Gaby Hinsliff: There’s only one real question here. Remainers aren’t as powerless as they feel

This may be as close as we ever get to a second referendum. You never know, obviously; even though there’s barely enough time to organise one before October and not enough support for it in parliament, miracles can happen. But if they don’t then this Thursday could be our last chance for a crystal clear verdict on three years of stumbling towards disaster. Do you want Brexit at any price, a no-deal Brexit if necessary now Theresa May’s deal is dying, or not?

For however much Labour tries to pretend it’s really about renationalising things or kicking out the Tories, this isn’t a domestic election and there’s only one real question here. The lesson of the local elections – when Jeremy Corbyn seemingly interpreted a Liberal Democrat resurrection as a mandate to carry on regardless – is there’s no room for ambiguity. If you want to remain, revoke, vote again or do anything but be swept inexorably over the waterfall then go Liberal Democrats, Greens, Change UK in England, and SNP or Plaid Cymru in Scotland or Wales. If tactical voting advice seems baffling, then vote with your heart. Reward the Lib Dems’ courage in resisting Brexit when nobody else was, or the Greens for doing the same on the climate emergency, or Change UK for at least trying to shake their old parties out of it; whatever moves you.

It’s trickier for liberal leavers, who only really wanted something Norway-ish and are now aghast at where we’ve ended up. No party fully represents them.

But remainers aren’t as powerless as they feel. You can’t directly change the path of Brexit on Thursday – that’s not within MEPs’ power – but your vote can push Westminster parties in the direction you want them to go. Ask leavers; they’ve been doing it for decades.

• Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Aditya Chakrabortty: The big aim is to drive out the scourge of Faragism. I’ll be voting Labour

Let’s be honest about what this election is about. It’s not a rerun of the EU referendum, even though the fervent leavers and remainers would love to make it so. Nor, despite the best efforts of the political commentators, is it some kind of national verdict on the state of our politics. It is not to elect representatives for Westminster or the local council. Instead, it’s to send representatives to a parliament that most of us pay zero attention to most of the time. These are elections we weren’t meant to hold, for positions that aren’t meant to last five years. In normal times, two out of three British voters don’t even bother to go to the polling station for this one. Logically, even fewer should venture out this time.

I will plod along to the ballot box tomorrow and, although I don’t believe in lecturing others on where to put their cross, I am quite happy to say that personally I’ll be voting Labour – for two big reasons. First, I think the big aim in British politics today is to drive out the scourge of Faragism. The Brexit party is the clear winner of this election, but the fewer votes Britain gives to Nigel Farage, the less airtime he gets to spread his race-baiting rubbish, the less persuaded backbench Tories will be to go even further to the right. Second, Labour is part of the European Socialists group and its platform is at least a start in reinvigorating a moribund EU. I understand why ardent remainers are eyeing up other options. All I’d say to that is that it was only four years ago that the Lib Dems were in a coalition that produced the disastrous austerity that led us to Brexit, while whatever passes for the intellects of Change UK still seem to believe in it. Whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s voting, it is a way station rather than a watershed. Europe is in deep trouble, economically, socially and politically, and so is Britain.

• Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist



Sonia Sodha: I’m casting my first-ever vote for the Greens. We’re facing a climate emergency

There’s one question that matters going into these elections: Brexit. It may not be a proxy referendum, but it’s an opportunity – at last – for voters to send a message on Brexit, unencumbered by the constraints of a Westminster election where it’s essentially just a fight between the two main parties.

I’m going to relish taking it. As someone who believes any Brexit deal must be put to a referendum – both on democratic grounds, and because there simply isn’t another route out of this gridlock – Labour won’t be getting my vote after its months of prevaricating. It’s become clear the only chance of getting the Labour leadership to throw its weight behind a referendum is to deny it my vote.

