Voting UKIP is the only way to ensure Brexit happens

Theresa May has secured a vote for a general election and the country will go to the polls on 8th June.

The Tories will be hoping to capitalise on an unprecedented 24% lead over Labour in the opinion polls and wipe out any opposition in the House of Commons. Conservatives and even some UKIP activists are flooding social media with calls to vote Conservative to deliver Brexit, echoing Theresa May's misleading comments yesterday. But this is not the way to get what we want.

Theresa May has a working majority in the House of Commons but she has a problem - the majority of her MPs are pro-EU. Thus far she has managed to keep a lid on rebellions because Brexit is two years away and MPs will be hoping to spend those two years watering it down. As independence day gets closer and a so-called "hard" Brexit becomes more likely she will face more opposition from her own ranks and it could well be blocked by MPs. Bye bye legacy.

What Theresa May tells us is that she needs the country to return a big Conservative majority so she has a mandate to deliver Brexit. She already has a mandate from last year's referendum but let's just explore this idea a little further. Her problem is that most of her MPs don't support Brexit and that's because the Conservatives are a pro-EU party and the majority of their candidates at the last election were Remainers. Most MPs and PPCs will be contesting the same seats they did two years ago which virtually guarantees a Remain majority once again. She will increase her majority but in doing so she will load the dice even more in Remain's favour.

So if an increased majority is going to make delivering Brexit harder, why is she risking an election now when the result is actually not as certain as the opinion polls might suggest and when the two post-referendum parliamentary by-elections that have been held have shown that Brexit is largely irrelevant when it comes to who people vote for? Because an increased Conservative majority in June will give them 5 years unopposed to do whatever they want to the country. We'll be out of the EU in 2 years' time if everything pans out as it should and then it's three years to the next election during which time the Tories will have no effective opposition.

Only yesterday the papers were talking about a proposal to introduce special immigration rules so EU citizens won't face restrictions if they want to come and work in coffee shops. There are 1.6m unemployed already living here and Theresa May's government thinks we need to import baristas from eastern Europe. Theresa May's government is handing over £12bn a year in foreign aid while tens of thousands of people in this country get fed by food banks. Hundreds of thousands of disabled people are losing their independence thanks to changes Theresa May's government are making to disability benefits. This is what Theresa May wants you to vote for in June.

If the Tories are serious about delivering Brexit they have nothing to fear from UKIP MPs who will support legislation that will deliver Brexit. And if they're serious about Brexit they will, of course, stand aside for UKIP in the 120 seats that UKIP came second in in 2015 to maximise the number of Brexit-supporting MPs in June. But they won't.

The best outcome from this general election is for UKIP to hold the balance of power, supporting the Conservatives in delivering Brexit and holding them to account for the rest of their platform. Tactical voting doesn't work, it just helps someone you don't want to win. Voting UKIP is the only way to ensure a Brexit majority in the House of Commons and an effective opposition.

UKIP - Job done or only just started?

With the resignation of both Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless, many in the media are now saying that UKIP has achieved its goal and it is no longer relevant on the political landscape.

Indeed, the aforementioned Mr Carswell has been gloating on his Twitter feed about a council byelection in his area where the Tories have taken a seat from UKIP , claiming that many Kippers think ‘job done’.

So, what is the reality? With the triggering of Article 50 and the initial founding reason for UKIP (Leaving the EU) looking like a reality, what have UKIP got left to offer?

BREXIT

Firstly, our withdrawal from the EU is not as cut and dried as it may seem. Never forget that two thirds of the MP’s at Westminster backed remain and that the Prime Minister has a very slim majority.

We are already seeing talk of a ‘soft’ or ‘hard’ BREXIT when the reality is that, in the words of our London MEP Gerard Batten, BREXIT means Exit.

This kind of pigeonholing, picked up by the mainstream media, is being used by the pro EU MP’s as a way of making the people feel that doing what was proposed during the Referendum (Withdrawal from the Single market, removing the authority of the European Court of Justice and putting in place a sensible migration policy) will be difficult and harm our country after we leave.

