May’s plan is in nobody’s interest. It’s increasingly clear that we must not leave the EU | Will Hutton

Now we know that the Leave camp’s case was claptrap, there must be a second vote

It is now obvious that Britain cannot and should not leave the EU. Whatever deal Mrs May secures – post-Chequers, the aim is for the softest of soft Brexits – it is a second best outcome. Britain will try to minimise self-harming economic losses while ceasing to shape the continent of which we are part. Instead, there must be a people’s vote in which we can choose to vote for this – or to vote for what is clearly the better option, which is to remain.

The insuperable political and economic difficulty is that the deal Mrs May aims to strike with the EU is inherently unstable – whatever the short-term political gain of creating cabinet unity. Britain will be within the penumbra of the EU – the customs union redubbed the UK-EU free trade area, much of the single market, subject to the European court and overtly accepting the EU’s regulatory directives – but without any ability to influence them. There will be a £39bn price tag, and ongoing payments for shadow EU membership. Jacob Rees-Mogg and his people will be right on one thing: there is no point in leaving if this is all that has been achieved.

Continue reading...

from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2KNcfj5