Timothy Garton Ash is, I think, making something of a mistake here. For he’s calling for the upcoming euro-elections to be seen as a second referendum on our leaving the European Union. The point being that this is going to be something of a hostage to fortune.
Perhaps more importantly the more Remoaners call for it to be seen and treated as such the more likely we are to see what lying toads they are.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Britain will have its second referendum – on 23 May. Don’t miss itTimothy Garton Ash This is a crucial chance to show politicians how we feel now about leaving Europe. The turnout must be huge [/perfectpullquote]
The point being, well, what if Leave wins?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]In just five weeks’ time, Britain will have a referendum on Brexit. This will take the form of elections to the European parliament, but in reality this will be a pre-referendum, or, if you like your neologisms ugly, a preferendum. So there is now one simple task: to maximise the vote for parties that support a confirmatory referendum on Brexit, giving the British people a democratic choice between accepting the negotiated Brexit deal and remaining in the EU.[/perfectpullquote]And there’s the toad bit. There’s a significant portion of the population who’d prefer to just Leave. Don’t care about the terms, the deal, let’s just leave the b’tards to stew in their own juices and we’ll get on with solving whatever problems remain after we’ve not remained. And this is a significant portion – perhaps not a majority, maybe not even a plurality but that’s going to be the interesting test:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party has surged ahead in opinion polls for next month’s European Parliament elections, with a new survey suggesting it is on course to leave Labour and the Conservatives trailing in its wake. The YouGov poll placed the party on 27 per cent within a week of its launch, putting it well ahead of Labour on 22 per cent and the Conservatives on 15 per cent, just weeks before the 23 May elections. [/perfectpullquote]The “Let’s Leave And Bugger Everything Else” vote looks pretty strong there, no?
So, the euro elections as a referendum. You sure you really want that?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] If the remain vote falls then we’re back to leaving, are we? Of course, that’s not the way it will be played, we all know that. But it’s worth making the point all the same. [/perfectpullquote]Of course, they are indeed toads and they’ll change the question after we’ve given the answer. As they did over the referendum of course.
I’ve been trying to follow the news on what each party’s position is so as to make using the EU as a vote on Leave method do-able. But it’s difficult to get a grasp on most party’s positions, they squirm out of your grasp as you try to examine them.
The best I’ve come up with so far is (if the formatting holds…)
It’s typical that the only concete ballot options I can pin down are the extremes.
I suspect that the Remainers will have no difficulty with the Euro elections or a second referendum. They are surely planning sufficient dirty tricks to ensure that both of these exercises in democracy will go their way. As a starter, I would guess that: 1 – Leave parties will find a succession of legal hurdles to jump as a succession of regulations are applied to them 2 – Leave funding will be attacked in every way it can. 3 – Leave candidates will be smeared and forced to defend themselves against spurious legal prosecutions. 4 – Any company providing services… Read more »
Geezer, none of those things matter. People are going to vote based on whether they want to leave or not. There’s no need to tell people what Leave means that hasn’t already been said many times. This American idea that people vote based on how much money they gather and how many ads they run is silly. It’s the other way round — popular candidates gather the most money. I suppose a really well run ad campaign might swing a few %, but it’s not much more. The last few years have seen candidates out of nowhere suddenly beat major… Read more »
We’ve already voted to Leave, the re-referendum can only on what flavour of Leave. Not Bad Leave vs Remain.