Indeed, in recent weeks we have seen significant backsliding by the Tories on a number of points – They are talking of ‘transitional’ periods where  open door migration will continue, the suggestion that our territorial fishing waters may be part of the ‘negotiation’ over trade and that the Prime Minister herself wants to continue with the iniquitous European Arrest Warrant (EAW) that has been almost useless in the fight against terrorism.

The EAW is an affront to our basic rights under English law and has resulted in serious miscarriages of justice in many cases – Google the likes of Andrew Symeou, Deborah Dark and Alexander Adamescu to see how Habeus Corpus, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, is totally undermined by this draconian piece of legislation, originally implemented by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary.

It was UKIP pressure that brought us the referendum in the first place – with the LibDems pushing to overturn the referendum result and Labour totally divided and incoherent on the subject, only a strong UKIP electoral threat can ensure that BREXIT is a success and implemented in an acceptable way for the people of the UK.

Labour’s confusion can be seen on this short video from Nathan Gill MEP where they opposed UKIP amendments in the European Parliament to the EU BREXIT Resolution, including them opposing our ability to strike free trade agreements and protecting both EU and UK citizens rights during the negotiations

The UK political alternatives

UKIP are the only party since 1906 to have won a national election other than Labour and the Conservatives (The 2014 EU elections).

If we are no longer relevant and past our function, who will oppose those two parties on behalf of the people of England and the UK? The Liberal Democrats have already shown in their 5 year stint as coalition partners to the Tories that they will sacrifice principle for power (Tuition fees, a fudged referendum on electoral reform, etc) and their new clothes as ‘The Party of In’ is in direct opposition to the will of the people.

Labour are no longer a cohesive opposition – weak leadership, contradictory messages on policy, lack of a sensible economic policy that is run by a man who nearly bankrupted London in the 1980’s and their slavish adherence to the failed doctrine of multiculturalism will see them in the electoral wilderness for many years.

The Greens? They are even further to the ‘left’ of politics than Labour and dress up their Marxist policies in the veneer of caring for the planet – yet they support open door migration (Which damages the environment through overpopulation) and the one council that they have run in Brighton produced almost the worst recycling figures for any local authority in England in contradiction of their supposed aims.

UKIP have a full independently costed manifesto from 2015 that is neither to the left or right of British politics and reflects the concerns and priorities of the majority of the people of our country.

The Future post BREXIT

UKIP have always been a radical, campaigning party. We have taken policies that have resonated with the man in the street and put them in to the mainstream of the political debate, from the EU to migration to Grammar Schools. Our electoral threat has forced the government in to taking UKIP policies seriously, even incorporating some of them in to their programmes (Although they will talk about and pay lip service to them whereas we would implement those policies)

Whilst leaving the EU was the founding aim of UKIP, our transformation from single issue campaign group to fully fledged political party happened a number of years ago and has been reflected in a rise of support to the extent that nearly four million people voted for us in the last General Election (More than the SNP and Liberal Democrats combined)

Whilst there is no doubt that the last year has been difficult with two leadership elections and the loss of elected representatives and members who see our mission as complete, a rebrand and refocus on to our other policies is currently underway.

We have not fought to get away from the clutches of an undemocratic, unelected and aloof EU establishment only to put power in to the hands of a disconnected establishment at Westminster – our aim now is to make our country more democratic and increasingly to put power back in to the hands of the people at a local level.

With interference from Brussels removed, we will campaign to roll back the dead hand of the state on our everyday lives, championing the small and medium sized businesses that will drive the growth of our economy post BREXIT.

Unlike the government who had to do a dramatic U turn on their plans to increase tax on the self employed, we will be the party that empowers people to take control of their own lives and build the businesses of tomorrow in the outward looking, globally trading and independent country that we will become in the 21st Century.

Our plans to take people on the minimum wage out of taxation altogether will put money in to the pockets of those striving to better themselves and remove the need for the complex in work benefits system that rewards the big corporations with a cheap, subsidised workforce at the taxpayers expense.

Unlike the establishment political parties, UKIP are proud of our country and believe in our values and traditions. We will be the only party brave enough to speak out about political correctness and challenge the rise of the Radical Islamist ideology that threatens our community cohesion and way of life, championing an overarching British identity that binds us together as one community irrespective of race, religion or gender.

