Open letter to the Leader of the Opposition concerning Article 50

Dear Jeremy Corbyn MP,

My name is George Harold Millman; I'm an actor, playwright and political activist. I realise that you will most likely have received numerous messages on this subject, but it is important that I express to you my feelings concerning the triggering of Article 50, with specific regard to your intention to order a three-line whip on your MPs to vote in favour of it. I need to say right at the start that generally, I really admire your work. I have been part of crowds you have addressed on four occasions (I believe), I agree with the vast majority of what you say and I generally find you to be a real breath of fresh air in a largely corrupt political system. That said, I cannot help but feel that on the Article 50 discussion, you are making a fatal error that could have far-reaching consequences.

The reason that seems to define any lack of opposition to Article 50 is the need to respect the result of the referendum and the will of the people. I believe this logic to be flawed, for the following reasons:

1) I stayed up watching the results of the referendum as they came in, and all night it was switching between Remain and Leave being in the lead. Right from the start, it was clear that whichever side eventually came out on top, the country would be almost entirely split. I believe this to be a major constitutional problem; a referendum that reveals an almost entirely split country results in a decision which is opposed by almost half of all citizens. I feel that the way to handle this is not to blindly go down whichever avenue came out in a narrow majority, but to undertake a serious investigation into the reasons why people voted either Remain or Leave and take the course of action that will benefit those people the most, whether that is by remaining or leaving. Forcing through a Brexit led by a Prime Minister without a mandate in these circumstances is not respecting the democratic will of the people; it is playing a political game that individuals suffer from as a result.

2) The Leave campaign is known to have used a lot of lies and mistruths to garner support (as did the Remain campaign, but not to the same extent) so the result could be argued to have occurred on false pretences.

3) The referendum question did not say anything about exactly when Article 50 should be triggered. We have a Government which quite clearly has the interests of big business at heart at the expense of everyone else. Voting down Article 50 would not mean it could not be voted in favour of in the future. I believe that setting ourselves a two-year time limit right now would be an extremely foolish thing to do, and that the triggering of Article 50 should at least be delayed until we have a more compassionate Government, even if it is not avoided altogether.

I recognise that you have tabled a wide range of amendments to the Article 50 Bill, but I feel strongly that at this stage that is not enough. I do not believe that the Conservative Government are likely to accept many of your amendments, particularly as you have come out and said that you will be voting to trigger Article 50 regardless. As you are aware, the Prime Minister's Brexit strategy appears to be to demand a host of completely impossible things from Europe, with the backup of a trade deal from the United States if they decline (and they will almost certainly decline). The fact that Theresa May has spent the last few days trying to flatter Donald Trump is something I find quite repulsive - Trump has said the most appalling things about public services, women's rights, the rights of immigrants and many other things besides. As a country, we should be standing up to Trump's divisive and hateful rhetoric, yet this trade deal throws a spanner in the works. I am also extremely worried about what will happen if this trade deal goes through. The Prime Minister has refused to confirm that she will not be offering parts of the NHS to US firms, that she will not lower food safety standards in order to ease trade with the US, and a lot more besides. Trump is an egomaniac who appears to view other countries doing well as him personally doing badly. Any trade deal between the US and the UK right now is guaranteed to be skewed in favour of America at the UK's expense, and I have seen no evidence that May will not bow to his every whim. Trump even says that he will want the right to nullify any trade deals if he is not happy with them at any point (presumably if he feels that they are benefitting another country more than the US). Will the UK have the same right? I would put money on the fact that we will not. The Leave vote was meant to be about taking back control - there is a very good argument that triggering Article 50 at this point would be quite the opposite.

I do not envy your position at all. I know that you have had a huge amount of negative publicity, and that you would be slated in the press whatever you decided to do. I think that in this country (and indeed the world at large) we have got to a place where very few people see the full story - they see things as more black-and-white than they are, and perhaps that is why there is this notion that going against Article 50 would be 'defying the will of the people'. However, this is so much worse. There is a saying: 'Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest'. I think this applies here; we have the rich and powerful playing political games, and citizens are suffering as a result. My MP Thangam Debbonaire has pledged to vote Article 50 down. I implore you, please stay true to your principles, reverse your decision on the three-line whip and form an alliance with the other opposition parties to vote down Article 50 until we are in a place where we can make this work. Right now, we just are not.


Regards,


George Harold Millman