Guildford Lib Dems Urge Guildford’s MP To Support a ‘Peoples Vote’ on Brexit

Published on: 14 Nov, 2018
Updated on: 14 Nov, 2018

Zoe Franklin and Anne Milton at a 2017 general election hustings

Guildford’s Tory MP Anne Milton hit back tonight after a local Lib Dem challenge, saying she has grave reservations about a second referendum but will reserve her position until she has seen the final deal.

Ms Milton, Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships, added: “My position in government will have no bearing on any decision I make.”

Earlier yesterday, Zöe Franklin, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Guildford, had urged Ms Milton, to follow the example of Jo Johnson, the Transport Minister, who resigned last Friday (November 2) from the cabinet supporting a “People’s Vote”.

Mr Johnson said the UK is, “barrelling towards an incoherent Brexit that is going to leave us trapped in a subordinate relationship with no sway over the rules that govern over huge swaths of our economy”.

He said it is “imperative” that the question of continuing down the path of Brexit or not should go back to the people of the UK.

The Lib Dems said: “As a minister, Mr Johnson has had access to research, reports and discussions that most do not. Surely if Brexit is going to be the raging success that the government would have us believe this information would be raising MPs’ confidence and making them speak out in favour, furnished with encouraging facts.

“Yet Mr Johnson’s resignation paints a bleak picture based on the evidence he has been privy to, including repeated references to Brexit hurting his own constituents.”

Ms Franklin, the 2017 Lib Dem General Election candidate, added: “I applaud Jo Johnson for having the integrity to put his residents and the country ahead of the Conservative party line. He joins the growing and vocal cohort of Conservative and Labour MPs who are joining the Liberal Democrats and others in the call for a People’s Vote which would give the people of the UK the final say on Brexit, whether to accept a bad deal for the country or to remain in the EU.

“I urge Anne Milton to take inspiration from Jo Johnson and carefully consider the impact Brexit will have (and is already having) on her residents across Guildford, Cranleigh and the villages, her duty as MP to put her residents before her political party and reconsider her position on a People’s Vote.”

Ms Milton responded: “I applaud Jo Johnson for taking a stand on something he clearly feels very strongly about. His words were considered and principled.

“In my view, it would not be right to make a decision until I see the final deal. I have grave concerns about a second referendum, but until we have a clearer picture, I do not wish to comment on leaks and press speculation.

“MPs from all political parties will, very soon, have to decide how to vote on one of the biggest political decisions of our generation. I think it is right that Parliament decides this.

“It is for each and every MP to decide whether the deal on offer is in the best interests of his or her constituents, and the country.

“My position in the government will have no bearing on any decision I make. Irrespective of any collective decision of the government, I will vote for what I feel is right.”

Responses to Guildford Lib Dems Urge Guildford’s MP To Support a ‘Peoples Vote’ on Brexit

John Lomas Reply

November 14, 2018 at 8:55 pm

Surely, you can only have a referendum on a binary matter.

The Brexit matter is no longer binary it is tertiary.

1)Acceptable (Compromise view)

2)Too much given to the EU and not enough for us. (Brexiteers’ view)

3)Not close enough to the EU (Remainers’ view)

I would suggest that any two of those opinions would defeat the other one.
Christian Holliday Reply

November 16, 2018 at 12:26 am

We had a People’s Vote in 2016 and we voted to Leave. Furthermore, it was made clear at the time that the vote would be a once in a generation event and that there would be ‘no going back.’ The 17.4 million people who voted Leave have every right to see their decision implemented. The only question now is how we leave, not whether we leave.

Christian Holliday is a Conservative borough councillor for Burpham.
- T Hunt Reply
  
  November 16, 2018 at 7:49 pm
  
  I have some additional questions for Cllr Holliday.
  
  Firstly, where is the additional £350m promised to the NHS?
  
  Secondly, how has the Tory government made such a hash of the Brexit negotiations, given it was supposed to be “the easiest deal in human history” (Liam Fox) and “the day after we vote to leave we [held] all the cards” (Michael Gove)?
  
  Thirdly, does Cllr Holliday still consider it treason to speak positively about the EU (see https://guildford-dragon.com/2016/10/18/local-councillor-controversial-eu-petition-taken/)?
  - Sean Jenkinson Reply
    
    November 17, 2018 at 8:59 am
    
    Mr Hunt says, “Firstly, where is the additional £350m promised to the NHS?” but we have not left the EU yet, something people seem to forget.
    