We will speak up for our armed forces and our veterans, giving them the respect and funding that they deserve. The other parties shy away from this as they feel there are not many votes in it – our support is based on what is the right thing to do, not on extra points at the ballot box.

UKIP will strive to mend our broken electoral system, championing electoral reform and finally giving England an equal voice within the Union. Our aim is to give the same level of representation that is enjoyed by Scotland through their Parliament and Wales & Northern Ireland via their assemblies, building a Union fit for the future built on partnership and mutual recognition.

At a local level, we will champion the voice of the ordinary man and woman, giving them the right to recall their MP if they are not satisfied with performance and legally binding referendums on matters of importance if enough people support it via petition.

We will continue to oppose vanity projects such as HS2 and the Heathrow Third Runway, putting the money saved in to improving our infrastructure overall and benefiting the many rather than corporate interests and a privileged few,

UKIP are the new political force in 21st Century Britain, a People’s Army driven by your wishes and aspirations rather than big corporations, public sector trade unions and unaccountable bureaucrats – join or support us as we look to a bright future for our country after we leave the clutches of the overbearing and obsolete European Union

Article 50 triggered

Theresa May's letter has been handed to Donald Tusk, we're on our way out.

It's UK Independence Day

Later today Sir Tim Barrow - the UK's ambassador to the EU - will hand a letter to the President of the EU Council, Donald Tusk, signed by Theresa May notifying him that the UK is leaving the EU.

All the dithering, vexatious legal challenges, attempts to undermine democracy and relentless negative campaigning have been in vain and Article 50 will be invoked at 12:30 today.

There will follow up to two years of posturing and scaremongering before we finally withdraw from the EU superstate. The negotiations may or may not lead to a post-independence deal being agreed between the UK and the EU but it doesn't really matter. Trading with the EU under WTO terms like most of the world does will be cheaper than remaining in the EU with the added bonus that we don't have unelected bureaucrats in Brussels making our laws for us.

Wrap up warm because we're going to be buried by snowflakes today!

Article 50 process will start on 29th March

Queen gives royal assent to Brexit Bill, it's time Theresa May stopped dithering

The Queen gave royal assent to the Brexit bill today, paving the way for Theresa May to invoke Article 50 and begin the process of taking the UK out of the EU.

The Prime Minister still hasn't given a date when she will send the letter informing the EU that we are leaving, leading to yet more speculation about her motives. Is she hoping that it will be delayed again by vexatious legal challenges from the likes of anti-democracy campaigner Gina Miller who has promised to try to block Brexit again?

There really is no excuse for dragging this process out any further. The Prime Minister needs to move quickly if we are to avoid the next EU referendum and paying unnecessary membership fees. For every week that Theresa May delays invoking Article 50 we make a net contribution to the EU of a quarter of a billion pounds. That's almost the entire budget for transport being spent on an organisation that we voted to leave 9 months ago.

House of Lords pass Brexit Bill, nothing stands in the way of Brexit now other than Theresa May

The House of Lords have backed down on their wrecking amendment to the Brexit bill after the Commons rejected them and have passed it unamended.

Peers had passed amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill that would have given parliament another vote at the end of the negotiation process and unilaterally guaranteed the rights of EU citizens remaining in the UK after we leave. Having already triggered Article 50, the only "meaningful" vote in parliament would been whether to accept the terms negotiated with the EU or whether to leave with no deal. The unilateral guarantee of EU citizens' rights would undermine future negotiations on the rights of UK citizens which are currently being blocked by several EU member states.

The decision not to force a game of parliamentary ping pong with the Brexit bill means that Theresa May can trigger Article 50 in time to avoid the need to pass legislation to prevent EU elections in 2019. We are told that Conservative MEPs currently sitting in Strasbourg believe that Article 50 will be triggered today although official sources are suggesting it will be at the end of the month.

If Theresa May does wait until the end of the month it will fuel speculation about her constant dithering over something she has promised to do since becoming prime minister. She has dithered and delayed for over 8 months allowing Remoaners time to launch vexatious legal challenges which have caused even more delays and produced even more opportunities to water down or block progress. There is a widely held belief that despite promising to deliver Brexit, the Remain-supporting prime minister is in fact trying to give her side as many opportunities as possible to scupper Brexit she can get away with.

