Is there any way Brexit can be stopped?

[Electrascoffee]

I think there will be more civil unrest if it goes ahead than if it doesn't.

At this point, what can we do to stop it happening? People are going to die. And all because of the hubris of David Cameron and racism.

There was a general election in 2017, where 80% of voters voted for party manifestos to leave the EU (both Labour and Conservative). If there was a will to stop Brexit, the Lib Dems would have won more seats.

Carol - do you mean to say that people were voting in the GE only based on Brexit? Because clearly they weren't. Otherwise why did the leave vote only win by 2%

I think the problem is that so many leave voters have been either misinformed or just had it in their heads that Brexit would sort things out that it actually won't change. I'll never forget my Mum's friend going on about the size of strawberries in the supermarket having something to do with the EU (it didn't). No doubt she had told her daughter all the same rubbish and she voted the same way. What really gets me is that most of those people who are so desperate to 'take back control/sovereignty etc' will not even be alive for that much longer to 'enjoy it'. They'll have just fucked it all up for the younger generations. All the years of progress - coming through world wars etc - for what? You would think they might remember what life could be like without the protection of a union. Depressing.

I find it astounding that you are all ignoring the many lies told by the 'remain' side - you know project fear !
remember the £9m tax-payer funded leaflet by the UK government in april 2016

Where are the lies in this document?

It will be genuinely difficult to stop now unless the UK withdraws A50.

Don't think there is time to organise a new referendum as this will require legislation, unless (and it's a big if) the EU27 unanimously agree to extend A50 - which I think is highly unlikely as things stand.

Think we are headed for BINO but that there is a non-negligible risk of no deal (this risk is getting smaller as the pro-brexit press start to react to the prospect of supply chain disruption and potential army involvement) and a small chance of a GE leading to A50 being withdrawn.

I really can't understand this thing of the result of a referendum being forever and that being democratic. Things change. Ireland just had a referendum to remove part of the constitution that was put in by referendum in the 1980s. (Right to life of the unborn.) Things change.

Of course Brexit can be stopped.

All it would take would be for public opinion to shift decisively and overwhelmingly against it, particularly in traditional Labour voting areas outside London. This would enable Labour MPs, most of whom are strongly pro-remain, to rebel against the party’s leadership who support Brexit.

That would create a majority in Parliament for a second referendum, with Remain as an option.

The obvious problem with this, however is that there is absolutely no evidence for such a shift in public opinion.

I still think, however, that if it comes to the crunch, MPs will find their backbones and refuse to support a no-deal disaster.

It's not about "dismissing" those who voted leave, or having another referendum until "we" get the vote we wanted. It was an extremely poorly conducted referendum, Google what rules other countries considered for any ref they put through. A simple majority (by such a small amount) is nonsense for such a life changing decision.
Thanks Cameron, another twat I didn't vote for.

The information regarding the lies stated by the leave campaign, dodgy donations and the Russians getting involved that has come out since has made this farcical.

It was said to be "an advisory" result, legally it did not have to be the final decision. This was not in the Act. The government promised to uphold the decision but didn't legally have to.

It should've been better conducted with a super majority and more thought but Cameron (twat) thought he had it made, the moron.

We can't change that now however, we are in this shitstorm together. It makes me so angry that our leaders are so weak and pathetic, only thinking of their own hides and political future. They're still doing it rather than facing facts and leading.

Could I do it? Nope, I don't have that kind of experience/knowledge/--expensive oxbridge education-- but when I made my decision on what way to vote, I considered what the vast majority of econonmic/financial/other experts said: that it would be daft to leave the EU.
We had a sweet deal! We kept out of the euro, we were considered leaders in the field. We are not the fricking empire we used to be.

There are a few experts who say we could do better out of the EU - but they are a very few and their arguments seem pretty weak. I do really want to believe them, I really really want to be proved wrong - because what's the alternative?

If the gov had any balls they should have said look it was such a small majority we cannot make such a huge change based on that. We do however recognise the deep feelings held by the public and let's review our relationship with the EU and make some changes. We can't make changes from outside.

