Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

The Conservative leadership candidates all know that solving the Brexit conundrum is their number one task.

But how do they propose to solve the problems? And if they can't, what are their contingency plans?

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asked the remaining leadership candidates to outline their Brexit proposals.

The catch? They had to answer in 50 words or less.

See how they did...

Switzerland has been slow to ratify the new treaty it agreed with the EU

Like the UK, Switzerland is renegotiating its relationship with the European Union – and a lack of progress on the Swiss side in implementing a new treaty has frustrated Brussels.

With Brexit talks in the background, EU officials want to show they are serious about the integrity of the single market.

“We simply cannot accept further attempts of foot-dragging and watering down internal market rules, especially in what is probably the decisive phase regarding Brexit,” Johannes Hahn, the EU Commission in charge of neighbourhood policy said in a letter reported by the Bloomberg news agency.

The EU currently grants Switzerland "regulatory equivalence" in the financial sector, which allows firms to trade shares on the country's stock exchange.

The EU recognition would automatically expire on 30 June if the Commission does not decide to extend it - potentially damaging Swiss stock exchanges to the benefit of other European ones.

Since 2014, Switzerland and the EU have been trying to formalise their relations into a single agreement. The two powers' relationship is currently covered by around 120 separate and bespoke bilateral treaties.

A draft treaty was concluded in November 2018, but the Swiss government has been demanding further clarifications before it signs of the agreement - on the issues of maintaining the current level of workers and wage protection, state subsidies, and citizens' rights.

The treaty may end up being put to a national referendum in Switzerland, as is common there - its rejection would likely damage the EU-Swiss relationship.

The situation in the Alpine nation situation somewhat mirrors that in the UK, where Theresa May negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the EU but has not been able to ratify it.

Theresa May’s already flimsy mandate is now being handed to a successor chosen only by party members

For a country that takes pride in the venerable stability of its democracy, Britain is strangely prone to constitutional improvisations. For example, if the current Conservative party leadership contest proceeds as far as a ballot of party members, it will be the first time a prime minister is chosen by that method.
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The antique aspect is the Tories’ sense of entitlement to power. The Conservative party has been around so long as to have become intertwined with ideas of established authority, constitutional order and the natural way of doing things – at least in the imaginations of many Tories. But there is no reason for others to indulge that cultural conflation of party and state.

The only sign that Conservatives are embarrassed by their exorbitant privilege in appointing the next prime minister is the decision to hold televised hustings, parading candidates before a wider public in a simulation of accountability. But the debate format exposed the perversity of the whole affair. It mimicked a general election but without the element of universal suffrage. Perhaps the broadcasts influenced MPs’ decisions, but the elimination of Rory Stewart from the third round on Wednesday evening suggests that they are not overly concerned with the opinions of non-Tories, towards whom Mr Stewart’s candidacy was most effectively geared.

It defies principles of democratic representation that 160,000 Conservative members, a cohort that is much richer, older and whiter than the general population, should impose their choice on the rest. There would be equivalent problems if Labour had a leadership contest while in power. There is an awkward tension between rulebooks written to enhance internal party democracy and the logic of a parliamentary democracy that locates a prime minister’s mandate in the Commons, with MPs as the channel for transmitting the popular will.

This problem has turned acute for three reasons. First, the keys to Downing Street are changing hands in a hung parliament. Theresa May’s mandate is flimsy enough before being passed on to a successor. Second, parliament’s authority has been sabotaged by the 2016 referendum – an ill-conceived experiment in direct democracy that landed a ferociously complex task in the lap of a reluctant representative chamber. Third, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act limits the prospects for an early election, the traditional pressure valve when governments cease to function.

To appoint a prime minister without a credible national mandate would be awkward in less volatile times. To do it three months before Britain’s EU membership expires, when half of the country might prefer not to leave, places immense strain on the legitimacy of the system. And to put the responsibility for managing that risk in the hands of someone as divisive and provocative as Boris Johnson threatens a full-blown crisis. It will certainly increase the pressure for a general election. If enough moderate Tories withhold support from a Johnson-led administration (as some have said they would, should a no-deal Brexit be on the agenda), he might not command a majority in the Commons. It is a grave decision for the crown to appoint a prime minister if it is uncertain that such a key requirement is met.
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Northern Ireland Brexit impact 'mapping exercise' finally released
Study details 142 areas that will be affected, including healthcare and child protection

A previously confidential government study detailing 142 areas of life in Northern Ireland that will be impacted by Brexit has been published, revealing risks to everything from cooperation on congenital heart disease and cross-border child protection to rules preventing the looting of national treasures.

