The Brexit spell is lifting: MPs are finally standing against it For too long, Brexit has cast a spell over our country which no one dared to break. It seemed as […]

For too long, Brexit has cast a spell over our country which no one dared to break. It seemed as though forces beyond our control were remorselessly pulling our government, our economy, and our standing in the world towards a downward spiral. Members of Parliament appeared reluctant to talk about stopping Brexit, even as one by one the promises made by the Leave campaign were revealed to be pie in the sky.

‘If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy.’

Yet it is parliament that can save us from the fate of Brexit and, at last, I now believe it will.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

Speaking out at last

There are signs that MPs are beginning to find their voices. At the end of the summer Kier Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, shifted the Labour Party’s stance in support of remaining in the single market and the customs union for up to four years. Last weekend John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, confirmed that Labour MPs would vote with other parties to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal in place.

More than 150 MPs are supporting calls for the government to release official papers showing its analysis of the impact of Brexit. And this week the government was forced to delay its flagship EU withdrawal bill in order to ward off a rebellion by pro-remain Conservatives.

Parliament is, finally, speaking out. The challenge now is to ensure it continues to do so, ever more loudly and confidently, over the coming 12 months.

Pushing back against the bill

Next October, Brexit Secretary David Davis will present the Government’s threadbare Brexit deal to the House of Commons for approval. This is the key vote, the key moment, which will determine Britain’s future. Vote down the deal, and headlong rush towards Brexit will come to a shuddering halt. The clock counting down the minutes to Britain’s departure from the EU will stop ticking.

‘Senior officials in Brussels last week expressed their certainty that Britain can still find a place for itself within the EU’

The government, with increasing panic, insists otherwise, and will continue to repeat its threat that by rejecting a deal MPs will be voting for Britain to crash out of Europe without a deal.

This is total nonsense. For a start, Britain will legally remain part of the EU. However, should MPs, on behalf of their constituents, decide not to go ahead with Brexit then the Article 50 process will inevitably be paused. Our friends and partners across Europe won’t shrug their shoulders and simply carry on with the process. Instead the EU will reach for the pause button.

This was made clear to me by senior officials in Brussels last week, who not only expressed their growing bewilderment with the government’s approach to the Brexit talks but also their certainty that Britain can find a place for itself within the EU should it choose a different path.

The democratic choice

Brexiteers will say that this is undemocratic. That the referendum vote is set in stone and MPs should approve whatever deal emerges, however distant from those Utopian Brexit promises of a brighter future, because the will of the people commanded it.

Actually, the opposite is true. If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy. Those are not my words, they’re David Davis’s. And he was absolutely right. Those who voted for Brexit knew exactly why they ticked the box mark to “Leave”, but if what they were promised by the Brexiteers does not, and cannot, happen, then they have every right to think again.

MPs won’t diverge radically from the views of their constituents, but as the veteran pollster Peter Kellner noted this week, since the beginning of August YouGov has seen a steady decline in the proportion of working class voters saying that Brexit was the right decision.

And you can see why: the economic disaster waiting for us is becoming clearer by the day.

Bad news for the economy

This week alone has seen a barrage of bad news. Inflation hit a five-and-half year high, and as wages fail to keep pace that means that the squeeze on living standards continues. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), who warned that challenges posed by Brexit are comparable to the Blitz, projected economic growth of just one per cent in 2018.

The Resolution Foundation, meanwhile, analysed the consequences of Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal and calculated that millions of families, particularly those who “struggle to get food on the table”, would be £500 a year worse off in a no deal scenario. We have gone beyond Project Fear. This is Project Reality.

‘How MPs vote on the Brexit Bill will be recorded in the history books’

Next October, every MP must ask themselves a straightforward question as they vote on the government’s wafer-thin Brexit deal: does it deliver on the Leave campaign’s promises and will it make Britain a better, stronger and wealthier country?

This should be a free vote

And as they vote, MPs will have to look into their consciences. This will be a moment of such historic magnitude that they will be asked about it for years to come. How they voted will be recorded in the history books. Given its significance for the country today and for future generations to come, the vote cannot be left to the arm-twisting antics of party whips. Instead this should be a free vote, and MPs should be encouraged to set aside their short-term tribal instincts and vote instead for their country rather than their party.

If they do so, they will be voting for a brighter future for Britain. Yes, those in Brussels who have endured our government’s hamfisted approach to negotiations will be exasperated by another twist in the Brexit saga.

Yes, they will roll their eyes at yet another episode of Westminster drama. But will they oblige Britain to continue to drift towards the cliff edge before forcing us over the side? Of course not. By rejecting Brexit MPs will be voting for a new, happier, chapter for Britain inside a reformed EU. Our allies across the continent will, through imagination and compromise, help us to write it.

So don’t feel exasperated at the sight of the chaos taking hold of British politics. The Brexit spell is lifting. Parliament is finding its voice. Now it is up to all of us who believe in a different future for Britain to embolden MPs to do the right thing.

How to Stop Brexit (And Make Britain Great Again) by Nick Clegg is published by Bodley Head