Letter to my MP
If you don’t want to Brexit don’t give up! Sign petitions, march on Saturday, recruit others and write to your MP. This is my letter to my MP, feel free to copy and modify as appropriate.
Dear Mr Cryer,
I am a paid-up member in your Wanstead ward.
I think you’re a great MP. I think you stick to your beliefs and that you work hard to stay ethical by your own lights in very difficult circumstances. I understand you have not been pro-EU but what is happening now is wrong. This is why I am asking you not to ratify the referendum result:
-Less than 4% is not a majority, it’s a statistical blip.
-You will be aware of the damage already done to our economy. The consensus is that it is likely to get worse
-I am sure that you are as disgusted as I am by the way that many LEAVE voters have taken the results as a license to indulge in racist intimidation and violence
-The Leave campaign stated that we could spend 350m on the NHS instead of giving it to the EU despite clear evidence this was wrong. Yet the day after the result both Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson claimed they didn’t, the former that it was a ‘mistake’.
-They ignore evidence that the overall benefit to the economy far outweighs the net cost of the budget contribution, and part of that has already been evidenced since, with Erasmus funding being withdrawn, clinical trial participation being refused and a number of high profile organisations already announcing plans to leave the UK.
-Michael Gove refuted the evidence produced by a large number of experts (including economists regarding the previous point) saying that the people ‘had enough of experts’ although experience since appears to have proved them right.
-The Leave campaign claimed that we would ‘regain control of our borders’ but have since reneged on that pledge.
-Many of those who voted Leave (including Kelvin McKenzie and various MPs) are showing signs of regret. Readers of the Sun and Mail only found out the potential impact of Leave after the vote was in.
-Carrying through on leaving the EU will almost certainly mean the end of the UK, with Scotland almost guaranteed to vote for independence and the future of Northern Ireland in serious doubt.
-It seems that no plans were outlined as to how we could exit the EU inside 2 years whilst also choosing which laws to keep, negotiating replacements, protecting British people abroad and EU workers vital to our economy at home.
-As I know you to be an ethical and principled individual I know you will be as horrified as I am that this campaign has been based on misinformation and alarmism.
Geoffrey Robertson QC, a leading constitutional lawyer, has said that a bill to repeal the 1972 European Communities Act must be debated and passed by Parliament before Article 50 can be invoked. It is therefore the responsibility of MPs to consider all that we have learned since the vote. Yes, MPs must take into account the result of the referendum, but your ultimate responsibility is to take an informed decision based on the best interests of your constituents and your country.
It is also perhaps worth noting that Ireland has re-run referenda twice in this century, without noticeable long-term damage to the functioning of its democracy. It is therefore clearly possible to do so, or to reach the conclusion that Parliament must set aside this result in the nation’s long-term interests.
Hopeful Best,
Carole Edrich
PS I’m going to put this on social media as it’s important and I’d like to encourage others to write to their MPs too.
To identify your MP and other relevant representatives: https://www.writetothem.com/