The study was published by the Brexit select committee after it was obtained by a member of the public via a freedom of information request.

The so-called “mapping exercise” was conducted in autumn 2017 but never shared with the select committee despite repeated requests from the chairman, the Labour MP Hilary Benn.

It shows that the consequences of Brexit are not exclusively related to trade and customs checks, the focus of arguments presented by hard Brexiters that ultimately led to the departure of Theresa May as prime minister.

[pics at link]

Among the areas identified are an all-Ireland congenital heart disease network “to ensure that vulnerable children receive treatment on the island of Ireland”.

Some 46 of them are classed as “not underpinned or linked” to an EU law but listed because of their link to the Good Friday Agreement or another area of cooperation between Ireland and the UK.

“The network has a single surgical centre in Dublin and a specialist children’s cardiology centre in Belfast, supported by cardiology expertise in local hospitals and an all-island academic programme which is under development,” the 35-page document says.

Other areas of cooperation across the island of Ireland that will be affected by Brexit include major emergencies and A&E services, cancer research and health promotion. Also underpinned by the EU are everyday services such as the operation of cross-border taxis and mobile phone roaming services.
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Problems that denied EU citizens their vote in last month’s European elections were evident five years ago, according to a leaked letter from the European commission.

Many EU nationals were unable to vote in the European elections on 23 May, through a series of bureaucratic muddles and mistakes that experts decried as a fiasco that a democracy should not tolerate.

A letter sent on Friday to the constitution minister, Chloe Smith, shows that some of the chaos at polling stations was foreshadowed in previous European elections in 2014.

“The commission notes that the difficulties encountered were largely recurrences of the incidents and deficiencies that had previously arisen during the 2014 elections and which the United Kingdom had undertaken to remedy in time,” states a copy of the letter seen by the Guardian.

The government told the commission in January 2015 that it would remedy the problems identified in 2014, either through legislation or practicalities before the 2019 vote.

The letter, from the EU justice commissioner, Vĕra Jourová, acknowledged that British authorities faced “practical challenges” because of the last-minute Brexit delay, but concluded this should not have affected “the obligation of the United Kingdom to respect the right to vote of EU citizens”.

Theresa May said she did not want the UK to participate in European elections, even after agreeing a six-month Brexit extension with the EU on 11 April. The prime minister still thought it possible to get her deal through parliament and avoid the EU-wide vote. She also said the government was making “responsible preparations” to hold the elections.

The commission identified four main bureaucratic problems encountered by EU nationals in the UK: councils failed to inform EU citizens about the two-step registration process; councils did not send out forms on time to people who requested them; or forms were not registered despite being sent. Finally, the letter states, staff at polling stations “failed in many cases to adequately respond to EU citizens’ complaints” after they were unable to vote, despite taking all the necessary steps.

The government has been asked to send the commission data about complaints. EU authorities also want to know how the government attempted to tackle the problems first identified in 2014.

The UK has been given 10 weeks to draw up a response – a late September deadline that falls just one month before Brexit day on 31 October.

Usually, persistent rule-breaking governments are taken to the European court of justice. The looming Brexit deadline makes any legal action politically charged for the commission.

if he and Ireland and /or Northern Ireland refuse a big seamless border crossing... what can the EU do about it?

A senior Conservative MP has warned Boris Johnson he will not “survive very long” if he pursues a “crash-out” Brexit, because fellow Tories will bring him down.

Dominic Grieve predicted “a large number” of his colleagues would turn on the new prime minister, even joining a vote-of-no-confidence to block a no-deal exit.

“There are a large number of Conservative MPs who will object to that happening and who will do everything possible to prevent it happening. I think the numbers are quite substantial,” the former attorney general said.

Mr Grieve admitted the new prime minister – widely expected to be Mr Johnson – could call a general election to win the public’s backing a for a no-deal, if thwarted in parliament.

But he warned the Tories would lose badly, saying: “That is likely to be catastrophic for the future of the Conservative party.”

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Boris Johnson, the favorite to be the next British Prime Minister, reiterated his desire to leave the European Union in October with or without a deal as he avoided questions at a campaign event on Saturday about a police visit to his home.

Johnson, a leading figure in the 2016 referendum campaign to leave the European Union, had raised some doubts about his commitment to leave by the latest deadline when he described it as only “eminently feasible” in a televised debate this week.

