Don’t believe Theresa May. The election won’t change Brexit one bit

[Reyed Mia (Apprentice, DIU)]

Don't believe Theresa May. The election won't change Brexit one bit

Having informed European leaders that Britain is leaving the European Union and, after laying out the UK's negotiating position in a detailed notification letter, the prime minister is now asking the British people how they would like their full English Brexit served. In Brussels, we now wonder who will be joining us at the breakfast table after all.

As a Belgian, I have a long-standing appreciation of surrealism. My colleague, the European council president, Donald Tusk, suggested last week that the script could have been written by Alfred Hitchcock. For me, it is more akin to the unworldly art of Magritte.

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In all likelihood, the Tory manifesto will replicate the prime minister's Brexit white paper and the negotiating position set out by the government's article 50 letter. What then, is the purpose of this Brexit general election?

The BBC video of Brenda from Bristol decrying another political campaign was seen far beyond the white cliffs of Dover. It appears this election is being driven by the opportunism of the party in government, rather than by the people they represent.

We can safely presume that by calling this election, Theresa May does not wish to throw into doubt the result of the referendum, but to solidify her support. Many in Brussels remain concerned that the chances of a deal were being eroded by the prime minister's tough negotiating red lines and her lack of room for manoeuvre domestically, yet there is no guarantee that a sprinkling of additional Conservative MPs on the backbenches will provide this.

The theory espoused by some, that May is calling a general election in order to secure a better deal with the EU, is nonsensical. We can only conclude that many British politicians and the media still don't fathom how article 50 will work. As with the referendum, which many European leaders saw as a Tory cat fight that got out of control, I have little doubt many on the continent see this election as again motivated by the internal machinations of the Tory party.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/22/dont-believe-theresa-may-election-wont-change-brexit