Stop Brexit - mobilise our MPs!!!!

In the midst of what can only be described as multi-faceted domestic chaos I have found the time to hurriedly scribble down a letter to my local MP Rebecca Pow. I am now going to urge others to do likewise. Hopefully they can be more eloquent. Here's what I managed to  come up with (minus grammar check eek):
Dear Rebecca,

I am writing to urge you to vote against Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union should there be a Parliamentary vote on whether or not to repeal the European Communities Act 1972. This Act would need to be repealed before the UK can send a note to the EU under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty beginning withdrawal  negotiations.

Although the advisory Referendum suggested a narrow majority of those voting were in favour of leaving the EU I would ask you to consider the following points:-

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       * This was an advisory referendum (many were missing from the register following recent changes to registration and 16 and 17 year olds were disenfranchised). Parliament is sovereign and only Parliament can decide whether to begin negotiations with the EU. A majority of Parliamentarians do not support Britain’s exit from the EU.

-          * Two nations of the UK voted to leave, two voted to stay. Implementing Brexit risks tearing the UK  assunder without a popular mandate and inflicting the will of only part of the UK on another. Because we have an unclear, unwritten constitution sorting this dichotomy out will be a prolonged nightmare.

-          * In a democracy we need not to let the will of the majority damage the human rights of minorities. The human rights of existing UK residents/migrants/refugees who have come from the EU and farther afield or merely look different are now clearly at risk, most immediately from the climate of racism and xenophobia the leave campaign stoked up, attempted to legitimise and which is now leading to an upsurge in hate crime. The human rights of those most affected by austerity will also be compromised by the economic impact of Brexit and the human rights of disabled people to equal access to employment, good, services, transport and to support for independent living are also now at risk.

-          * People who voted leave did so on a false prospectus, notably pledges on NHS funding and immigration control that were immediately discarded by leaders of the Leave campaign the morning after the referendum. They did so too based on false assertions that Turkey was about to join the EU. Many regretted their vote the next day having assumed ‘remain’ would win and only having intended  to make a protest vote. I could go on!

-          * Those voting leave gave no indication as to what they wanted our new relationship with the EU to look like. Some presumably want no relationship, others wrongly assumed we could have free trade and be in the single market without adhering to EU laws and regulations something which is clearly not on offer from the EU. Therefore there is no clear mandate on which to enter into negotiations.

As an alternative to proceeding with Brexit I suggest that we focus instead on: coming together to resist the growing tide of racism and xenophobia that is putting many of our fellow citizens and residents’ safety and security at risk; trying to repair the damage to our economy and addressing the underlying real issues that lead to the alienation and despair that resulted in a narrow majority for leave. By addressing the real issues I refer to investing in our public services,  instigating a programme of free, voluntary, non-partisan political /citizenship education for all so everyone understands that there are ways they can take more control over their lives without resorting to scapegoating, violence or sinking into despair, regenerating forgotten communities and manufacturing, reforming our voting system for Westminster so everyone’s vote counts equally, building more social housing as my business would love to do if we could only access bank finance more easily and action to restore social justice after the damage done by austerity among many other things.

Please see this broader more hopeful picture and resist the disaster of Brexit.

Yours sincerely

Caroline Ellis

No I am not honouring your entirely ambiguous minority vote to leave kids!!!!

Mumifesto has been in relatively good spirits today - partly as a result of having family gathered around for a yummy roast admittedly but also because the notion that the Brexit vote should be respected and acted on is coming under question from many quarters and because the Lib Dems came out saying they would take us back in should the worst occur and should they have the power to do so.

I am going to delve into my facebook inbox in a mo to respond to angry brexiters who say it is undemocratic not to respect the referendum. Well, aside from the plonkers who were googling 'what is the Eu?' straight after and those who woke up and told the Evening Standard and others 'help I didn't realise leave would win else I'd never have voted that way' and aside from the general whiff of impending disaster heralded by the mere prospect of Brexit what other legitimate reasons could there be for ' not respecting' the referendum result?

Well if you were suddenly made responsible for implementing the will of the people what would you actually think you were supposed to do? Brexit campaign leaders, as it happens, would be of no help. There wasn't and isn't a plan or a consensus. The NHS dosh that was suddenly supposed to materialise was a lie, that's been admitted. Some of them say there would also be no change re immigration. Err so right that's the xenophobes and those with misplaced immigrant-focused ire with their noses out of joint.

