Thread by @37paday

1/ Dear @theresa_may

Thank you for your letter.

You set out why you believe the deal you have negotiated is in the national interest and appeal for the nation to support it.

I hope you take the time to read my reply.

https://twitter.com/theresa_may/status/1066466567700037632

2/ The referendum asked whether we should remain or leave the EU.

It was essentially a question to each of us: what is best for the UK?

3/ My view was and still is that we should remain the EU. But I get that others think we are better off leaving.

The question throughout the Brexit process, at the start, middle and end, has to be: are we making the UK better off?

If we are not, then what?

4/ Your deal fails the country.

5/ You recognise yourself your duty is “to secure a brighter future for our country”.

Ask yourself does it achieve that?

6/ Why not watch this video of yourself?

Do you persuade yourself?

https://twitter.com/bbc5live/status/1065963711150452736?s=21

7/ And now you want me to support deal as one that works for the whole of country whether you voted leave or remain

8/ The Brexit process itself should have been about finding a path that worked for everyone.

Instead you decided by yourself what the UK’s redlines would be.

You did not ask anyone. You interpreted the mandate as you saw fit

9/ You tried to exclude Parliament until @thatginamiller took you to court

10/ You tried to prevent publication of impact assessments as to what Brexit would mean

11/ You repeatedly lied to the public about a “Brexit dividend” - a phrase which I now see you do not include in your open letter.

12/ You refused to condemn a newspaper for calling “judges enemies of the people”.

13/ Your treatment of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU has been shameful. You have called people

“Citizens of nowhere”

And

“Queue jumpers”

14/ Yet now you call for people to put the labels “leave” and “remain” aside.

Your rhetoric has created further division yet now you call on us to unite behind your call to help you out

15/ Should we support your deal that is the best you could get given your redlines and because you alone triggered a two year clock with no plan?

16/ Shoukd we support your deal when we know there were breaches of electoral law, investigations by @NCA_UK and questions as to whether you knew about those before you used the art 50 notice?

17/ Should we support your deal when you have questions to answer about suppressing an investigation into @Arron_banks in 2016?

18/ Shoukd we support your deal when we don’t know the extent of Russian interference in our referendum and when your deal advances Russian geopolitical interests?

19/ Shoukd we support a deal that in your economic analysis will cost us far in excess of the amounts we pay into the EU?

The average cost per person of EU membership is 37 p a day.

Your deal has to deliver at least the same for less. Does it?

20/ You ask me to support the end of freedom of movement as though that is a good thing. Why does your letter not explain the loss of rights to 65 million people you are willing to sacrifice?

21/ Freedom of movement is not an unlimited right but it is a wonderful opportunity for all of us regardless of background.

I cannot support a deal that reduces the opportunities of my fellow citizens

22/ Our economy needs people of a range of backgrounds/skills to function. Yet your measure of whether someone can come here is converted into an artificially high salary.

Just admit it - you are using this deal to continue your work when you were the “Go Home” Secretary

23/ Should I support a deal that requires millions of people who could not vote in the referendum to have to reapply for less rights and have to pay for the privilege?

Against a background of the Windrush scandal?

24/ Should I support a deal that purports to take control of our borders, laws and money but which fails on every count?

25/ You failed to analyse the impact of the Good Friday Agreement. Indeed there were zero mentions of it in the referendum leaflet sent to every home.

26/ As a result you put peace at risk.

Your backstop has the huge benefit of aiming to preserve peace.

You could champion that.

But you present it as “people living their lives as they do now.”

If so, what is the point of the deal? It does not make anyone better off

27/ And the irony is that in doing so you you don’t have control of the UK’s only land border with the EU.

28/ Your deal involves a transition period til at least the end of 2020 where the UK follows all EU law with no voice or representation.

It does not take control of our laws

29/ You also don’t take control of our money.

Not only does every version of Brexit make us poorer (which after years of austerity is going to compound the domestic issues we face but also we have no certainty as to our future terms of trade with the EU

30/ You don’t know what the terms of a future deal will cost particularly if you have to pay more for less than we have now.

If you find that concept hard, I am sure one of the @The3Million can explain it to you

31/ How can you ask me or anyone to support a deal that leaves open what our future relationship with the EU will be?

32/ Let’s go back to the opening question.

Does leaving the EU leave us better off?

You don’t know because you don’t have a deal on the future relationship.

At least be honest about the deal

33/ But even though this affects all of us, even at the final stage you do not do the public the courtesy of being transparent and honest.

Yet now you want support?

34/ Your letter talks about trade deals we can sign.

Your don’t explain the trade off of the new deals we could get against the ones we already have.

I did my own research which you can read here

https://twitter.com/37paday/status/1057722189942788101?s=21

Please also read the reply to my thread by @mac_puck

35/ Be honest sorting these trade deals will involve years of trying to recreate what we have now including the best trade deal we have now - being in the single market and customs union

36/ Your letter concludes with a focus on domestic priorities.

But all of them depend on the Brexit outcome

37/

The economy across every part of the UK

Public services including the NHS

Educating our children

Building new homes

Tackling injustices

Building a better future

All depend on the outcome of Brexit

38/ All depend on Brexit and you don’t have a deal that provides long term sustainable support for any of the areas you identify

39/ Remarkably your letter fails to address:

- how Brexit stops climate change and protects the environment

- how this deal enhances our geopolitical security and status in a way that is better than we have now

- how specifically this deal is better than what we have now

40/ And fundamentally it fails to spell out what the new social contract will be between the UK and its people.

41/ You say you want to get on with sorting out our pressing domestic problems (many of which have been caused by years of austerity)

But you have no clarity over the terms on which we will engage with the EU or the rest of the world

42/So those domestic problems will continue to take a backseat while you spend years trying to preserve what we already have

43/ But if you believe in your deal what are your specific plans for solving domestic concerns? Spell them out now and how you can deliver those with a blind Brexit

44/ Because if you cannot, you should not be asking the public to support your deal

45/ You should be asking them to decide whether they like your deal (once you explain the trade offs) or whether they would prefer to remain the EU

46/ And if the public prefers to remain that does not mean you have failed. It means you have given them choice over their future when faced with transparency and honesty

47/ Afterall Brexit is about the future of the UK. We all have a stake. We should all have a chance to vote on your deal

48/ And faced with the question does your deal make us better off?

The answer is no. Even you know that. You are meant to lead the country, not lie to it