Thread by @Usherwood

How much do the programmes of the parties depend on Brexit?

I've mapped this for CON & LAB (other parties to follow)

tl;dr it varies a lot, but it's not a sine qua non for most intended activity

PDFS: CON- drive.google.com/open?id=1nHifM… LAB - drive.google.com/open?id=1dn5Fo…

@UKandEU @DrAlanWager @matt_bevington @SurreyPolitics @anandMenon1 @ProfTimBale @jillongovt @AndrewSparrow To expand on this, I've taken the section headings from the manifestoes and checked how much the pledges require particular relationships with the EU, and then whether that in turn requires specific EU agreement

@UKandEU @DrAlanWager @matt_bevington @SurreyPolitics @anandMenon1 @ProfTimBale @jillongovt @AndrewSparrow The large majority have nothing to do with EU policy or relationships, directly.

However, it's worth noting that until Art.50 is done, there is likely to be very little bandwidth to actively pursue the other stuff, so there is (as we've seen) a environmental effect.

@UKandEU @DrAlanWager @matt_bevington @SurreyPolitics @anandMenon1 @ProfTimBale @jillongovt @AndrewSparrow In the two cases here, the Tories have pitched something much more dependent upon the securing of the WA and a new future relationship with the EU, but absent a text it's hard to gauge whether/how these issues might get entangled

Labour have a much more distant stance

@UKandEU @DrAlanWager @matt_bevington @SurreyPolitics @anandMenon1 @ProfTimBale @jillongovt @AndrewSparrow Still working on the other parties, but fair to say they look a lot more like Labour than the Tories, whatever their Brexit policy

Overall, points to:
- disconnect of Brexit to other policy areas
- limits to what the EU does