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| You can stop Brexit by joining the Labour party – or even the Tories | You can stop Brexit by joining the Labour party – or even the Tories |
| (5 days later) | |
| In a speech in Mississippi in support of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Nigel Farage hailed the vote for Brexit as a victory for the “little people, the real people… the ordinary, decent people”. A few months later, he flew across the Atlantic to join President Trump at the billionaire’s victory party. There is a famous photo of the pair celebrating in front of one of Trump Tower’s gold-plated lift doors. The little people must have been just out of shot. | In a speech in Mississippi in support of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Nigel Farage hailed the vote for Brexit as a victory for the “little people, the real people… the ordinary, decent people”. A few months later, he flew across the Atlantic to join President Trump at the billionaire’s victory party. There is a famous photo of the pair celebrating in front of one of Trump Tower’s gold-plated lift doors. The little people must have been just out of shot. |
| The image was comical, but that meeting of narrow minds was an insight into a far darker aspect of the Brexit vote: a small, mostly elderly, mostly male, collection of party donors, media barons, obsessive newspaper editors and opportunist hedge fund managers has been driving the Brexit agenda, largely, it would appear, for their own ends. So as Britain stumbles, remember this: all this was brought to you, bought for you, by the Brexit elite. | The image was comical, but that meeting of narrow minds was an insight into a far darker aspect of the Brexit vote: a small, mostly elderly, mostly male, collection of party donors, media barons, obsessive newspaper editors and opportunist hedge fund managers has been driving the Brexit agenda, largely, it would appear, for their own ends. So as Britain stumbles, remember this: all this was brought to you, bought for you, by the Brexit elite. |
| The Conservative MPs who have defined their careers through their obsessive loathing of the EU merely served as the worker bees in the Brexit revolution. Running alongside their Eurosceptic dining clubs is a handful of campaign groups and thinktanks, some of which evolved into the forms that we would recognise from the referendum campaign: the Vote Leave and Leave.EU campaigns. Rarely straying from the shadows, a handful of multimillionaire businessmen has bankrolled whichever party, politician, thinktank or campaign group stands on the most aggressive EU-bashing platform. Time and again, this small cast list repeatedly emerge as major Eurosceptic donors and backers of either the Conservative Party or UKIP, and during the referendum they were joined by some very rich City men who began to push game-changing sums towards the Leave side of the campaign. | The Conservative MPs who have defined their careers through their obsessive loathing of the EU merely served as the worker bees in the Brexit revolution. Running alongside their Eurosceptic dining clubs is a handful of campaign groups and thinktanks, some of which evolved into the forms that we would recognise from the referendum campaign: the Vote Leave and Leave.EU campaigns. Rarely straying from the shadows, a handful of multimillionaire businessmen has bankrolled whichever party, politician, thinktank or campaign group stands on the most aggressive EU-bashing platform. Time and again, this small cast list repeatedly emerge as major Eurosceptic donors and backers of either the Conservative Party or UKIP, and during the referendum they were joined by some very rich City men who began to push game-changing sums towards the Leave side of the campaign. |
| I doubt their money alone could have bought the referendum result. The Brexit elite, however, wields influence in many other ways. A small group of newspaper owners and editors – again, all men, none of them young – has made it a lifetime’s work to attack the European Union. Rupert Murdoch, the 86-year-old Australian-born owner of The Sun, Richard Desmond, the Ukip-financing owner of the Express, and the billionaire Barclay brothers, the owners of the Telegraph newspaper group, all have editors who dutifully fill their papers with anti-European bile. Nor has the referendum result sated Paul Dacre, the secretive, multimillionaire editor of the Daily Mail, who published a famously demented front page earlier this year vowing to “Crush the Saboteurs”. | I doubt their money alone could have bought the referendum result. The Brexit elite, however, wields influence in many other ways. A small group of newspaper owners and editors – again, all men, none of them young – has made it a lifetime’s work to attack the European Union. Rupert Murdoch, the 86-year-old Australian-born owner of The Sun, Richard Desmond, the Ukip-financing owner of the Express, and the billionaire Barclay brothers, the owners of the Telegraph newspaper group, all have editors who dutifully fill their papers with anti-European bile. Nor has the referendum result sated Paul Dacre, the secretive, multimillionaire editor of the Daily Mail, who published a famously demented front page earlier this year vowing to “Crush the Saboteurs”. |
