
Never has there been a better moment to sign up for Saturday’s march, where we will be demanding a referendum on Brexit.
Yesterday, John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, intervened in the increasingly chaotic parliamentary process to make clear what many reasonable people have thought for some time: the prime minister cannot keep bringing back the same deal that has already been voted down twice, effectively playing a stubborn game of dare with MPs by running down the clock to a no-deal Brexit. A lot of the media seem to be getting very excited about ancient rules being exploited, but surely there’s a good point here: nothing has changed since the last meaningful vote, so why vote again? (Of course, I would add that an awful lot has changed and a lot more time has passed since the referendum, so why not let people express their opinion now?)
The question now is: where on earth does this latest twist leave us? Answer: however we voted, whichever side we’re on, whichever party we’ve voted for in the past, we all need to accept that the parliamentary process of Brexit has broken down, and the options and choices ahead of us are entirely different to those that were discussed in 2016. There is now only one sensible, democratic way out of this mess – we need to ask the people what to do by holding another referendum.
If voters want Theresa May’s deal, let them vote for it. If people want to reject Brexit, knowing what we all know now, let them vote to remain.
Whichever side you’re on, I would love to see you on the march, and at the rally afterwards. I’ll be there, as will many of my colleagues from The Independent.
We’re collaborating with People’s Vote, who did an amazing job of organising the march back in October, where around 700,000 joined us on the streets. This time, again, people are travelling from far and wide – yes, it’s in London, because that’s where parliament is, but people will be travelling through the night from all corners of the UK to join together with a single message, made loud and clear.
If you want the Final Say, sign up to the march here. And to stay in touch with all the Brexit news, opinion and analysis you can trust, sign up to our new free email here. (If you’ve already registered for an account with The Independent, sign in first and choose to receive the email under the ‘Account details’ tab.) Yesterday’s news that Theresa May would be blocked from repeatedly putting the same deal before MPs was our lead story back on 7 January – maybe the PM may should sign up for these emails too.
See you on Saturday.
Christian