Blast from the Past: The Truth about Brexit

Here’s the truth about Brexit, the so-called ‘punishment’ narrative that some claim the EU wants to inflict on us, the horrifying consequences of a ‘no deal’ scenario, and the dangers inherent to any Brexit deal.

NOTE: The material below was first published in late 2018, when the shape of a future Brexit deal was still up for grabs, and when there was still some uncertainty about whether Brexit would even happen or not. It’s worth revisiting to see that there were plenty of warnings about what awaited us in our new life outside the EU… Also, because of the sabre-rattling surrounding the NI Protocol and Article 16, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that we may yet catapult ourselves even now into a no-deal Brexit scenario through sheer bloody-mindedness.

Article 50 shreds all our legal relationships with the EU

In order to leave the EU, the UK has to follow the rules laid down in Article 50 (a short section of the Treaty on European Union). Article 50 sets out the protocol by which any country that has made a sovereign decision to leave the EU can do so. It’s worth noting that the UK was fully involved in agreeing Article 50. A Brit (Lord Kerr) even drafted it. Article 50 was introduced in 2009, 7 years before the Brexit referendum.

The third rule of Article 50 states that all EU treaties will automatically cease to apply to a country exactly 2 years after it invokes Article 50. In the case of the UK, that will be on…