Brexit

Today the high court ruled that Brexit can’t start until MPs vote for it.

The people bringing the court case say changes as big as Brexit need proper scrutiny from our elected MPs through votes in parliament. The government disagrees. They say that they can start Brexit without votes in parliament, because of the referendum.

Here’s where it gets even more complicated. The government wants to challenge today’s decision. If they win, today’s news could up making no difference. If they lose then MPs will get to vote on Brexit. We can expect a final decision in December.

So, right now a lot is up in the air. But one thing does still seem certain. Politicians should be hearing from us, ordinary citizens, as they debate what happens next. 38 Degrees members voted to Leave and to Remain, but we agree that we want the fairest Brexit possible. That’s why we’re working together on a vision for Brexit that works for everyone.

38 Degrees takes its name from the angle of a mountain where snowflakes come together to start an avalanche. It shows how whilst each of us may not have much influence on our own, when we all work together it adds up to big difference.

Here are three ways you can work together with other 38 Degrees members today:

1. Over 300,000 of us have crowd-sourced ideas in DIY Brexit, the positive, hopeful 38 Degrees vision for how Brexit could work best. It includes things like protecting jobs, more funding for the NHS, and an immigration system which welcomes new arrivals with skills we all benefit from – like nurses and doctors. Please read the results so far, and add your ideas if you haven’t already, by clicking here.

2. Our DIY Brexit vision is already being heard by leading politicians. In the past few weeks, groups of 38 Degrees members have met face to face with MPs, including the Home Secretary, the UK Brexit Secretary, and the Secretary for International Trade. If you’d like to volunteer to visit your MP, please click here (you’ll get help every step of the way).

3. Tell me what you think. If you have ideas, questions or concerns about how 38 Degrees is getting involved in Brexit, I’d love to hear them. Please share them with me, by sending an email to brexit@38degrees.org.uk

If today’s court ruling is upheld in December, MPs will get a bigger say in how and when Brexit happens. That could strengthen our chance to have a say on Brexit, by talking to our MPs about the vision we’ve crowd-sourced together.

If today’s court ruling is overturned in December, we’ll need to do all we can to make the government listen to the public about Brexit. We are already seeing signs of this working – there are so many of us that when we work together we’re hard to ignore.

There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Some of us feel hopeful. Some of us feel worried. Some of us don’t know quite what we should feel! But however we feel about Brexit, the future of our country is too important to leave to politicians alone.

So let’s keep working together to stand up for the kind of UK we want to live in.

Thanks for all you do,
David