Response from Nicola Sturgeon's office

Brilliant response from Nicola Sturgeon's office to my letter. Sounds like they just might be open to #MoreUnited after all. Well, here's hoping...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <CorrespondenceUnit@gov.scot>
Date: 1 August 2016 at 11:45
Subject: RE: Thanks and Pleas

Thank you for your correspondence following the EU Referendum.

Scotland has delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU with all local authority areas in Scotland voting to remain in the EU and the Scottish Government welcomes that outcome. The Scottish Government firmly believes that EU membership delivers many social, economic and cultural benefits for individuals, businesses and communities across Scotland. We also welcome those EU nationals who have chosen to make Scotland their home and who make an important and valuable contribution to our economy and society.

Given the support in Scotland for remaining in the European Union, the Scottish Government is exploring all options to secure Scotland's interests, and to protect its relationship with the EU and our place in the single market.

In ensuring we consider all options, the First Minister has said that independence has to be considered, however the starting point of our discussions is to protect our place in Europe.  Any decision on a further referendum will be for the Scottish Parliament to take having considered all the options for Scotland's future relationship with the EU.

The Government's approach has been supported by the Scottish Parliament and the First Minister has already begun discussions with the UK Government, other devolved administrations, EU institutions and other member states.

The Scottish Government has also made it clear to the UK Government that we should be consulted before the UK Government begins the process of seeking to negotiate a withdrawal from the EU, and that we should be fully and directly involved in any negotiations in order to ensure Scotland's interests are properly represented.

However it is important to be clear that at this time, the UK remains a member of the EU and the ability to trade with the EU, and the rights of EU citizens, remain unaffected at present.

If you would like any further information on the steps being taken by the Scottish Government to protect Scotland's  relationship with, and place in, the EU, you can find this online at www.gov.scot/Topics/International/Europe/eu-referendum

Thanks again for taking the time to get in touch.

 

Fiona Hyslop

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs

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Response from Mary Honeyball, MEP

Excellent response from the office of Mary Honeyball, MEP for London 

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Matthew Ford" <matt@maryhoneyball.net>
Date: 7 July 2016 at 16:07:24 BST
Subject: RE: On Brexit

Dear British by Choice,

Thank you for taking the time to write to Ms. Honeyball. Ms. Honeyball has received a staggering number of correspondence regarding the 'Leave Vote', it's consequence for the UK, EU Nationals, the triggering of Article 50, along with Nigel Farage's comments in the European Parliament, and many peoples personal concerns and views.

Overwhelmingly, the correspondence has about people's concerns regarding Britain's future and our relationship with the European Union, the nature of the leave vote and peoples continued desire to remain in the European Union. From Friday 24th onwards we witnessed an unprecedented moment in British history and politics, with events changing hour to hour. Ms. Honeyball has been working throughout this period both in Brussels and back in the UK. I have been briefing Ms. Honeyball regarding your correspondence and the many others we have received, and these are helping shape her thinking alongside her own work after the referendum. I thought is best to attach a link to a panel event Ms. Honeyball spoke at following the 'Leave Vote', where she articulates the mood in Brussels along with her thoughts on the vote. Ms. Honeyball highlighted how emotional the European Parliament was at the vote to leave and the challenges facing the UK.

https://soundcloud.com/the-fabian-society/where-now-for-britain-where-now-for-labour

Furthermore, I can assure you Ms. Honeyball will continue to represent London and her constituents in the European Parliament. However, until we have a new Prime Minister and a far better understanding of how they will handle the consequences of the vote, there can be no concrete assumptions as to what the future holds for the UK after this referendum.  As we have seen, those who ran the 'Vote Leave' campaign had no plan regarding how they would leave and this is an issue Ms. Honeyball highlighted at the beginning of the year.

http://thehoneyballbuzz.com/2016/01/26/so-whats-the-plan-mr-farage/

Furthermore, many have asked about Ms. Honeyball's views on the role Labour has to play in opposing UKIP. Ms. Honeyball is clear that she wants a  strongly pro-European Leader of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn has shown he is not the person to provide that. She has written more here:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/06/after-european-referendum-campaign-jeremy-corbyn-needs-go

and she was on Channel 4 discussing it here:

https://thehoneyballbuzz.com/2016/07/04/channel-4-news-interview-labours-future/

Ultimately, it will be the decision on the UK Parliament on how we proceed, however, Ms. Honeyball along with her European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) colleagues will work to shape the debate around the vote and work with their colleagues in the European Parliament.

