Thread by @rozgab

***A Thread to the Voters of Hampstead Garden Suburb***

(With apologies to Edmund Burke)

In a democracy, voters should know something about the person they are voting for and what they believe in.

In many cases, voters will look at what party a candidate is standing for – and that will inform their choice.

So when a candidate stands under the banner of a party, yet disagrees with a key policy of that party, I believe that he (in this case) should make that disagreement clear.

That way, voters can decide whether they still want to vote for him.

The local elections on 3 May 2018 are just that – local. Our relentless focus is on doing what’s needed to make the lives of Barnet residents better. We want weekly bin collections, low taxes, strong public services.

But there is a national discussion on Brexit that has been all-consuming.

I voted Remain because I believed that Brexit would be a disaster for the UK. Rightly or wrongly, this is still my view.

So I want to be clear with you, the residents of Garden Suburb whom I’ve had the deep privilege of working for over the past four years… If I’m elected I will continue to speak out against Brexit – even though it is the official policy of my party.

I wanted you to know in advance, so that you can use that information to help make your decision.

A few additional thoughts now follow, on why I’m still fighting Brexit…

I am a Conservative.

I don’t see the status quo as a barrier to be smashed.

The status quo – including EU membership – is the result of the accumulated decisions and negotiations of generations of those who went before us.

Those decisions include Heath’s decision to take us into a European Community (yes, he made it quite clear) and Thatcher’s decision to take us into the Single Market (which we shaped at its foundation along Thatcherite lines).

Ask yourself: is Britain better respected around the world than it was before the referendum? Are we able to project power, to promote our values, to work with allies, than we were before Brexit? To me, sadly, the answer is no. And Brexit is entirely to blame.

Does any Brexiteer have a detailed, credible resolution to the problem of the Northern Ireland border? I’ve never seen one. Brexit serves irreparable harm to the Good Friday Agreement, an international peace treaty that ended decades of violence.

And of course, the public is ahead of the politicians.

Polls are never precise but all the evidence points to the British people having changed their minds, in large part because the vast majority of 2016 Undecideds are now 2018 Remainers.

whatukthinks.org/eu/questions/s…

The public have the right to change their minds and politicians should listen.

Finally: what do I think will happen? (Spoiler: it’s not good.)

After reading some hugely informative threads by @DavidAllenGreen and @GuitarMoog I now fear/predict the following scenario.

@davidallengreen @GuitarMoog The UK will exit on 29/3/19 into a status that looks identical to EU membership but a) without any control (due to transition rules we’ve already accepted; b) without any way back (cos A50 will have happened); and c) with the clock ticking (transition is time-limited by EU law).

@davidallengreen @GuitarMoog It will be like leaving the house naked, and then posting the keys through the letterbox.

@davidallengreen @GuitarMoog On the surface, nothing will seem to change. Yet diplomatically, we will be in an even more atrocious position that where we are now.

@davidallengreen @GuitarMoog We will end up having to rejoin the EU, and will be beholden in that process to every member and region across the EU27, no matter how small (hi there, Wallonia!) or opposed to our interests (hello, President Orban!).

It will the the work of generations.

@davidallengreen @GuitarMoog But... if that’s what it takes, then that’s just what we will have to do.

END OF THREAD!