Wizz Air announces new base in Luton

Hungarian low cost airline, Wizz Air, is establishing a new base at Luton airport where it is already the second largest carrier.

Wizz Air's chief exec said the new base "underlines Wizz Air's commitment to the UK" and that Brexit has done nothing to dampen demand.

The airline recently announced record passenger numbers, record capacity and the addition of 12 new routes. The new base at Luton will bring both new jobs direct with the airline and additionally with its suppliers and business partners.

Lords vote to put rights of EU citizens above our own

The Lords have shown where their priorities lie with the first successful vote to amend the Brexit bill.

A number of amendments have been rejected this week but they've voted to unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK with no guarantees for UK citizens living in EU countries.

Theresa May has already said that the British government has offered to sign a bilateral agreement to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU

The amendments passed by the Lords can be overturned by the Commons but it all slows the process down and risks delaying Brexit which creates more uncertainty and could mean having to hold expensive EU elections just a few months before we leave.

This insightful comment on the Independent website sums up the left's response to the Lord putting EU citizens before our own ...

Dyson opening new research and development centre in Wiltshire

Dyson is opening a new research and development centre on a 517 former MOD site in Wiltshire.

Sir James Dyson, who supported the Leave campaign, has declined to reveal how much is being invested into the site but Dyson have previously pledged to spend £2.5bn on research into new technologies and currently spends £7m every week on research and development.

But remember, Brexit is bad for business and will cost 3m jobs ...

Brexit Bill passes 492-122

The Brexit Bill has passed through Parliament unmolested despite attempts by Remoaner MPs to get over 100 pages of amendments added to it.

The bill passed by 492 votes to 122 with 52 Labour MPs defying Jeremy Corbyn's order to back Brexit. The SNP contingent in the Commons marked the vote by singing the EU's national anthem, Ode to Joy. Which is a bit pathetic.

Next stop is the House of Lords where they are expected to try and spoil it again which could lead to the British government using the Parliament Act to force it through. There is speculation that the Tories could call a general election with a manifesto commitment to leave the EU and abolish the House of Lords if peers scupper the bill's passage but this would mean missing an important deadline to avoid having to hold EU elections in 2019.

Final day of voting on Brexit bill

Today will see the Brexit bill pass through its final stage in the Commons before the battle with the Lords begins.

The British government have so far managed to vote down a variety of amendments that range from demanding concessions from the EU that the government are not in a position to promise through to overriding the wishes of 17.2m voters and blocking Brexit altogether.

MPs have been promised a vote at the end of Brexit negotiations on whether to leave the EU with the new relationship negotiated or whether to leave the EU with no deal.

The Lords are massively pro-EU, thanks in no small part to the 102 Lib Dem and 203 Labour peers that, along with the large number of pro-EU Tories and cross-benchers, make the House of Lords overwhelmingly out of step with public opinion on the EU. There is a growing feeling in the Commons that if the Brexit vote is scuppered by the Lords then a snap general election will be called with the Conservatives fighting it on a manifesto of leaving the EU and abolishing the House of Lords.

BBC research confirms Brexit is a working class revolution ... and they don't like it

Analysis of local voting data by the BBC for the EU referendum has confirmed what everybody knew: Brexit is a working class revolution.

The BBC's research has confirmed that the working class who suffer most from EU membership voted to leave the EU whilst the kids, middle and upper classes and academics voted to remain. Or to put it in BBC speak, thick people in housing estates voted for Brexit and our social superiors and their intellectually superior offspring voted to stay in.

There was a time when the left would have encouraged the working class taking control of their destiny. Now they just sneer at them and call them thick racists.

MPs vote for Brexit but 114 traitors try to block it

MPs have voted 498 to 114 to give Theresa May the authority to trigger Article 50 negotiations to take us out of the EU.

However, this is just the first step on the long road to Brexit. The Brexit Bill still needs to go to the Lords where the Remain-supporting majority will attempt to scupper it and through various committees who will also try to water it down or halt its passage.

