As the weeks pass and March 2019 fast approaches, more people are questioning the merit of Brexit. The conversation is beginning to shift, it is no longer about which type of Brexit but people are starting to talk about whether Brexit will happen at all.
As the weeks pass and March 2019 fast approaches, more people are questioning the merit of Brexit. The conversation is beginning to shift, it is no longer about which type of Brexit but people are starting to talk about whether Brexit will happen at all.
At Best for Britain, we’re fighting to keep the door open to EU membership, and for that to be one of the options on the table in the coming months. If what we get from the negotiations isn’t better than what we already have, we shouldn’t do it. Theresa May and her fellow Brexiteers are in chaos, and Brexit is a mess. It’s clear which way this is going.
Stunningly today saw ex-DExEU chief of staff, James Chapman, publicly criticise Brexit. He said:
“Past time for sensible MPs in all parties to admit Brexit is a catastrophe, come together In new party if need be, and reverse it”
Until the election, Chapman’s job was to facilitate and execute Brexit. Chapman is just another example in an increasingly long line of those regretting their backing of leave – remember Dominic Cummings, the chair of Vote Leave, who said a few weeks ago that the referendum was a “dumb idea” and Brexit “is shaping up to be ‘guaranteed debacle”?
While key Brexit supporters are changing their mind, key figures are calling for the single market, freedom of movement and the option of staying in to be on the table. First, today a group of Labour MPs geared up to change the Labour line on the single market. Second, last week, several prominent politicians, including Clive Lewis MP and David Lammy MP, key trade union figures and Momentum organisers signed an open letter urging Corbyn to ensure Freedom of Movement continues in the event of Brexit. The letter said:
“Migrants are not to blame for falling wages, insecurity, bad housing and overstretched public services…On the contrary, migrant workers have been on the frontline of fighting for better pay and working conditions. Labour is the party of all working people – regardless of where they were born.”
Third, Sadiq Khan gave more hope to Brexit being stopped, saying in response to a question, that the only way to override the previous referendum is to have a new vote, and that in the event of another election, the Labour party could make a manifesto pledge to not go ahead with Brexit, or when elected, trigger a second referendum.
With March 2019 fast approaching, next month marking 6 months since the triggering of Article 50 and the shambolic state of the negotiations, doubt is seeping into the Brexit debate. Not only are unexpected figures, like Chapman and Cummings, coming to the fore and abhorring Brexit, pro-European MPs are defying the party whip to do what’s best for Britain. We expect this is just the beginning.
The direction of travel is clear, and we want to work with you to show MPs around the country that there is support, constituency by constituency, for No Brexit to be a real option for our country to choose.
To help us get organised on the ground, if you haven’t already, please sign up here. We’ll have more news on getting our on the ground groups going this month.