Former British PM John Major urges May to drop Brexit red lines

 

Britain's ex-Prime Minister John Major appears on the Marr Show on BBC television in London, Britain, July 22, 2018. Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS/Files

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister John Major urged Theresa May on Saturday to drop her "red lines" on Brexit or allow parliament to find a way forward to avoid a damaging no-deal departure from the European Union in March.

 

Major said he compromised on key decisions on the Northern Irish peace process and the first Gulf War while prime minister between 1990 and 1997, and May should do the same after her Brexit plan was rejected by a huge majority in parliament.

 

"Her deal is dead and I don’t think honestly that tinkering with it is going to make very much difference if any difference at all," Major, who campaigned to stay in the EU ahead of the 2016 referendum, told BBC Radio.

 

May is due to tell parliament on Monday how she intends to proceed on Brexit. Lawmakers may then propose alternatives to see if any could command majority support.

 

"If we leave in chaos and without a deal, that seems to me to be the worst of all outcomes," Major said.

 

May should therefore "go around" lawmakers in her party who say they are ready to accept a no-deal Brexit and drop her opposition to key issues in the negotiations, Major - who also faced a revolt inside the Conservative Party over Europe - said.

 

May has ruled out staying in the EU's single market, an option that is considered less economically damaging, because Britain would not be able to control immigration from the bloc. She has also rejected staying in a customs union with the EU.

 

If May cannot compromise, she should allow parliament to find a way to overcome its splits, Major said. "I think there are signs parliament might be able to reach consensus," he said.

 

Failing that, Britain should have a fresh referendum on its membership of the EU.

 

In the meantime, delaying Brexit was wise, Major said.

 

Major's comments were rejected as "Remainer elite views" by a Conservative lawmaker who said May would break her promises to voters if she considered staying in the EU's single market or a customs union or holding a second referendum.

 

"Brexit would become meaningless. We wouldn't be leaving the European Union, we would be staying in the European Union," Suella Braverman told the BBC.

 

REUTERS: 2019-01-20

Good man, Major.

 

 

The Economist is correct as always

An absolute snake in the grass back stabber who is an EU bidder. the man calling for a second referendum but refused to give the British public one. A hypocrite of the highest order. Him and Blair deserve each other and should be in the Tower of London/Haig for lying to the people.

1 minute ago, Laughing Gravy said:

An absolute snake in the grass back stabber who is an EU bidder. the man calling for a second referendum but refused to give the British public one. A hypocrite of the highest order. Him and Blair deserve each other and should be in the Tower of London/Haig for lying to the people.

He speaks highly of you.

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

He speaks highly of you.

Well I do know there are far more many people in the world who hate him, don't trust him and feel he is a 'snake' who 'sold his country down the river'. So I will take your sarcasm as I don't give a flying fox.

4 hours ago, Grouse said:

Good man, Major.

 

 

The Economist is correct as always

Major, like Blair, will not aid the Remain cause by interfering. So do carry on.

 

The Economist is just spinning for a losers vote like Major, Blair and the rest.  

4 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

An absolute snake in the grass back stabber who is an EU bidder. the man calling for a second referendum but refused to give the British public one. A hypocrite of the highest order. Him and Blair deserve each other and should be in the Tower of London/Haig for lying to the people.

John Major was the unacknowledged best Prime Minister the UK ever had. All the media ever did was mock him. He was never accepted by the elite because he had never been to Oxbridge (never been to university at all but had learned through the university of life). He provided the Good Friday Agreement (along with Albert Reynolds, probably the best PM of Ireland) which ended the killing and bombing resulting from the the strife in that part of the UK known as Northern Ireland and presided over a thriving economy. He never lied to the people.

 

Tony Blair is another matter, of course.

 

Your claim is a contradictory one, that Major did not give the British public a referendum when that is what he is offering right now. And what is the alternative?

 

The problem, as we all know, is that there is no consensus for any outcome in the British parliament. So what can the parliament do? There is an overwhealming majority for not crashing out into a no-deal - so doing nothing is not an option for parliament. Norway plus, remain, May's deal and all other variations all fail to get a majority in the parliament. The parliament is stuck. There might be some sort of compromise on some sort of custom's union scenario in parliament and Major is saying that we have to give that a run.

 

If parliament can't decide, the only alternative is for parliament to hand the decision of which kind of Brexit to the people. This is rather different from the first referendum in that the first referendum was to see whether there was a crude majority for remain or leave. Now we need to know what the majority want in relation to which kind of Brexit.

42 minutes ago, Proboscis said:

John Major was the unacknowledged best Prime Minister the UK ever had. All the media ever did was mock him. He was never accepted by the elite because he had never been to Oxbridge (never been to university at all but had learned through the university of life). He provided the Good Friday Agreement (along with Albert Reynolds, probably the best PM of Ireland) which ended the killing and bombing resulting from the the strife in that part of the UK known as Northern Ireland and presided over a thriving economy. He never lied to the people.

