NEWS AND COMMENT FROM INIREF.ORGREPORT from The Independent 16 April 2018
Campaign alliance "People's Vote" demands ballot on brexit deal
QUOTE:
" 'People's Vote' Brexit campaign group calls for referendum on final EU deal
Now that we are learning the real cost of Brexit, I want to urge that we think again and insist that the decision about whether to accept the Brexit deal is a matter for the people .....
MPs, celebrities and business leaders have come together to launch a campaign for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the EU. .....
The People’s Vote campaign endeavours to unify different anti-Brexit groups in order to demand voters are given the final say rather than parliament on the deal secured by Theresa May. .....
The campaign, which is led by the pro-EU campaign group Open Britain and the European Movement, brings together nine grassroots campaigning organisations in a united push for a vote.
Both the Conservative and Labour parties have ruled out a second referendum. Back in June 2016, Britain voted to leave the EU by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/peoples-vote-brexit-patrick-stewart-camden-event-chuka-umunna-anna-soubry-a8305981.html
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REPORT from The Guardian 16 April 2018
"Brexit looks bad on all fronts. That’s why we’re pushing for a people’s vote
Hugo Dixon
From the NHS to trade, the true impact of leaving is becoming clearer. We deserve another say now that we know the facts. .....
Brexit is certainly a big deal. It’s also shaping up to be a miserable one. So the people have a right to decide whether they still want Brexit once they know what it means.
Quitting the EU will affect us for generations to come. It will impact jobs, the NHS, the environment, our ability to stand up to bullies across the world, our pride and even the unity of the United Kingdom."
Hugo Dixon is chairman and editor-in-chief of InFacts, a founding member of the People’s Vote campaign
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/16/brexit-second-vote-nhs-trade-facts
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15 April 2018 The People’s Vote campaign is backed by nine anti-Brexit groups, eight of which now operate out of a shared working space in London’s Millbank Tower: Open Britain, European Movement UK, Britain for Europe, Scientists for EU, Healthier IN, InFacts, Our Future Our Choice (OFOC), For our Future’s Sake (FFS), along with Wales for Europe. https://www.open-britain.co.uk/launch_of_the_new_national_people_s_vote_campaign
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INIREF COMMENTS
Compared with other places, getting a referendum about ANY matter of public concern is very difficult. As reported above, both the Conservative and Labour parties have ruled out a second referendum. Only Parliament, usually acting on government instructions, can permit a national referendum.
In some countries quite similar to ours a major improvement over our UK democracy is that a very large number of voters can refer a serious proposal to the whole electorate and obtain a referendum-ballot, WITHOUT having to beg the government to allow this. Examples:
New Zealand
To obtain a national referendum 10 percent of the electorate must endorse the proposal. Time to collect signatures: 12 months
Italy
For a referendum (abrogative), half a million voters must endorse the proposal with only three months to collect signatures (challenging ...).
Netherlands
To obtain a referendum 300,000 citizens must demand one, within six weeks. The procedure starts with an initiative-proposition which must be supported by 10,000 voters.
United Kingdom
Unfortunately, in the UK we are forced to plead with our MPs and to lobby government, with no guarantee that our wish to ballot all our fellow citizens will succeed within a reasonable time. Or ever ...
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