The Leave campaign slogan “Take Back Control” turns out to mean control by Boris Johnson and the majority of the 160,000 members of the Conservative Party who elected him. He is threatening to prorogue parliament and crash out of the European Union despite widespread opposition and despite everything we know about the dangerous economic and social consequences and the years of negotiations and political polarisation that will follow. On his watch, Brexit will never be over.

If Labour is to develop an effective opposition to Johnson and his ilk, it needs to reclaim the slogan “take back control” and show that the message can only be achieved in actuality through a strategy of remaining inside the EU and transforming democracy in both Britain and Europe. The Brexit vote, at least in areas hardest hit by the decline of manufacturing and mining in the south as well as the north, was a howl of protest about not being heard in either Westminster or Brussels.

In a project about the local impact of Brexit undertaken at LSE, people expressed concerns about skills, infrastructure, jobs and to a lesser degree immigration but their most salient demand was political empowerment.

In discussions in Pendle, for example, people talked about the need for regional devolution, while in Mansfield, those involved in the discussions felt the need for a local political forum. Four decades of neoliberalism has hugely eroded what political theorists call substantive democracy – the ability to participate in the decisions that affect your life. “We have a vote not a voice” said the Spanish indignados.

Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Show all 29 1 /29 Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Remain protesters with pro-EU banners sit next to a Leave campaigner in Trafalgar square during the People’s Vote march in London. The pro-Brexit protester holds aloft the back cover of a newspaper to show his opposition to the Peoples Vote campaign Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Anti-Brexit protester dressed as widow holds a sign in mourning of the future Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester holds a pro-Brexit sign on the march Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Child with anti-Brexit banner at the People’s Vote march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Protesters in central London attend the Brexit Betrayal rally in support of the Leave vote Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Writing on a wall in support of Remain at the People’s Vote march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens ‘The power of the ballot box is mightier than the sword, how wrong was I ?’ A banner near Trafalgar Square after the Brexit Betrayal rally Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Kid holds anti-Brexit banner at the People’s Vote march Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A pro-Brexit demonstrator marches with a sign Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester holds a sign in support of Remain at the People’s Vote march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester holds a Ukip sign at the Brexit Betrayal march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester with a sticker sign ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ on her face joins the crowds in Trafalgar Square at the People’s Vote march Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A pro-Brexit protester carries a Union Jack at the Brexit Betrayal march Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester in Trafalgar Square holds a sign that reads ‘Brexit is an Epic Fail’ Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A pro-Brexit supporter attends the People’s Vote march and stages a one-man counter-protest, holding what appears to be a newspaper with a re-edited back page in support of the Leave Vote Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A sign opposing Brexit at the People’s Vote march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A sign in support of the Leave vote at a pro-Brexit rally in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A young protester with an anti-Brexit sign in Trafalgar Square Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A pro-Brexit demonstrator holds a sign in the Brexit Betrayal rally Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A family attends the People’s Vote march in support of remaining within the EU Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Pro-Brexit protesters hold banners in central London at the Brexit Betrayal rally Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Young protesters gather in Trafalgar Square at the People’s Vote March Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A pro-Brexit protester and his sign at the Brexit Betrayal rally in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Protesters sit by Trafalgar Square holding a sign in Spanish in support of the Remain vote, at the People’s Vote march, London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens ‘Out means Out’. A protester holds a pro-Brexit sign at the Brexit Betrayal rally Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A woman stands by anti-Brexit signs at Whitehall after the People’s Vote march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens Dog and owner at the Brexit Betrayal rally in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester dressed as a dinosaur holds the EU flag as anti-Brexit protesters walk past at the People’s Vote march in London Angela Christofilou Both sides of Brexit: Remain and Leave through a lens A protester dressed as a dinosaur holds a sign rallying against ‘Davocracy’ – in reference to the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos Angela Christofilou

The reasons are partly to do with globalisation – the decisions that affect our lives are no longer taken at local levels nor even in Westminster – they are taken in the headquarters of multinational corporations, on the laptops of financial speculators, or in Brussels, New York, Beijing or Washington DC.

But it also has to do with developments at the national level including the ever increasing centralisation of power and the way the technology of elections and the monopolisation of the media has constructed politicians who only say what they think the so-called floating voter wants to hear, thereby creating a sort of political echo chamber.

But perhaps most importantly, the rise of finance as a share of GDP and source of state of revenue, combined with the contracting out culture, has produced a new sort of money-based politics in which access to power is an end in itself and has more to do with rewarding supporters than with the future of the country.

Brexit will not address any of these obstacles to substantive democracy. It will only make them worse as Johnson’s behaviour vividly illustrates. Trade deals nowadays are more about regulation than quotas and tariffs.

A soft Brexit, remaining in the customs union and perhaps also the single market will leave us subject to EU rules without any participation; actually up to now, the UK has been responsible for a large proportion of EU regulations and only a very tiny share (less than 4 per cent) of rules opposed by Britain have been adopted.

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A hard Brexit would mean seeking deals with the US and being subject to US regulation or non-regulation. A hard Brexit would mean we become much poorer, are much more vulnerable to globalisation, and less able to devolve power.

So how could we take back control? First we would need to stay in the European Union and, together with our socialist and green allies, push for measures to restrain the worst aspects of globalisation – controlling financial speculation, closing down multinational tax havens, or reducing carbon emissions.

Actually the European parliament does have the power to amend legislation, approve appointments and approve the budgets. It’s just up to now these powers have not been used sufficiently for progressive purposes. The European Citizens Initiative is another mechanism for democratic accountability; it was the use of this mechanism that stopped the neoliberal TTIP (Transatlantic, Trade and Investment Partnership).

Such measures would open up the possibilities for devolving power to local and regional levels, creating democratic space in which decisions could be made nearer to the citizen and hence could be more participatory.

Labour would need to take advantage of these spaces and promote a nationwide debate about devolution along with building a participatory/power-sharing approach to local planning, the running of public companies and services, and the workplace – policies that are being designed by John McDonnell and his team through extensive consultation. Labour needs to be able to show that an ambitious programme of green investment could be shaped by people for people and not just according to the vagaries of big business.

Labour has become the party of Remain despite the endless wobbles. If an election is called this autumn, which is highly likely, Labour needs to be able to forward a strong and inspiring campaign that could bring Remainers on board as the best way to beat Johnson and prevent Brexit and show Labour Leavers that this is the real route to taking back control.