Brexit is not a done deal.
We have launched a new campaign for a People’s Vote on the Brexit deal. But we’ll only win if everybody does their bit. Here are eight things you can do today.
Support the People’s Vote campaign
Sign up here to volunteer or stay in touch. Donate here. Without money and supporters, our campaign won’t get off the ground.
Info is your ammo
If you’re going into battle, you need ammo. In this battle, you may need to persuade family, friends, colleagues and others why we need a People’s Vote. Here’s a column setting out the case for such a vote. Bone up on the arguments and you’ll be well prepared for the battles ahead.
Listen, don’t lecture
Nobody likes being lectured. If your friends and family don’t want a People’s Vote, ask them why. Listen to their arguments. Then explain how you feel. You’ll win more people over that way.
Look to the future, not the past
Most people don’t want a re-run of the referendum. And those who voted Leave two years ago certainly don’t like being told they were lied to. That sounds like you’re saying they were stupid.
The People’s Vote is not a re-run because there are a whole load of new facts that the public didn’t know then. Here are 11 of them. And once we know the biggest new fact – the Brexit deal – we have a right to decide whether it’s good enough.
Contact your MP
Tell your MP you want a People’s Vote. It’s easy to email them. You can find their email address here. Even better, go and see them in person at their “surgery” on a weekend. Most MPs’ websites have details of their upcoming surgeries.
Local elections matter
If there are local elections in your area on May 3 (find out here), ask your candidates whether they back a People’s Vote – and refuse to vote for any who don’t. Tell your friends and neighbours too. Neither the Tories nor Labour back a People’s Vote. But many individual candidates do. Mobilising voters to get more candidates to back a People’s Vote could help shift the parties to support this idea. And if they don’t, Lib Dems, Greens and other candidates will get more votes – and that would send a message too.
Guerrilla activism on social media
Get active online. Humour works wonders. So share the funniest stuff you can find. Here’s an example. Make your own videos or graphics if you can – they don’t have to be professional. And engage in debate. But don’t lose your temper!
Marching orders
We are planning a big march on June 23 to mark the second anniversary of the referendum, as well as smaller events around Europe Day in May. There’s another march on October 20, just before MPs are expected to vote on the Brexit deal. Put these dates in your diaries now – and tell your friends.
DO NOT despair
And here’s something not to do. Brexit only seems a done deal because so many people think it is a done deal. If everybody woke up tomorrow and decided it wasn’t a done deal, it wouldn’t be.
Now we’re not going to get a mass overnight conversion. But public opinion is already shifting in our favour. That’s despite the Tories, Labour and the BBC saying it’s a done deal – and despite the fact that we have only just launched our campaign.
If friends say it can’t be done, don’t despair. Take a leaf out of Barack Obama’s book and reply: Yes, we can.
And then do something to make it happen. The prize is worth the fight.
InFacts is a founding member of the People’s Vote campaign.
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The section on local elections was added on April 19
Edited by Hugo Dixon
Are you going to have a petition calling for a peoples vote?
I’m a staunch Remainer but some of the 11 facts are weak.
InFacts is going to have to provide stronger ammo than that – particularly in suggesting responses to expected counter arguments. The £35 bn statement is easily combatted as it is the equivalent of just two years of Boris’ £350m per week. And it doesn’t take into account the money not going to the EU. Regarding the NHS people will just argue that they want EU workers to leave and be replaced by UK workers. Come on InFacts. It’s all a bit Miliband-esque.
What ARE you doing? The vote was LEAVE. So you disagree…. so what, maybe I didn’t. But I respect the vote, so we leave. YOUR way means we vote again, then again, ad infinitum, until we get the result YOU want? Are you BULLIES? Is this YOUR Democracy?
Yes must admit I’m with Chris on this . Fact is we don’t pay £ 350 million per week into the budget , so let’s quote the ” real ” figure and not get sucked into leave campaign inaccuracies . The figure is nearer £ 250 million per week and of course that figure of £ 39 billion is set to rise.
On that basis we are talking much nearer 4 years of contributions.
As for replacing EU workers with those from the UK , that would be impossible given our current low unemployment rate and lack of trained replacement staff.
We must be more accurate in order to deflect the inaccurate figures generated by the Leave campaign propaganda machine . Fight fire with fire .
On that basis , you could argue that this vote shouldn’t have happened then . You are using ” selective ” logic because you fear a vote on the deal .
The Leave campaign fought this Referendum with the drip , drip , drip of lies , exaggerations and deliberate deflections from the real truth using fear tactics on a dog/whistle manner to divide our electorate .
Rather than be annoyed at our genuine attempts to let the people of these countries decide for themselves ; you should be DISGUSTED by the manner in which your campaign was run by deliberately cheating the Electoral system of this country. You or rather your campaigners have deliberately not only diverted our democracy but divided our country in two .
What not ” chlorinated chicken ” , ” beef injected with growth hormones “, a decline in workers rights, a disregard for the environment – anything goes in search of profit ? A sell off of our NHS ? Etc etc the list goes on ……
Where can I buy a banner saying ‘people’s vote’? Or do you have a logo with good resolution that I could you?
Thanks.
(I live on a roundabout in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency and both the front and back garden face onto the road!)
I have heard from many people –
“The Vote was Leave – so we just have to abide by that decision”
There are many reasons why this argument is wrong. Here are a few –
1) This is not a football match ( a comparison I have heard). What is at stake is far more important – not so much for me, but for my children and grandchildren. You wouldn’t say Party X won the Election, so they should govern for the next 50 years.
2) Less than 4% is an absurdly thin majority on which to base such a revolutionary change, with such far-reaching consequences. No proper preparations were made as to how to interpret the result of the Referendum.
3) The EU has not figured in the National Curriculum. Most people have little or no idea how it functions, what it does or why 28 countries joined it. They have been at the mercy of the right-wing press, who for years have dripped anti-EU poison into their ears.
4) Some of the problems of Leaving (most significantly the Irish Border) were not apparent (or not discussed) at the time of the Referendum. It cannot be right to Leave whatever the consequences.
5) Although economically we need the EU more than it needs us (see IN-FACTS), all the signs are that the EU would allow us to reverse Article 50. Furthermore the EU is evolving in the light of the Referendum, the Migration crisis. and other issues. So we would not simply be going back to Square One.