Give the people a second chance

The political chaos within the Conservative government and their shambolic handling of Brexit leads to only one conclusion – that Britain would be a better place without either.

But the overriding and more immediate priority is a second EU referendum, in which a question to remain is vital.

Labour must take the lead and join with other parties to stop any more time and energy being wasted on this futile distraction.

Brexit is an act of national self-harm, diminishing the UK abroad and creating a dark place ahead where a near dystopian nightmare will replace this already farcical and fanatical betrayal of our national interest. Westminster has shown itself incapable of resolving this issue. Despite the obvious dangers of referenda, let the people decide.

To remain in the EU we have to deal effectively with the democratic reality of the vote that created such a narrow majority for Britain to leave it.

Jeremy Corbyn is right to argue that we should respect the sincerity of the people that wanted to leave.

The vote reflected an extraordinary reality, which makes Donald Trump’s election victory look like common sense. But we don’t have to agree or accept the outcome of Brexit, based on an extraordinary offering of lies, deceit and misinformation, from a group of Tory MPs – now officially described as the European Research Group – consumed by fanaticism, delusion, economic nationalism, isolationism and above all else, obsessed with a free (for all) market ideology.

Leaving the EU, as argued by this tawdry collection of cheap patriots, is the first step towards creating the Americanisation of Britain, intensifying market madness and turning the clock back on the progress of social and employment legislation in post-war Britain. There should be no doubt in the minds of the public that the real enemies of Britain are these hard-right Tories. The economy of Britain is on the edge.

The country is bitterly divided, and people are fast losing respect for a system of politics and governance that is so evidently failing. The devolution of power to Scotland and other nations is being trashed as the centralising dictatorship of Tory/DUP Westminster brooks no insubordination on Brexit. Scotland is being treated with contempt by the Prime Minister. Brexit is wrecking the spirit of Britain, and it hasn’t even started on the substance!

Brexit is not just about trade, a backstop for the Northern Ireland question or citizens’ rights. It is about abandoning our post-war history, exchanging the security, stability and prosperity of the EU for an irresponsible ideological adventure, and setting Britain adrift in a troubled world. A world where the only sensible position is to be in the EU, reshaping and building for the challenges that lie ahead.

Our future is about remaining with trusted allies instead of making new deals with this new breed of economic hardmen and exponents of authoritarianism, such as Trump, Erdoğan, Duterte, Mohammed bin Salman, Orbán and Netanyahu. Britain, we need to waken up!

This is an embarrassing time to be British. It appears that we have taken leave of our senses with no regard for the consequences of our actions. A new referendum is our get-out-of-jail card and a chance to put Brexit to rest.

Much of the rhetoric surrounding referenda is couched in terms of informed choice. Even accepting the most generous interpretation of that, you would be hard placed to say that the EU referendum remotely satisfied that criteria. This toxic reality highlights wider questions about the quality of our democracy, our ineffective and dated governance, our lack of a written constitution and the politics of extremes, which is only surpassed by the dysfunctional US Congress.

Our political system treats people like fools. Like film extras, they are wheeled out to vote but rarely taken seriously between elections. The Tories don’t serve people, they use them. Our weak and shallow democracy requires a revolution in civic awareness, political literacy, and a more mature consideration of the big issues. People are citizens, not just consumers. Politics is a vital public need and not a market transaction.

by Henry McLeish

Henry McLeish: the era of multi-party politics, government and coalitions has arrived

Brexit is a divisive post-war low in all that is decent about our politics. The Brexit vote has exposed longstanding political weaknesses which, if left unattended, will continue to diminish the standing of the UK in the world and create the conditions for the inevitable break-up of the Union at home.

The Brexit shambles has lessons for Scotland. The EU referendum has proved to be a textbook example about the inability of a bitterly divided Britain to settle a constitutional question without endless recriminations and for the long term. Do we need to rethink the nature, use and terms of referenda or does one vote more than the other still decide everything? There must be a better way to settle big political questions. But for now, burying Brexit is the number one priority.  •