*Clears throat* Perhaps I can help? [THREAD] 1/9
Despite all the bloviating in the tabloids, what Parliament is debating today is not *whether* we leave the EU. It’s *how* - and who decides our future relationship with Europe. 2/9
The referendum instructed Parliament to leave the EU. But it said nothing – literally *nothing* – about how we work and trade with our neighbours in future. And Leavers – quite legitimately – canvassed lots of different options during the campaign. 3/9
Daniel Hannan, the brains behind the Leave operation, assured voters that “absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the single market”. Owen Paterson, of badger fame, claimed that “only a madman would actually leave the market”. 4/9
Arron Banks, the man who bankrolled Leave.EU, took time out from the Russian Embassy to tweet that “the Norway option looks the best for the UK”. Matthew Elliott, who ran Vote Leave, suggested the EEA might be attractive to business, at least in the short term. 5/9
After the referendum, Theresa May called in her Lancaster House Speech for a “Deep & Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement” with the EU, “covering more sectors & co-operating more fully than any Free Trade Agreement anywhere in the world”. Was that a betrayal of the Leave vote? 6/9
She's also suggested that we keep the European Arrest Warrant, and negotiate associate membership with EURATOM, EU research programmes and the bodies regulating aviation, chemicals and medicine. Is she overturning the will of the people? 7/9
Like it or not, we have to build new trading, security & political relationships with the EU. So who decides what this should look like? We can leave it to the Cabinet, whose members are waging open war on one another. Or we can debate it openly & responsibly in Parliament. 8/9
If Leavers wanted a mandate for a particular *form* of Brexit, they should have put it on the ballot paper. They didn’t: so let's drop the fantasy that only they can articulate "the will of the people". To coin a phrase, it’s time for MPs to “take back control”. 9/9
