Can Brexit still be stopped?

The Supreme Court has ruled that the UK government cannot trigger article 50 to leave the EU without an act of Parliament (i.e. a vote on a bill).
So what does that mean? Could Brexit still be stopped?
Well unfortunately it seems very unlikely:
a) the Tories have a working majority in the House of Commons (and they will all or nearly all vote to trigger article 50)
b) there is virtually no opposition.

MPs generally accept the result of the referendum.

The story we are told is: - The people of the UK have spoken and the majority wants to leave the EU. The terms of the exit from the EU will be negotiated by the government. Parliament will then vote and most probably will vote to trigger article 50.

So will this parliamentary vote be irrelevant? 

Well it could lead to some changes in the terms of the deal, with more opposition in the House of Lords, where the Tories don't have a working majority, but ultimately it appears unlikely to block Brexit.

Should Brexit now be considered a fait accompli? 

Well this is where I am struggling. Why shouldn't the "opposition" be opposed to something they don't believe is good for their country?
After all the majority (51.9%) voted to leave in the referendum, but what about the 48.1% who wanted to remain? What about the votes of London? What about the votes of Scotland and of Northern Ireland?
Not to mention the voices of all those people who were not even allowed to vote: anyone below 18 (the generation that will be mostly affected by Brexit) and those who have lived outside the UK for more than 15 years.
Let's not forget that this referendum should never have happened in the first place.
The leave campaign was shocking and many voters were misled to vote leave on the basis of falsehoods (or "alternative facts", as they are now being called in the US). One of these lies was the claim that the EU was costing the UK £350 million a week and that this money could be used to fund the NHS. Of course, many still believe that it is a good idea to leave the EU, but many others strongly oppose this view.

In her Brexit speech of January 17th, Theresa May said: "after all the division and discord, the country is coming together. The referendum was divisive at times. And those divisions have taken time to heal."
I don't believe that the country is coming together. From what I hear and read in the media and social media, the population of the UK is still very divided.
I see many other contradictions and debatable items in Theresa May's speech.
She said that people "voted to leave the European Union and embrace the world". Really?
"June the 23rd was not the moment Britain chose to step back from the world. It was the moment we chose to build a truly Global Britain". I have very strong doubts about that. Surely you can be part of the European Union and be global at the same time. In fact, how can you leave the European Union and still be global?
She also said "You will still be welcome in this country as we hope our citizens will be welcome in yours." That's not the same message that transpires from "controlling immigration from the EU".
Leaving aside all the economic and judicial benefits (including workers' rights) of being in the EU (and consequently in the single market and in the customs union), I believe that the freedom of movement of people is a huge achievement. I consider myself extremely lucky, because I am part of the Erasmus generation. I know the importance of freedom of movement and I and many of my European friends have benefited greatly from this. I was able to live, study and work in four EU countries, one of which is (or was) the UK.
So I am very disappointed to see that the Labour party is simply giving up.
As awful as having Trump as President may be (and I know that four years is plenty of time to disrupt a country, destroy human rights and relations with the rest of the world), in four years' time there will be another election and hopefully by then there will be more suitable candidates.
But if the UK leaves the EU, the single market, the customs union... it will be permanent.
So maybe the vote of the UK Parliament will be irrelevant, but at least the politicians that oppose Brexit could make their voices heard and, more importantly, should make the voices of the people they represent heard.

Brexit means more than Brexit

Following the initial frenzy of activity in the aftermath of the Brexit vote of 23 June 2016, there has been very little information about what Brexit actually means. That was until yesterday, 17 January 2017, when Theresa May laid out her plans for Brexit. And yes it will be a very hard Brexit.

The key points of her speech can be summarised as

1) Not only will the UK (or what's left of it) leave the EU, but it will also leave the single market.

2) The UK will also (partially?) leave the customs union.

3) The UK wants to control immigration from Europe.

4) The UK will withdraw from the European Court of Justice.

5) To the other members of the EU: "You'd better not punish us in the negotiations or else it will hurt you. But let's remain friends, yeah?"- if that's not an open threat, then what is?

6) The UK parliament will get to vote on the EU deal, but apparently whatever happens Britain is leaving the EU.

The European view can be summed up as: "At least now we know what you really want. Good luck to you, but we'll be stronger than ever".

The general consensus in Europe is that it will be Britain who will be worse off, not the EU. 

The Daily Mail called her the "new iron lady" on its front page today. How ironic that in that same venue (Lancaster House) 29 years ago Margaret Thatcher, the iron lady, gave a speech welcoming the creation of the single market. Now Theresa May is set to wipe it all away.


What does it all mean?

Single market: the single or internal market is an area in which goods, services, capital and people can move freely.

Customs union: there are no tariffs imposed on goods when they cross borders between member states. Also, EU members apply the same tariffs to goods from outside the EU and are not allowed to negotiate their own trade deals with third countries. 

It is possible to be a member of just the single market but not the customs union (Norway, Iceland or Lichtenstein). It is also possible to be a member of just the customs union but not the single market (Turkey, Andorra or the Isle of Man). 

European Court of Justice: the ECJ is based in Luxembourg and interprets EU law. It makes sure that EU law is applied in the same way in all EU countries. It can also be used by individuals, companies or organisations to take action against an EU institution if they feel it has infringed their rights. The ECJ does not create EU law. 

Italiano: Der Waldkindergarten - L'asilo nel bosco

E' una gelida mattina di gennaio. La mia app del meteo segna una temperatura di -6 gradi.  Sul marciapiede c'è uno spesso strato di neve e ghiaccio. I passanti imbacuccati si dirigono a passo spedito verso le varie mete (fermata del tram, fermata della metropolitana, scuola, ufficio). Fa troppo freddo per sostare a fare due chiacchiere. Ma mentre esco dall'asilo di mio figlio non posso fare a meno di notare il pullman parcheggiato all'incrocio di fronte ed ai genitori che salutano i figli con la mano.
Come ogni mattina il pullman condurrà un gruppo di bimbi di età tra i tre ed i cinque anni ed i loro insegnanti al bosco fuori città dove faranno colazione, canteranno e giocheranno per circa tre ore fino al momento di ritornare al caldo in asilo. Questi bambini frequentano un Waldkindergarten (asilo nel bosco). L'idea si basa sul fatto che anche se i bambini vivono in città, il bosco è il loro parco giochi ed ogni mattina i genitori li accompagnano al pullman che dopo mezz'ora di strada raggiunge il bosco, in qualsiasi condizione meteorologica. Anche quando la temperatura è di diversi gradi sotto zero. Ovviamente questo tipo di asilo presenta numerosi vantaggi: il bosco è un parco giochi meraviglioso, si respira aria pura, i bambini sono liberi di correre, giocare, osservare il cambio delle stagioni ed imparare nella natura.
Si tratta di un concetto fantastico in primavera, in estate, perfino in autunno. Ma in inverno? A Berlino? So che non è questo il punto, ma io preferisco stare dentro al caldo piuttosto che affrontare il freddo inverno berlinese per tre ore ogni mattina!