Nothing should stand in the way of Brexit

Brexit is under attack from several directions. Of course many people do have legitimate concerns about what Brexit means for them and their families. But Theresa May must not let those issues be hijacked by politicians who want either to stop Brexit or use it tear apart what she has called “our precious Union”. Take the House of Lords. Last week they voted for an amendment to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK. The spirit of this demand, as we report today, has been picked up by the Commons Brexit committee. On paper it is laudable, but it also a smokescreen. Peers tinkered with a Commons-approved bill that was strictly about triggering Article 50 – and a fair agreement on the status of EU nationals can be thrashed out once that has happened. Meanwhile, the EU has made no guarantees about the status of British citizens, which suggests that it is perfectly happy to use them as pawns.

This week the Lords is poised to defeat the Government yet again, this time in order to give Parliament a veto over the Prime Minister’s deal with the EU. It is obvious what is going on. The peers and their Remain allies in the Commons are laying roadblocks to Brexit, either slowing it down or creating the conditions under which it could, theoretically, be undone at a later date.

Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon threatens to demand a second independence referendum if Scotland is not granted a special status within the EU and UK; and a surge in Sinn Féin support in Northern Ireland’s elections puts nationalist opposition to Brexit back on the agenda there, too. The goal of the nationalist parties is different to the peers: they are less interested in stopping Brexit as they are in using it to stoke local opposition to Westminster. But the tactics are similar: to act holier-than-thou and frustrate the Government by raising as many objections as possible.

Mrs May must stand firm. As Tim Stanley writes in this newspaper, she will have to sell Brexit to those parts of the country that did not vote for it – but also convince those who did back Leave that they are not going to be betrayed. Ultimately, the British public voted to exit the EU and nothing should be allowed to stop that. No individual in Parliament or beyond enjoys a mandate to reverse one of the greatest exercises in democracy that Britain has ever seen.