The case for Jeremy Corbyn to support a People’s Vote is three-fold: austerity, democracy and self-interest. With the TUC swinging behind the campaign and only two weeks to go before Labour’s annual conference, let’s look at each in turn.
Brexit will unleash austerity
This week marks the 10th anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. That unleashed a wave of austerity which hurt the poor, sick and vulnerable most – even though they were not to blame for the financial crisis. Is Labour really going to stand by and let a hard Tory Brexit unleash a new wave of austerity?
Many people voted for Brexit because they were tired of austerity and hoped we could then create a fairer society. But it would lead to exactly the opposite. We’d have less money for the NHS and public services – or to invest in parts of the country that have been neglected for years.
So even if Brexit led to a Labour government, Corbyn wouldn’t have enough money to look after the people Labour cares for.
Demand a vote on the Brexit deal
Click here to find out morePeople’s Party should back People’s Vote
Labour calls itself the People’s Party. It believes the people should decide what is best for the country – and that its own members should decide party policy.
Labour members, supporters, trade unionists, young people and potential voters increasingly think there should be a People’s Vote at the end of the Brexit talks. So does the population at large. On democratic principles, therefore, Corbyn should back a new vote.
Some will say we had a referendum two years ago and that should be the end of the matter. If the electorate was happy with what was happening, that might be so. But they are not.
What’s more, the referendum was a choice between the reality of “in” and Boris Johnson’s cake-and-eat-it fantasy of “out”. At the end of the talks, we’ll have a clearer idea about what Brexit means – and the people can then choose between the reality of “in” and the miserable and possibly catastrophic reality of “out”.
Giving people an informed choice is grown-up democracy. It’s what people get before they have an operation in the NHS. It’s what trade union members get before their leaders sign a deal. Voters should get one, too – before irreversible decisions are taken about our future.
Labour will have blood on its hands if it doesn’t fight
Cynics might say that Labour’s best bet is to let the Tories botch Brexit so Corbyn will be able to romp into Downing Street with a fat majority. On this theory, it is OK to sacrifice the economy, the NHS and people’s jobs in the pursuit of a Labour government.
But even somebody tempted by this heartless way of thinking should pause for thought. If Labour doesn’t fight a Tory Brexit, it will not be able to avoid the blame. It will have blood on its hands. Its supporters, including members, young people and trade unionists, will be outraged. That will not be the best basis for Corbyn to win power.
A peoples vote is either leave with the deal negotiated or leave with no deal, the vote to leave was in 2016. I have no doubt now that the majority would vote for NO DEAL. Then I suppose they will be asking for best of 5. I genuinely know not one single person who would now vote to remain!
Please then speak to young people; there are millions who would like their future in the EU.
As a number of politicians have suggested, a people’s vote should present the 3 options:
-the negotiated deal,
-no deal
-remain
In view of the current mess of the negociations, the painful realisation by a great number of leave voters that they were promised pies in the sky, a great number of them are sobering to the reality and changing their minds.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-polling-leave-remain-voters-westminster-constituencies-final-say-second-referendum-a8488001.html
Phil, if you’re so confident that the people would support the single achievable option in the same way that they supported ‘literally anything other than the status quo’ in 2016, then what are you so afraid of?
Any sane organisation, in any field, uses two-point decision-making. That is quite literally Business Project Management 101. One decision point when the concept is proposed, to see whether it’s appealing enough to justify spending the time and resources on working out the details – that was 2016. And a second decision point when those details are known, to see whether the achievable reality lives up to the promises of the original concept before committing to execution.
Given that the promises under which Brexit was sold to different people were in many cases incompatible with each other (even among those that might have been achievable), is it not reasonable to check whether the eventual outcome is still seen as overall better than the status quo?
Whilst not a Labour supporter I would make the argument to Labour that supporting and getting a second vote in favour of Remain will cause a Tory Brexit Government more difficulty than crashing out of the EU without a deal.
In the No deal situation the EU will be blamed for being unreasonable, and Tories will play the hurt victims of a vengeful EU. However if a Remain win can be achieved in a second vote (which looks entirely possible now) the resulting infighting within the Tories will bring about their downfall. Meanwhile Labour can claim the credit for being instigator of the ensuing recovery of Sterling benefitting consumers and the revival of UK Business confidence.
Remain is the only option with EU citizenship and freedom of movement.
Phil Winwood, yes, admittedly, I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but if I could vote today, I would still vote remain. If that option is on the ballot paper, I can’t think of any circumstance that would change my mind on that.
Labour, being happy to stand aside and let the Conservative party wreck the nation and then itself. Makes them look like a certain Roman emperor who played his violin whilst Rome burned. I would really like to know, seeing that Labour promoted voting out based on the EU not being democratic, how they square having supported openly lying Tories whilst they stood by doing nothing, with democracy. If this country crashes out and descends into poverty Labour is as much to blame as the Conservative party.
Phil,
You have no doubts and know noone from the approximately fifty per cent of the population who would vote remain. A voice worth listening to!
”I genuinely know not one single person who would now vote to remain!”. This is pretty meaningless Phil. Just because you do not know anyone who would vote remain does not mean we do not exist. Perhaps you are confusing the majority with Brexit headbangers who’d be happy to see economic and social harm to this country as a result of the Brexit they thought they voted for.
Phil,
You really need to get out more.
Why am I out of EU against my will I wish to remain a EU citizen all the time