“Eminently feasible means it’s not only that we are going to do it but that it’s possible to do it because it’s eminently feasible. Of course we can do it,” Johnson told the first of 16 leadership hustings events.

The meeting saw Johnson and his remaining rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, each make their pitch to Conservative Party members who will vote to choose one of them as their next leader - and thus the next prime minister.

The result of the postal ballot will be announced in the week of July 22.

Johnson, Hunt’s predecessor at the Foreign Office, said people had a right to ask questions about his character, after the police were called to investigate concerns for the welfare of a woman in his home, but said his record in office showed he could be prime minister.

Police said there was no reason to take further action after checking up on Johnson and girlfriend Carrie Symonds in the early hours of Friday.

Avoiding further questions about the matter at the hustings, Johnson said party members would not be interested in hearing about it, to applause from the audience.

“I think what they want to hear is what my plans are for the country and for my party,” he told the event in Birmingham, central England.

Johnson, 55, who served as London mayor for eight years, has cast himself as the only candidate who can deliver Brexit on Oct. 31 while fighting off the electoral threats of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party and socialist Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.

TV DEBATE
Hunt, who voted Remain in the 2016 referendum but says he would now vote for Brexit, has said that he will not make promises he cannot keep on Brexit or spending.

He has said that committing to the October deadline risks a move by lawmakers to block a possible no-deal, which could lead to an election, and has indicated he would delay Brexit again if he felt a deal was in reach.

However, he told party members on Saturday that he would take Britain out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31 if the EU had not moved towards agreeing a new deal.

“If we got to the 31st of October, and the EU have not shown the willingness to negotiate a better deal ... the political risk of no Brexit is far worse than the economic risk of no deal,” Hunt said.

“I would take us out of the European Union in that situation.”

Johnson is the clear favorite, with a YouGov poll for the Times showing he has the support of 74% of members, compared with 26% who back Hunt. The poll was taken before the news broke of the incident with Symonds.

With such a commanding lead, Johnson has tried to stay out of the limelight, and opponents have accused him of running from scrutiny to avoid the gaffes that have been a feature of his career so far.

But Hunt has called for Johnson to take part in not just hustings but also televised head-to-head debates before the Conservative Party membership receive their ballot papers.

Reporters for Sky News said that Johnson had declined to take part in their planned debate next Tuesday.

“Scrutiny can be uncomfortable. But if we can’t handle it with friends, we won’t deserve to lead against our opponents,” Hunt said in a letter to Johnson before the hustings. “If you want the job, you have to turn up for the interviews.”

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt have been warned they risk making the Conservatives unelectable if they take Britain out of the European Union without a deal.

New polling seen by The Independent suggests large swathes of traditional Tory voters have turned away from the party as its membership has become increasingly focused on Brexit, and that more will follow if the new leader opts for a no-deal outcome.

The survey suggests the opinions of the 160,000 Conservative members who will choose the new prime minister are increasingly out of kilter with the 11 million voters who backed the party in 2015 – the only election in 27 years when the Tories have won an overall majority in the Commons.

Some 30 per cent of 2015 Tory voters questioned by pollsters Survation said they would like the UK to remain in the EU, compared to 32 per cent who want no deal and 36 per cent who back leaving with an agreement with Brussels. The figures contrast sharply with recent polling suggesting that 83 per cent of current party members would support a no-deal leader.

And while 61 per cent of current members told the earlier YouGov survey they would be ready to accept “significant damage” to the UK economy as the price for Brexit, more than half (51 per cent) of the 2015 Tory voters said they were not prepared to suffer any financial loss whatsoever as a result of EU withdrawal, and just 8 per cent said they were willing to take a hit of £1,000 a year or more.

The new polling, commissioned by the Tories Against Brexit group, was released as the two candidates prepared for the first national hustings of the leadership campaign in Birmingham on Saturday.

Theresa May thought to be planning valedictory appearance at prime minister’s questions in late July – delaying her replacement’s arrival

The Conservatives are under fire for a shock plan that would allow the new prime minister to “chicken out” of putting their Brexit plan to the House of Commons until the autumn.

Opposition MPs spoke out after aides to Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt were told the winner of the Tory leadership race would not move into No 10 on Tuesday 23 July, as widely expected.

Instead, Theresa May proposes to make a final appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions the following day before resigning – just one day before MPs depart for their long summer recess on 25 July, they were reportedly told.