    He also says, “Secondly, how has the Tory government made such a hash of the Brexit negotiations, given it was supposed to be “the easiest deal in human history” (Liam Fox) and “the day after we vote to leave we [held] all the cards” (Michael Gove)?”
    
    Maybe if people had stopped moaning about the vote and we all came together and shown the EU a strong and united front things would have gone better. The EU can see a divided country and are playing us against each other to their own advantage. It’s working.
- Simon Schultz Reply
  
  November 18, 2018 at 11:24 am
  
  I am very interested to know the following: does Christian Holliday still believe that the 1848 Treason Felony Act should be updated so that, from the day of Brexit (should it occur), it becomes treason to support the UK becoming a member of the European Union?
  - Stuart Barnes Reply
    
    November 18, 2018 at 3:59 pm
    
    I suggest that the answers to Mr Schulz’s questions should be yes and yes.
Susan Parker Reply

November 16, 2018 at 11:01 pm

The risks of No Deal facing this country are stark and existential. Without any action, that’s the default in March. Lorries will sit in traffic jams in Kent, and food and medicine supplies will be inadequate. Many businesses will leave or stop trading; there will be a seismic economic downturn. Businesses are implementing contingency plans to leave on a daily basis. Northern Ireland and possibly Scotland may in due course leave the United Kingdom. There is little likelihood that we could trade with the rest of the world under WTO rules – the US (amongst others) has already raised objections.

We’ve now seen the 500 odd pages of the proposed deal, and the EU has made it very clear that there will be no further negotiation on any alternative deal. Theresa May’s deal is a bad deal – if not quite as disastrous as No Deal. It doesn’t cover services, which represent most of our exports. In any case, her deal is unlikely to be passed in Parliament.

We do have the legal right to withdraw Article 50 (before March 29) and keep our existing deal. Yesterday this was confirmed by EU President Tusk. At present we are one of the three biggest economies in the EU (we were the second until June 2016) and we could again be one of the leaders of the biggest economic bloc in the world. We are (still) the sterling-based English-speaking entry-point into the EU market. We’re losing businesses daily, but if we cancel Article 50 contingency plans will be put on hold and most businesses will stay. We will recover some of the ground we’ve lost in the last two years. Sterling will recover.

Theresa May’s deal is worse than our current deal, and No Deal would be a disaster.

The only sane alternative for the country is to revoke Article 50. That’s the only solution that will keep the United Kingdom together. It keeps us sovereign – and prosperous. My strong preference is for the Prime Minister to revoke Article 50 with immediate effect.

If we need a People’s Vote for MPs to summon up the moral courage to vote for that, then I’m in favour of a people’s vote.
- Sean Jenkinson Reply
  
  November 17, 2018 at 9:08 am
  
  Why don’t you have the moral courage to back the people’s vote to leave? Maybe if people had got behind the vote and shown a united front to the EU we would not be in such a bad negotiating position now, regardless of it you voted leave or remain we as a county are making things worse for ourselves by fighting against each other.
  
  People can’t seem to see the EU is pitting us against each other and they are the ones bullying us in to such a bad deal which is part of the reason people voted to leave in the first place, because of the power the EU lord over us.
Colin Cross Reply

November 17, 2018 at 12:28 am

I wish to thank Susan Parker, for espousing so clearly the crossroads at which we now find ourselves.

It was always inevitable that the terms under which we would be allowed to leave the EU would be worse than those if we stayed. Common sense, if you are negotiating on behalf of the EU, one would have to say.

The EU lives in fear of the UK’s departure creating a potential Exodus amongst their poorer EU partners which would signal the end of the United Europe dream.

The UK was destined to be the whipping boy the moment David Cameron went with his begging bowl to Brussels saying “can I have some more please?”

It’s not rocket science, is it? Our leading politicians can’t even see the light of day.

Roll on the second referendum and let’s all agree to put this disaster behind us.

It’s ironic perhaps that the Armistice Centenary was this week and we remembered the 700,000 British soldiers lost trying to preserve a free and united Europe. I proudly wore my grandfather’s service medal at the day’s events and knew how lucky he must have been to have survived it all. Now, in a sense, perhaps we may be approaching a realisation that, a century on, the UK may have been lucky to have survived too.