Thank you again contacting Ms. Honeyball and for sharing your views on this most important of subjects.

Best wishes,

Matthew Ford

Caseworker

Mary Honeyball MEP

www.thehoneyballbuzz.com

Twitter @maryhoneyball

-------- Original message --------
Date: 03/07/2016 09:37 (GMT+00:00)
To: mary@maryhoneyball.net
Subject: On Brexit

Dear Ms Honeyball, 

Fifty-two per cent of voters in this country voted to commit economic suicide. Many of them did so because they have been screwed over by the current government. Many of them did so because of beautiful lies they were told by a Leave campaign that was fuelled by political ambitions of people who have never had to work. 

The people who propagated those lies knew they were lies. They did not care. This was never real to them. They thought it was a game. They thought it was a popularity contest. 

The poor, who are already suffering under Tory austerity, will be hit hardest by the economic devastation caused by this decision. 

Not only have we voted to commit economic suicide, we've also handed the country to the far right. Immigrants and people of colour are being attacked and degraded because we have legitimised racism and xenophobia.

Democracy is a constantly evolving beast. One minute we vote for something, the next we change our minds. That is how democracy works. If we don't like the result of a vote, we are free to petition, campaign, and speak out against it. That is how democracy works. 

This referendum is not democracy in action; this is democracy on steroids. In an election, the results can be reversed, they can be repealed. A few years later we do it all again and we make a different decision. Not this time. If we do not fight this, it will be irreversible. 

There will be no more UK. Scotland will leave. Northern Ireland will break away. London will no longer be the financial capital of Europe — and if you don't think that's a bad thing, you must not know how much tax we pay. The price of everything will increase while wages go down — at least for the few lucky enough to have a job. We will have to wave goodbye to our workers' right. We will kiss our human rights goodbye.

As one of the MEPs representing me in the European Parliament you are beholden to carry this message to them. They must be informed that this is not over yet. 

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

British by Choice 

London Borough of Lewisham 

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Letter from Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru

From: "Morris, Aled" <Aled.Morris@assembly.wales>
Date: 5 July 2016 at 10:42:23 BST
Subject: RE: United Left in a Post-brexit World

Dear x,

Many thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with Leanne on the result of the recent referendum on EU membership. As I'm sure you can imagine, Leanne has received an incredibly high volume of correspondence over the past couple of weeks and it has proven to be difficult to acknowledge each email in as timely a way as we'd like. Please accept our apologies for this.

This is just to briefly confirm that your thoughts have been passed on for Leanne's consideration and that your feedback is very welcome indeed.

Warmest wishes,

Aled Morris

Swyddog Gweinyddol ac Achos | Administrator & Caseworker

Leanne Wood, Arweinydd Plaid Cymru ac Aelod Cynulliad dros y Rhondda

Leanne Wood, Leader of Plaid Cymru and Assembly Member for the Rhondda

Sent: 27 June 2016 10:42
To: Gerry.adams@oireachtas.ie; caroline.lucas.mp@parliament.uk; clucasmedia@parliament.uk; Wood, Leanne (Aelod Cynulliad | Assembly Member) <Leanne.Wood@assembly.wales>
Subject: United Left in a Post-brexit World

Dear Ms Wood, Mr Adams, and Ms Lucas,

Firstly, I want to thank you for your dedication and commitment as party leaders. Your hard work does not go unnoticed. Thank you again for taking on such a thankless job.

David Cameron has resigned. George Osborne stuck his head above water for the first time this morning — and only to tell the markets they're right to panic. Having created this mess, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, and Michael Gove appear to have washed their hands of the entire situation. The Labour Party is imploding as Jeremy Corbyn refuses to step down as leader. 

