Does she have enough support to defeat her country’s exit from the European Union that a country wide vote supported BEFORE the whole thing turned into the mess it is today?
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson says she hopes to convince members to back a policy of scrapping Brexit without another referendum, as the party’s conference begins in Bournemouth.
Ms Swinson says holding the referendum got the UK “into a mess”.
And she believes revoking Article 50 – the formal process to leave the EU – is the only satisfactory way out.
Ms Swinson said the party’s anti-Brexit message should be “unequivocal” in a general election campaign.
She told the BBC: “The Liberal Democrats are crystal clear. We want to stop Brexit… If a Liberal Democrat majority government is elected, then we should revoke Article 50 and I think it’s about being straightforward and honest with the British public about that.”
Up until now, the party’s policy on Brexit has been to campaign for another referendum – in which it would again call for the UK to stay in the EU.
But if Lib Dem members vote to back their leader’s policy proposal on Sunday, revoking Article 50 would be written into the next election manifesto….
image…telegraph.co.uk
Both the Conservatives and Labour are hopelessly divided on Brexit.
British Leave voters who unequivocally want Brexit (deal or no-deal) can vote for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
Remain voters can pick almost any of the others, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru (the Welsh Party) or Greens.
The much more-recent and tiny [The] Independent Group for Change (TIG or Change.UK) was a refuge for Remain MPs and anti-no-deal Tory MPs (plus one from Labour, who’s now joined the Lib Dems), so above the individual constituency level, it has no clear position apart from vigorously opposing No-Deal.
It would seem to be that, by and large, strategic Remain voters in England or Wales would vote for the Liberal Democrats rather than the smaller parties, while those in Scotland would vote SNP.
Could they split things and have the same problem?
What does that mean, James?
Could votes go to different parties splitting the anti or pro Brexit parties vote?
I think that the only chance of Remain or 2nd-referendum parties splitting the vote is in Scotland (about 70-75 constituencies), where the Scottish National Party predominates in the Scottish Parliament and supplies the First Minister. (Nicola Sturgeon).
In the European Assembly elections last June, the SNP led almost everywhere except in the northern isles of Orkney & Shetland, which voted for the Liberal Democrats followed by the SNP with the Brexit Party third. As I can best I can judge from this mouse-over map, nearly every other Scottish county council area voted 1. SNP 2. LD 3. Brexit.
Labour and the Conservative & Unionist Party generally came in 4th & 5th, with the Scottish Greens in a strong 6th place.
Those Scots (a minority) who want a No-Deal Brexit will vote for the Brexit Party, while the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Greens could possibly split the Remain or pro-referendum vote.
In England & Wales (which outside London voted for Brexit in 2016), the leading party is either Labour or Conservative, who don’t have a consensus (especially among MPs and parliamentary candidates) on Brexit. The Brexit Party would be the one to support for those who want No Deal, although Boris Johnson will make a furious appeal for those voters, while the Liberal Democrats would be the natural box for Remain or People’s Referendum supporters.
Of course, this is much more clearly understood by all of the parties themselves, and there is much discussion of electoral pacts by which the weaker anti-Brexit parties in each constituency will not put up candidates against the strongest one (most often but not always LD in English & Welsh constituencies, SNP in Scottish ones). The Green candidate did stand down in favour of the ultimately-successful Liberal Democratic candidate in a byelection last month in Brecon & Radnorshire (Wales).
https://www.thenational.scot/news/17666563.european-elections-2019-full-results-for-scotland/
Big correction: in most areas of Scotland the SNP led, followed by the Brexit Party with the Liberal Democrats 3rd (not SNP-LD-Brexit). So there’s a clear incentive for the SNP & LibDems to form some kind of electoral pact.
However, the 2015 & 2017 elections to the UK parliament in Westminster, the Scottish Liberal Democrats came in fourth (electing 4 Scottish MPs) after the SNP, Labour and Tories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Scotland#2017
Amid ongoing political chaos and uncertainty, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Brexit exhaustion is a unifying issue.
“The only thing that unites the British people at the moment is a desire to have the thing over with,” Blair told CNN Sunday. “So if there was another referendum and people voted to leave, well, you’d just have to accept that result and make the best of it. I’m not sure they would.”
Axios….