People's Vote

People's Vote
Type	Campaign group
Interests	Open Britain

People's Vote is a British campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The group was launched in April 2018 at an event at which four Members of Parliament spoke, along with the actor Patrick Stewart and other public figures.

On 20 November 2018, #MrEthical tweeted:

"FWIW I don't think we should have a 'People's Vote' - I think the first one should be scrapped on the grounds of fraud."

History

Parliamentary group

In July 2017, the UK Parliament established an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the UK's relations with the European Union. Co-chairs are Chuka Umunna MP (Labour) and Anna Soubry MP (Conservative); the remaining members of the group are Caroline Lucas MP (Green), Jo Swinson MP (Liberal Democrats), Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru), Stephen Gethins MP (Scottish National Party), Ros Altmann (Conservative), Andrew Adonis (Labour), John Kerr (Crossbencher), Sharon Bowles (Liberal Democrats), and Dafydd Wigley (Plaid Cymru).

On 1 February 2018 The Guardian reported that a grassroots coordinating group (GCG) representing more than 500,000 members opposed to a hard Brexit had formed, with Umunna as its leader. Later that month it was reported that George Soros's Open Society Foundations had donated £182,000 to European Movement UK and £35,000 to Scientists for EU, two of the grassroot groups.

In March 2018, HuffPost reported that several pro-EU groups had moved into an office together in London's Millbank Tower in order to co-ordinate their campaign to retain strong links between Britain and the European Union. This was also reported to be in order to work alongside the APPG on EU Relations. Umunna commented:

"In our democracy, it is vital that the people get their say on Brexit, rather than their elected representatives in Parliament being reduced to some rubber stamp for whatever plan Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Michael Gove have been putting together behind closed doors".

People's Vote formation

People's Vote was launched at an event in London on 15 April 2018, at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. The event comprised Andy Parsons with MPs Umunna, Soubry, Layla Moran (Liberal Democrats), and Lucas speaking, as well as actor Patrick Stewart. Lord Adonis also attended the event.

Campaign activities

On 23 June 2018, the second anniversary of the 2016 EU Referendum, People's Vote organised a march and protest from Piccadilly to Parliament Square in Central London. Speakers included actor Tony Robinson (who criticised the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for not attending the march), business owner Gina Miller, Liberal Democrats Leader Vince Cable, Labour MP David Lammy, Lucas and Soubry. An estimated 100,000 people attended the march.

The Independent wrote an editorial on 24 July 2018 calling for a "final say on the Brexit deal". Over the next two weeks the television presenter Gary Lineker, the satirist Armando Iannucci, broadcaster Gavin Esler, comedian Rory Bremner, and former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell also announced their support for the campaign.

In August 2018 the co-founder of Superdry, Julian Dunkerton, donated £1m to the campaign. In the same month the Press Association reported that, according to a leaked memo, People's Vote were attempting to secure a motion calling for a second referendum at the 2018 Labour Party conference. The following month Labour voted in favour of a composite Brexit motion keeping the option of a second referendum open.

In September 2018, BBC News reported that the Conservative MPs Sarah Wollaston, Phillip Lee, Heidi Allen, and Guto Bebb had also joined the campaign for a People's Vote, along with former Education Secretary Justine Greening.

On 20 October 2018, protestors marched from Park Lane to Parliament Square in support of a referendum on the final Brexit deal. The march was started by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and featured speeches by Delia Smith and Steve Coogan. Amidst the crowds a number of celebrities were spotted supporting the peoples vote including Eddie Izzard, Andy Serkis, and The Thick of It star Chris Addison. Former Downing Street Director of Communications Alastair Campbell supported the march, saying "the Brexit that was campaigned successfully for [...] doesn't exist". The organisers of the march estimated that almost 700,000 people took part, although police stated that they were unable to estimate the numbers involved.

On 13 November 2018, a rally organised by the People's Vote and Best for Britain groups at 3 days notice filled Central Hall, Westminster. The rally was introduced by Andy Parsons and featured an interview of Jo Johnson by Gary Lineker, and speeches by MPs Anna Turley, Justine Greening, Ian Blackford, Caroline Lucas, Layla Moran, Dominic Grieve, Liz Saville Roberts and David Lammy.

Organisation

The campaign is a collaboration between several groups. They use a campaign office based in Millbank central London, apart from Wales for Europe which is based in Wales. The European Movement UK and Britain for Europe also have roughly 150 local campaign groups.

List of collaborating groups

The collaborating groups are:

• Britain for Europe
• European Movement UK
• For our Future's Sake (FFS)
• Healthier IN the EU
• InFacts
• Open Britain
• Our Future Our Choice (OFOC)
• Scientists for EU
• Wales for Europe

Supporters

Campaign groups

• Best for Britain

Political parties

• Renew Britain

See also

• Opposition to Brexit in the United Kingdom
• European Union Withdrawal Agreement (Public Vote) Bill 2017–19
• United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Cognitive Dissidents?	Article	27 May 2019	Alun Smith	I voted remain but I would happily leave under a Corbyn government with a deal that protects our rights and our jobs. Isn't that the sensible thing to do now? Isn't that the compromise that can bring us all together again?

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