Anti Brexit - who in the hell do I vote for?

[Efferlunt]

I’m always voted and take it seriously as a civic duty but, for the first time ever, aibu not to bother at the locals this May?

Tories seem intent on a ruinous Brexit that will leave us downing in cheap inports of chlorinated chicken, Labour doing nothing to stop them as they seem to think Brexit is a change to build a socialist paradise. Lib Dems are an irrelevance now as even fewer people vote for them.

Surely I can’t be the only person to feel like this? Where is the stop Brexit party and why is no one demanding one?

Electing UKIP to local councils is what led us here - single issue parties never end well

I'm still optimistic that we'll end up staying in the Customs Union and/or Single market, once we see how poor the 'deal' looks. At least that will be less damaging for business and NI ... and it'll be easier to go back in if we wish to in the future. It's an outcome worth pushing for, and a step towards that is to avoid voting for any representatives of a Brexit party in the upcoming local elections.

Personally I think the parties that are anti brexit will probably represent me better at a local level anyway. My Tory councillor is standing down, thank god, because he is inept.

2004 Labour demand referendum on the EU.
2005 All political parties, in their GE manifestos, promise a referendum on the EU.

2007 Labour reneges on that promise.
2008 LibDems demand a referendum on membership of the EU
2010 LibDems put a referendum on membership of the EU in their GE manifesto
and help form the government.
2011 LibDems hold and lose a referendum on a new voting system.
2013 Conservatives promise a referendum on membership of the EU.

2015 Conservatives put a referendum in their manifesto, win the election and form a government. The LibDems are wiped out and their leader loses his seat. Labour
elect life long Brexiteer as their leader.
2017 The UK votes to leave the EU and ironically a remainer activates A50.
2017 Libdems demand a second referendum on the EU and are again wiped
out in the GE. Labour supports Brexit at GE.
2019 The UK will leave the EU and transitions to an independent country.
2022 I predict no party will support rejoining the EU in their GE manifesto.

Vote for the best local candidate at the next elections, Brexit is a done deal.

The LibDems are wiped out and their leader loses his seat.

Pedantic I know, but Nick Clegg didn’t lose his seat when leader in 2015, but in the 2017 election.

Thanks coconuttella, like a good pedant
I should have also included that in 2014 an anti-EU party won the greatest number of MEPs in the UK

2022 I predict there will be a new party occupying the current vacuum in the centre ground offering EU membership as part of their manifesto.

Brexit is going to happen, there is nothing that will stop it, certainly not small FB groups!

It is not just small Facebook groups! There are legal challenges going on that are being heard at the moment, we have the main national pro EU groups working together. We have people of the status of Lord Adonis pushing on this, we have the young people's Our Future Our Choice. All of whom are out in the real world away from the SM bubble

Politicians mostly know how damaging brexit will be but need encouraging from their constituents to speak out. They worry about 'the will of the people' and their electability. And lives. We've had one MP murdered by a right wing extremist and everyone who puts their head above the parapet gets threats. Gina Miller's family life has totally changed for security reasons now.

It's no good sitting back and saying there is nothing we can do. We must be active. In every way. When my grandchildren ask me what I did I want to be able to answer them with pride.

This is something I've just seen. The reality of what brexit will do to our nation has to be challenged. www.facebook.com/LondonEastAntiBrexit/posts/1988330498082965

Biber - I'm with you. I'm not prepared to sit back and watch as our EU rights are taken away and the opportunities for our kids are reduced on the back of a gerrymandered referendum - not to mention peace in NI, our diplomatic standing in the world, and our economic success. The currently proposed Brexit looks nothing like what most leavers I know were voting for. I want to be able to look my kids in the eye and say that I did what I could to stop us from going through with a damaging hard brexit.

We have people of the status of Lord Adonis pushing on this
LOL you mean the Lord Adonis who is blaming the BBC for Brexit?

Its no good quoting small facebook group protests. 90% of MPs are in Parties that support Brexit, whether or not A50 is reversible is irrelevant as NO ONE who is able to wants to reverse it.

The only choice MPs have left to make is, to either accept the deal TM negotiates, or to move onto WTO rules.

When I saw this post I wondered how long it would take for Brexit HQs ThreeWordUsername posters to start trying to take over and tell everyone how silly they are being by not getting behind Brexit.

It didn't take long...

@Biber
As much as i want Brexit reversed, it wont happen, politicians are hitched to "its the will of the people" and neither you nor Lord Adonis will stop it, as i said it will take a huge economic shock, either just to the UK or another global crisis, i guess war with Russia might stop it too.
Legal challenges would be subject to appeal and could delay it i guess but unless there is some shock on the validity of the referendum, dont see it happening.

I agree with all you say but sometimes you have to know when to stop, its just not worth the energy anymore, i ve decided that brexit (for me) can be mitigated and that ll have to do for me.

imho if there is a so called meaningful vote, it ll be along party lines and any deal will be given the nod through.

It's not a done deal. I've never been politically active before. Brexit has shocked me out of my complacency. There are lots of people like me. Ignore the bots. If you're not happy with the way Brexit is going, then vote accordingly on May 3rd.

I'd say vote Lib Dem if Brexit is your main thought. They are super on brexit and voting is one of the wonderful ways for us to show how we (the people) feel about the way our country is going. Democracy in action.

