I was tempted to conduct a poll but thought better of it as it would create too many arguments in itself. There are potentially 17.4 million different versions of Brexit, assuming that nobody has changed their mind since June 2016, of course. There are also a few versions of Remain too, I might add.
I have deliberately started a new thread for this having spent several days on the merged thread and made the following observations:
● Views appear more polarised than they probably are in reality.
● Arguments are repetitive or circular other than to reflect recent events, current state of play in negotiations, statements made by the key political players and industrialists/those representing other interests.
● The vast majority of participants are opposed to Brexit in all its possible forms.
● Nobody is illiterate or semi-literate and the standard of debate here is generally higher than that to be found in mainstream social media.
● A few individuals (maybe it's only one?) seem a little fact-shy or taken with 'alternative facts' and conspiracy theories. Either they genuinely believe such things or they hope others might if they share them.
This is the Leave/Remain spectrum as I see it outlined below. You are free to adopt your own unique position upon this spectrum. Indeed, that is the point of this thread:
1) The EU is a corrupt and failed organism which is doomed to collapse soon. I believe in the absolute sovereignty of nation states. The UK should exit as soon as possible without a withdrawal agreement or any other terms of surrender. Even if we have to eat grass and skin rats in order to survive we will be free.
2) The EU is ok for continentals but not for us British/English. We are different and our destiny lies out there in the big wide world. We should be a free and sovereign nation and we can make a success of our new-found independence given time and sacrifice. We should leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement as any other option is not truly leaving and we won't reap the full benefits of a full and clean Brexit.
3) We should be prepared to Leave without a withdrawal agreement if it gives us a chance of getting a better deal. No deal is better than a bad deal. A good deal is a Canada-style deal with little or no regulatory alignment. There is no point in leaving if we are simply going to be rule-takers. Ireland should not be used as an excuse to stop us leaving the customs union and single market but we will try to find a solution if there is one.
(There is a position somewhere between 2 and 3 above where the intended landing point is at 2 but we go through the motions of trying to achieve 3 in order to maximise support).
4) Leave the customs union and single market but instead have a deep and special relationship with the EU as an independent state. However, there is to be some degree of regulatory alignment on issues like the environment, worker and consumer rights and food safety. Implement or at least match the requirements of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive. The Irish backstop will kick in in the event of not being able to find any alternative solution either for the island of Ireland only or for the whole of the UK depending on whether we need the DUP or not.
5) Leave the single market but maintain regulatory alignment and stay in the customs union as this is the only way we can protect the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. We would also benefit from the EU's recent trade agreements with the likes of Japan and Canada.
6) Some sort of bespoke arrangement with the EU like Switzerland has. Parlianent would be free to terminate any or all bilateral agreements made with the EU at any time mindful of the consequences of so doing. Ireland could be treated separately in order not to undermine the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
7) Join EFTA, stay in the single market but leave the customs union. Northern Ireland would stay in the CU and there would be light border controls similar to those between Norway and Sweden down the Irish Sea.
8) Remain in the EU under current terms without any commitment to "ever closer union." Use our influence to reform the EU.
9) Maximise our potential to reform the EU by becoming a full participant in the project, committed to ever closer union, joining Schengen and the euro at some point.
My position is between 8 and 9. I want 9 but accept that there is little support for it in the UK.
If we implemented the rules of Schengen properly and made sure that all citizens were registered and carried ID, (it doesn't have to be Tony Blair's super-expensive ID scheme) it could work. Freedom of movement should be for labour + dependents. That is how it works in other member states and that is why you rarely, if ever, see a homeless person in Germany who is not German. EU migrants who cannot sustain themselves can and should be deported to their country of origin in accordance with the original provisions of the Treaty of Rome, at least until they have lived in the host member state for a period of time and contributed towards its welfare system.
Free education and healthcare should be available to all regardless.
Please adopt the numbered position above which matches your own the closest, before defining your own in more detail.
Mine is just an example.