 

Tony Blair is another matter, of course.

 

Your claim is a contradictory one, that Major did not give the British public a referendum when that is what he is offering right now. And what is the alternative?

 

The problem, as we all know, is that there is no consensus for any outcome in the British parliament. So what can the parliament do? There is an overwhealming majority for not crashing out into a no-deal - so doing nothing is not an option for parliament. Norway plus, remain, May's deal and all other variations all fail to get a majority in the parliament. The parliament is stuck. There might be some sort of compromise on some sort of custom's union scenario in parliament and Major is saying that we have to give that a run.

 

If parliament can't decide, the only alternative is for parliament to hand the decision of which kind of Brexit to the people. This is rather different from the first referendum in that the first referendum was to see whether there was a crude majority for remain or leave. Now we need to know what the majority want in relation to which kind of Brexit.

Major the best Prime Minister? What a joke. The BBC poll ranked him 17 out of 19 C20 PMs. I thought that was generous!

 

A former Chancellor who didn't even pass Maths 'O' Level at the first attempt. He then snidely assisted Thatcher's demise, which resulted in his first stint as PM. Labour was led at the time by the similarly useless Kinnock, so not much of a challenge there. Major championed the ERM (failed).

 

If he's so keen on referenda he might have offered one in 1992, before he signed that damn Maastrict Treaty, one of the main reasons that we find ourselves entangled in this mess.   

Former British PM John Major urges May to drop Brexit red lines

Hopefully, Mrs May will tell the silly old fart that she'd rather drop her knickers than her red lines.

 

Otherwise, well end up tethered to the sclerotic United States of Europe till the whole rotten edifice collapses.

2 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Hopefully, Mrs May will tell the silly old fart that she'd rather drop her knickers than her red lines.

 

Otherwise, well end up tethered to the sclerotic United States of Europe till the whole rotten edifice collapses.

Perhaps she could send your message to him plastered on the side of van.

16 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Former British PM John Major urges May to drop Brexit red lines

Hopefully, Mrs May will tell the silly old fart that she'd rather drop her knickers than her red lines.

 

Otherwise, well end up tethered to the sclerotic United States of Europe till the whole rotten edifice collapses.

A little naughty but he did hump eggwina ????

1 hour ago, nauseus said:

and the rest.  

The Economist is just spinning for a losers vote like Major, Blair and the rest.  [of the educated, rational population?]

39 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

 

 

Otherwise, well end up tethered to the sclerotic United States of Europe till the whole rotten edifice collapses.

Id prefer that to being forced by Brexit into a closer relationship with the USA. The more I learn about the USA the less I want my country to have any kind of 'Special' relationship with them.

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

The Economist is just spinning for a losers vote like Major, Blair and the rest.  [of the educated, rational population?]

Check out Major's academic achievements. Not too hot for a Chancellor.

7 hours ago, Grouse said:

Good man, Major.

 

 

The Economist is correct as always

as almost never....

8 minutes ago, blazes said:

as almost never....

I very much doubt  that you have ever read it...

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Perhaps she could send your message to him plastered on the side of van.

 

Almost incoherent (as always), but clear enough to see that White Van Brits are being targeted here as racists because they display the Cross of St George.  Is this racist or just a pathetic attempt to be on the right side of the "right people", the "well-educated" Remainers???

3 minutes ago, Grouse said:

I very much doubt  that you have ever read it...

I first started reading the Economist in school at age 14, and stopped somewhere in my 30s when I realised that while it was informative about world news, it was also reporting on everything from a kind of "safe" "Centrist" point of view.  Always arrogantly sure of itself and stridently upholding the Centre-Right status quo (from Adenauer to Merkel, from Wilson to Major/Blair, from De Gaulle to Chirac, from Reagan to Obama and so on down the line....)

2 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Hopefully, Mrs May will tell the silly old fart that she'd rather drop her knickers than her red lines.

He would probably reply he would prefer a curry instead. Or should that be Currie.

8 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

An absolute snake in the grass back stabber who is an EU bidder. the man calling for a second referendum but refused to give the British public one. A hypocrite of the highest order. Him and Blair deserve each other and should be in the Tower of London/Haig for lying to the people.

You are the inmate and they are the visitors??!! ????

Not much of a PM but talking a lot of sense now.

2 hours ago, SunsetT said:

Id prefer that to being forced by Brexit into a closer relationship with the USA. The more I learn about the USA the less I want my country to have any kind of 'Special' relationship with them.

At least they still have free speech, enshrined in their Constitution. These days this must put them in a minority of one.

9 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Him and Blair deserve each other and should be in the Tower of London/Haig for lying to the people.

If it is about lying to the people, it would get extremely crowded there.............

