister Richard Harrington said he is prepared to resign to stop the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Harrington suggested to BBC Newsnight that others might follow suit, saying his position was "not an uncommon one".

MPs will seek to turn the screw on ministers with Tuesday's amendment, which is intended to demonstrate to the government the strength of opposition to a no-deal Brexit in the Commons.

If passed, it would mean the government would not be able to raise certain taxes and take other financial steps arising from a no deal - unless Parliament had explicitly authorised the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
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Anna Soubry, a Tory MP harangued by far-right protesters on Monday, was threatened by a man who said she should be “Jo Cox’d”. The man responsible was jailed for eight weeks.

Helen Jones, Labour MP for Warrington North, was similarly threatened. A man holding a hunting knife said to social workers: “I’m going to go there and Jo Cox her.”

A third MP, Stella Creasy, received a threatening letter saying she would “join that woman cox”. The SNP politicians Stewart Stevenson and Angus MacNeil were told to “remember what happened to Jo Cox” – the person responsible in that case was prosecuted and fined.
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And then we started seeing it in newspapers. MPs are told by national commentators to remember before voting for or against a deal, or for or against a referendum, to remember what happened to Jo. Even some MPs and government ministers seem to be using the threat of violence as a warning to others to do their will.

I have no interest in telling MPs or anyone else how to vote. A second referendum, a no-deal scenario, a Norway option – all of them have major implications and will affect lives differently. There is no easy option. Nor do I play down the fear of those who worry about the impact on democracy of holding a new referendum.

But I am calling on MPs – and all people – not to be cowed by what happened to Jo.

Terrorism only succeeds when we let it. To act differently because of the actions of an extremist would be to vindicate their act. To say that politics can be shaped by violence.

I don’t care what you think about Brexit – whether you support no‑deal, another referendum, the prime minister’s deal – but whatever you back do it because you deeply believe in it. And please do not use Jo’s name as a threat.

If Jo’s name is to become a synonym for anything, it should be for her kindness, generosity, optimism and her fundamental belief that we have more in common than that which divides us. That’s what sums her up, that captures who she was and the spirit we’ll need more than ever when the current political decisions have played out.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has reiterated that the EU finds a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland "unacceptable." He warned of "serious damage" in the event of a no deal scenario.

Speaking alongside his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the EU would not accept a hard border between Ireland, an EU member state, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.

Maas pledged the EU's full support for the Republic of Ireland in the face of increasing uncertainty ahead of a fast-approaching deadline for Britain's exit from the European Union.

The border issue is one of the most contentious in the Brexit negotiations.

Maas urged British lawmakers to support Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, rather than risk leaving the EU without an agreement in place: "We are very much focused on working to make sure there is no no-deal Brexit because it would trigger disadvantages for my own country and for the EU at large. It might have a negative effect on jobs in Germany."

The German foreign minister was dire in his warning, saying, "Even a no-deal scenario is still an option despite the serious damage that this would cause on both sides."

DW's Fabian von der Mark, traveling with Maas, posted a tweet citing Germany's special understanding of "how walls and borders can threaten peace."

Addressing British media reports that the UK government was mulling an extension of the March 29 Brexit deadline, Coveney said an extension of article 50 would "have to get consideration at an EU level."

"But certainly from an Irish perspective, if such an ask happens, we won't be standing in the way on that," he added.
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Pro-Brexit campaigners have condemned the harassment of MPs and journalists by “far-right” demonstrators outside parliament.

Leave Means Leave said abuse shouted at Remain supporters including Tory MP Anna Soubry was "utterly unacceptable".

A group calling themselves “Yellow Vests UK” have been returning to Westminster almost daily to confront and heckle pro-EU demonstrators who gather at College Green.

On Monday, they chanted "Soubry is a Nazi" as the MP did television interviews before following her along the street shouting abuse.

Harry Todd, national organiser for Leave Means Leave, told The Independent: "Their tactics are completely and utterly unacceptable. I condemn their behaviour in the strongest terms.

"They are people who are angry and they don't know how to express it so they are lashing out. They genuinely feel betrayed. I understand their frustration and I understand their anger, but their tactics are wrong and it doesn't help anyone."

He said he had himself been shouted by Ms Soubry's abusers after he refused to let them use Leave Means Leave's placards.

However, other Brexit supporters downplayed the harassment. One woman demonstrating in College Green on Tuesday, who gave her name only as Carol, said: "What you're seeing is public anger boiling over. Yes, Soubry was called a Nazi. But it's just a name, it didn't hurt her."
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MPs have inflicted another Commons defeat on Theresa May by passing a motion that will make it harder for ministers to force through a no-deal Brexit.

The amendment to a key government bill was tabled by home affairs committee chair Yvette Cooper and supported by 303 MPs to 296.

It prevents ministers from introducing new tax-raises in the case of a no-deal Brexit unless MPs have specifically voted in favour of leaving the EU without an agreement.

More than a dozen Conservatives joined with the opposition parties to vote through the change.

The defeat marks the latest in a series of Commons setbacks for the government in the run-up to next week's crunch vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal.
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Theresa May’s room for manoeuvre should her Brexit deal be rejected next week was further constrained on Wednesday night, after the government lost a second dramatic parliamentary showdown in as many days.

An increasingly boxed-in prime minister must now set out her plan B within three working days of a defeat next Tuesday, after the rebel amendment passed.

There were furious scenes in the House of Commons as the Speaker, John Bercow, took the controversial decision to allow a vote on the amendment, tabled by the former attorney general Dominic Grieve.

A string of MPs, including the leader of the house, Andrea Leadsom, repeatedly intervened to question the Speaker’s approach. Some accused him of being biased against Brexit.

But parliament went on to back Grieve as the prime minister was defied by Conservative rebels determined to hand control of the Brexit process to MPs if next week’s vote is lost.
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The Benefits of Free Trade: A Guide For Policymakers | The Heritage ...
https://www.heritage.org/trade/report/the-benefits-free-trade-guide-policymakers
by D Froning - ‎Cited by 19 - ‎Related articles
Free trade is the only type of truly fair trade because it offers consumers the most choices and the best opportunities to improve their standard of living. Free trade promotes innovation because, along with goods and services, the flow of trade circulates new ideas.

My impression is that economics has little to do with the motivations of many UK citizens to leave the EU. Rather the issue for them appears (to me) to involve the manner of governance of their lives.

The economic performance of the EU has many positive attributes and even tangible results. I don't think there is much dispute about that. The resistance that has so far arisen, both in the UK and in other EU nations also appears to involve governance, involving immigration issues and the detailed oversight of agriculture and commerce by the EU and its courts.

The "detailed oversight of agriculture and commerce " within in the EU is indead done by the related EU agencies and organisations.
The EU-court is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states. Like anywhere else, there are always some who don't follow the law and disregard courts.

However, Brexit- folowers were until recently focused with their critics on the European Court of Human Rights, a court that has nothing to do with the EU besides residing in an EU-country.

A no-deal Brexit would have profound economic consequences with GDP shrinking by up to 8%, putting thousands of jobs at risk, the Confederation of British Industry is to warn.

The business body is urging MPs to back Theresa May’s deal, describing it as a “solution” businesses can work with as it delivers a transition period and avoids a “hugely damaging cliff edge”.

It says if parliament does not agree, it must immediately outline its plan to avert no deal and secure British jobs.

With just four days to go before the prime minister’s last-ditch attempt to get parliamentary approval for her deal, the CBI is piling on the pressure to avert a no-deal outcome, which it believes would be a disaster for Britain.