Register your unease with Brexit status

The current flurry of Brexit related petitions are attracting high levels of interest and support (People’s Vote petition – more than 280,000 signatures, Rescind Article 50 petition - 190,000 signatures and Final Say petition – almost 700,000 signatures). This suggests that there is considerable unease with the direction that Brexit is taking. This is not surprising given that David Cameron called a referendum on EU membership without bothering to think through the implications of a leave vote and Theresa May subsequently triggered Article 50 prior to formulating a departure plan. Mrs May then squandered two months of the time-limited negotiation period by calling an election, which she lost. Only recently (16 months too late) did she manage to corral her warring cabinet behind a UK negotiating position. A consensus that lasted 24 hours and prompted the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson. The consequences of this collective incompetence are far reaching and the benefits of Brexit, promised by the Leave campaign, are a distant memory. We are now being told, by local MP, Jacob Rees-mogg (one of the strongest advocates of Brexit) that its benefits may not be felt for 50 years. Members of the Government are stating that the UK is facing the real possibility of leaving the EU without a deal or a transitional period. It is now recognised that this will be catastrophic for the majority of businesses, will cripple our already fragile economy, could result in planes being grounded, shortages of food and essential medicines, Kent turning into a lorry park, prolonged austerity etc. The government is drawing up contingency plans for a state of emergency and for dealing with civil unrest. In order to avoid this, Mrs May’s Brexit proposal is an attempt to honour the decision to leave the EU whilst mitigating the problems caused by leaving. Some aspects are not workable and no one will get what they were promised but it is a brave attempt to avoid the disaster of hard Brexit. However, neither scenario bears any resemblance to the promises made by the leave campaign. We also now know that “Vote Leave” committed electoral fraud by over-spending its budget and submitting inaccurate accounts. There is also evidence that it ran a covert social media campaign, that continued to operate during the period when campaigning was officially suspended, following the murder of MP Jo Cox. Given that the referendum result was marginal, the campaign was fraudulent and was based on misinformation and aspirations that cannot be delivered and that public opinion has changed, it is difficult to see how Mrs May can continue to describe Brexit as “the will of the people”. Surely this should be tested by an informed vote on the reality of Brexit? If you agree, please sign all of the above petitions, join Bath for Europe or the European Movement (set up by Churchill after the Second World War) and make your voice heard. Alison Born Cambridge Place Bath