It’s finally happening! After the 4th time of asking by the Prime Minister, Parliament has supported a General Election on the 12th of December 2019. The Remainers who back a second referendum or revocation of Article 50 have many boxes for their cross to strike in the upcoming election.
They have the Labour Party who have abandoned their working-class Leavers for unequivocally backing a second referendum or a ‘confirmatory vote’ as they are fond of saying, they also want ‘Remain’ on the ballot paper and that’s the option Labour would opt for. The Liberal Democrats back the total revocation of Article 50 without even a vote on it, the Greens and SNP both also have policies for blocking any form of Brexit whatsoever.
But who are Leavers and democratic Remainers backing? Well, there are 2 clear cut options, Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party or Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. The Conservatives are backing the deal that Boris Johnson acquired from the EU-27 at the EU summit on the 17th of October 2019 whereas the Brexit Party are backing a No-Deal exit from the European Union and then negotiating a free trade deal from a position of full independence.
The option the majority of Brexiteers are taking is that Boris Johnson’s approach is the best one as the most recent polls have the Conservative Party 29points ahead of the Brexit Party even after the comprehensive victory the Brexit Party had in the European Elections just a few months back.
The reason Brexiteers are #BackingBoris is because of the inadequate arguments the Brexit Party have made on the deal so far. It’s clear that Boris Johnson’s deal has flaws but the interventions that the Brexit Party have made against the deal doesn’t resonate with Brexiteers as 7 out of the 10 concerns they have on their own website has to do with the transition period.
https://www.thebrexitparty.
A temporary period where all of those concerns will be gone after it’s over. These are bad points for the Brexit Party to make as if they want to convince Brexiteers that this is a bad deal then they must air more criticisms about the real details of the deal other than the transition period.
The Brexit Party are down to single digits in some of the polls and it’s clear that many Brexiteers just want to get on with Brexit even if it means signing up to this below-average deal. If the Brexit Party wants to make a good case for a WTO-Brexit and against Boris’ deal then it’s essential to debate the inner details about the deal rather than push against the transition period as the majority of people will only care about the permanent issues and connections that Britain will have with the EU after the transition period.
Many of those backing and opposing the deal have done so without even reading the entire deal. Those who back it assume that if Jacob Ress-Mogg, Mark Francois and Priti Patel voted for it then it must be a form of Brexit that is satisfactory for Brexiteers and those who oppose it say that if Nigel Farage and Ann Widdecombe dont back this agreement then it must not be satisfactory for Brexiteers. My advice to you is to read the deal yourself and come to your own conclusions about it.
But the fact that Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mark Francois, Priti Patel, Steve Baker, Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson all back this withdrawal agreement will have a toll on the polls as many Brexiteers admire, respect and trust many of those mentioned. This is going to make it even harder for the Brexit Party to convince the public that this deal isn’t good enough for the United Kingdom.
This campaign can go 1 of 2 ways in regards to the ‘Leave’ vote. Either Boris continues to be at the top of the polls and manages to avoid the wrath of Nigel Farage and therefore won’t need to do an electoral pact with any party and will likely get a clear majority of seats. Or Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party convinces people that this is not Brexit and the only way that Brexit can happen is a clean-break Brexit that delivers on the referendum result. If this was to happen it would see the Brexit Party go into the late teens and early twenties in the polls and would force a leave-alliance electoral pact which would almost guarantee a No-Deal exit from the European Union.
– Nick Mitchell (Fife, Scotland)
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