They would have been more constructive protesting against Brexit
No, that would have been just as futile.
Always amused when I see the indelible footprint of the Leave side so adamantly asserting that any 'protest' is an exercise in futility.
As yet another MP and former cabinet minister, writing in The Times today, lends her support for a second referendum, it has become blindingly obvious that parliament will never reach a consensus. With the likelihood of rubber stamping any divorce agreement less and less feasible this question will, ultimately, be put to the people by way of a General Election - as it should have been from the outset.
As the FT recently reported - though Mr Corbyn himself is a closet Leaver, his Party isn't and his support base has shifted.
First, Momentum is facing an upswelling of anti-Brexit sentiment among its membership of largely younger, more urban, supporters. Its leading figures say they could force a vote among delegates at the September conference on whether there should be a “people’s vote” on the final Brexit deal.
Second, ahead of its conference this week, a poll of Unite members showed that 57 per cent supported a referendum on any divorce agreement. That desire for a second plebiscite looks set to get more formal union backing.
Third, there is the general mindset of Labour voters who are increasingly against Brexit. The latest YouGov poll tracker has those saying it is right to leave the EU on 21 per cent, and wrong to leave on 72 per cent.
In the final analysis, which way will Corbyn swing? With Downing Street the prize at the end of the tunnel, your guess should be as good as mine. What I'm not so sure about is whether Donald Trump will be as keen to hold Corbyn's hand as he is Theresa May's - either way, a Trump/Corbyn love-fest should prove 'entertaining'.
Justine Greening, july 16 2018
< Give the British people the final decision on Brexit >
I wanted the prime minister’s Chequers agreement to be a workable compromise. It is clear it is not. Leavers are right. Having read the detail, this deal is a fudge I can’t support. It’s the worst of both worlds. In places such as Rotherham, where I grew up, 68 per cent of people voted to Leave and I understand why. My friends and family were voting for long overdue change, but this deal won’t deliver that.
We’ll be dragging Remain voters out of the EU for a deal that means still complying with many EU rules, but now with no say on shaping them. It’s not what they want, and on top of that when they hear that Leave voters are unhappy, they ask, “What’s the point?” For Leavers, this deal simply does not deliver the proper break from the European Union that they wanted.
Parliament is stuck in a stalemate that risks a no-confidence vote and, worse, a Corbyn government, which would be disastrous for the economy. Yet Labour is just as divided on Brexit as the Conservative Party, because Brexit is an issue that cuts across traditional party lines.
Even with a free vote on the final deal in parliament, it still means that in every constituency — mine was mainly Remain — there will inevitably be people disenfranchised by their MP’s vote, despite Brexit shaping all our lives for decades to come. That’s unacceptable. The only solution is to take the final Brexit decision out of the hands of deadlocked politicians, away from the backroom deals, and give it back to the people.
This shouldn’t be a divisive, binary choice. Two years on, the practical Brexit options are now clear and the public should be asked to choose between the three paths facing our country: the PM’s final negotiated Brexit deal, staying in the EU, or a clean Brexit break and leaving with no deal. Crucially, the referendum should give the public a first and second preference vote, allowing a consensus finally to be found.
This is exactly how we deliver elected mayors across the country, who can command a consensus. It can work, it’s fair and it will finally deliver a clear voting majority on the way forward, a unique chance to settle the European question for a generation.
Whatever the path chosen by the British people, this great country of ours will always have the capacity to succeed, that is as much about unlocking everyone’s talents as anything else. It’s about delivering social mobility. But on Brexit, it’s clear we have a parliament in stalemate that can’t deliver a clear choice for the future. So it’s time to let the British public do it instead.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/give-the-british-people-the-final-decision-on-brexit-c35f98g89
