The Next Trudeau or Macron

Dear Ms Hobhouse, Mr Stone, Ms Jardine,and Ms Moran,

Like you, I am a liberal. I believe in the principles that underlie liberalism.

I believe in free speech, but not freedom from consequences. 

I believe in a free press, but I believe it has a responsibility to report facts, not provide a balance of facts versus discredited opinions. 

I believe in freedom of religion and freedom for people of no religion. 

I believe in free markets, but tempered by regulations to protect the vulnerable. 

I believe in civil rights and civil responsibilities. 

I believe in representative democracy — in which plenipotentiaries have a responsibility to act in the best interests of their country and constituents.

I believe in the equality of all people — and that equality does not take anything away from people's individuality.

I believe diversity and multiculturalism make our society stronger, not weaker.

I believe in compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves.

I believe in accessible lifelong education — because an educated society is an open, tolerant, diverse, and more united one.

I believe in international cooperation.

I believe Brexit is an unequivocal disaster for this country, and for Europe as well. It undermines our economy, security, and the very future of our country. It is a threat to workers' rights, environmental protections, human rights. It will destroy our social services and infrastructure and it will enforce decades of austerity on a country that is already home to some of the most deprived regions in the EU.

The Liberal Democrats stand for what I stand for. Throughout my life, I have been a tactical voter. I have voted left, right, and centre in two countries. After the 2016 referendum in the UK, I decided the time had come to nail my colours to the mast and join a party. I joined the only one that made sense to me, the LibDems.

With Tim Farron's unfortunate resignation as party leader, we now have an opening. As of now, it appears that Vince Cable will stand unopposed.

This is wrong for several reasons.

1. To have an unopposed leader foisted upon us is neither liberal nor democratic.

2. For a party still fighting (unjustly, in my opinion) cries of "but tuition fees!", we cannot have a leader tainted in the court of public opinion. It would destroy us.

3. Five months ago Vince Cable published a widely read article in which he laid out his reasons for leaving the single market. Leaving the single market is the very definition of hard Brexit. As the party that branded itself the voice of the 48%, we cannot now abandon those who are crying out for representation in parliament.

We need a fresh face leading our party. We need a leader who brings neither the baggage associated with the Coalition years nor a personal crusade against what we stand for. We need one of you to stand for leadership.

Be the voice of Remain! Be the face of the new LibDems. Be our Justin Trudeau or Emmanuel Macron. Be the one to lead us out of the past. 

Thank you for your attention.

Regards,

British by Choice 

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Single Market & Free Movement

Open letter to my MP, Vicky Foxcroft…
CC: Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Corbett


Congratulations on your return to parliament. 77% is an outstanding achievement.

A hung parliament implies neither Conservatives nor Labour have a mandate for anything other than compromise. You, on the other hand, have a clear mandate from your constituents to keep doing what you're doing — fighting (hard) Brexit.

I'd like to echo the concerns of many(1) with regard to Jeremy Corbyn's views on Brexit. Many people in this election voted Labour in spite of party policy on Brexit, not because of it.

We do not have to — and ought not to — leave the single market. Richard Corbett, a Labour MEP, put together this helpful list of statements made by prominent Leavers during the referendum campaign.



Those who now claim remaining in the single market isn't respecting the referendum result are being disingenuous.

There are many who assert that freedom of movement is a negative. It isn't, not by a wide margin. It benefits this country enormously — as the drop in EU nursing applications in recent months has shown.

That said, the EU allows us to implement much greater degree of control over freedom of movement than we currently enact. 

I urge you to draw Mr Corbyn's attention to the EU regulations(2). He could back these controls and back remaining in the single market. He could call on Ms May's government to enact these protocols and step back from the cliff edge of hard Brexit.

Freedom of movement means that EU citizens can live for periods of greater than three months in another EU country if (and only if) they are:

✅ Working;

✅ Independently wealthy; or

✅ Students

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

References 

1. https://www.change.org/p/jeremy-corbyn-mp-my-vote-for-labour-is-not-a-vote-for-brexit?recruiter=78010636&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition

2. http://www.europeanscom.eu/european-directive-200438ec-european-parliament-council-never-impelmented-uk/

Sent from my iPhone

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Tory Leadership

An open letter to Anna Soubry…

We are at a crossroads. Collectively, our next steps will determine the health of our culture, economy, and social infrastructure, as well as our safety and security, for decades to come.

