“As you would expect from an independent nation, we can’t be subject to the rules and laws made by somebody else"
Really? That could have some rather far reaching consequences...
theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…
Really? That could have some rather far reaching consequences...
theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…
If we can't be subject to rules and laws made by someone else then that's bad news for football fans, because we're going to have to pull out of FIFA. One of their most important rules is non-interference by governments in football... sportlicitors.com/sports-law-for…
"we can’t accept rulings in terms of court cases from the European court of justice or anybody else, any more than the US would" is another line. So does that mean we side with the US in rejecting the WTO appellate body? csis.org/programs/schol…
Some argue the UK should "lead the defence of free, fair, rules-based international trade" which seems at odds with rejecting rulings from international bodies. Which dangerous radical was that? Liz Truss as Secretary of State for International Trade... gov.uk/government/spe…
If we stay in the WTO that means we can after all accept rules and laws made by others. Just a European problem? "UEFA has been forced to accept the primacy of European law and its application to the activities of football organisations"
jcer.net/index.php/jcer…
jcer.net/index.php/jcer…
Or is the problem of this government being subject to an organisation over which we have no say as members? In which case surely they couldn't have signed an agreement which said this... oops, signed just over a month ago... 
Meanwhile I'm still not sure what this absolute independence means for membership of NATO, the UN, the Council of Europe...
Anyway the Brexiteer response is to pretend we're not talking about some daft arbitrary government approach but embittered remainers seeking dynamic alignment. Because easier to deliberately misrepresent than to engage...
Didn't really come to a conclusion on UK 'independence' but the principle is really simple - all countries sign up to agreements that affect their rights to do exactly as they please. So the question is what you do and don't sign up to - each to be judged on their own merits.
PS unfortunately as far as I can tell even an absolute commitment to regulatory independence would not preclude the UK from annual Eurovision humiliation...
