EXCL Pro-EU campaigners target Leave voters in second referendum push
2 min read
Pro-EU campaigners are to target Leave voters as they step up their bid to hold another referendum, PoliticsHome can reveal.
The social media blitz will be aimed specificially at those who wanted to quit the European Union at the time of the last vote in 2016.
Organisers of the People's Vote campaign have also issued an on open letter Leave supporters saying the deal Brexit deal propsed by Theresa May is "the worst of all worlds" and should need to be signed off by the public in a fresh referendum.
Borrowing a phrase used by the Vote Leave campaign two years ago, the group say it is time for Brexit supporters "to help us take back control by demanding the democratic right to a people’s vote on any final deal".
The move comes in the wake of a day of Westminster drama which saw David Davis and Boris Johnson both quit the Cabinet in protest at the Prime Minister's approach.
Mrs May's offer, which appeared to have been agreed by the whole Cabinet at a Chequers away day last Friday, would see the UK and EU maintain close trading ties through a "common rule book" of regulations.
They would also agree a free trade area on goods similar to the existing single market, and replace the customs union with a so-called "facilitated customs arrangement".
The open letter to Leave Voters says: "This is not the Brexit people voted for in 2016. Even if the EU agrees to it, it is a worst of all worlds deal, which will leave Britain half-in, half-out of Europe, with no say on the rules we will still have to follow while paying through the nose for the privilege.
"That’s why we think it’s now time to bring the country back together by putting the people back in charge. A people’s vote on the final Brexit deal would be your chance to tell the politicians just what you think of the deal they have negotiated – if they manage to negotiate one at all, of course.
"Whether you voted Leave or Remain, it’s time to back a people’s vote."
A spokesperson for People’s Vote said: "The choice isn’t between a bad deal or no deal. The People’s Vote campaign is a campaign every voter can get behind – whether they backed Remain or Leave at the referendum – as Brexit is not a done deal.
"That’s why we think it’s now time for the public to take back control of this botched Brexit."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
