Thread by @tony_nog

Can we have a Labour #Brexit reality check please?
1) lot of good people getting themselves all bent out of shape on the #LibDems policy of #RevokeA50 without really absorbing that this is all about Labour zigzagging on a #FinalSay

It's Corbyn's fault for demanding a GE!

2) a reminder of recent history.

Anti #Brexit/no deal groups focused on a #PeoplesVote 2 years ago. Labour conference last year tried to push Corbyn into an unambiguous PV stance with a ton of CLPs putting motions forward - they were sidelined

3) the Labour powers that be morphed 100s of "we want a PV" motions into "we want a GE, if we can't get that, we look at other options, one of which might be a PV"

This happened - and it allowed Corbyn to fuck about for 2 years

4) it meant Labour could say "we demand a GE to sort #Brexit out" for nearly 2 years even though it was clear to everyone that a) A GE wasn't going to happen and b) a GE is the worst way to sort out #Brexit if *neither major party will commit to what Brexit means*

5) so this was the position, Labour calling for a GE which was of no value in sorting out Brexit and doing very little else to fight it until, eventually, Corbyn was shamed by the other parties into issuing a Vote of No Confidence in May in December

6) This failed, he was forced to concede no GE was coming, and he (reluctantly) supported a #PeoplesVote

And this was supposed to be the position of all opposition parties, a PV with opposition campaigning for Remain

Until Labour changed the goalposts again

7) they got a sniff of power and flipped - now a #PeoplesVote would *follow* a GE and was no longer the priority

A GE that Labour is unlikely to win, with a commitment to a brand new, unquantified #Brexit deal

And now Remainers are asking "Why won't the LDs follow?"

8) this is bonkers

Labour have flipped from PV first, to GE and if not then PV, to PV first, to GE followed by PV, all the while touting a mythical "better #Brexit deal"

What exactly are the LDs supposed to do - say "our policy is whatever Labour is doing today"?

9) the fact is a GE is and always has been a poor way of sorting #Brexit

A #PeoplesVote is problematic but the least worst option

The LDs have been 100% consistent on this, they don't want a GE to "sort Brexit"

10) but IF the 2 big parties insist on a vanity GE, who speaks for the 48%, or the 6 million #RevokeA50 signaturaries?

Does every single party have to stand on a "we would possibly let #Brexit happen" platform?

11) If Labour force a GE, and go into it with a weirdly complex #Brexit policy well that is a shame, but why should any party follow them?
The LD position is simple:
We want a PV not a GE
If we must have a GE and we win, we Revoke
If we're in coalition, we demand a PV

12) if the LDs win it's not a perfect mandate for stopping #Brexit, but it's the best mandate any party can get out of a GE because it's a clear position - vote for us, we want to stop Brexit

13) but let's be under no illusions - the issue here is an opportunistic Labour Leadership conflating Brexit with their desire for power, thus causing a GE at the worst time & solving nothing.

Don't blame the LDs for being forced into a clear position instead of following Labour