When I tell people that I voted in favour of leaving the EU in 2016, my statement is often followed by an awkward pause. Sometimes, the reaction is openly hostile; did I not realise that my vote had enabled racists and power-hungry Tories to destroy the country? In an era where to be anti-Brexit has become a symbol of progressive credentials, my leave vote is seen as a transgression against a cosmopolitan, liberal ideal.
But the truth is that I am not alone: 35% of Labour voters such as me also voted for Brexit. Not only that, but polls of my fellow Labour party members on their desire for a second referendum are far from conclusive. This is because there have always been strong, anti-capitalist arguments for leaving the European Union. The reality is that the EU project is far more about neoliberal free trade for the rich and punishing austerity for the poor than about Aperol spritz, discounted Zara coats and Erasmus study programmes.
EU competition laws would frustrate some of Jeremy Corbyn’s most popular and radical plans, such as renationalising Britain’s railways and other key industries. Far from being a multicultural utopia, Fortress Europe’s racist immigration policies have seen tens of thousands of black and brown migrants drown in the Mediterranean sea in the last 30 years. The gruelling EU austerity programme forced upon the Greek people, in spite of their 2015 referendum rejecting it, means any claims that the EU project is “democratic” are laughable.
However, these arguments rarely get the airtime they deserve. All oxygen is currently being taken up by the People’s Vote campaign on the one hand, and a rag-tag band of imperialist Brexiteers on the other. With Arron Banks as repugnant Pied Piper, hard-Brexit Tories have their hopes set on Britain as an offshore tax haven with racist immigration policies borrowed from the orange demagogue across the pond.
I know this is why many progressives voted to remain, in spite of their scepticism of the EU, believing that the leave vote would only serve to embolden bigots. They are of course not wrong, which is why the anti-racist street mobilisations in recent months continue to be so important. But to think that reversing Brexit is the way to confront racism is a mistake with dire consequences.
The People’s Vote campaign says it simply wants a “say on the final deal”. But this is grossly dishonest. Giving people the choice between Theresa May’s Brexit mess or a pre-Brexit status quo does not sound like a People’s Vote to me. The People’s Vote brigade seem to believe that everything would be fine in Britain if only we could stop Brexit, ignoring the ravaging effects of 30 years of neoliberalism on Britain’s left-behind communities.
When I was canvassing for a byelection in Stoke last year, I met many people who had never voted before the referendum. They saw Brexit as a chance to vote for change, and the greatest fear of those I met was that Brexit was going to be reversed. The thought of going back to an austerity-ridden status quo seemed like too much to bear.
The global political reality tells us that when ordinary people are suffering economically, and trust in democratic institutions is at an all-time low, rightwing populism flourishes. If the People’s Vote campaign is successful, there will be a powerful narrative told by a populist right alliance that the elites of this country colluded to usurp the democratic will of the people. Asking Labour to campaign for remain in a second referendum in leave-voting, post-industrial cities such as Stoke would make Corbyn part of the same political elite they feel have betrayed them.
The call for a second referendum must be abandoned because it simply doesn’t have the answers to this country’s growing economic and political crisis. Theresa May and her cabinet of chaos also have to go. This destructive government has inflicted untold punishment on Britain for almost a decade, and if dealing with Brexit is left to them, it is ordinary people who will suffer.
It’s time for a general election and a Corbyn government in power; the left are now the only ones who can challenge the rise of rightwing populism. The Labour party has promised to deliver a jobs-first Brexit that protects the rights and living conditions of ordinary people in this country and beyond. A public meeting is taking place this week about what a “people’s Brexit” might look like. It might be the case that the European Union, looking to punish Europe’s most leftwing leadership, wouldn’t acquiesce to Corbyn’s demands. If this were the case, there would be an even greater democratic argument for leaving. If the EU believes its role is to punish countries that transgress its neoliberal agenda, there is very little argument for staying in at all.
For anyone who wants a government committed to redistributing wealth and power from the top of society to the many who create it, a general election is now the only possible political option. I hope that progressives everywhere realise that before it’s too late.