What next for pro-Europeans?
At a recent committee meeting of a local branch of the Liberal Democrats, our party's support for Europe cropped up in conversation, with some expressions of uncertainty about what our pro-Europeanism can hope to achieve in the wake of the Leave result, and about the nature of any steps we might hope to take. What exactly are we asking for when we say that we will continue to fight for Europe? Are we asking for a second referendum? Are we denying the outcome, or proposing that it be ignored? Now that the dust has settled a little after the referendum, what can pro-Europeans do as the Government starts to formulate its plans for Brexit?
Writing in the current issue of The New European, Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam, and former Deputy Prime Minister) gives an outline of three things that need to happen as we move forward, the first of which provides an answer to some of these questions:
"First of all, we should not try to fight yesterday's battles. Theresa May's Government has a mandate from the British people to pull Britain out of the European Union. Pro-Europeans like us [...] must accept the verdict of the people.
"But while the referendum gave the Government a mandate to withdraw from the EU it did not give a mandate on how to do it, or what our new relationship with our neighbours should be, not least because the Brexiteers did not deign to set out a plan during the campaign itself. Therefore we have a duty to hold the Government to account for the way in which it conducts the negotiations."
He goes on to stress that Brexiteers must be held accountable for the promises that they made to the people during the Leave campaign, and that any Brexit plans must be put before Parliament for a vote of consent before Article 50 is triggered.
In his role as European Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, Nick will be working with a group of experts to clarify the questions that the Government will have to answer in Brexit negotiations and in planning for a post-Brexit Britain. In the course of that exercise, he will be publishing a series of papers examining the challenges and dilemmas that we face in key areas. The first of these, on the critical issue of the Single Market, has already been released, and can be downloaded from the Lib Dems website.
Sources:
The New European, Issue 4 (July 29 - Aug 04, 2016), p.10
http://www.libdems.org.uk/clegg_no_easy_options_on_single_market_access [accessed 31st July 2016]