Brexit - Triggering Article 50

Acting on the 'will of the people' or the 27% of the UK population voting to leave the EU in an advisory referendum, the UK government has now triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, initiating a 2 year period of negotiations between the UK government and the European Union. Several Parliamentary Select Committees have taken evidence and issued reports that raise numerous and compelling concerns on the UK exiting the EU. White papers were produced by the Scottish and Welsh Governments modelling the impacts of Brexit on their respective countries and unsurprisingly brexit would have negative impacts. Under pressure from Parliament the UK Government produced a Brexit white paper  that provided no clarity and the BBC commented on one glaring error -

"The slip perhaps reflects a possible rush to publish the White Paper with metadata on the file suggesting it was still being worked on at 04:15 GMT.stated."

The Scottish Parliament has now voted for another Independence referendum with an ambition to stay within the EU. I can't say that I blame them.

I am still none the wiser on any potential benefit of the UK exiting the EU except for an alarming claim that the UK could turn into the worlds largest tax haven and deregulated financial centre. Nonetheless the UK electorate continue to align with the 'populist rhetoric' of right wing individuals and an agenda set by a right wing press. The glimmer of hope is that Article 50 is revocable if the 'will of the people' changes.

The silver lining to the brexit cloud may be the environmental benefits, as the UK farming industry unfettered from EU market protectionism will be exposed to WTO rules, which in simple terms means there could be a large surplus of uneconomical agricultural land that can be restored for nature.