Why we need a second Brexit referendum – former Shropshire MP

"The strongest argument for a People’s Vote has little to do with which side of the Brexit debate you’re on. I support it not because I want to rerun or overturn the 2016 referendum. It’s because I believe that it’s the most democratic and perhaps the only way out of the mess we’re in.

I am not a fan of referenda. We send MPs to Parliament to make decisions on our behalf. But when they fail, we must do the job ourselves. And when the future of our country for generations to come is at stake, I believe it’s our duty as citizens to rise to the challenge.

We hear dire warnings of the discord a second vote would bring. But if we allow a handful of hooligans to separate us from our democratic rights, we’re in a worse state than we imagine.

Besides, I believe that engaging the public in a serious, honest, tolerant debate may also be the best way to start repairing broken bridges and restoring the measured, principled politics for which this country was once so widely respected.

It should never have come to this. The referendum was a failure on every level: it was called for the wrong reasons; it was badly designed, ill-tempered and riddled with skulduggery. Small wonder that it saddled the Government with a problem it cannot solve: to this day, no-one really knows how to interpret, much less deliver, the decision we made. In two years of trying, the Prime Minister has been unable to improve on her meaningless “Leave Means Leave”.

Challenging

Slogans are not enough. When we contemplate radical change, we need to know what we want to change, why we want to change it and what we want in its place. We can call on MPs to ‘get on with it’ all we like but the truth is that we – politicians and public alike – still don’t know what ‘it’ is. We need to find the common ground. That’s certainly challenging, but the alternative – of drifting ever further into the politics of angry disillusion – is far worse.

We don’t have to repeat the ordeal of 2016. Had David Cameron been serious about the first referendum, he would have sought the advice of our neighbours in Ireland. In recent years, they have voted to change the law on same sex marriage, abortion and blasphemy, all highly contentious issues. Their system commands respect and confidence because it involves citizens as well as politicians in the decision-making process. It works there and, with proper planning and genuine goodwill, it should work here too.

No-one in a democracy should fear open debate; only those who lack confidence in their case would try to prevent it. And no-one can predict the outcome of a second vote. I would argue for Remain but I may again be on the losing side. In a free society we have the right to change our minds – and the right not to.

So let’s delay Article 50. Let the people finish the job they started in 2016. Let’s hold a People’s Vote, most likely on a choice between the Government’s deal and remaining in the EU. Let’s be clear-sighted about what we want and let’s agree a practical way forward. Let’s establish the settled will of the British people and accept and abide by it.

But this time, let’s have the proper, public-spirited debate we didn’t have in 2016 so that, when it’s over, we can begin to heal the wounds. We have much to lose but also much to gain."