Former British PM John Major urges May to drop Brexit red lines

 

Britain's ex-Prime Minister John Major appears on the Marr Show on BBC television in London, Britain, July 22, 2018. Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS/Files

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Major, who campaigned to stay in the EU ahead of the 2016 referendum, told BBC Radio.

 
REUTERS: 2019-01-20

Apart from the brazenly europhile BBC, which repeats the propaganda, who do these has-beens like Major and Blair think they are preaching to?
They were discredited as PMs and nobody listens to them now. Even fewer actually believe them.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Ah the grey man has woken up covered in Currie stains and speaking in words of great wisdom must be skint????

6 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

Not much of a PM but talking a lot of sense now.

I can't think of any former PMs, even the Witch, who would not be absolutely horrified by the situation we are in now. The shear inadequacy of TM, JC and the vast bulk of our MPs is awful to witness. How the hell did we manage to achieve this, has our Education system collapsed?

 

Surely we can at least recognize that Parliament is Sovereign, it is elected to rule the country in our interests. It is not employed by "The people" (A spurious phrase used by those seeking to legitimatize and justify their aspirations). We are all "The people" - Brexiteers, Remainers, non voters, and those ineligible  to vote (Kids, prisoners, the insane, Peers etc).

 

Parliament will have to sort this out and achieve a consensus, although the main players TM and JC are stubborn, and stupid,  and appear incapable of compromise. There is no consensus for a Hard Brexit (Whatever else), those who support it will have to stop wasting their and our time moaning about it. There is a considerable majority of  MPs who believe (Rightly - in my opinion- or wrongly) that a Hard Brexit will destroy our Economy - live with it.

 

 

21 minutes ago, Nigel Garvie said:

I can't think of any former PMs, even the Witch, who would not be absolutely horrified by the situation we are in now. The shear inadequacy of TM, JC and the vast bulk of our MPs is awful to witness. How the hell did we manage to achieve this, has our Education system collapsed?

 

Surely we can at least recognize that Parliament is Sovereign, it is elected to rule the country in our interests. It is not employed by "The people" (A spurious phrase used by those seeking to legitimatize and justify their aspirations). We are all "The people" - Brexiteers, Remainers, non voters, and those ineligible  to vote (Kids, prisoners, the insane, Peers etc).

 

Parliament will have to sort this out and achieve a consensus, although the main players TM and JC are stubborn, and stupid,  and appear incapable of compromise. There is no consensus for a Hard Brexit (Whatever else), those who support it will have to stop wasting their and our time moaning about it. There is a considerable majority of  MPs who believe (Rightly - in my opinion- or wrongly) that a Hard Brexit will destroy our Economy - live with it.

 

 

Here's what should be everybody's red line. A majority of Brits voted to leave the EU. Our elected Parliamentarians are commiterd to carry out our wishes by March 29.

 

If the EU doesn't come up with a better deal than the travesty currently under offer, it's their funeral - and our liberation from the globalists' yoke. 

1 hour ago, blazes said:

I first started reading the Economist in school at age 14, and stopped somewhere in my 30s when I realised that while it was informative about world news, it was also reporting on everything from a kind of "safe" "Centrist" point of view.  Always arrogantly sure of itself and stridently upholding the Centre-Right status quo (from Adenauer to Merkel, from Wilson to Major/Blair, from De Gaulle to Chirac, from Reagan to Obama and so on down the line....)

I stand corrected. I was reading Parade at age 14!

 

Must have been a particularly good edition if it took you 16 years to finish! Would you like yesterday's edition?

 

I admire the politicians you quote with the exception of Reagan

 

I find The Economist generally mirrors my own views on social democracy, social justice and centrist policies.

 

If you hold the views that you appear to, I suggest you may have been better reading other more interesting magazines at 14!

Just watched last week's question time. What a waste of an hour

 

Bring back Dimbleby; that woman is hopeless. No gravitas, no control, no humour

 

The audience was largely moronic. One would have thought people from Derby would have some empathy with Toyota and Rolls Royce. But no; the usual knuckle draggers 

 

Then we have the Abbott. Awful. Can't she at least get her fangs fixed?

 

Sitting next to her was the airhead Isabel Ockshott. Shallow and poorly informed

 

Then we have the Prisons minister Rory. Usually bright but could only spout May's lines between grinning ape like at Abbott.

 

The SNP girl spoke well I thought.

 

Then there was some strange academic with two rings in one ear. He may have been in the wrong studio 

 

Dont waste your time watching it.

17 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

If the EU doesn't come up with a better deal than the travesty currently under offer, it's their funeral - and our liberation from the globalists' yoke. 

So you need the EU to come up with a new plan??? Says it all really, pathetic.

The UK will keep negotiating with itself forever. Just leave, so the EU can move on and spend its time on more important matters.