Momentum growing in UK for referendum on Brexit deal

Last week Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made a flying visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to meet members of the European Parliament to set out his vision for the “future of Europe”. Delivered in Irish, English, French and German, Varadkar’s speech received a standing ovation from MEPs. If there has been one positive outcome from Brexit it has been that it has brought your country and the 26 other EU countries closer together.

Brexit is like opening up Pandora’s Box, except that the consequences of opening the box were already predicted.

When the Remain campaign said in 2016 that Brexit would create problems for the peace process in Ireland we were told we were “scaremongering” and stoking “project fear”.

The same went for warnings about trade with Ireland, about the future of the Irish single energy market, about cross-Border environmental projects – the list goes on and on. These are real problems that will affect Irish people’s lives, and both the Irish Government and the EU are working together to find workable solutions.

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The EU’s negotiators are now busy drawing up the EU’s position ahead of the next round of Brexit talks in March. You can bet that the challenges that Ireland faces are in the forefront of their minds. I actually feel sorry for the negotiators on the British side – they have quite a headache trying to balance the reality of the EU’s demands versus the “have our cake and eat it” strategy of the Conservative government.

Seriously, there are some political questions like the Belfast Agreement which require extra sensitivity, and I believe the EU is taking this issue very seriously. But what the Conservative government wants from this negotiation is still unclear.

Delegation

There are many of us in Britain who also take these issues very seriously indeed. Which is why I am visiting Dublin this week with a Liberal Democrat delegation from Westminster to meet with political and business leaders to find out first-hand about the challenges Brexit throws up.

The Lib Dem parliamentary delegation will have a say on the final Brexit deal in Westminster, and I will have a say in the European Parliament. We will be very wary of signing off a deal that makes the British people worse off or negatively impacts our closest neighbour and ally.

No one likes admitting they were wrong, especially not us Brits, but sometimes people are willing to listen again if the case is made to them calmly and respectfully

So what happens if the Brexit deal gets rejected by the UK parliament?

First of all this will take some doing – Vince Cable and the Lib Dems will need to convince a majority of Labour and Tory MPs to reject the Brexit deal (no easy task, but it is possible).

If the deal is rejected then it is without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that there will need to be another vote on the issue.

This is not a second referendum or a rerun of 2016, this is a first vote on the final deal and what Brexit actually means – not the lies that Boris Johnson famously painted on the side of a big red bus.

The momentum for a referendum on the deal is growing as the British public is quickly learning that the Tory promise of “global Britain” cannot live up to their expectations.

Ireland could have a role to play in this. No one likes admitting they were wrong (especially not us Brits), but sometimes people are willing to listen again if the case is made to them calmly and respectfully.

Really helpful

French president Emmanuel Macron, on a state visit to the UK last week, said on Brexit: “I do respect this vote, I do regret this vote, and I would love to welcome you again.” This message was really helpful for those of us trying to convince the public to change its minds.

There also happens to be a charismatic and interesting leader (hello Leo ) that might want to consider putting out a similar message when the time is right. I think leaders like Macron and Varadkar can make the case for reforming Europe so it works for its citizens, and many British voters would want to be part of that.

There are approximately 110,000 British citizens living in the Republic of Ireland who can also play a part in the Brexit debate. Write to Johnson, David Davies and their Brexiteer friends and fight your side. If not join the Lib Dems and we’ll do the battling for you.

Catherine Bearder is the Liberal Democrat MEP for South East England