One option would be to vote tactically. The Lib Dems are the remain party best poised to overtake Labour. I’m tempted by the prospect of that symbolism. But I can’t bring myself to forget the policy they pushed in coalition: of expensive tax cuts that disproportionately benefitted the better-off, that were effectively paid for by cuts to tax credits for low-income families with kids.

So I’m making a positive choice to cast my first-ever vote for the Greens. We’re facing a climate emergency, and it’s never been more important to have a strong Green contingent in the European parliament. And we won’t crack climate crisis without strong international institutions like the EU. Which brings us full circle, back to Brexit.

• Sonia Sodha is chief leader writer at the Observer, and deputy opinion editor at the Guardian



Rafael Behr: The Liberal Democrats have most conspicuously waved an anti-Brexit standard

For more than three years now British politics has been consumed by something called Brexit without coming any closer to a functional definition of that word. Terminating membership of the EU is a legal baseline but not sufficient. Arrangements that mirror Norway’s relationship with Brussels would meet that test. But for Nigel Farage and most of the Conservative party, departure on those terms would be synthetic Brexit. For Farage’s new party only the most severe rupture from all European institutions is acceptable and – with the help of Tory radicals – he is rebranding the whole project to that extreme specification. The option of softer, moderate Brexits has been delegitimised by the hardliners, which then makes it harder for anyone else to defend compromise positions. This is the contradiction at the heart of Labour’s convoluted policy. The idea, not without merit, is that a national party should aspire to represent both sides of the big European divide. The problem is that nothing Jeremy Corbyn says credibly describes legal, institutional arrangements to achieve that end. He supports leaving the single market (a hard Brexit to pro-European eyes) but also a permanent customs union (a capitulation to Brussels, in the minds of Eurosceptic hardliners). Insofar as a notional Labour deal can be discerned, it is structurally not that different to the one Theresa May has failed to drive through parliament, and if Corbyn had the chance to enact Brexit, his withdrawal agreement would necessarily be the same as hers. Failure to say as much frankly is one of many dishonesties that have polluted the whole debate.

The fundamental question that so few Brexiteers are prepared to address is what, from the menu of real, available options – what package of technical, institutional arrangements – is the best one for the UK national interest. The answer, without question, is the one that has been painstakingly negotiated and adapted for a generation (including a range of bespoke opt-outs and a budget rebate). It’s called “membership of the EU”. Anyone who recognises that as something worth fighting for should vote for a party that has the courage to say as much. That disqualifies Labour. Of the genuinely remain parties, preferences might vary, but it seems to me there is a benefit in boosting the overall vote share of the one that can light the highest national beacon for the pro-European cause; to line up behind the battalion that has most conspicuously waved an anti-Brexit standard. That role, judging by polls, local election results and the Euro campaign thus far, has been fulfilled by the Liberal Democrats.

• Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist



Dawn Foster: I’m voting Labour with no qualms. I don’t see this as a referendum on Brexit

On Thursday I’ll head to the polling station in my neighbouring primary school and vote Labour with no qualms. I don’t see the European elections as a referendum on Brexit: doing so is both divisive and ill-advised. I can’t see myself voting Liberal Democrat after they propped up the Tories in coalition and ushered in the austerity that has gutted our social safety net. Treating the vote as a second referendum also ignores the fact that the Brexit party will get far more votes than the so-called “remain” parties, arguing that a no-deal Brexit is favoured by the public. It’s unlikely the elected MEPs will be in the European parliament for long, but they can attempt to make a difference in the short period they are. Some projections predict the left blocs in the European parliament will outnumber the right blocs, meaning the left will have a greater say. The two biggest threats we currently face are the environment and the rise of the far right: Labour is the only national party that can realistically battle them. The Tories ignore the rise of the far right, and are meek on the environment, while the Greens will never win enough seats to make a difference. We’re stuck in too dangerous a situation to use protest votes, with openly racist candidates fighting for seats and polling well. I would much rather see the Conservative vote collapse, and Labour’s grow as a result, so choosing who to vote for is easy.

• Dawn Foster is a Guardian columnist