Commons must honour spirit of Leave vote

We will never find national unity by a compromise cooked up by competing factions of Remainer MPS

‘Why do you spend so much time talking? Why don’t you just make decisions?” was a question put to me by an 11‑year‑old pupil from a local school on their visit to Parliament when

I was still an MP. At the time I explained that the democratic process is as much about seeking consensus across the divides as it is about walking in the Aye or the No lobby and making a decision. I should have added that, while the talking is very important, at some stage a decision has to be made.

For that to happen divisions need to be healed and compromises have to be found. The Prime Minister’s deal is not what I had hoped for, and to support it,

which I do, has involved a substantial compromise both for me and for many on the Leave side. It does not in my view deliver in full on the referendum, but it is the only deal we have.

But Parliament has rejected the deal. Three‑quarters of MPS voted to Remain. They gave the decision on EU membership to the people, but now face voting for something they don’t believe in and didn’t want. Many Remain MPS feel that in doing so they are making a compromise.

However, support for an outcome that takes us out of the EU is not a compromise; it is no more than implementing the outcome of a democratic vote. We are not going to bring the country back together until we accept that Leave won. Compromise starts only after we accept this reality and not before.

Even then finding compromise is not easy. Brexit outcomes do not exist on a continuum. Between no deal and Remain lie models of Brexit, some of which could work but most of which might in fact be worse than either extreme. To search for a compromise among competing factions of Remain‑ supporting MPS risks ending up with something that nobody wants, that no one voted for and that might be worse than remaining in the EU or leaving on WTO rules, and considerably worse than a Canada‑style free trade deal.

The Prime Minister’s decision to turn to Labour for support could lead to a very bad outcome. If it includes a permanent customs union, closer alignment with the single market, further extension of EU law or a commitment to a second referendum then I could not back it.

The reason is simple – I would not be able to defend such a deal to the people I asked to support the Leave campaign with their vote.

The Leave campaign didn’t win because it outgunned or outspent Remain. If the government’s leaflet is included then Remain spent more than twice as much on its campaign as Leave. The government, the IMF, the US President, the CBI, the TUC, the Labour Party and the big international banks were all on the side of Remain.

Yet in the final weeks of the campaign, MPS began to report that local canvassing showed Leave support was spreading through communities, street by street, by word of mouth. The people made up their own minds and voted to Leave.

A thousand days on and we are at an impasse – but not because Brexit is undeliverable. From the start the EU set out to make this moment as difficult as possible for the people of the United Kingdom, decisions made by the UK in the subsequent negotiations were ill‑judged, and, during it all, many MPS have set out to undermine the search for a workable deal. All the indicative votes that MPS debated this week involved diluting or even revoking Brexit.

None of the options reached out to those who voted Leave. National unity will not be found in a compromise made among Remain MPS.

A second referendum would only deepen divisions and delaying decisions is now becoming harmful in itself. Whatever the final deal, the need for certainty at national and international level is becoming ever more pressing, and open‑ended delay brings the prospect of further billions in payments for EU membership.

The preferred option now must be to stop the talking and just make decisions, but decisions that work for the majority of Leave voters and deliver enough control of our laws, borders, money and trade.

If we get it right then, finally, we and the EU can start to move forward. If we do not, then we risk plunging this great country into deeper crisis.

Gisela Stuart is chair of Change Britain