Labour has vowed to table a vote of no confidence, which could be staged on that Thursday, but, otherwise, there would no reason for the new prime minister to appear before MPs.

Ed Davey, a Liberal Democrat leadership contender, told The Independent: “It would be outrageous if the new prime minister chickened out of facing the Commons before the summer recess.

“Three years on from the referendum, a new prime minister can’t just slink off to the beach. We need to know the plan on Brexit.”

And Chris Bryant, a senior Labour MP, said: “Neville Chamberlain tried that trick of sidelining parliament with a long summer recess in 1939 and it didn't end well.

Exclusive: Report on keeping border open, backed by Nicky Morgan and Greg Hands, suggests special economic zones

Alternative arrangements for keeping the Irish border open in the event of a no-deal Brexit or the collapse of future trade talks with the EU could be up and running within three years, a report concludes.

The interim report by a non-government organisation calling itself the Alternative Arrangements Commission will be unveiled at a special conference on the Irish border in London on Monday.

Their conclusions suggest that the UK would only need the Irish border backstop contained in the withdrawal agreement until 2022, if work on such arrangements started today.

Backed by remain-voting Conservative party MPs Nicky Morgan and Greg Hands, the report makes eight interim recommendations following consultation with business, politicians and economic experts, including commercial interests in Northern Ireland.

It suggests special economic zones “covering frontier traffic and national security offer potentially valuable solutions” which it said would respect the realities of the border.

The report addresses key issues including the vexed question of health checks on any live animals, animal or plant produce crossing the border, including milk, pigs and sheep.

The report says “sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)” tests could be carried out by mobile units away from the border.

This would require politicians in the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) to accept checks on farms and in food-production plants and related facilities, something they have opposed so far.

Among the other recommendations are the creation of a multi-tier trusted trader programme for large and small companies, with exemptions for small companies.

This was proposed by the government in August 2017 and dismissed by the EU.

One of the major challenges for the EU and the UK in keeping the border invisible is the issue of standards on food and food processing currently governed by EU regulations.

Under mandatory EU rules checks have to be done at the border at special inspection posts with facilities for lab testing and refrigeration to guard against cross-border infection on everything from salmonella to mad cow disease.

Such are the rules that in the event of no deal, the EU milk from Northern Ireland will not be permissible in cheese, butter or infant formula made south of the border from day one, potentially devastating the dairy sector which sends 30% of its milk to the republic.

Morgan and Hands say in the foreword to the report that the interim recommendations reflect the commission’s commitment to find solutions “compatible with any of the potential Brexit outcomes” including the current withdrawal agreement.

The report found that any alternative arrangements must recognise “the supremacy of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement” (GFA) and the preservation of the common travel area.

They should also recognise the need for a trade policy in the UK that is independent of the EU, and the need to ensure east-west trade flows as easily as possible.

The report also states that all future proposals “must be based on consent”, one of the central tenets of the GFA and a recognition of the two heritages in Northern Ireland. Common all-island regimes should continue and where possible “built upon”.

Special arrangements such as special economic zones and common SPS regimes could “potentially span not only the island of Ireland” but also Britain with a common rule book, like the Australia-New Zealand Food Safety Area.

The report suggests such an arrangement would allow Ireland to break the EU’s common rule book if the UK diverged from EU standards and regulations. This would, for instance, apply if the UK decided to do a trade deal with the US enabling chlorinated chicken to enter the country.

This, it notes, would need checks in harbours, ports and airports in Northern Ireland to protect the entire island of Ireland, but this should be a decision for the Northern Ireland assembly.

This scenario is predicated on Ireland having a side deal with the EU for a common rule book on the two countries and suggests Ireland would have the unilateral power to deviate from this, even though the EU is based on a system of rules that apply to all member states and not just one.

Last October the DUP rejected any checks at ports or airports in Northern Ireland, arguing it would cut the region off from the rest of the UK, while the Northern Ireland secretary, Karen Bradley, struck a similar position saying the government would “never ever allow a border down the Irish Sea”.

And last week the government finally released a mapping exercise which showed the extent to which the border issue impacted non-trade issues with 142 issues including healthcare for heart patients.

The commission was set up by Prosperity UK, an organisation created in 2017 that describes itself as an independent platform bringing together business, academics and policymakers to look constructively at the UK’s future outside the EU. It said it welcomed the opportunity for feedback so it could “refine” its recommendations.