Theresa May has written an open letter to the British public about the latest government proposal for the terms of departure from the EU.
The letter is very short of details and full of lies.
The entire text of the letter is re-produced below (in italics) with responses inserted.
“When I became your prime minister the United Kingdom had just voted to leave the European Union.”
The British people did not vote for May to be prime minister.
Some parts of the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, some did not. Examples of the latter include Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
“From my first day in the job, I knew I had a clear mission before me – a duty to fulfil on your behalf: to honour the result of the referendum and secure a brighter future for our country by negotiating a good Brexit deal with the EU.”
There has never been a single day, single speech or single sentence from May that expressed clarity on Brexit during her tenure as prime minister.
May voted for (and had campaigned for) Remain; thus, it is a self-contradiction that she states that departure from the EU gives Britain a “brighter future.”
Every step of her “negotiation” with the EU has been a sorry mess riven with impossibilities, contradictions and lies.
“Throughout the long and complex negotiations that have taken place over the last year and a half, I have never lost sight of that duty.”
The “long and complex negotiations” have been a series of on-the-hoof daft ideas by a variety of ministers, most of whom departed abruptly and contentiously before the job was done.
“Today, I am in Brussels with the firm intention of agreeing a Brexit deal with the leaders of the other 27 EU nations.”
The EU will say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to whatever May says. That is all the EU is offering her.
“It will be a deal that is in our national interest – one that works for our whole country and all of our people, whether you voted ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’.“
The deal has been rejected resoundingly by both remainers and leavers in Britain.
“It will honour the result of the referendum.”
“We will take back control of our borders, by putting an end to the free movement of people once and for all. Instead of an immigration system based on where a person comes from, we will build one based on the skills and talents a person has to offer.”
If immigration will be “based on the skills and talents a person has to offer” why are doctors and teachers leaving Britain, some by instruction from the Home Office.
What “skills and talents” did Meghan Markle have to offer?
“We will take back control of our money, by putting an end to vast annual payments to the EU.”
Will these “vast annual payments” be greater than the multitude of extra costs incurred due to not being in the EU?
“Instead, we will be able to spend British taxpayers’ money on our own priorities, like the extra £394 million per week that we are investing in our long-term plan for the NHS.”
The Tories are systematically destroying the NHS. The constant lies and deceptions about “investments” have been eviscerated many times.
“And we will take back control of our laws, by ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK. In future, our laws will be made, interpreted and enforced by our own courts and legislatures.”
EU laws on food safety, workers’ safety, workers’ statutory rights, human rights are going to be binned.
“We will be out of EU programmes that do not work in our interests: out of the common agricultural policy, that has failed our farmers, and out of the common fisheries policy, that has failed our coastal communities.”
Britain doesn’t produce enough food to feed the population.
“Instead, we will be able to design a system of agricultural support that works for us and we will be an independent coastal state once again, with full control over our waters.”
Britain doesn’t produce enough food to feed the population.
“The deal also protects the things we value. EU citizens who have built their lives in the United Kingdom will have their rights protected, as will UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU.”
EU citizens are being kicked out of Britain every day including those married to British citizens and with British-born children.
“A free trade area will allow goods to flow easily across our borders, protecting the many skilled jobs right across the country that rely on integrated supply chains.”
Like the, er, Common Market?
“Because our European friends will always be our allies in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, the deal will ensure that security co-operation will continue, so we can keep our people safe.”
Almost all terrorism in Britain in recent years has been perpetrated by British citizens.
Britain has “security co-operation” with countries outside of the EU and outside of Europe. Whatever deal May claims to have concocted for Brexit bears no relationship to international “security co-operation.”
“As prime minister of the United Kingdom, I have from day one been determined to deliver a Brexit deal that works for every part of our country – for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, for our Overseas Territories like Gibraltar, and also for the Crown dependencies.”
May has flapped about ever more desperately for over two years as proposal after proposal was immediately shafted and chucked and minister after minister scarpered.
“This deal will do that.”
This deal will do nothing that isn’t better done in the EU.
“Crucially, it will protect the integrity of our United Kingdom and ensure that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland – so people can live their lives as they do now.”
For how long will there be no “hard border?”
“It is a deal for a brighter future, which enables us to seize the opportunities that lie ahead. Outside the EU, we will be able to sign new trade deals with other countries and open up new markets in the fastest-growing economies around the world.”
The EU is able to “sign new trade deals with other countries.” If Britain is in competition with the EU to acquire “new trade deals with other countries” then the EU is in a stronger negotiating position than Britain.
“With Brexit settled, we will be able to focus our energies on the many other important issues facing us here at home: keeping our economy strong, and making sure every community shares in prosperity; securing our NHS for the future, giving every child a great start in life, and building the homes that families need; tackling the burning injustices that hold too many people back, and building a country for the future that truly works for everyone.”
A recent UN report highlighted gross inequality and enormous levels of poverty in Britain, issues that will not be helped by leaving the EU.
The Tories are systematically destroying the NHS for the benefit of their privateer vulture friends, as they are doing with all public services.
The Tories have removed funding for further and higher education.
The Tories have prevented council homes being built and have allowed developers to lie about building affordable homes.
All the economic injustices in Britain right now are direct consequences of deliberate Tory policy. The EU did not enforce these injustices. The Tories have no intention of changing any of them; they intend to use the departure from the EU as an opportunity to make things worse.
“On 29 March next year, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. We will then begin a new chapter in our national life. I want that to be a moment of renewal and reconciliation for our whole country.”
The first thing that will happen after departure is a general election.
“It must mark the point when we put aside the labels of ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ for good and we come together again as one people.”
“Come together?” Tory political strategy is infused with division.
“To do that we need to get on with Brexit now by getting behind this deal.”
It’s a mess that satisfies no-one.
“Parliament will have the chance to do that in a few weeks’ time when it has a meaningful vote on the deal I hope to strike today. I will be campaigning with my heart and soul to win that vote and to deliver this Brexit deal, for the good of our United Kingdom and all of our people.”
The “heart and soul campaigning” has included handing out a knighthood to an influential Tory MP who doesn’t (currently) like May’s deal, as a bribe.
Recommended reading
Theresa May’s Actual Open Letter by Lizzie Fletcher for Unity News.
Steve Bullock’s reply as a twitter thread.
Joseph Guthrie’s response for Media Diversified
InFacts factcheck
ducksoap 