GENERAL ELECTION 2017 KEY ISSUES
WHEN Theresa May called the General Election she said it was necessary for the people to choose a Prime Minister to lead the negotiations to take the UK out of the EU.
Brexit dominated the early part of the campaign and the four main parties have differing views.
The party policy of the Conservatives, Labour, LibDems and SNP was to remain in the EU although some people from all four were in favour of a leave vote.
The election tomorrow can be traced back to David Cameron calling the EU referendum in the first place.
Having lost the vote, he resigned. Theresa May took over and then called the election, seeking a mandate for the looming talks – having triggered Article 50 to leave.
The Tory policy on Brexit is somewhat fuzzy to say the least, with Theresa May going from stating ‘Brexit means Brexit’, to wanting to get the best deal possible on trade and how much Britain will have to pay in a ‘divorce settlement’ but refusing to say what that would be.
The manifesto states: “We will no longer be members of the single market or custom union but we will seek a deep and special partnership including a comprehensive free trade and customs agreement”.
It talks of a “fair settlement” of the UK’s rights and obligations and says there “may be a specific contribution” from the UK to the EU for some programmes the UK wants to participate in.
Theresa May also says “no deal is better than a bad deal” which would mean the UK resorting to World Trade Organisation rules with trade tariffs.
Scottish Labour takes a different approach, and says leaving with no deal is the “worst possible” outcome.
It wants to rip up the Tories plan for Brexit so far and start anew.
Its manifesto states: “We will scrap the Tories Brexit White Paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the single market and customs union.”
The SNP go further and want Scotland to remain in the single market even if the rest of the UK leaves.
Nicola Sturgeon says leaving the single market could cost 80,000 jobs in Scotland.
The SNP manifesto states: “That is why the Scottish Government published proposals that would keep Scotland in the single market, even as we leave the EU.”
The LibDems want another referendum to be held on the deal that is negotiated to leave the EU to allow the British people to accept or reject it. It would include an alternative option of staying in the EU on the ballot paper.
How this would work with article 50 having been triggered and Britain due to leave by March 2019, is unclear.