If the Tories win the election on December 12, we will leave the EU. If not, there will be a new referendum and we could stay in the EU.
The future of our country for decades to come is in the balance. If we win, we will be more prosperous and more powerful. If we lose, our country could be torn apart, with bitter recriminations for years to come. Scotland and Northern Ireland could go their separate ways.
InFacts will strain every sinew to deny Boris Johnson a majority. Our distinctive role is to make the fact-based case for being in the EU. We’ll do this in three ways.
First, we will rebut the half-truths, lies and false promises that the Brexiters are pumping out. Virtually every time the Prime Minister opens his mouth, he tells more falsehoods or makes more fishy promises.
Second, we will show what a rotten deal he has negotiated. It turns Northern Ireland into an EU colony and makes Great Britain poorer and less powerful than it would otherwise be.
When Johnson says we can spend more money on public services, he is being dishonest. There will be less money in the kitty if we rip ourselves out of a market responsible for half our trade.
It is also untrue to say that a vote for the Tories means Brexit will be done and dusted. The Prime Minister has only agreed our divorce deal with the EU. He hasn’t clinched a trade deal. If he wins the election, we’ll immediately be in a new crisis worrying about whether we are going to crash out of the EU’s single market at the end of next year.
Third, InFacts will make the positive case for being in the EU. Victory means we can fix the problems at home – such as the NHS, care for the eldery, lack of investment in large parts of the country and knife crime. We’ll have more money and our politicians won’t be obsessing about Brexit until the cows come home.
Victory will also mean we can help fix global problems such as the climate crisis. We can achieve much more by working with 27 like-minded countries rather than going solo. We can be a force for good in a troubled world.
InFacts will seek to persuade voters to turn out in large numbers. They should back the candidate in each constituency who has the best chance of defeating the Tory – so long as that candidate supports a referendum or is committed to stopping Brexit.
We are not partisan. We don’t care whether a candidate is Labour, Lib Dem, Green, independent, SNP or Plaid Cymru. All we care about is that they have the best chance of winning and will do the right thing if they get into Parliament.
We are ramping up our journalism. We also plan to promote our content with a vigorous social media campaign. But all this costs money. Please donate so we can afford ammunition for the battle ahead. (Click here).
This is the election of our lives. Pro-Europeans are the underdogs. But we have history on our side. If we all do our bit, we can win. Yes, we can.
Edited by James Earley
I support your strategy, Hugo, but the arguments must be expressed in simple terms without verbosity. And they must be repeated over and again. People do not read long discourses and switch off if there is lots of jargon. Many do not relate to phraseology such as single market, customs union etc.
Also the message has to go beyond this website, which is excellent and a place where I know (in the main) I am among like minded people, many of whom have a brilliant grasp of the issues. Also the message has to be aligned with all the other anti Brexit groups saying the same thing.
It is going to be a tough battle but I we must keep the faith. Well done, thus far, Infacts, you have been a real source of succour in such a depressing period.
Well, I must say, Hugo that this is one of the best editorials I have see from you in a long time. Less ranty and self-righteous; and right on point with your arguments for staying in the EU.
But I want to know – before considering further donations to InFacts – how you will be cooperating in a real way (not just lip service: I want concrete examples) with the other major anti-Brexit organisations such as Best for Britain and Unite to Remain. People’s Vote is a whole other can of worms : they needed to shed their highly implausible cloak of neutrality and become declaredly pro-Remain (which they have always and obviously been!), but are they too dysfunctional to operate effectively now?
I am deeply depressed by the anti-Brexit organisations inability to work together as a single force.
Suggest
1) Prepare a hit-list of brexiter tory mps/candidates, many of whom will be elected because the opposition is divided.
2) Collectively assess which party is most likely to succeed. Ask other parties to withdraw publicly and urge their supporters to vote for the chosen candidate.
3) If this process overfavours one party use a rota system to achieve a fair balance.In other cases of dispute/difficulty, draw lots.
4) This would clear the HoC of many current tory mps, who will have been selected for their anti-european views and would otherwise be unfit for office.
Ken – there are already maybe 5 or 6 orgs all doing this professionally with lots of data.
Unite to Remain, Best for Britain, Gina Miller, etc ,etc.
Two points to add to thIs excellent article and replies:
1. The Remain referendum campaign never managed to simplify its case into specific, tangible benefits of EU membership which ordinary folk could see and support. Delighted to hear you plan to do this – the case must be made simply and specifically, repeated and repeated.
2. There’s a campaign slogan waiting to be used: ‘No more lies!’