I'm writing to you today because the UK is at a crossroads. What comes next will set our course for decades to come. We must define the terms of our relationship with the EU and obtain their agreement.

In the first 36 hours following the results of the referendum the world turned upside down. Following is a list of some of the consequences that unfolded in that time.

• David Cameron resigned as PM, effective October 2016.
• Nigel Farage admitted the Leave campaign's claims of freeing up £350 million a week to be spent on our own social services was erroneous.
• Daniel Hannan stated that this decision is unlikely to have an impact on EU migration rules.
• Sinn Fein called for Northern Ireland to leave the UK and reunite with the Republic of Ireland.
• The SNP indicated their intention to secede from the UK and remain a member of the EU. Furthermore, the EU indicated they would view such an application favourably.
• Almost 150,000 people signed a petition calling for an independent London.
• More than two million people across the UK signed a petition calling for a second referendum on leaving the EU.
• Both the Daily Mail and the Sun published articles advising their readers of the dire, devastating personal consequences of Brexit.
• The value of the FTSE 100 fell by £50 billion and the FTSE 250 fell by £25 billion.
• The value of the pound reached a 31-year low. In fact, it was falling so rapidly that British tourists overseas were unable to exchange or withdraw cash.
• The Bank of England announced they had set aside £250 billion of additional liquidity as an emergency measure.
• Rampant, vulgar incidents of public racism in broad daylight were reported all across the country.
• The EU began pressuring the UK to leave quickly.
• Voters across the UK have publicly expressed remorse at voting Leave, saying they did so purely as a protest against the current government.

The time to act is now. We are a nation in crisis. We cannot afford to wait days or weeks. The consequences of delaying will be devastating to our economy and our national identity.

We must not trigger article 50 and give formal notice to cede from the EU until we have a plan in place on how we will proceed. There is no plan. Right now instead of developing a plan, the Conservatives are arguing over whose responsibility it was to have developed one. 

We must engage with one another across intra-national borders to work together to resolve this. The rest of the UK stands to lose more from Scotland's separation than they do, but — make no mistake — we all lose. The same is true for Northern Ireland. This is Game Theory in action. Only by working together can we all win. 

Mr Cameron must call a general election. We cannot allow him to simply hand the premiership to Boris Johnson or Theresa May. We cannot permit this country to be ruled by an unelected official for 3.5 years. This must be done immediately and be enacted before Mr Cameron's resignation takes effect in October. Please urge him to do so now.

We need a united left to lead us back from the brink of the apocalypse. A planned coalition of parties united against the Right is the best defence to the madness that is threatening to hurl us all off a cliff. You can and should play a key role in that. I urge you all to work with your colleagues in Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru, and the Greens to achieve this. The time for focusing on what separates us is past. We must work together now for the good of all our people.

Please act immediately.


Yours sincerely,

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Letter from David Lammy, MP

From: "David Lammy MP" <casework@davidlammy.co.uk>
Date: 6 July 2016 at 15:33:29 BST
Subject: EU Referendum (Case Ref: ZA18774)

Dear Friend,

In the aftermath of the referendum result I have received hundreds of letters and emails about Brexit. Please forgive me on this occasion for responding with a uniform email, but it would take me weeks to reply to each individual email individually and I want you to be completely clear on my position on what is the most important political issue of our generation as soon as possible.

My position is absolutely clear. On behalf of my constituents, 75% of whom voted to Remain, I will never, ever vote for Brexit. I will continue to stand up for my constituents, as they will be the first to suffer when the post-Brexit recession hits and they will be the first to be hit by an economic downturn. I will not vote for the invoking of Article 50, or any other steps that would begin the process of the UK leaving under the UK, under any circumstances.
It is not too late to stop this and I will continue to make the case for Parliament to act to stop Brexit or for a second referendum on a coherent plan, because at present there is absolutely no semblance of a Brexit plan in place. The referendum was advisory and non-binding, and the UK's most fundamental constitutional requirement is that our Parliament is sovereign and must therefore approve any Brexit before Article 50 is invoked and before we withdraw from the EU.