What would your negotiating position be? Out out out or 'oh please let us join the European Economic Area'. Does the referendum result yield any answers? Nope. So presumably negotiating strategy will be cooked up very democratically by blokes in suits and maybe the odd woman in suit behind the scenes - not really sure by whom and under what auspices since the current administration is in flux. What if you thought you were voting OUT OUT OUT and the negotiators' aim is EEA membership, really what was the point of your vote then? You will be subject to the things you didn't want to be subject to with your ability to influence them GONE. And what if you just wanted a Norway type agreement and you end up with OUT OUT OUT. That's a bit of a big difference. Didn't specify though did you when the cross went in the leave box.

And who is going to implement this 'democratic' (sic) decision. Not Cameron, he's gone. You will have to wait three months for a new Tory leader and you won't have any say who that is or actually any say over what they do. There would need to be an election wouldn't there for that but has anyone promised an election? Nope. Oh and remember we have good old first past the post as opposed to the PR used to elect our much maligned MEPs so ....hmm.... will of the people???

Implementing the rather confusing will of the 37% of the eligible voters who voted leave for one reason or another in an ADVISORY referendum- some regretting it the next day - suddenly doesn't appear all that straightforward.

Mumifesto is still concerned about civil strife - not from the remainers from the brexiters - but I might (this is in the dream matriarchal world where Mum's word is final) steel myself anyway and say "Thank you so much for your advice I have looked at it and decided to feed it to the dog/ line my chicken coops with your ballot papers/let Mr Hoover dispose of it/ give it back to you and you can eat it for tea or use as a draft excluder" cos guess what: that was not a great exercise in democracy it was a shambles.

The one thing that has got my blood boiling slightly today (despite my generally upbeat demeanour) is the ' ah well let's just make the best of it' line. Sorry? What? Too many politicos (labour ones, and green sadly) seem to now have decided or convinced themselves there are potentially benefits to Brexit so hey let's give it a whirl. Grrrr. Not reading to you a story tonight you naive, flipflopping noodles. Sorry sometimes there is no up side, sometimes you need to not give up so blinking fast.

Mumifesto is tired now but will return to the subject of democracy another day.  Maybe she will compare the EU and Westminster hah that would be revealing.

Thoughts two days after fateful referendum

Still reeling from the shock of the Brexit vote, I remain perplexed at the lack of any organised mechanism for the many leave voters who now claim to regret their 'choice' to say "err excuse me I didn't know what I was doing can you please not destroy the United Kingdom and wreck our economy on my account pleeeeeeeeeeeeease". Equal levels of perplexment are being induced by leavers posting about being proud to be British on fb - err wot? My dears your vote will help break up the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland - Scotland will now demand a second independence referendum so they have a chance of being part of the EU and there are calls for Northern Ireland to escape splendid isolation by having the chance to reunite with the Republic. Oh children what have you done? You silly banana-bottoms. If you make a horrible mistake for goodness sake at least try to put things right. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has yet to be invoked (as none of the Brexit lot have any idea what they would be trying to negotiate and the departing PM understandably didn't have a clue either). A few months grace then. We had an advisory referendum - it gave a silly result which many, many regret. If any of the 17 million have had a change of heart or clocked that this is not just a protest exercise - this actually affects our lives - you might want to think about writing to your MP to that effect urging them to deduct your vote from the final tally instead of saying 'oops, gosh stepping back from politics now having helped caused a right old mess'.

If Mumifesto was PM or had any say, she would NOT invoke Article 50 unless she absolutely had to. Her other half advises there would be rioting if the referendum result was not respected. Mumifesto accepts this argument (the  extreme outters would love rioting, they'd all be out with their Nazi salutes and their calls for anyone who doesn't eat pork/drink beer/speak English to be machine gunned) but it seems a bit of a missed opportunity not to try and get regretful brexit voters to at least register their regret before we take the fateful step of invoking Article 50.

And as to the things regretful Brexiters were really sore about that aren't just about xenophobic hostility Mumifesto suggests the Remainers in their political parties join forces to tackle since there are blinking obvious solutions to them. Fed up of not having a say - give people votes that count (PR). Fed up of living in a hopeless town that's lost its manufacturing industry and jobs - let's have an interventionist industrial policy, let the ruddy politicians look at these communities one by one and develop a plan for them. Fed up of the shortage of affordable housing let councils and businesses like ours access bank loans to build them.

If we are looking for lessons to learn this whole atrocious debacle surely highlights the need for a written constitution with rules about referendums. If you are having a vote on things which have potentially staggering consequences for different nations of the UK (ok ok soon there may be only two left - Wales and England) you might want to think about that at the OUTSET rather than after the event. You might want to think about how, in a referendum campaign, you prevent voters from being fed lies and half-truths and supposition from either side.

As for myself I shall take me hound out for a walk and think of extremely practical things to do to promote love, unity, community and wotnot. Got a home educators fun Summer Olympics to organise and that's all about friendship, peace and unity so that's a good place to start. Somehow though it doesn't feel quite enough....