Pro-EU party leaders long refused open and honest debates on Britain’s relationship with the EU for fear of losing. And lo, democracy won when today’s dominant pro-EU MPs offered us: “This is your decision. The government will implement what you decide” - remain in Cameron’s naive ‘reformed EU’, or leave? Remain lost. In a rare, calmly reflective mood Stephen Hardy responded that we must respect the Brexit ‘leave’ vote (58 per cent Rother, 55 per cent Hastings, 54 per cent Wealden, 52 per cent UK), yet his ‘solicitor’s letter’ (10/2/17) demands our MP acts in his micro-minority Lib-Dem remainers’ interests, keeping us in the self-imploding EU. Brexit means a ‘hard’ exit - as does divorce (or selling one’s house) prevents their further use unless by mutual consent... which Theresa May will seek and the self-interested EU consider, subject to two 72 per cent QMV votes. Neither the diplomats’ Vienna Convention nor the Treaty of Rome assure foreign nationals residency, but as EU laws are already enshrined in UK law through Acts (EU Directives), EU Regulations or by SIs, the Great Repeal Bill allows Parliament to democratically decide which we keep, embellish, or drop. After 30 years, the EU’s internal (‘single’) market remains incomplete through French and German self-interest. While the ‘single market’-led EEA may have been right for the 8-nation EFTA in 1992 (pre-Lisbon/Nice Treaty EU-28), they chose subservience to the political EU, albeit EFTA retains considerable clout in the WTO (denied to EU-Britain) and over new EU legislation affecting EFTA and its 35+ genuine Free Trade Agreements (the EU’s several politically barbed ‘Association Agreements’ are not FTAs). EEA membership (and non-EEA Switzerland’s bi-lateral agreements) requires ‘acquis commonautaire’ and ‘four-pillar’ compliance, but such constraints are not right for Britain in 2017... or beyond. However, the recent Canada-EU deal gains EU market access without full compliance, and that is the deal our global-looking, free trading Britain seeks, free from the self-protectionist, introspective, undemocratic, socialist-led political EU constraints to which Lib-Dem Stephen Hardy wants us shackled in perpetuity... without parole. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage at www.bexhillobserver.net/ 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bexhillobserver 3) Follow us on Twitter @BexhillObs 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! The Bexhill Observer - always the first with your local news. Be part of it.