My agony of (no) choice
By Martin Rogers.
Originally published in May 2019 on No Man’s Land.
The biggest and most pointless protest vote in British history will take place on Thursday the 23rd May 2019: the European Parliament elections. For possibly the first time in my life I have no idea who to vote for.
I have been a Labour member for ten years, but the current leadership are a unique mixture of incompetent, dishonest and all too happy to turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism and bullying from their favourites. I wouldn’t mind if Labour was in favour of remaining, or leaving, or having a second referendum, or revoking. My issue with them is that it is trying to be all things to all people, promising one thing to one set of people while promising the opposite to another and hoping no one will notice. Plus, their MPs were elected on a manifesto promising to respect the referendum result but since then most have tried their best to overturn, or at least frustrate it. That is dishonest and they deserve to be punished at the ballot box.
The Conservatives have one policy and one purpose which they consistently fail to achieve. In large part this is because they are, like Labour, comprised of two completely incompatible groups — no deal and revoke (let’s be honest, advocates of a second referendum only do so because they hope to revoke Article 50). It is the great irony of British politics that those who want Brexit are those who have prevented it and are continuing to prevent it. While the hard-line no-compromisers hold so much power and sway in the party I can’t hold my nose and vote for them.
The Liberal Democrats would seem a natural home for me. I am a disaffected Labour moderate and I voted to Remain in 2016, though more reluctantly than most people I know. But the fact that the Liberal Democrats will not respect the result of the 2016 referendum means I am not keen to vote for them. I feel like the vote needs to be honoured for the good of democracy in our country.
So, I should vote for the Brexit Party, right? Wrong. They may masquerade as the only true voice of Brexit, the only true Brexit, but I disagree. Theirs is an extremist form of Brexit, deliberately provocative and, possibly, one they are desperate not to see implemented, much less have to do it themselves. I think they care far more about being able to work a grievance than actually bring about what they advocate. But that aside, their single conception of Brexit as no deal does not appeal to me.
Bad politicians lie, better ones evade and obstruct. It seems strange to me that so many people are shocked that both sides told untruths in the 2016 referendum. But they did. The reality is that there are trade-offs, likely the benefits were never going to be as good as promised. Now the cries for eternal freedom and sovereignty ring hollow as we face reality. In truth we must decide whether to embrace that freedom for maximum disruption or minimum disruption for some greater freedom. It is this compromise that is missing from politics. The politicians on offer seem to be split between revoke and no deal. The only MPs seemingly wanting to compromise are the current cabinet and a depressingly small number of exceptions such as Ken Clarke, Caroline Flint and Norman Lamb, but they are hamstrung by the extremists all around.
Change UK The Independent Group (or whatever they are called today) promised to do things differently. Here perhaps could be a party I could vote for, one that embraces the need for honesty and compromise. Alas, no. They are for revoking but with added incompetence.
And so, what am I to do? I can see no party that advocates a moderate form of Brexit which respects both the overall outcome of the referendum and the closeness of the result. Spoiling my ballot paper feels like ducking the issue and abdicating responsibility but at the moment ‘None of The Above’ seems to best represent my views. I fear I am not alone.
