We the undersigned petition Milton Keynes Council to support a 'People’s Vote’ on any final Brexit deal (or no deal) which with an option for the United Kingdom to remain a full member of the European Union.

Businesses based in the area represented by Milton Keynes Council, both large and small, have warned repeatedly that leaving the European Union will have a damaging impact on them and their workers' livelihoods because of barriers to trade, additional bureaucracy and restrictions on labour recruitment - all of these will lead to rising prices and job losses in Milton Keynes.

According to the Government’s own analyses, the UK will be considerably worse off outside the European Union under any arrangement.  With its preponderance of logistics and service businesses, together with European HQs of multinational corporations, Milton Keynes is at particular risk from even the lightest touch of extra border checks creating barriers to trade between the U.K. and the rest of the EU. Milton Keynes already faces a number of social and economic challenges, and Brexit will only make it harder to overcome them.

Milton Keynes and surrounding areas have benefitted greatly from European Union funding, particularly the Open University, one of MK’s largest and most iconic organisations, for which the loss of this funding, on top of its existing financial difficulties, could spell the end. Involvement in European-wide projects has helped both the Open University and Cranfield University develop into world-class institutions developing pioneering, life-changing research, attracting many students from other EU member states.

Many people from other EU countries have made Milton Keynes their home, working in our organisations and starting businesses of their own. Since 2016, many of these people have been made to feel unwelcome and have left (eg. The Estonian community in Milton Keynes has reduced from about 150 to around 10). This creates particular concerns in health and social care where, in 2017, 8.5% of nurses at Milton Keynes Hospital were from other EU countries, and people from other EU countries are also heavily represented in delivery of social care. This concern is especially acute for Milton Keynes which has the fastest growth in aging population of any health trust in England - and, of course, older people need more nursing and social care.

Whilst a narrow majority of those who voted in Milton Keynes voted to leave the EU in the 2016 Referendum, recent polls and thorough, detailed analysis, conducted by Best for Britain and Hope not Hate, indicate that many residents have now changed their minds and that a majority across Milton Keynes would now vote to remain.

What is becoming clear is that any deal agreed between the government and the EU will never deliver on the promises given before the referendum by the Leave campaign. In the interests of democracy, we believe the final Brexit deal (or no deal) should be put back to the British people for an informed final say. 

In the light of all these facts, we urge the Council to show its support for the best interests of the local economy, as well as the welfare of all people living and working in Milton Keynes, by supporting the motion that Councillors will debate on 24 October 2018 calling for a People’s Vote with an option to stay in the EU.