We are at the crossroads and there is only one sane route to safety and security.
Simon Schultz Reply

November 17, 2018 at 10:29 am

Guildford’s MP, Anne Milton has now seen the final detail of Mrs May’s plan. I would like to know where she stands.

I urge her to join Jo Johnson in rejecting both the No Deal Brexit espoused by the far right – this would be incredibly destructive for the country and leave everyone very much poorer – as well as rejecting Mrs May’s plan, which has no advantages whatsoever over remaining in the EU, and many disadvantages.

Like many others, I feel that the only option left to the country is a referendum on the detail of Brexit (a “People’s Vote”) giving three options: (1) The Theresa May Deal, (2) No Deal, and (3) Revoking Article 50 and Remaining in the EU, now that the ramifications are fully understood.

I urge my MP to represent the views of her electorate, and the good of the country, on this issue. And while I realise she is very busy, it would be nice if she would reply to her constituent’s emails on Brexit-related matters.
Stuart Barnes Reply

November 18, 2018 at 9:24 am

The peoples’ vote was in 2016 and Remain lost.

The only sensible way now to give the people what they voted for is to tell the EU to get lost and leave on WTO terms with no payment of the blackmail £s.
Susan Parker Reply

November 19, 2018 at 8:15 am

We can’t trade on WTO terms. Lots of countries, including the US, have raised objections to us. Argentina has said that the jurisdiction of the Falkland Islands needs to be reopened. The WTO really is an unelected bureaucracy – why doesn’t that trouble Stuart Barnes?

The bill for the withdrawal agreement is not blackmail but the contractual commitment for what the UK owes, including for EU grants already received, MEP and UK civil servant future pensions etc.

Does Mr Barnes pay his restaurant bill or does he do a runner without paying his tab?

If we breach our legal agreements no country will enter into a trade agreement with us in future.
- John Perkins Reply
  
  November 19, 2018 at 2:24 pm
  
  The restaurant bill has been paid many times over and is still being paid, though the food is little better than thin gruel. The additional bill is for food that will never be served.
  
  Future pensions are indeed part of it, but not those of UK civil servants. Kinnock and Mandelson will continue to enjoy their massive EU pensions tax free at UK expense.
Patrick Flynn Reply

November 19, 2018 at 11:40 am

Why on earth would anyone want to remain part of a club that has treated us so badly, openly threatened us and has shown its true colours towards us since we democratically agreed to leave? The Referendum has exposed the EU overseers for what they really are and we should have as little to do with them as possible.

It is not the EU who are failing us, it’s those within our own ranks who are destabilising the leaving process. They should stop moaning and grow up. Oh, by the way, we were independent of the EU during both wars so we don’t need to be in the United States of Europe now.
Sue Fox Reply

November 19, 2018 at 12:31 pm

There is really no choice now, impoverish those who voted for a dream, including £350 million a week, or say enough is enough. We need now to vote to stay in the EU and have a say in our future.

Susan Parker is dead rignt, as is Zoe Franklin.

I watched a number of commemoration programmes about WW1 and am aware of the great sacrifices many made in WW2 for peace. I actually worked on the entry negotiations in the seventies and it breaks my heart to see opportunity, European peace for 70+ years and hope for the future being thrown away. Not too mention the break up of the UK, which is more likely, by the day. Together we can achieve anything, as I wrote in 2016 the EU ain’t perfect but you can’t change anything from outside.

I ask Anne Milton to please remember a majority of your constituents voted to remain.

We need to concentrate on social problems like universal credit, impoverished children, closures of social amenities and the proliferation of food banks the list is endless.

So let us all vote for hope and a better brighter future in the EU.
Colin Cross Reply

November 19, 2018 at 1:55 pm

I recall that at the time of the 2016 Referendum, Nigel Farage, one time de facto leader of the Leave cabal, made it clear that if the vote was in any way close then he would demand a second vote. Well 52/48 was very close and no one on either side had the slightest clue as to the true ramifications of our departure.

It is wholly reasonable and ethical therefore to put the final decision back to the electorate to conclude if this is what they now really want or not.

There are plenty of precedents for this happening and it’s certainly not treasonous!