Brexit has shown up some fascinating behaviour. Like him or loath him, you have to admire David Cameron’s use of Real Options and the Strategy of Conflict (Game Theory) on Friday Morning. Real Options in the sense that he deferred the commitment to leave the EU until September. That gives the British People three months to scrabble around and find an alternate course of action. “Strategy of Conflict” states that you should never allow the opposition negotiator to speak to the decision maker. Cameron has removed the decision maker from the field. He declared himself a lame duck and that he wont be replaced until September. No one in Britain can negotiate with the EU because we effectively do not have a government.
The EU obviously want the commitment so that they can reduce uncertainty.
We are faced with a situation where we appear to have no options. However, we do. There is no legal commitment on the British Government to leave the EU. The British people have advised them that they would like to be out. At time of writing 2.8 million people have signed a petition asking for another referendum. The Leave campaign cannot oppose this as their defacto leader (Farage) said he would demand another referendum if the vote were as close as it is. By now the lies about the £350 million going to the NHS have been revealed.
What we need now is a proper realisation of where we are. Some of the British people might think they want to leave, but really they do not. Brexit was a protest vote and the message has been received loud and clear. We need to sort out our broken society and get proper jobs into those parts of the country impacted by global changes in the economy.
One of the problems with Leave is that there was never a real discussion about what Leave actually meant. What aspects of the EU were people voting to reject? It would seem that the Leave campaign voters were primarily concerned about immigration and the effects it has on them personally. So negotiation point point one should be that Britain gets a points based immigration system. Now they question should be… how much is that going to cost us. How about Britain funds two hundred thousand refugees (A couple of billion Euros a year) in one the European Countries seeking to increase its economy. In other words, Britain pay to have the points system. That would be a hell of a lot cheaper than the mess we have now. It would also show respect both to the Leave voters of Britain and the EU.
In times of uncertainty, options increase with value. Many people in Britain feel very uncertain. I have a European passport which means I consider myself a European first and British Second. Brexit will possibly result in my being forced to have a British Passport instead. The British Government and the EU are violating my human rights by taking away something from me without my say. In addition, myself and my family lose our human rights as Britain has no such human rights. We need options and I suggest we create the following option though crowd funding.
We need to take a case to the European Court of Human Rights to insist that every European Citizen in Britain is given the option of:
- Dual European / British Nationality, or
- European Nationality, or
- British Nationality.
This is not about the British Government, it is about the European Citizens in Britain. Obviously the Brexit supporters will choose the British Option. My children were born European. I was born British and became European. Should governments have the right to force a new nationality upon me, and take away my rights and options (Options have value)? I do not think so. Leave a comment if you support this idea and I will set up a just giving page to crowdfund it, and find a human rights lawyer to defend us Europeans and our children.
In the words of the Clash “The future is uncertain, know your right”. Human rights as it turns out.
The IT Risk Manager 
June 26th, 2016 at 8:05 am
I think that’s definitely worth a punt!
June 26th, 2016 at 8:12 am
Thanks Ruth for being a first follower. I no longer classify as a lone nut. 🙂
June 26th, 2016 at 8:26 am
Let’s do it
June 26th, 2016 at 8:43 am
Totally agree. So much so I’m now looking at how fast I can get a citizenship in another European country.
The option of a dual passport should definitely be made available to those of us who do not wish to be solely part of a diminished England + Wales.
June 26th, 2016 at 8:57 am
Let’s do it
June 26th, 2016 at 9:35 am
I also wish to be/remain European. My mother was Irish, born in Manchester. My ancestors came from Saxony and, later, Netherlands. My wife is Spanish, living, working, and paying tax/NI since 2001. I will gladly contribute to fund a lawyer to represent us and our rights.
June 26th, 2016 at 11:49 am
Rob, if your mother was Irish you have full rights to claim dual Irish nationality, and keep your EU membership that way. They are very welcoming to anyone who can prove a definite link. HTH.
June 26th, 2016 at 11:46 am
Hi Chris. I really like the article, but I suspect there is one huge flaw in it.
“Europe” is not a sovereign state in its own right, and so cannot issue passports. There is no such thing as a “European Passport” per se. You hold a UK Passport, and the UK is part of the EU, which is subtly different. (Note that this is also why the whole “Take back our Sovereignty” argument by Brexit was totally meaningless hot air)
Of course, I am certainly not an expert in International or EU law, so I could be talking complete rubbish as usual 🙂
June 26th, 2016 at 11:59 am
Hi Chris
I think you might be right, however the devil is in the detail and I suspect we have a good chance of challenging the decision to remove a lot of our rights.
Good call on the Irish nationality.
Chris
June 26th, 2016 at 12:58 pm
Maybe we need a European country to take us in as “Brexfugees”? 🙂
June 26th, 2016 at 12:35 pm
The damage has already been done. The context has changed. Old dominant players are gone. There will be new ones – on both sides of the Channel. Looks like for the next decade Britain will be spending its energy fixing internal confrontations.
June 26th, 2016 at 2:53 pm
I suspect that the UKs problem for the next decade will be emigration rather than immigration.
As a result, in ten years there will be no internal confrontations. 😉
I suspect that the many European countries looking for economic improvement might benefit from Brexit.
June 26th, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Hi Chris. One of my frustrations in this whole debacle is what you’re describing here – that I’m being forced to lose a whole set of my rights as a European ‘citizen’.
London has a very large number of top lawyers. I’m also sure that a majority of them pretty strongly believe in remain. If there isn’t already a group of them getting together to consider legally challenging Brexit then there should be. I’m sure you’re connected to some top lawyers – I’d be fascinated to hear if something like your proposal could be part of their efforts.
June 26th, 2016 at 11:25 pm
I’ve read today (hearsay accepted) that many of these top lawyers are scrambling to register in Dublin so that they can continue to practise EU law in the English language.
Of course, they may soon discover Edinburgh an easier move…
June 27th, 2016 at 6:10 am
Hi Martin
I think many people are seeking certainty. As soon as Scotland can guarantee it will be in the EU, Edinburgh will become a boom town. Especially if Scotland allows dual citizenship. 😉
June 26th, 2016 at 9:58 pm
Hi Chris, Count me in. I’m interested to see what the stretch goals would be for a crowd funding campaign 🙂
June 27th, 2016 at 4:54 pm
Hi Chris, very much interested in this idea. I currently hold a German password, but have lived in the UK for 10 Years so intend to naturalize as British/dual citizen, just to not be forced to leave should this really get messy.
June 28th, 2016 at 8:31 pm
I am interested too…