Yes immigration has risen in recent years with Polish being top but - close behind are Indian and Pakistani immigrants, brexit won't make a difference to that or other non EU countries

And no one seems to have a clue. DH works for a European company, they have no idea how this is going to work and everyone is a bit scared to ask. Although my job is a minor role in local authority, I do work with government departments and been part of working groups in my field. No one knows exactly what is going to happen (which isn't that more scary?) but the overwhelming feeling is that it is going to be bad. Everything is looking at worse case scenario because they really cannot see a positive one happen - because how can it? There is little evidence to support it.

I don't like May but I think she's got a shit job. She can't make this work because it's not possible and (at least) half the population don't want it anyway. Boris the twat will point and laugh saying oh you screwed that I could have done it better (he couldn't) and probably win the next GE.

With Trump in the White House I think the world has gone bloody mad

Electra I have no idea why anyone (except me) voted how they did in the General election. All I know is that if I believed remaining in the EU was important, I would have voted for a party that would deliver that, not a party committed to taking us out.
Are you suggesting Labour and Conservatives both abandon their manifesto pledges?

I think there is still a lot of misinformation about and not enough education about the EU and its workings. That government leaflet back in '16 was a worthy attempt at informing people but clearly not enough and quickly dismissed by leave voters as biased. That's the problem. None of this is based on cool, rational analysis of what we are actually walking away from.

carol i live in a strong remain area and yet people voted Tory in the last GE because most are convinced Corbyn as PM would be a worse option for the country. That does not mean they have turned pro-Leave.

If at this point the UK tried to stop Brexit there is no guarantee that the EU would agree it can be stopped with the damage done to the relationship between the UK and the EU, or of what conditions they might lay down for membership to be resumed, and how well those conditions would go down with voters. It does worry me too that if the final deal is put to the general public and the general public vote no - as they probably will, its not going to be an attractive deal - what might that mean? That we just crash out without a deal at all?

The EU are under no legal compulsion to allow more time for the government to organise another deal and put it to voters and get the response back to see if this one passes, they may offer it as good will but equally they may not. And while the voters of the UK may agree a deal the government can take to the EU, that wouldn't mean the EU will then accept that deal and go with it.

The whole thing is an unholy mess. The fault lies with Cameron who should never have gone to referendum without extensive research and plans into what would be done if the vote was Leave.

If there were political will on both sides, I'm sure a way to stop Brexit could be found. A pp has already mentioned the news story that the EU might stop the A50 clock if a new referendum were called. Otherwise EEA membership is probably just about still possible, although time is short.

Or, leave then immediately rejoin, though this comes down to the same problem of political will:

medium.com/@alanbell_libsol/a-less-stupid-way-to-do-brexit-the-reverse-49-78a34d04b81c

I really really hope it can be. The EU have been clear they would welcome us back with our previous terms (which are better than many other members.

Public opinion has just shifted into Remain over Leave but there is a much much clearer mandate for a second referendum.

Vote leave lied, overspent, manipulated data and social media (Cambridge Analytics, Facebook) and it turns out, have significant links to Russia.

So on that basis I believe very strongly that the result of the advisory referendum can be disregarded.

Sadly I think it cannot be stopped as we are a democracy despite the shenanigans that went on.

Amazing histrionics as usual. Wait a year and see if we all die

Colouringin In what way are our current terms better than other members?

Amazing histrionics as usual. Wait a year and see if we all die

It’s nit the next year I’m worried about, it’s the following decades.

carol we are one of only four member states to have any "opt-outs". These mean we don't have to participate in every treaty or legislation.

We have the most number of opt-out at 4. Denmark has 3 ROI 2 and Poland 1.

We also have a significant rebate on our payments - approx 66% of our net contribution. The EU has changed significantly since our rebate was first established. Some within the EU think all rebates would be withdrawn now.

This means we have a seat at the table with a significant discount

carol no Schengen ( yes we still have our borders) and no Euro being two major ones.

And the rebate of course which was only supposed to be temporary

I regret my vote. We were lied to and I wish the government would take it by the balls and stop this. They caused it, so they should put a stop to it:

People didn't vote lib dem because there was no possibility of them getting into power. Obviously.

Lib Dem's popularity took a bartering when their most loyal supporters felt they had got into bed with the Tories.

Battering*