This is why it's so important to bolster the pro-Brexit vote with UKIP MPs to ensure that our votes are respected. Many of the 498 MPs who voted to support the bill did so grudgingly, afraid of losing their seats by opposing it. Many of them will vote for wrecking amendments, betting on voters concentrating on the main vote when they judge their MP.

The MPs who voted to block Brexit are as follows:

Candidate	Party
Heidi Alexander, Lewisham East	Labour
Rushanara Ali, Bethnal Green and Bow	Labour
Graham Allen, Nottingham North	Labour
Rosena Allin-Khan, Tooting	Labour
Luciana Berger, Liverpool Wavertree	Labour
Ben Bradshaw, Exeter	Labour
Kevin Brennan, Cardiff West	Labour
Lyn Brown, West Ham	Labour
Chris Bryant, Rhondda	Labour
Karen Buck, Westminster North	Labour
Dawn Butler, Brent Central	Labour
Ruth Cadbury, Brentford and Isleworth	Labour
Ann Clwyd, Cynon Valley	Labour
Ann Coffey, Stockport	Labour
Neil Coyle, Bermondsey and Old Southwark	Labour
Mary Creagh, Wakefield	Labour
Stella Creasy, Walthamstow	Labour
Thangam Debbonaire, Bristol West	Labour
Stephen Doughty, Cardiff South and Penarth	Labour
Jim Dowd, Lewisham West and Penge	Labour
Maria Eagle, Garston and Halewood	Labour
Louise Ellman, Liverpool Riverside	Labour
Paul Farrelly, Newcastle-under-Lyme	Labour
Vicky Foxcroft, Lewisham, Deptford	Labour
Mike Gapes, Ilford South	Labour
Lilian Greenwood, Nottingham South	Labour
Helen Hayes, Dulwich and West Norwood	Labour
Meg Hiller, Hackney South and Shoreditch	Labour
Rupa Huq, Ealing Central and Acton	Labour
Peter Kyle, Hove	Labour
David Lammy, Tottenham	Labour
Rachael Maskell, York Central	Labour
Kerry McCarthy, Bristol East	Labour
Catherine McKinnell, Newcastle-upon-Tyne North	Labour
Madeleine Moon, Bridgend	Labour
Ian Murray, Edinburgh South	Labour
Stephen Pound, Ealing North	Labour
Virendra Sharma, Ealing Southall	Labour
Tulip Siddiq, Hampstead and Kilburn	Labour
Andy Slaughter, Hammersmith	Labour
Jeff Smith, Manchester Withington	Labour
Owen Smith, Pontypridd	Labour
Jo Stevens, Cardiff Central	Labour
Stephen Timms, East Ham	Labour
Catherine West, Hornsey and Wood Green	Labour
Alan Whitehead, Southampton Test	Labour
Daniel Zeichner, Cambridge	Labour
Tom Brake, Carshalton and Wallington	Lib Dems
Alistair Carmichael, Orkney and Shetland	Lib Dems
Nick Clegg, Sheffield Hallam	Lib Dems
Tim Farron, Westmorland and Lonsdale	Lib Dems
Sarah Olney, Richmond Park	Lib Dems
John Pugh, Southport	Lib Dems
Mark Williams, Ceredigion	Lib Dems
Ken Clarke, Rushcliffe	Conservatives
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, Ochil and South Perthshire	SNP
Richard Arkless, Dumfries and Galloway	SNP
Hannah Bardell, Livingston	SNP
Mhairi Black, Paisley and Renfrewshire South	SNP
Ian Blackford, Ross, Sky and Lochaber	SNP
Kirstey Blackman, Aberdeen North	SNP
Philip Boswell, Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill	SNP
Deidre Brock, Edinburgh North and Leith	SNP
Alan Brown, KIlmarnock and Loudoun	SNP
Lisa Cameron, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow	SNP
Douglas Chapman, Dunfermline and West Fife	SNP
Joanna Cherry, Edinburgh South West	SNP
Ronnie Cowan, Inverclyde	SNP
Angela Crawley, Lanark and Hamilton East	SNP
Martyn Day, Linlithgow and East Falkirk	SNP
Martin Docherty-Hughes, West Dunbartonshire	SNP
Stuart Blair Donaldson, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	SNP
Margaret Ferrier, Rutherglen and Hamilton West	SNP
Stephen Gethins, North East Fife	SNP
Patricia Gibson, North Ayrshire and Arran	SNP
Patrick Grady, Glenrothes	SNP
Neil Gray, Aidrie and Shotts	SNP
Drew Hendry, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	SNP
Stewart Hosie, Dundee East	SNP
George Kerevan, East Lothian	SNP
Calum Kerr, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk	SNP
Chris Law, Dundee West	SNP
Angus Brendan MacNeil,	SNP
John McNallty, Falkirk	SNP
Stewart McDonald, Glasgow South	SNP
Stuart McDonald, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East	SNP
Anne McLaughlin, Glasgow North East	SNP
Carol Monaghan, Glasgow North West	SNP
Paul Monaghan, Cathness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	SNP
Roger Mullin, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath	SNP
Gavin Newlands, Paisley and Renfrewshire North	SNP
John Nicholson, East Dunbartonshire,	SNP
Brendan O'Hara, Argyll and Bute	SNP
Kirsten Oswald, East Renfrewshire	SNP
Steven Paterson, Stirling	SNP
Angus Robertson, Moray	SNP
Alex Salmond, Gordon	SNP
Tommy Sheppard, Edinburgh East	SNP
Chris Stephens, Glasgow South West	SNP
Alison Thewliss, Glasgow Central	SNP
Mike Weir, Angus	SNP
Elidh Whiteford, Banff and Buchan	SNP
Philippa Whitford, Central Ayrshire	SNP
Pete Wishart, Perth and North Perthshire	SNP
Caroline Lucas, Brighton Pavilion	Greens
Liz Saville Roberts, Dwyfor Meirionnydd	Plaid Cymru
Hywel Williams, Arfon	Plaid Cymru
Lady Harmon, North Down	Independent
Natalie McGarry, Glasgow East	Independent
Michella Thomson, Edinburgh West	Independent
Mark Durkan, Foyle	SDLP
Alasdair McDonnell, Belfast South	SDLP
Margaret Ritchie, South Down	SDLP

