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Now that Article 50 has been triggered, isn't Brexit a done deal but for the negotiating? (I'm not in the UK, apologies if this is a common question.) [edit]

Now that Article 50 has been triggered, isn't Brexit a done deal but for the negotiating? (I'm not in the UK, apologies if this is a common question.) [edit] Thanks for the answers!

sideshowb 10y ago
It's possible we could retract Brexit though the legal position is unclear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_50_of_the_Treaty_on_European_Union#Re-entry_or_unilateral_revocation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_50_of_the_Treaty_on_Eu...
Nursie 10y ago
Unclear. Some legal opinions have been proferred that it could be reversible, even though if you read the text of A50 there's no mention of such a mechanism. Personally I would have thought that was something you would want to exclude - article 50 could be used as a tool to extract concessions "We're leavingg unless...". There's apparently a court case in Ireland to try to establish this. Also there's the possibility it could be reversed with unanimous consent from the other 27 members because, when it comes down to it, the members make the rules. It's entirely possible that the UK could be made to leave and reapply though, which would make for many more years of turmoil.
tonyedgecombe 10y ago
There is quite a wide range of opinions on the desired outcome of the negotiations, often referred to as either a soft or hard brexit.
- Silhouette 10y ago
  It's possibly worth mentioning for those not closely following UK news that "soft Brexit" now usually seems to mean "remaining a member of the Single Market", and "hard Brexit" usually seems to mean "anything less than that". I don't personally think this is a very useful distinction. By this definition, a soft Brexit is what for example the Lib Dems are advocating at the moment. However, I think it is also highly unlikely to happen, because to a first approximation it is leaving-in-name-only and thus probably an untenable position for the government to adopt politically. The entire spectrum of other possibilities, from retaining relatively close ties in some respects up to completely walking away with no deal at all, then fall under the single banner of hard Brexit, but treating such widely different possible outcomes as equivalent doesn't seem to be very useful (unless for political reasons you want to try to equate them anyway, I suppose).
  - DanBC 10y ago
    The tea metaphor: "Tea?" "OK, go on." "There's no kettle so I'm burning the house down to heat water." "Now wait a…" "Shut up, I've a clear mandate for tea." https://twitter.com/louisejjohnson/status/829617043582369792 https://twitter.com/louisejjohnson/status/829617043582369792
    - Silhouette 10y ago
      Yes, there's certainly an element of that going on, and it's not surprising that a lot of people are concerned about it. I suppose to be balanced we should also acknowledge the other side's similarly daft argument that they accept that people voted for tea and yet propose a scheme in which you can't buy any of tea bags, tea leaves, a kettle, an urn, or an instant hot water tap, though it's possible that milk or lemon will still be negotiable. :-)
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

Now that Article 50 has been triggered, isn't Brexit a done deal but for the negotiating? (I'm not in the UK, apologies if this is a common question.) [edit] Thanks for the answers!

sideshowb 10y ago

It's possible we could retract Brexit though the legal position is unclear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_50_of_the_Treaty_on_European_Union#Re-entry_or_unilateral_revocation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_50_of_the_Treaty_on_Eu...

Nursie 10y ago

Unclear. Some legal opinions have been proferred that it could be reversible, even though if you read the text of A50 there's no mention of such a mechanism. Personally I would have thought that was something you would want to exclude - article 50 could be used as a tool to extract concessions "We're leavingg unless...". There's apparently a court case in Ireland to try to establish this. Also there's the possibility it could be reversed with unanimous consent from the other 27 members because, when it comes down to it, the members make the rules. It's entirely possible that the UK could be made to leave and reapply though, which would make for many more years of turmoil.

tonyedgecombe 10y ago

There is quite a wide range of opinions on the desired outcome of the negotiations, often referred to as either a soft or hard brexit.

Silhouette 10y ago
It's possibly worth mentioning for those not closely following UK news that "soft Brexit" now usually seems to mean "remaining a member of the Single Market", and "hard Brexit" usually seems to mean "anything less than that". I don't personally think this is a very useful distinction. By this definition, a soft Brexit is what for example the Lib Dems are advocating at the moment. However, I think it is also highly unlikely to happen, because to a first approximation it is leaving-in-name-only and thus probably an untenable position for the government to adopt politically. The entire spectrum of other possibilities, from retaining relatively close ties in some respects up to completely walking away with no deal at all, then fall under the single banner of hard Brexit, but treating such widely different possible outcomes as equivalent doesn't seem to be very useful (unless for political reasons you want to try to equate them anyway, I suppose).
- DanBC 10y ago
  The tea metaphor: "Tea?" "OK, go on." "There's no kettle so I'm burning the house down to heat water." "Now wait a…" "Shut up, I've a clear mandate for tea." https://twitter.com/louisejjohnson/status/829617043582369792 https://twitter.com/louisejjohnson/status/829617043582369792
  - Silhouette 10y ago
    Yes, there's certainly an element of that going on, and it's not surprising that a lot of people are concerned about it. I suppose to be balanced we should also acknowledge the other side's similarly daft argument that they accept that people voted for tea and yet propose a scheme in which you can't buy any of tea bags, tea leaves, a kettle, an urn, or an instant hot water tap, though it's possible that milk or lemon will still be negotiable. :-)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]