Targeted Facebook Adverts

I received a targeted advert on Facebook yesterday. Must have been funded by millionaire tax dodgers.

Everyone having Facebook membership in Luke Hall's constituency must have seen it but from the comments, those supporting the proposition seemed to be in a very small minority. I suspect the ad was national and adapted for each constituency, which must have cost a packet. Strangely enough, I received an email from Luke yesterday in response to an email I sent him a couple of months ago. It's a long one.

Dear Mr Van Bergen,

Thank you for your email regarding Brexit. I do understand how passionately you feel about this, and I apologise for the delay in responding as I have received a huge number of responses from people on all sides of the debate, and with the situation developing quickly, I have wanted to take the time to consider the issue appropriately.

I hope you can agree that our absolute priority must be avoiding a No-Deal Brexit. Legislation has already passed through the House of Commons, now written into law, that the UK will be leaving the European Union on March 29th at 23:00. This is legally binding, and will require a full new Act of Parliament in order to reverse this – it cannot simply be undone by an MP putting forward a Motion in support. Consequently, were MPs to reject the Prime Minister’s deal with the European Union, the result would be a No-Deal scenario by default.

As I am sure you will have seen however, there are many Leave voting MPs who are attempting to damage these efforts by demanding the Prime Minister prioritises No Deal. It is for this reason that I voted for the Withdrawal Agreement, which the Prime Minister brought to Parliament last week – in order to guarantee that a deal is in place which rules out the possibility of the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal, once and for all.

The Deal was however voted down – by 432 votes to 202 – and so it is clear that this sentiment is not shared by a large number of MPs in Parliament. The Prime Minister therefore made a statement in the House of Commons yesterday, where she set out how she feels that the Government ought best to proceed from this point. If you would like to watch this in full, it can be found at the following link: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/a1f345ea-73e4-4422-ba1f-253cb9d30577?in=15:35:13&out=17:55:42

Over the past week, the Prime Minister has held meeting with the leaders and representatives of all of the UK opposition parties, and MPs from all sides of the debate across the House of Commons, in an attempt to find compromise and mutual agreement over Brexit. I completely agree with the Prime Minister that this is the best way to move forward from this point, and I fully support her strategy in attempting to unite Parliament. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has sought to thwart this process by refusing to meet with Theresa May, and is therefore increasing the likelihood that an agreement cannot be reached, which will result in Britain leaving the EU with No Deal.

I have full confidence however, that an agreement can be reached which will protect the best interests of the British people going forwards, and I fully support efforts to achieve this.

With regards to those more specific calls for a second referendum, prior to the vote 2016 I advocated, and campaigned in favour of, a Remain outcome and so I do completely understand your strength of feeling. But we must be clear that there will not be another vote, and the UK is leaving the EU this year. I believe that when a decision of constitutional significance is made, it is important that democratic processes are followed. That is why Parliament gave the British people the final say on the UK's membership of the EU and why the result must be respected, even if it was unexpected by some.

The ballot paper presented voters with an unambiguous choice to remain in the EU or to leave. The consequences of either decision were communicated by campaign groups through a variety of print, audio-visual and digital media. The Government also sent a document to every household in the UK on the benefits of staying in the EU.

As in every election, it was up to the electorate to judge the merits of the different arguments and over 17.4 million voters decided to leave the EU. Both main political parties also pledged in their manifestos at the General Election 2017 to respect the EU referendum result and these parties received over 80 per cent of the vote. MPs from across the political spectrum voted 494 to 122 in favour of invoking Article 50 in 2017.

I want to avoid a No Deal Brexit, but it is also important that respect the result of the referendum. I believe that a deal can be found which achieves both of these aims, and will be of great long-term benefit to the UK.

I completely understand that that this may not be a view which you share, however I do hope you can appreciate my reasoning behind holding the view that I do. I can give you my assurance that I have been following the progress of these negotiations closely, and when MPs are given a vote on the final terms of our exit deal, I plan vote in the way which I feel is in the best interests of both my constituents, and the UK as a whole.

Yours sincerely,

Luke
Luke Hall MP Member of Parliament for Thornbury, Yate and the surrounding villages

So he's maintaining the illusion that a soft Brexit is possible and that Mrs May's Plan B (which can only be Plan A with the B crossed out and replaced by an A) is possible. He doesn't, however, seem to understand that a referendum does not constitute a legally enforceable diktat - referendums in the UK are advisory and sovereignty resides with Parliament, no matter the outcome of a referendum. The same goes for party manifestos - politics is littered with broken promises. A sad state of affairs for an elected MP - you'd expect him to know this.

Aside from this, the legislation required, even any Brexit, is impossible to implement within the allotted timescale. Only 5 of 14 necessary bills been implemented since June 2016 and we have under 40 days remaining - fewer if you count only sitting days.

My instinct still tells me that Mrs May will ask for an extension, which the EU will refuse, arguing that the UK has had well in excess of 2 years to prepare and there's nothing new to be discussed. The outcome, if a No Deal Brexit is to be avoided, will be either Brexit being dumped as unworkable and too damaging to the economy, or indeed a 2nd referendum - and we all know which way that would now go.