Richard North;

[The] problems started way back when the Brexiteers behind the official Vote Leave campaign very deliberately decided that they should not put forward any specific plan for how this might be achieved. Their view was that, if any such strategy was proposed, this would only set off ferocious arguments with all those lobbying for alternative plans.
 
This was evident in a sneery e-mail which Dominic Cummings sent me in July 2015 in response to one of mine when I had argued that the official “no” campaign would need an exit plan.
 
Cummings by then was already aware of Flexcit, acknowledging that it was “unarguable” that it was “a very important document”, but we went on to say that he had to deal with “a physical reality” where “almost nobody agrees … about almost anything”.
 
Thus, it was not a question of the campaign failing to have a plan. The idea was deliberately rejected, an act of cowardice that had the main players ducking an issue that was inevitably going to rebound on us all, simply because the campaign wanted to avoid disagreement in its ranks.
 
The inevitable result of this act of cowardice – only offering voters a blank cheque as to what might happen next – was that it merely postponed the moment when precisely those arguments were bound to emerge. After the result, each of the rival groups could then claim that the referendum result supported whatever agenda they were putting forward.

h/t Adrian: “As I have said from the day of the referendum result any one that thought the elites would acquiesce to the will of the people was sadly mistaken. Its almost as if it was by design.”

A vote of no-confidence may await British PM Theresa May in the next few days:

Whittingdale said he wanted the government “to pursue a proper free trade agreement” but he believed that May was not willing to do so. “Therefore I felt there is no alternative but to seek a vote of confidence,” he said.

Fysh tweeted: “I do think the PM needs to resign as she is no longer honouring the Referendum result”. Green tweeted: “With a heavy heart, I confirm that I have put my letter in calling for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, Theresa May.”

James Delingpole has more.

Hard to fathom why Brits want out.

Kyle Smith: It’s Time for Theresa May to Go

Since the dramatic resignation of David Cameron two years ago, May’s term has been defined by a total inability to live up to her two best-known turns of phrase — “Brexit means Brexit” and “No deal is better than a bad deal.” She is the anti-Thatcher, a lady made for turning. Her breathtaking incompetence makes the gelatinous Cameron look like Henry V by comparison. When her autobiography is written, it should be published as a loose sheaf of unbound pages — no spine. That would make it inconvenient to read, but who would want to do so in the first place? Students of mediocrity?

Related – Europe: Things Fall Apart

Boris Johnson resigns;

Boris Johnson resigned as Britain’s foreign secretary on Monday, becoming the second cabinet minister to quit in less than 24 hours in protest over plans from Prime Minister Theresa May to soften the economic impact of British withdrawal from the European Union.

 

Mr. Johnson’s departure followed that of David Davis, who quit as Brexit secretary late Sunday, and deepens the mood of crisis gripping Mrs. May’s government three days after she thought she had won agreement from her cabinet on a Brexit plan.

 

The public face of the 2016 campaign that persuaded Britons to quit the European Union, known as Brexit, Mr. Johnson is perhaps the most high-profile advocate of leaving the bloc, and his departure highlights the depth of the bitter divisions in Mrs. May’s government.

Daily Mail;

Brexit Secretary David Davis dramatically resigned late last night, sparking a Brexiteer rebellion over Theresa May’s plan to make a soft exit from the EU – leaving the Prime Minister fighting for her political life.

 

Mr Davis quit the government last night telling the PM that her policies could leave the UK in a ‘weak and inescapable’ negotiating position, two days after ministers had finally agreed a plan for Britain’s departure from the European Union.
 
Steve Baker and Suella Braverman, junior ministers in the Brexit department, were also reported to have quit the government last night amid speculation that further Cabinet ministers would follow Mr Davis to the exit.
 
The Brexit rebellion throws negotiations into chaos and leaves Mrs May in a perilous position as she faces the House of Commons and then a potentially stormy meeting of Tory MPs on Monday.
 

The PM was set to insist she has chosen the ‘right Brexit for Britain’ as she tries to quell a backbench revolt but has come under fire from Tory MPs who have accused her of delivering a ‘soft Brexit’ which would Britain tied to EU rules.
 
Mr Davis reportedly ‘decided he couldn’t sell out his own country’, according to sources close to him. He was praised last night by Tory MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said he would oppose Mrs May’s Brexit proposals.

Brexit is law.

House Commons Speaker John Bercow announced that the European Union Withdrawal Bill received royal assent and passed into law. The announcement was cheered by pro-Brexit officials.

Now, the implementation.

Via Ken

European Council President Donald Tusk believes Poland’s future in the European Union could be in jeopardy over the country’s many disputes with the EU.
[…]
“It smells like an introduction to an announcement that Poland does not need the European Union and that Poland is not needed for the EU,” Tusk told reporters Thursday in Warsaw after testifying in a court case, the EUobserver reports. “I am afraid we are closer to that moment.”

It’s good when they’re afraid.

Moves forward;

An overwhelming majority of British members of parliament voted Wednesday to allow Prime Minister Theresa May to start Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
The government’s European Union Bill passed with 498 votes to 114. The vote comes a week after the British Supreme Court ruled the public vote last June wasn’t enough to start the process.

If you thought the June 23rd Brexit Referendum was a done deal, you didn’t take into account that multiple dark forces are at work to hijack the democratic decision for the UK to leave the European Union. The latest is a court case launched by a mysterious woman named Gina Miller. More here.
If you’re interested in some light Sunday evening listening, here’s a podcast featuring James Delingpole interviewing Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman. They go through much of the recent history of Brexit, along with some deep insight into the characters involved.