If you need to register to vote:

www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

If you are an EU (non UK) citizen it may be your last chance to vote here, as well as your first chance to vote since the EU Ref, so please register by 17 April and use your vote

LOL you mean the Lord Adonis who is blaming the BBC for Brexit?

No. Lord Adonis who is being critical of the BBC for their lack of coverage of anything that is opposed to Brexit. Like their failure to mention Madeleina Kay getting the EU young person of the year award. like filling the panels of programmes like QT with pro brexit people.

He's holding public meetings around the country for people on both sides of the debate. Well worth attending if you can www.andrewadonistour.org/single-post/2018/03/20/Tour-diary-Peterborough-and-beyond

@ jasjas1973

I agree with all you say but sometimes you have to know when to stop, its just not worth the energy anymore, i ve decided that brexit (for me) can be mitigated and that ll have to do for me.

Brexit cannot be mitigated for myself or my family. I'm not sitting back now. I'd love to be eligible for a passport from another EU country and have a family healthy enough for us all to move. As it is I feel I owe it to future generations in this country.

I cannot watch my country turn into a tax haven at the expense of our rights, to see the increase in hate crimes, to know the current suffering of the 3 million. To risk all that what achieved by the Good Friday Agreement being undone.

The 'meaningful vote' at the end of the negotiations was gained by Dominic Grieve's Amendment 50. Including the option to remain will be debated in parliament on the 30th. We cannot sit back and let this happen.

I'll be voting Lib Dem as I'm Pro-European. I was always surprised at the last election at the number of people opposed to Brexit who voted Labour given that Jeremy Corbyn has made no secret of his dislike of the European Union and particularly the Single Market.

its just not worth the energy anymore

tbf I think even the most committed of us have thought that over the last nearly 2 years.

But this will go on for years and years and years, and is absolutely worth fighting against - for exactly the reasons Biber has, and more.

The possibility of violence in Northern Ireland and the impact of falling living standards on the whole UK are just not worth it.

So it is worth voting.

I cannot watch my country turn into a tax haven at the expense of our rights to see the increase in hate crimes to know the current suffering of the 3 million To risk all that what achieved by the Good Friday Agreement being undone

Sorry where have you been? this country is already a tax haven, why do you think the worlds off shore tax havens are former UK colonies? or Russian billionaires move to London????
We ve few rights, look at our right to strike? its almost impossible.
The rise of the right and hate crimes are common across all EU countries inc UK, in or out of EU, human nature can be very sick.
The 3m eu citizens came here to make a good living and good on em, but that aint about to change, we need them and even this dumb Government realises that.

There are sound cultural, economic and educational reasons to stay in the EU not least to ensure a stable and peaceful Europe but imo not those you ve listed.

......but the bottom line though is whatever you do or say, campaign or vote, it will not change brexit.
2 years in and the opinion polls are still more or less 50/50 and unless that changes dramatically, brexit will happen.

If anyone wants to find a pro-europe event next weekend, many are listed her. Not all of them www.open-britain.co.uk/events

Joining this FB group is one way to stay informed www.facebook.com/groups/1214912015208730/about/

Well its quite a good strategy for the LidDems to go after the hard core remainers, they have lost most of the rest of their voters, what have they got to lose. And most people have forgotten that they were one of the parties demanding the referendum.

But the risk is that they go the same way as UKIP and become a one issue party. With an issue that is already decided, they could be signing their own death knell.

Sorry where have you been? this country is already a tax haven, why do you think the worlds off shore tax havens are former UK colonies? or Russian billionaires move to London????
We ve few rights, look at our right to strike? its almost impossible.

You will be aware of the EU anti tax avoidance directive coming in 2019 just after we are due to leave? www.shoutoutuk.org/2017/11/14/at-what-point-do-we-admit-brexit-was-about-tax-evasion/

As for rights, yes I'm aware that our rights are limited. The Withdrawal Bill makes it possible for them to be taken away completely by government not even going through parliament.

"The House of Commons has voted to reject the only treaty binding on the UK that expressly protects against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. If the EU withdrawal bill is unamended in the Lords, the EU charter will cease to have effect in UK law after Brexit. Article 21 of the charter, inter alia, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation." www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/22/eu-protection-lgbt-people-persecution-withdrawal-bill-lgbt-gay-rights

We had Preti Patel telling the CBI that one of the benefits of brexit would be a lessening of workers' rights, Rees Mogg telling us that environmental and safety standards can be dropped. In some respects UK law goes further than EU legislation but without that as a bedrock protection, on our own without that support we could lose it all.

"The Great Repeal Bill will put EU law on the UK statute book. But what happens to it after that will often be down to ministers, who can use the ‘Henry VIII clause’ to amend or repeal legislation without the need for parliamentary scrutiny. Joelle Grogan argues that this is not only undemocratic, but may well lead to the loss of individual rights." blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2016/11/30/rights-for-the-chop-how-a-henry-viii-clause-in-the-great-repeal-bill-will-undermine-democracy/

Agree wholeheartedly with Biber and user and looking forward to voting Lib Dem.

Lib Dems are doing well in locals (prob not my local - Brexit central- but elsewhere).

So vote Lib Dem. one time it won’t be a wasted vote. And will send a message about brexshite.