is having a Remain candidate in every constituency a valid idea?

[lucydogz]

Following this announcement

[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/20/european-parliament-will-welcome-britain-back-if-voters-veto-brexit]

wouldn't it make sense for Remainers to organise that there was a single-issue candidate in every constituency, standing purely on the grounds of stopping Brexit? Effectively this could be a second Referendum.
If I was anti Brexit, and felt strongly about it, I could see no point in voting Tory, Labour or Lib Dem.
I've heard many people asserting that the margin was too narrow, that people didn't know what they were letting themselves in for etc. Given these views, this would be a perfect opportunity to address this.
I remember Martin Lewis standing against Hamilton purely on an anti-corruption platform, and he won.
Sorry if this is badly worded, and this is probably naïve, but would be interested to know what other's think.

[ILookedintheWater]

Martin Bell?

I agree with you that the opportunity to change the Brexit vote would be good, but it's too late: any 'party' made up just from remainers would not have the requisite skillset to run the country/get us back from the brink.

[lucydogz]

yes, Martin Bell (sorry).

[woman12345]

lucydogz
is having a Remain candidate in every constituency a valid idea

Yes.

As both the conservatives and labour both support Brexit and as Brexit is the most important political issue right now, I agree, there should be a Remain candidate in every constituency.

[Mistigri]

Surely there will already be a remain candidate in the vast majority of seats? The Lib Dems, SNP, Greens, Sinn Fein and SDLP are all remain.

The idea of putting up a single-issue candidate to stand against other remain candidates (and split the vote) is just stupid.

[lucydogz]

well, I don't think so. Corbyn has ruled out forming alliances with other parties. The Lib Dems are the most 'anti' Brexit, but all they're asking for is is a referendum on the terms of Brexit. You can't rely any established parties to combine effectively. A single issue candidate, if enough of them are elected, could halt Brexit, if the European Parliament leader is to be believed.

[Mistigri]

if the European Parliament leader is to be believed.

Maybe you could link to something showing that the leader of the EU Parliament proposed putting up single-issue pro-remain candidates. Because it's not quite what he said, is it?

There will be a pro-EU candidate, or at minimum one which is not rabidly anti-EI, in almost all if not all constituencies. In some constituencies there will even be several pro-EU candidates (where for eg a remain Labour, LD and Green are all standing).

I would personally support a "remain alliance" - parties agreeing not to contest seats so as to give them the best chance to overturn Tory majorities. There are a number of groups and people supporting this type of initiative, including the indefatigable Gina Miller ;)

[lucydogz]

sorry - my link at the beginning didn't work, but I never said that the EP spokesperson was suggesting single issue candidates. Obviously we disagree, but, if I was passionate about remaining, I wouldn't want to rely on political parties being able to form an alliance (it's been suggested, and very firmly rejected, in my constutuency already) and give a clear anti Brexit message - especially Labour. A single-issue candidate is the one that will provide the most direct message.

[woman12345]

Trouble is, there isn't a 'remain alliance' misti. Under normal circumstances one wouldn't want to split an opposition vote, but there is no opposition. It's not a re al politik solution, but there is literally no one representing the 48% across Britain. The lib dems have been giving more and more cagey answers, and don't seem to be committing to reversing a50 at all now. I wonder if SF and the SNP would dare form an alliance.
We need clear candidates representing clear remain.

[RortyCrankle]

I think it's absurd to vote for an alliance based on a single issue. Once they had bungled Brexit they would then have to run the country for the next five years and because they are fixated on Brexit god knows what their other policies are, in some cases I doubt they know themselves.

It's irrelevant anyway because the Conservatives are going to win and take us out of the EU as voted for by a majority of those who voted in the referendum.

[Mistigri]

I would agree normally, but in this case, neither of the the largest parties represent remainers on this issue. I think an alliance between smaller pro EU parties, to make the tories work for their victory, would be quite welcome. But that's different from running single-issue candidates, which is a silly idea.

[lucydogz]

But if the representative of the EP says that, if there was a convincing mandate, Brexit could be reversed, and given the massive unpopularity of Brexit which could be expressed this way, why would Brexit be bungled - it wouldn't happen.
I remember a candidate successfully standing at Kidderminster, on the issue of a local hospital closure. They were a perfectly good mp.
Would you trust smaller parties to combine effectively? And quickly enough? I don't.
I'm just surprised, given the wailing and gnashing of teeth that goes on about Brexit, that Remainders don't nail their colours to the mast about this. Labour and the LDs are fuck all use in this.

[RortyCrankle]

I don't understand why the minority 48% of voters think it's acceptable to try to ride roughshod over the majority 52%. It's pretty arrogant isn't it? I'm sure if Remain had won they would have been as appalled as Leavers are now, if Leavers decided they they were going to fight against the result and were determined to force through a Brexit regardless.

