brexit red light from Labour, not the LibDems amber
The LibDems want to overturn the result of the first referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU or, rather, they want to ignore it. If the LibDems response to the outcome of the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU was to say that they would discount the result and have Britain continue its membership of the EU just as it is then I’d say that was a perfectly adequate political standpoint to take and one that any political party could adopt and carry out. “Vote LibDem and we will ignore the result of the EU referendum because we do not believe leaving the EU is in Britain’s best interests”. But the LibDems don’t have the courage to adopt that standpoint. The LibDems want you and I to do it for them and so they want a second referendum, dressed up in whatever way they can frame it. It is a standpoint that they say they are committed to yet lack the courage of their convictions and won’t stand behind it themselves.
Labour have adopted a quite different response. They opposed leaving the EU during the referendum campaigns and they continue to oppose leaving the EU under the terms and mismanagement of the Tories. Unlike the LibDems, Labour have respected the outcome of the referendum and are committed to having open negotiations with our European neighbours over Britain’s future within Europe. Now that the preposterous posturing of the Tories has been entirely exposed for what it was, Britain needs a political party sitting at the negotiating table with Europe that isn’t prepared to so easily disregard over 17 million of Britain’s electorate and who has kept all options on the table with our European neighbours from the beginning.
Labour have opposed the Tories’ attempts to railroad Britain into a blind deal with the EU, to save the Tory party and have successfully fought to remove the Tories Parliamentary majority and to ensure Parliament have oversight over any deal the Tories walk away from the EU with. Labour have been consistent in their response to the outcome of the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, to fight for the best deal for Britain and to protect Britain’s best interests against the quite obvious failings and self-service of the Tories.
The LibDems would like you and I to take the responsibility of stopping the Tories’ ‘brexit’ and they are prepared to risk a second Leave victory, just to protect their careers. It is notable that the LibDems had a leadership change after the general election in June, they chose to appoint an old Tory coalition partner and they spend more time attacking Labour than the Tories over the ‘brexit’ they supposedly oppose. Labour have adopted the more difficult response of doing actual politics themselves and offering to represent all of Britain’s voters in the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, not just the ones that voted the way that they would have liked.
