Gary's News and views

Gary Streeter MP for South West Devon

Gary writes a weekly article which appears in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here.

 

Thursday 5 May 2016

IT COULD NEVER HAPPEN HERE!

5000/1 outsiders Leicester City winning the Premier league? Don't be ridiculous.

Confirmed left-winger Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour Party. Pull the other one. Mad Mogul Donald Trump one step away from becoming Republican nominee for US President? It can't possibly happen.

What else might be lurking around the corner that might take our breath away? Let me try one on you.

On 23rd June despite the recent telephone polls suggesting that the Remain vote will prevail in the referendum on EU membership, the Leave campaign sneak a surprise win.

The pound plummets, the stock market falls, the Bank of England raises interest rates to stabilise our currency and over the following weekend, David Cameron and George Osborne both announce their intention to stand down within three months as they cannot negotiate an exit in which they do not believe. The Scottish leader immediately announces the intention to hold a unilateral referendum in Scotland (which voted 75% to remain in the EU) to leave the UK so it can apply for ongoing EU membership.

The Conservative Party is pitched into a bitter leadership election out of which Boris Johnson emerges as the clear victor, entering Downing Street in October 2016, vowing to negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU, without free movement of people. Several international companies have announced their intention to quit the EU and our economy has fallen into recession. Interest rates are raised yet again to try to keep the pound from falling to parity with the Euro.

The Labour Party remains in turmoil, with its sensible members trying to find a way to get rid of a leader who they deem to be unelectable and incapable of doing the job. The Lib-Dems remain stubbornly at 7% in the opinion polls.

Boris eventually returns from Brussels after several all-night sessions to report to a fractious House of Commons that our former EU partners will not budge an inch: we can have a free trade area like Norway and have to pay for it and comply with the single market rules including free movement of travel. Or we can have a quasi-free trade agreement like Canada still containing all kinds of tariffs and quotas on certain goods. They cannot give us a special deal because it would encourage other countries to go down the same route.

"We are stuffed" Boris announces to the Commons.

Don't worry - none of this can possibly happen?


posted by Gary @ 09:09