The next ten days will be among the most crucial in the political life of us Labour activists, up and down the country, up and down the party. Not only will the future path of Brexit be decided, and consequently our future for decades to come. What we will collectively decide before April 12th will impact the future of an entire continent, ours, and of its political institutions, the European Union, with massive implications for half a billion citizens, from Belfast to Athens, from Lisbon to Riga.
One year ago, I wrote a public appeal to Jeremy Corbyn asking him to call for an extension of article 50 to allow EU elections in Britain. It was already clear at the time that the government were not going to allow any alternative to their botched strategy. Their plan was not to seek consensus but to force their deal through by running down the clock until the very last minute. Political manoeuvres like this not only prevent good solutions but ultimately undermine democracy. That is why last September, alongside other friends and members of DiEM25 (the pan-European movement that seeks to democratise the EU) I set up a campaign to Take a Break from Brexit. We campaigned for a significant extension of article 50 to both disrupt the government strategy and allow space for dialogue and debate, which we believe should precede any decision about the way forward on Brexit.
One year later, the government’s strategy has failed. It did so, among other factors, thanks to the firm opposition led by the Labour Party, which did all that was necessary to vote down the botched deal, oppose a catastrophic no-deal Brexit and support an extension of article 50. Despite widespread criticism towards what is often perceived as a lukewarm opposition on Brexit, citizens who voted Remain in 2016 should thank Labour when on the morning after March 29th they awoke as European citizens.