Denmark's Novo Nordisk investing £115m in UK research facility

The global economic apocalypse predicted by Project Fear has taken a step closer with the devastating news that Danish pharmaceutical giant, Novo Nordisk, is investing £115m over the next 10 years into a diabetes research facility at Oxford.

Up to 100 academics and scientists will have to take up new jobs the firm is creating at its new science centre at Oxford University.

The way things are going with all this investment and job creation following the Brexit vote and the prospect of slashing economic immigration, there's a real danger that there will be nobody left to vote for Labour and that would be just terrible ...

Article 50 Bill published and Green Party launches yet another anti-Brexit legal action

The so-called Brexit Bill has been published, paving the way for Theresa May to finally invoke Article 50 in March and start getting us out of the EU.

A

BILL

TO

Confer power on the Prime Minister to notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1. Power to notify withdrawal from the EU
   (1) The Prime Minister may notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.
   (2) This section has effect despite any provision made by or under the European Communities Act 1972 or any other enactment.
2. Short title
   This Act may be cited as the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017.

This is what Guyanan millionaire anti-democracy campaigner Gina Miller and her millionaire backers got for their money and cost the taxpayer millions in legal fees for. A short bill that is so short there is nothing the Lords can reasonably object to and thanks to Corbyn's decision to impose a three line whip on Labour MPs to vote for it, will sail through the Commons.

Meanwhile, the Green Party have launched a legal action in the Irish High Court which they hope to take to the EU Court of Injustice to get a ruling that the UK can't invoke Article 50 without the consent of the 27 members of the rump EU and that Article 50 can be cancelled if the British government changes its mind.

Supreme Court's anti-Brexit judgement boosts UKIP's prospects

Yesterday the "Supreme" Court ruled by a majority of 8 to 3 that Theresa May can't use the Royal Prerogative to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty and begin the process of leaving the EU.

