Tomorrow morning, Nick Clegg will launch the latest in his series of papers looking at the main issues around Brexit.
He will be covering the issue of security and will look at things like the loss of the European Arrest Warrant and the impact on things like child custody cases and criminal record checks.
This is the fifth paper he has put together as part of his Brexit Challenge to the Government since his appointment as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in the Summer. The first three can be found here.
He started off in July with a paper that looked at the issues around access to the single market.
Then he looked at what Brexit means for the UK’s trading relationships.
In October, he outlined what Brexit would mean for the food and drinks sector.
Then last month he tackled the big issue of freedom of movement, saying:
Few people understand the complexities of our relationship with the EU as Nick. He has seen it from inside the European Commission when he worked for the UK’s Trade Commissioner and negotiated trade deals on behalf of the EU with places like China. Then he was an MEP and his five years as Deputy PM gives him an unrivalled experience of how these things work.
We’ll be looking in more detail at the new paper when it is launched in the morning.
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14 Comments
Nick needs to provide some more practical answers, rather than pointing out how difficult everything is.
Brexit is a sorry affair. It’s dividing families as some migrants no longer really want to live here because of the increase in racism whilst other people see Britain as their only decent option.
What can we do? Support a soft-brexit, I say, but the damage is already being done, within families and to the country.
It would be good to have a paper that looked at the impact of Brexit on local government. It will hit hard.
Investment, jobs, training, H.E, addressing market failure, Blue Economy, Science and a whole host of other areas that Brexit will affect are rooted in local areas and are not just an overarching national issue. As well as looking at the effect of Brexit, tackling real problems and providing solutions will be paramount for local councils.
Flo, it’s probably worth mentioning that the LGA is researching the whole area that you are rightly concerned about.
In fact, as one of two Lib Dems on the LGA Resources Board (where Cllr Claire Hudson is lead member) I’m on a cross-party Resources Board EU Working Group.
There’s likely to be a public paper from the LGA in the spring.
As chair of governors of a single form entry primary school in London, I am worried about the cuts in funding we can see coming down the line. I sense that the deterioration in public finances directly attributable to Brexit must be a considerable factor in this. So yes, the impact of Brexit on all sectors of education – and local government – should be highlighted.
Todays Ipsos Mori Poll, at last a poll repesenting the real position!
From today’s Ipsos MORI phone poll for the Standard
Con 40 (-2)
Lab 29 (-4)
LD 14 (+4)
UKIP 9 (+2
GRN 3 (nc)
Eddie Sammon: “Nick needs to provide some more practical answers, rather than pointing out how difficult everything is.”
Nick already has provided a practical and complete answer to all of the problems that Brexit brings: don’t Brexit.
That solution was rejected on 23rd June.
It’s for those who claimed that we could sail over the obstacles in Brexit, that they already had solutions to all the problems, to produce them. They should be showing that they weren’t just making stuff up, rather than Nick joining them in denying reality.
“I sense that the deterioration in public finances directly attributable to Brexit must be a considerable factor in this. ”
My cat coughed up furr-balls this morning.
Damn those knuckle dragging Brexiteers…!
If only Clegg had a shred of credibility with the public, perhaps he could even debate Farage, oh wait, we’ve been there and still we keep having to let the person who crashed the car carry on driving.
Caracatus makes a very good point.
Whether there are good points being made or not. Clegg still has a credibility deficient with the public and is not a good vessel to be making pro-european points.
The same would apply to blair if he chooses to become involved with brexit issue.
For both it is a deadly combination of being seen to be representative of a discredited metropolitan elite/professional politician and having the bond of trust with the public irrevocably broken due to past issues (neither will ever be trusted again).
Brexit is a patently bad idea and for that reason alone we should keep pressing the remain cause. As the implications of Brexit become clear we can paint the Conservatives as a party bad for business, the economy, jobs and the deficit and we can paint the Labour Party as their willing assistants for failing to sound the alarm.
We should set our stall out as safeguarding the countries economic future by remaining in the EU whilst also pledging ourselves to an industrial strategy that will raise the economic fortunes of millions in places like the Midlands that voted for Brexit.
Just to add to this I don’t think all Brexiteers hate the idea of Europe in place like the Midlands they want better living standards and are often simply looking for change. Labour has failed those voters which is why a more interventionist approach from the Lib Dems coupled with support for remain could win support across the U.K.
I am very much looking forward to reading Nick’s detailed reports. For two reasons I donot agree with Eddie Sammon who has said more practical suggestions are required at this stage. The first is that you cannot offer a cure until you have made a proper diagnosis of the problem. The second is that he cannot possibly offer any practical suggestions until the government has– at the very least– revealed its goals and negotiating strategy.
Also, I do not agree that Nick Clegg is not the right v3ehicle for delivering Lib Dem policy on Brexit. His experience both in Brussels and in government make him an invaluable knowledge asset. We should exploit him to the fullest.
Finally, I think it would be useful if Caratacus made some useful practical suggetions for a change.
Nick Clegg of course has invaluable experience & knowledge of Brussels and government which naturally we should utilise. But he is an electoral liability. Swap the virtual world of LDV for a doorstep in the South West or probably a great many other places and this is undeniable. At a time when the Lib Dems are being given a second chance, largely via the ineptitude of any other opposition, it is essential that we don’t mess it up. Nick Clegg is associated with Coalition, school fees and 8% in a general election. Tim Farron is the future of our party. Yet who has greater name recognition with the voting public? We need to do all we can to change this and move forwards.
I’ve read the summary of Nick Clegg’s long report but my heart struggles to be convinced by it. Nick Clegg admits himself that he gets emotional about the EU and it doesn’t sound to me like someone talking with purely political strategy and Britain’s national interest in mind. It sounds like someone trying to promote the EU, rather than simply analyse it.
I’ll admit myself that my own decisions are clouded by emotion, and by own emotional response to this is to think we need someone who stands up for Britain more, someone willing to annoy some people in the EU, rather than think being awkward is always bad politics.