| Perhaps most strikingly of all, the Brexit elite stretches well beyond Britain itself. Dizzyingly wealthy individuals in the US have lent their financial clout to support libertarian US thinktanks in their promotion of small government, low tax and, in some cases, environmentally questionable policies. Through articles and public platforms, such bodies have played a part in supporting and promoting the likes of Nigel Farage and his criticisms of the EU. Now, following Donald Trump’s election as US President, this ideology echoes strongly on both sides of the Atlantic. | Perhaps most strikingly of all, the Brexit elite stretches well beyond Britain itself. Dizzyingly wealthy individuals in the US have lent their financial clout to support libertarian US thinktanks in their promotion of small government, low tax and, in some cases, environmentally questionable policies. Through articles and public platforms, such bodies have played a part in supporting and promoting the likes of Nigel Farage and his criticisms of the EU. Now, following Donald Trump’s election as US President, this ideology echoes strongly on both sides of the Atlantic. |
| This is not an attempt to suggest that the Brexit eruption was not fuelled by grassroots discontent. It was, of course, but the ideas, money and propaganda that turbocharged the campaign were provided by an unaccountable array of vested interests, none of whom could ever claim to be representatives of ordinary people. | This is not an attempt to suggest that the Brexit eruption was not fuelled by grassroots discontent. It was, of course, but the ideas, money and propaganda that turbocharged the campaign were provided by an unaccountable array of vested interests, none of whom could ever claim to be representatives of ordinary people. |
| The Brexit elite shares a vision for Britain. It wants to create a low-tax, low-regulation nation, cast adrift from Europe and, so they argue, able to do as it pleases. Or rather, in the case of this elite, able to do as they please. Far from helping the “little people”, Brexit will help this elite, at the expense of everyone else. | The Brexit elite shares a vision for Britain. It wants to create a low-tax, low-regulation nation, cast adrift from Europe and, so they argue, able to do as it pleases. Or rather, in the case of this elite, able to do as they please. Far from helping the “little people”, Brexit will help this elite, at the expense of everyone else. |
| While the full extent of the economic damage that Brexit is already inflicting on the British people would require a book of its own, it is easy to summarise: every chart, graph or measure tells the same grim story. The vote for Brexit is having a widespread and negative effect on the economy. These are not predictions, nor can they be dismissed as the findings from the experts that Michael Gove was so quick to denigrate. Economic uncertainty is taking its toll. It is not Project Fear – it is Project Reality. | While the full extent of the economic damage that Brexit is already inflicting on the British people would require a book of its own, it is easy to summarise: every chart, graph or measure tells the same grim story. The vote for Brexit is having a widespread and negative effect on the economy. These are not predictions, nor can they be dismissed as the findings from the experts that Michael Gove was so quick to denigrate. Economic uncertainty is taking its toll. It is not Project Fear – it is Project Reality. |
| This week, the Office for Budget Responsibility will, it is reported, revise its growth forecasts, which would wipe out two-thirds of the £26bn the chancellor, Philip Hammond, had set aside as a Brexit buffer. Noises from the continent are equally alarming: the Federation of German Industries last week complained that the British government lacked a “clear concept” of a future relationship with the EU and urged German companies in the UK to prepare for a “very hard Brexit”. | This week, the Office for Budget Responsibility will, it is reported, revise its growth forecasts, which would wipe out two-thirds of the £26bn the chancellor, Philip Hammond, had set aside as a Brexit buffer. Noises from the continent are equally alarming: the Federation of German Industries last week complained that the British government lacked a “clear concept” of a future relationship with the EU and urged German companies in the UK to prepare for a “very hard Brexit”. |
| So who can change the course set by this Brexit elite? You can. It is time for ordinary people to take back control. By deploying pressure, argument and passion, you can change the direction of the country. But to do so, you first need to change the approach taken by an all-important group of people: MPs. Theresa May has promised MPs a vote on the Brexit deal, once talks have concluded in October 2018. Parliament, therefore, has the power to halt Brexit in almost exactly one year’s time. Then, if EU leaders were willing to continue talking, Britain could return to the negotiating table. | So who can change the course set by this Brexit elite? You can. It is time for ordinary people to take back control. By deploying pressure, argument and passion, you can change the direction of the country. But to do so, you first need to change the approach taken by an all-important group of people: MPs. Theresa May has promised MPs a vote on the Brexit deal, once talks have concluded in October 2018. Parliament, therefore, has the power to halt Brexit in almost exactly one year’s time. Then, if EU leaders were willing to continue talking, Britain could return to the negotiating table. |
| There is one person who could change the fate of this country more rapidly than anyone else: Jeremy Corbyn. | There is one person who could change the fate of this country more rapidly than anyone else: Jeremy Corbyn. |