The Supreme Court isn't actually supreme because the decision could have been appealed to the EU courts but the Attorney General took the sensible view that anti-democracy campaigner Gina Miller and her millionaire backers have already cost the taxpayer enough money and the EU courts were never going to rule in the British government's favour.

Slightly making up for the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that a Guyanan millionaire, a Brazilian hairdresser and a bunch of banks and big businesses can make 17.4m votes worthless, they also ruled that the devolved governments don't have a veto over Brexit and that leaving the EU won't invalidate the Good Friday Agreement.

So what does the Supreme Court ruling mean? Very little in practical terms at this point in time. The British government intends to trigger Article 50 by the end of March still but it now needs to get a bill through both houses before it can happen. A short bill will do the job but Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP have all promised to table amendments to complicate it and slow down the process. MPs and Peers from the LibLabCon parties, the SNP and Plaid have pledged to vote to block Brexit and if they can't then to try and water it down so much that we will still, to all intents and purposes, be in the EU.

As soon as the judgement was announced, bookies slashed the odds of Paul Nuttall winning the Stoke Central by-election to evens and that was before a poll was published today predicting a victory for the new UKIP leader with 35% of the vote.

The ruling and the reaction by MPs and Peers shows just how important it is that we get more UKIP MPs elected to make sure that our wishes are respected. The Supreme Court may have decided that our votes are worthless but when it comes to MPs every vote will count to stop Remain-supporting politicians from the other parties from frustrating the will of the people. A UKIP win in Copeland and Stoke will guarantee two more votes for Brexit.

McKinsey & Co take new offices in London in "renewed commitment" to the UK

The world's post prestigious management consultancy firm, McKinsey & Co, have reiterated their commitment to post-Brexit UK by taking 100,000ft² of office space in a new development in London.

US-based McKinsey has 11,000 employees spread across 110 locations worldwide. McKinsey's UK & Ireland Managing Partner, Vivien Hunt, said the new office "represents a renewed commitment to London and the UK".

More than six months on from the referendum and we're still waiting for the 3m job losses, global economic apocalypse and mass exodus of big employers the Remainiacs predicted. Instead we've seen unemployment go down, the UK was the fastest growing advanced economy in the world last year and big names are investing significant amounts of money in their UK operations.

Key points from Theresa May's Brexit speech

Theresa May has delivered her speech on the British government's approach to Brexit.

The key points are:

• MPs and peers will get a vote on the final EU deal
• Ministers from devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and NI will get a seat at the negotiating table but nobody representing England's interests
• EU law will all be transposed into domestic legislation
• The UK is prepared to guarantee the rights of EU immigrants in the UK now but some EU member states are refusing to agree to do the same for UK immigrants in the EU
• Keeping the Common Travel Area with the Republic of Ireland is a priority
• Free trade agreement with the EU but not membership of the single market
• Payments into the EU budget will end
• Retain parts of the EU customs union but not those parts that prevent the UK making its own comprehensive trade agreements
• Continue to collaborate with the EU on crime and terrorism
• Transitionary period of disengagement rather than a hard stop of EU membership

The Prime Minister talks a good talk but this is just a shopping list. We voted to leave half a year ago and we are no closer than we were then. She has refused to commit to introducing the same immigration controls on EU citizens as we do on non-EU immigrants and she is aiming to drag out our membership for some time after Brexit is supposed to happen on the pretext of limiting disruption. There is a serious risk that this Brexit-lite will become a strategic, rather than tactical solution - especially if Labour get rid of Corbyn and get the Tories out of power - and we won't actually leave.

A pro-Brexit general strike would bring the country to its knees

Left wing author, Guardian writer, luvvie and owner of his own £18k a year liberal arts university, AC Grayling, has called for a general strike in opposition to Brexit.

This is a fantastic idea because the 52% can also hold a general strike in favour of Brexit.

As sneering Remoaners delight in telling us, your average Brexit supporter is a poorly educated low earner - in other words, the working class who do all the menial jobs that keep the lights on, the streets free of litter and the country's production lines going. Your average Project Fear supporter is either a higher earner, a luvvie or a snowflake student - in other words, the kind of people who would struggle to change a light bulb.

Let the Remoaners call a general strike to oppose Brexit, the workers will bring the country to its knees with their own.