On Saturday 25th June I published the following statement (https://twitter.com/DavidLammy/status/746728892279431168), and I am proud to be the first MP to call on Parliament to stop Brexit:

"Wake up. We do not have to do this. We can stop this madness and bring this nightmare to an end through a vote in Parliament. Our sovereign Parliament needs to now vote on whether we should exit the EU.

The referendum was an advisory, non-binding referendum. The Leave campaign's platform has already unravelled and some people wish they hadn't voted to Leave. Parliament now needs to decide whether we should go forward with Brexit, and there should be a vote in Parliament next week. Let us not destroy our economy on the basis of lies and the hubris of Boris Johnson".

I set out my position in further detail in an article for The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/2016/jun/26/second-referendum-consequences-brexit-grave?CMP=share_btn_tw):

"It is clear that the Leave campaigners do not have the slightest semblance of a plan and the promises that the campaign was built on were nothing more than a pack of lies, especially claims about £350m extra cash to spend on public services and the ending of free movement of labour.

The referendum was advisory and non-binding. Almost 500 Members of Parliament declared themselves in favour of Remain, and it is within their powers to stop this madness through a vote in Parliament.

It is also within Parliament's powers to call a second referendum, and we need a second referendum at the very least, on the basis of a plan that is yet to even be drawn up.

The consequences of exiting Brexit are grave. I have a simple message to all those who believe in remaining in Europe. We have to fight for our economic future, for our children's future and for the country that we want to be. Speak out, sign the petition calling for a second referendum and tell your MP to ask for a vote in Parliament".

On Monday 27th June following the Prime Minister's statement on the outcome of the EU referendum, I asked him:
The Prime Minister will recognise that some of my constituents are among the poorest in Britain. In these very tough economic times, it is the poorest who will suffer. Does he recognise that young people, poor people and many middle class people who voted for remain want a plan, and that lies behind the call for a second referendum on the detail?

I also sponsored Early Day Motion 243  (http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2016-17/243) calling on the Government to ensure that there will be a second referendum allowing UK citizens to agree or disagree with the terms of the UK-EU exit package before Article 50 is triggered.

On Saturday 2nd July I spoke to a crowd of thousands in Parliament Square at the March for Europe standing for hope, unity solidarity and most of all against hatred and intolerance.

My message was clear: "Don't mourn the EU, organise. Lobby your Members of Parliament and say to them they must vote on whether we are going to press the Article 50 button. Tell them the Leave campaign was based on lies. Keep up the fight."

You can read my speech in full here (http://www.davidlammy.co.uk/#!March-for-Europe/em4gf/5778c6590cf23a71a160516a), or watch it on YouTube here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08vqfclk48E).

I said:

"I am here first and foremost as the son of immigrants. It is my honour and my privilege to represent Tottenham, the most diverse constituency in this country and I am proud.

… And let me say to those that have emailed me or written comments on some of the articles I have written or been part of:

I'm not going anywhere. I was born in this country. This is my home. This is our home. And this will be my children's home.

We are standing for unity, we are standing for hope, and we are standing against division.

If we look at the campaign, as we think about these Etonians who have got us into this huge mess – an Etonian Mess.

We need to send Ofsted in – that school is failing.

… We need Parliament to take a look at this. Or, let's put it back to the people in a referendum.

Why is this so crucial? As we stand here, and I say this from my heart representing Tottenham, it is the poorest people in our country who will suffer".

I look at the racism, hatred and xenophobia that has been unleashed following the Leave victory and I say: not in my name. This is not my country. I do not recognise this Britain as my home. So I hope that you will join with me and stand for unity and hope, against hatred, division, fear and intolerance.

Thank you for writing to me about the aftermath of the EU referendum and Brexit. Rest assured that I will continue to lead the campaign against Brexit and do my utmost to keep Britain in the EU.

Yours

David Lammy MP

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