Without googling, can you name one SNP policy other than independence or one LibDem policy other than stopping Brexit? Labour are dead in the water and a percentage are Leave supporters anyway.

[user1491148352]

@I looked in:
"any 'party' made up just from remainers would not have the requisite skillset to run the country/get us back from the brink"

As the vast majority of current MPs - including TM- believe that Brexit is NOT in the national interest, there would be the requisite skill set...

They are just caught by the absurd position that the unexpected referendum result has left us in. We are marching, like lemmings to the cliff edge, knowing we are going to fall off.

[Motheroffourdragons]

I don't understand why the minority 48% of voters think it's acceptable to try to ride roughshod over the majority 52%

I don't think anyone is suggesting that at all, but you have to understand that this was a pretty divisive vote, and it was very close also. You can't blame people for trying to figure out how to vote for somebody who might be on your side. My tory MP was a remainer but as the constituency voted to leave he now backs the leave side. I would prefer somebody who actually remains true to their belief i.e. was remain and still is.

[missmoon]

"I don't understand why the minority 48% of voters think it's acceptable to try to ride roughshod over the majority 52%. It's pretty arrogant isn't it"

It's democracy! We are allowed to disagree with Brexit. We can campaign against it, and try to reverse it. If enough people change their minds, we can stop it. Democracy means respecting the views of the minority, and trying to find a compromise. It means disagreeing with your (political) opponents, but supporting their right to be heard. A strong government needs a good opposition to scrutinise its policies. A weak opposition is in nobody's interest.

[woman12345]

Talking about it on another thread, but party HQs in tory and labour camps are only choosing leave candidates. There is no representative democracy for the 48 if MPs are not allowed to represent the 48.
Still think remain candidates is a good idea.

[woman12345]

£500 to stand and here's the link:
www.parliament.uk/get-involved/elections/standing/
Deadline in May 11th.

[MongerTruffle]

£500 to stand and here's the link:

For a moment I thought you GET £500 if you stand.

[woman12345]

, well I'm sure it's been arranged in that way for some candidates.
MongerTruffle ( a bit more than £500, I'd guess)

[Peregrina]

I don't understand why the minority 48% of voters think it's acceptable to try to ride roughshod over the majority 52%

Tony Blair expressed this well. "The will of the people is sacrosanct, but the will of the people changes."

So if May gets her mandate, then it's up to her to try to execute what is in her Manifesto, which will be interesting to see. If a whole raft of MPs, who had specifically said that they were standing on a Remain ticket got elected, then it could be said that the will of the people had changed. And that is democracy.

[Anon1234567890]

Talking about it on another thread, but party HQs in tory and labour camps are only choosing leave candidates. There is no representative democracy for the 48 if MPs are not allowed to represent the 48.

Why can Remainers not be represented by leave MP's? After all most leavers were represented by remain Mp's for years

[Peregrina]

Why can Remainers not be represented by leave MP's?
In theory as representatives, not delegates they most certainly should represent all their constituents. Recently though, Leave MPs in Remain areas have been saying, "we can't thwart the will of the people." Remain MPs in Remain areas, if mine is typical, have tried 'the will of the people' line, and have now just stopped bothering to answer letters from Remain voters, so I have to question who she is representing. Herself and her own ambitions, was my conclusion.

After all most leavers were represented by remain Mp's for years
Nobody really has a clue about this because until about 2014, less than 10% of the population regarded the EU as important, and no one knew what more than a handful of MPs believed. There were staunch Europhiles like Ken Clarke, and Major's 'bastards', 40 or so MPs against him. Others, like Theresa May or Boris Johnson appeared to have no strong opinions.

[ExplodedCloud]

It's one issue though. This is a 5 year Parliament. If Remain MPs swept the board, what then? Other business would have to be conducted whilst they tried to agree the untriggering? What if Remain MPs won by a small margin? Is that enough? FPTP is a system that's more flawed than the referendum.
I can't see how it works practically. Conservative Remainers voted in a party offering a referendum. They should have voted against the MPs then.

[Peregrina]

Good question, but if Remain MPs did win, who is to say what the will of the people is? Last time, don't forget, Conservative Remainers also voted for a party which promised to support the Single Market.

[lalalonglegs]

It is an issue that, whether you like it or not, does override all others, Cloud. Whether MPs who wish to pursue Brexit hold sway or there is some sort of opposition to it, it is still going to dominate everything else. I can see very little other business being conducted while this goes on - and very few people think it will be done and dusted in two years - not least because the UK is likely to lose a lot of money and there won't be the funds to address the areas that government should be concentrating on (NHS, education, infrastructure, benefits etc etc etc).