Labour MPs need to call Brexit out for what it is - and demand voters get another say.
Last week, I was one of 70 south London Labour councillors to write to Keir Starmer.
We called for Labour to offer clear opposition to Brexit – and commit to giving voters the opportunity to review Britain’s relationship with the EU.
The letter detailed the ways in which the Brexit vote has harmed the communities we represent: the insecurity experienced by EU nationals, the difficulties local NHS institutions face in filling key posts, and how our poorest residents’ financial difficulties have been exacerbated by higher inflation.
If our appeal fell on deaf ears, Starmer surely heard the comments made by Andrew Adonis and Tony Blair. Adonis’ resignation letter called for a commitment to staying in the EU, alongside a “radically reforming government in the tradition of Attlee, working tirelessly to eradicate social problems.” Blair’s analysis argued that a changed context makes it reasonable for voters to revisit the Brexit question.
The three interventions were, at root, brought about by the same thing: a failure of leadership from Labour MPs.
Had the PLP as a whole been braver, there would have been no reason for us to write to Starmer. Had prominent MPs already united around an unambiguous anti-Brexit message, Adonis’ resignation would have been far less explosive. And had Jeremy Corbyn articulated as clear an alternative to Brexit as he has to other Tory-inspired initiatives, Blair would have fallen in behind him.
If Labour MPs are unable to muster the courage to keep the Brexit question open, they won’t find much support among party members: research by Queen Mary University shows that 78% of Labour members support a second referendum.
The appearance of organisations like Labour Against Brexit and Remain Labour underscores the determination of grassroots members to throw their energies into the campaign – with or without the support of their parliamentary representatives.
And yet the likelihood of bringing about a reconsideration of Brexit is so much greater if Labour MPs lead the effort.
The main reason why the leading anti-Brexit voices – Blair, Adonis, Alastair Campbell, Nick Clegg – have failed to hit home is not that their arguments are unpersuasive. Nor does it represent an unwillingness to learn from their mistakes in the Remain campaign (though this is undoubtedly a factor).
Their inability to inspire voters to reconsider Brexit rests, more than anything, on the fact that their speaking out comes at no personal risk.
As we’ve seen in the US, progressives can and should rediscover their assertiveness. In the case of Brexit, this responsibility rests with Labour MPs.
Challenging Brexit is far from risk-free. While there are clear signs that public opinion is shifting, the electorate has not yet decisively moved in favour of remaining in the EU. And with Labour ahead in the polls, and the government in a state of near chronic instability, MPs appear fearful of breaking rank on Brexit.
Yet break rank is exactly what they must do. Stockton South MP Paul Williams came very close to doing so recently, describing Brexit as ‘perhaps an existential threat to the NHS.’
If other Labour MPs share Williams’ view – that supporting Brexit is incompatible with the beliefs they hold most dear – they should say so, proudly and without delay. And they should assume leadership of the campaign to allow voters another say on Brexit.
James Coldwell is a Labour councillor in Southwark, south London.
Read the Labour councillors’ letter to Keir Starmer here
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15 Responses to “It’s easy for ex-politicians to speak up against Brexit. But where are Labour’s MPs?”
Julia Gibb
@Jimmy Glesga
I know…SNPbad. You have your tame media pushing it daily. Democracy and Labour parted company decades ago.
Labour in Scotland manipulating the press.
http://derekbateman.scot/2018/01/05/manipulating-the-media/
Will
How do we know another referendum won’t have the same result?
If that were to happen we would be completely screwed.
Much better go fr the softest brexit possible, as the economy shrinks a and jobs are lost public option will swing towards rejoining and the matter will be settled forever.
Jimmy Glesga
@Julia Gibb. You failed to respond to my comment about the SNP wanting to hand powers over to the EU. Why fight for decades to leave the UK Union then become equivalent to a local council in the EU dictatorship. The SNP opposed entry to the EEC 1975 now the game has changed. Could it be SNP opportunists have a lot to gain financially while the working class struggle.
Robert
We need a new referendum. Cameron bent over backwards to ensure that the leavers had the referendum they wanted. British people abroad were disenfranchised. Farage and other fraudsters were given disproportionate airtime. No objective impact assessments were carried out. The referendum was said to be advisory but then became mandatory, notwithstanding the fact that the majority was so thin. Whatever happens with EU membership, the UK owes it to itself to have a constitutional convention to reconsider its constitution. It is unlikely to happen, sadly for UK citizens, who will have all sorts of reasons to regret their decision to leave the EU. I for one will be campaigning for the rest of my life in favour of the UK’s being forced to give up its seat on the UN Security Council and its nuclear deterrent.
Jimmy Glesga
Robert, life is short and the British will be around when you are in the ground and with its deterrent and out of the corrupt EU.