I am not a Conservative Party member, nor one of your constituents. I am however a concerned British resident and taxpayer. I am also a big believer in cross-party politics and working across party lines for the greater good. I was delighted to see More United back you in this election.

Theresa May was a terrible Home Secretary and has been an appalling Prime Minister. Her election campaign was a disgrace. Were it not for the collective mistrust of Jeremy Corbyn, we would have seen a Labour Party landslide this week.

Where does this leave us?

Our country needs the right leader. We need someone with energy, charisma, passion, strength, conviction, persuasiveness, compassion, courage, resilience, and common sense. Our country needs someone who can unite people with competing interests. 

In short, our country needs YOU. You have the vision and the progressive attitude to move this country forward together. You can speak compellingly across party lines, socio-economic divides, and  intranational borders.

Our next prime minister will be elected not by the people. In fact, I suspect it's unlikely our next PM will even be elected by party members. Rather, he or she will be selected by sitting Tory MPs.

Please, I implore you, seek support and make this happen. I would be happy to help support you in any way I can.

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No, I Won't Shut Up About Brexit

People (read: Corbyn supporters) keep telling me there are more important issues than Brexit.

Brexit isn't just the biggest issue — it is the only issue. Everything else is impacted by it or determined by it.

NHS: will be decimated by Brexit

Social care: ditto

Workers rights: ditto

Enviro protections: ditto

Pensions: ditto

Wages: stagnated

Inflation: through the roof

Unemployment: ditto

Social housing: gone

Libraries: ditto

Education: only for the wealthy

Retirement: ditto

Brexit will TAKE money from the poorest in this country and GIVE it to the wealthiest. It will reduce our security, increase inequality, remove protections from those who most need them. It will turn us into a tax haven for the ultra wealthy with deregulated, unprotected industries.

So go ahead, tell me again how there are issues other than Brexit for Labour to focus on.

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Let's Work Together

Right, listen up! This is not about party mergers or coalitions. The aim here is to make June the end of May so we can avert Brexit, or at least hard Brexit.

The name of the game towards that aim is the prisoner's dilemma. It's game theory. More about it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NdITTDl5coE

I want to be clear. I'm not suggesting party mergers or coalitions. Just the mathematically sensible application of game theory to defeat May and hard Brexit...

To make June the end of May, we figure out which progressive candidates have a chance & we choose not to oppose them. We support them.

No mergers.

No coalitions.

The target outcome is a minority government, which would need to compromise & play nice to achieve anything at all.

Are you going to tell me minority govts can't/won't work? I'm Canadian; we think they're pretty normal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_governments_in_Canada

If any of the good MPs in bad parties are deselected, we stand aside. We support them as independents or make room for them in our parties.

And, naturally, we do everything we possibly can to make sure Prime Dictator May herself is unseated.

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Please Do NOT Vote for Article 50

Dear [MP's name],

I'll keep this short as I know how full your inbox must be.

You have been elected to serve as a plenipotentiary for your constituents. You have a responsibility to act in our best interests. It is my belief — based on a careful study of the issues — that no Brexit is good for the UK. Leave won the referendum with a slim majority. They did so with lies and by playing to people's fears. 

Half the people in this country don't want any kind of Brexit. Of those who do want it, some want to remain in the Single Market. There is no mandate for hard Brexit.

Theresa May intends to turn this country into a tax haven. Goodbye workers' rights, goodbye environmental protections, goodbye international security, goodbye science and research, goodbye banking industry, goodbye jobs, and goodbye economic stability. Wave a fond farewell to the NHS.

There is a way to prevent this. The power is in your hands. We do not have to do this. Please join the growing number of your fellow Labour MPs (e.g. Owen Smith, David Lammy, Neil Coyle, etc.) in saying you won't vote for Article 50 unless and until certain conditions are met.

Thank you.

[Your name]

[Your address]

[Your postcode]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/labour-mp-owen-smith-says-12500331

Sent from my iPhone

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Can you spare £18k?

Dear [MP's name],

According to research by Credit Suisse, the UK has reduced household wealth by £1.2 trillion. That's £1,200,000,000,000. 

Put in more comprehensible terms, that's approximately £18,400 per person.

Do you have a spare £18k to lose without batting an eye? Perhaps Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Rupert Murdoch, and Arron Banks do. I know I don't.

Let's stop this madness. Vote no to triggering Article 50.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/22/brexit-vote-uk-household-wealth-credit-suisse?CMP=share_btn_tw

Regards,

[name]

[address]

[postcode]

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