| Millions of voters, especially younger voters, flocked to him at the general election because of a vague feeling that he had the right instincts on Brexit and on ending austerity. Little did they realise that, hand in hand with Conservative Eurosceptics, he has been voting against Europe for decades. Seen by his supporters as possessing the wisdom of a monk, the election campaign saw Corbyn take a Trappist vow of silence on Brexit – and get away with it. | Millions of voters, especially younger voters, flocked to him at the general election because of a vague feeling that he had the right instincts on Brexit and on ending austerity. Little did they realise that, hand in hand with Conservative Eurosceptics, he has been voting against Europe for decades. Seen by his supporters as possessing the wisdom of a monk, the election campaign saw Corbyn take a Trappist vow of silence on Brexit – and get away with it. |
| Corbyn’s Labour party will never lead public opinion away from Brexit. However, it may well choose to follow public opinion. | Corbyn’s Labour party will never lead public opinion away from Brexit. However, it may well choose to follow public opinion. |
| So, if you are already a Labour-inclined voter who believes that Brexit is the most important issue facing our country, join the Labour party and relentlessly make your voice heard. Visit your MP once a month. Go to local party meetings. Attend conference and table motions. Write to Jeremy Corbyn. After all, when he was elected as Labour leader his promise was to ‘listen to everyone’, because ‘leadership is about listening’. Or, if you are a Conservative-inclined voter who believes that Brexit is the most important issue facing our country, you could take a deep breath and join the Conservative party. It has only around 150,000, overwhelmingly elderly, members, who mostly back a hard form of Brexit. These are the people that Tory MPs must answer to, but if just one in 100 Remain voters were to join the Conservative party they would outnumber the current membership. A new army of anti-Brexit members could pressure MPs, move to deselect the most Eurosceptic among them and even vote in a leadership contest. When Jacob Rees-Mogg is a frontrunner among the current membership, perhaps it is time to tip the balance. | So, if you are already a Labour-inclined voter who believes that Brexit is the most important issue facing our country, join the Labour party and relentlessly make your voice heard. Visit your MP once a month. Go to local party meetings. Attend conference and table motions. Write to Jeremy Corbyn. After all, when he was elected as Labour leader his promise was to ‘listen to everyone’, because ‘leadership is about listening’. Or, if you are a Conservative-inclined voter who believes that Brexit is the most important issue facing our country, you could take a deep breath and join the Conservative party. It has only around 150,000, overwhelmingly elderly, members, who mostly back a hard form of Brexit. These are the people that Tory MPs must answer to, but if just one in 100 Remain voters were to join the Conservative party they would outnumber the current membership. A new army of anti-Brexit members could pressure MPs, move to deselect the most Eurosceptic among them and even vote in a leadership contest. When Jacob Rees-Mogg is a frontrunner among the current membership, perhaps it is time to tip the balance. |
| It may seem odd for a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, a party that has been admirably consistent in arguing for a way back into Europe, to advocate joining another party. But at a time of national emergency, with very little time left before the crunch vote amongst MPs next year and for as long as Parliament is dominated by Labour and Conservative MPs, it is undoubtedly true that what happens within the two larger establishment parties is of the greatest importance right now. | It may seem odd for a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, a party that has been admirably consistent in arguing for a way back into Europe, to advocate joining another party. But at a time of national emergency, with very little time left before the crunch vote amongst MPs next year and for as long as Parliament is dominated by Labour and Conservative MPs, it is undoubtedly true that what happens within the two larger establishment parties is of the greatest importance right now. |
| There is no doubt that the wafer-thin Brexit package presented to MPs will feature none of the promises on which Brexit was sold. No £350m a week for the NHS. No slashing of VAT. No cornucopia of new trade deals. MPs would be betraying their constituents, whether they voted to leave or remain, if they were to endorse such a deal. Remember, too, the wafer-thin majority of the referendum vote – a mere 650,000 votes swung the result – and the 70% of young voters who voted for a different future. | There is no doubt that the wafer-thin Brexit package presented to MPs will feature none of the promises on which Brexit was sold. No £350m a week for the NHS. No slashing of VAT. No cornucopia of new trade deals. MPs would be betraying their constituents, whether they voted to leave or remain, if they were to endorse such a deal. Remember, too, the wafer-thin majority of the referendum vote – a mere 650,000 votes swung the result – and the 70% of young voters who voted for a different future. |
| So I am being deadly serious when I urge you to sign up, even temporarily, and change MPs’ minds. Too much of our politics is dominated by parties that are, in effect, ideological sects, unrepresentative of wider society. For Britain’s future, it is time to force Labour and the Conservatives to put the country first and to listen to the people. | So I am being deadly serious when I urge you to sign up, even temporarily, and change MPs’ minds. Too much of our politics is dominated by parties that are, in effect, ideological sects, unrepresentative of wider society. For Britain’s future, it is time to force Labour and the Conservatives to put the country first and to listen to the people. |
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