Ahead of conference season, Wajid Khan MEP argues the Labour Party must now agree to back a People's Vote, or let the Tories wreak havoc.
Calls for a People’s Vote grow daily in the Labour Party and there are more than a few on the left who make their voices heard when it comes to Brexit.
These range from the left-wing student campaign group National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (who rightly argue that “the only Brexit is a Tory Brexit”), to the leading figures in the Labour for a People’s Vote group, as well as the thousands of Momentum members who have signed the petition calling for debate at conference.
It is, however, clear that many believe that our party is best served by keeping our heads down on the issue of Brexit.
The fundamental principles that led me and so many others to join the Labour Party are the very reasons we must back a People’s Vote and, yes, vote Remain in that referendum. It’s time for the left to rise up and unite our party around the most momentous decision of our political lives.
The 2016 Brexit referendum was marred by lies, cheating, and may even have been aided by foreign governments.
One of the reasons that so many of us in the Labour Party are excited by its new direction under Jeremy Corbyn, is his record of integrity and commitment to calling out injustices. This honesty and integrity is also one of the reasons so many people flocked to join Labour in 2015, and why our vote increased dramatically in so many seats at the last general election.
From promising £350 million a week for the NHS and implying that the EU wants to ban kettles, to illegal overspending and serious questions over Russian interference, the campaign to leave the European Union was an exercise in vested interests deploying reprehensible tactics to swing an historic vote their way. Whether or not we believe that a People’s Vote is an electorally prudent move, this is precisely the sort of practice that our supporters look to us to challenge.
As progressives, it is our duty to stand up against campaigns that engage in illegal spending, and to demand that questions over interference in due process are answered.
Without these basic checks and balances, what we saw in 2016 was not democracy. When we fail to champion democratic processes, our most fundamental values are shaken.
We have a duty to promote democracy
As I have argued elsewhere, the debate around Brexit is now much better informed after a period of intense public and media scrutiny of our complex relationship with the EU.
As socialists, we have a unique responsibility to champion anything that maximises informed democratic engagement.
We have a duty to ensure that the checks and balances of the state lie with the people. We have a duty to be concerned that Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and friends are so determined to lock people out of such an important decision. We have a duty, in fact, to ensure that democracy is not the one-off event this government wants to treat it as.
The EU is far from perfect, but it is an ally to the left on key issues.
When US President Donald Trump’s steel tariffs were imposed, it was the EU that had the power to stand up for British workers. The UK will not have this power and will be less able to protect key industries and workers when going solo. The EU’s commitment to workers’ and consumers’ rights was created in Brussels – and who can honestly say they would be protected by a Tory government with no obligations to the EU to uphold them?
On safety regulations, human rights and the environment, the EU has often strode ahead of its constituent member states.
The economic fallout from a no deal/hard Brexit would seriously damage our ambitious plans to invest in schools, healthcare and manufacturing. Not to mention the fact that our NHS will fall apart without the EU nurses and doctors – who are already leaving, in part because they do not feel wanted under Brexit Britain.
Soon, the Tories will be telling people that we need even more austerity to deal with the economic mess that they created, by dragging us out of the biggest market in the world. We have to oppose both austerity and Brexit together. The entire Labour Party has to agree this conference that we will have a People’s Vote and vote Remain.
Because to build a Britain for the many, not the few, we need the EU.
Wajid Khan is the Labour MEP for North West England
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