#CutTheCard movement sees boost to Lib Dem membership

by Lib Dem team on 24 December, 2018

Jeremy Corbyn’s announcement just before Christmas that Labour would push ahead with Brexit if they won a General Election and not give people the vote that a majority now say they want has seen a rush of resignations from Labour and new members for the Lib Dems.

Corbyn has never made any secret of being a Brexiter – he’s opposed the EU for the last 40 years. But by saying he’ll ignore the wishes of Labour members, Labour supporters and the voters at large, he’s now made clear that he has no interest in listening to his party.

The announcement has seen many Labour members cut up their membership cards, often posting a picture of the card on Twitter with the hashtag #CutTheCard.

Many are now joining the Liberal Democrats, as the only major UK-wide party campaigning for the will of the people to be respected by holding a People’s Vote to break the parliamentary deadlock between the only options on the table: no-deal, May’s deal or remaining in the EU.

People are joining the Liberal Democrats for just £1 a month.

   19 Comments

19 Responses

  1. Labour ran in the last election on a pledge to implement Brexit. Can’t quite see why its members should be surprised that remains party policy. Are they really that daft?

  2. Mrs B Smith says:

    Delusional party…..the people voted to leave and if you try to change that then democracy has failed and so will your party. I actually used to support you, but no longer.

  3. Bruce says:

    Will of the people? What a party of hypocrits. Did we not have a referendum a couple of years back? Typical EU propaganda though – ignore all such referendums until the natives vote as they should. Remember Ireland.

  4. Robert Cohen says:

    Even as a ’remainer’ I am really fed up with the nonsense being spouted by our MPs and politicians of all colours. To leave with no deal would be foolish. At this stage, let’s forget the remain option – a second referendum now would not be a good idea for so many reasons (much as I would like to) and the so-called May deal is actually what the EU have said we can have have. From what I have noted, the EU aren’t going to give Corbyn or any other UK politician a better deal – yet. We accept, move on and deal with the matter. It was a bad call, and extremely foolish to only have a 50:50 vote (should have been 75%). But it is what it is. Our MOs need to realise the damage that is being caused to business – you know, those institutions that create the countries wealth and employ us. If we don’t agree and get a bar brexit, we could end up in a recession that would make previous cuts look like a tea party. My message to Westminster: grow up and do your job! Too many MPs have no real world working experience.

  5. Kath hallworth says:

    Morning ! Cut the card ? What a load of political hoo-ha! It’s about time the mps of this country supported the nation’s decision made two ears ago on the brexit referendum. It seems to me that all the politicians in this country are trying their best to put their own personal political agenda first instead of doing what the majority of the uk voted for. Stop messing about and get on with it !

  6. kathryn hallworth says:

    That’s should of course read two YEARS ago in my previous comment !

  7. Bruce says:

    1) It would be a defeat for democracy. More British people voted for Brexit than for anything else in British history. If that vote was overturned, and rerun in order to ‘get the right result’, that would be a slap in the face for democracy.
    2) It is basically Remainer sour grapes. If Remain had won the referendum in 2016, do we honestly think that any of the people now calling for a second referendum would be doing so? Of course not. In fact, they would be insisting that the result be honoured, and they would be demanding that we must all fall in behind it. Just because they lost, however, they are instead trying to undermine the result by demanding a rerun.
    3) If you do get your will then I will NEVER vote for anyone gain – after all what would be the point.

    • John Hartley says:

      Bruce – re your point 2. If the referendum had gone the other way, do you seriously think the Brexit extremists, like Rees-Mogg and his gang, would have said “Oh, well, will of the people, innit. We shall forget our principles and just accept the result.” Of course, they wouldnt. They never accepted the result of the 1975 referendum – continuing to campaign for the UK to leave with the help of their cronies in the right-wing press. That’s exactly what you expect when matters are issues of principle – so please don’t expect less from those who see our future as being within Europe.

      Personally, I’d like to see a confirmatory referendum on this (well, I would say that, wouldnt I) but that’s becuase I think the issue is far too important for our country’s future to be left to the short-term interests of MPs. If Parliament had the bottle to treat this matter seriously, there would be another vote asking folk to choose whether they want to leave with a “no deal”, leave on May’s deal or stay a member of the EU. Do I think that will happen? No, I don’t – Parliament simply hasnt go tthe bottle to do that. So, we’ll end up leaving at the end of March. And, at the beginning of April, people like me will start to campaign for a future referendum to rejoin the EU – if it takes as long as the time that the Brextremists had from 1975 to 2016, then I’ll probably be dead and never see it. But I have absolutely no doubt that it will happen and be successful – the Brexit chickens will have all come home to roost by then.

      • Bruce says:

        John – I refer to the my first sentence in paragraph 2.

        • JohnHartley says:

          Bruce – you make an obviously fair point.

          Had Remain won, there would have been no need for anything further – we could have got on improving the democracy within the EU so that things were determined by politics rather than narrow national self interest (amongst other reforms that I’m sure will happen over the next year or so, whether the UK was in or out

          But it is a wider question, not least because there is no settled will about this – not in Parliament, not even in the Cabinet and certainly not amongts the various warring factions within the Tory party.. Is it a no deal Brexit? A Norway one? May’s deal? Some other nuance to it? The inept way in which the government has handled this is leaving us with a nightmare that I’d reckon few in the country are happy with. In Parliament, there seems to be only a tiny minority who consider “no deal” to be a sensible way forward for the country. And, as for May’s deal – that seems to unite the likes of Rees-Mogg on the extreme right of the Tories and Soubry on the moderate left in condemining it. It’s a farce that only the people can sort out.

          This isnt the place to rehash the arguments in favour of EU membership but you may be interested in this leaflet from the “Another Europe is Possible” group which reflects many of my views on why Brexit will be damaging for working people.https://www.anothereurope.org/leaflet-brexit-what-you-need-to-know/

  8. Phil says:

    Surely the General Election confirmed the Referendum as 80% of MP’s elected had Brexit as their party policy.
    And I say this as a Remainer.

  9. John H says:

    In my opinion your are not doing the LibDem cause any good with this silly sniping. If this is going to be a theme I’m not sure I will continue my support.

    Opinion polls are only a guess, the referendum was a confirmed result.

    Move on.

    • Iain Roberts says:

      Move on to what, John? There is no agreed way forward. Nothing that a majority of MPs support, and certainly no form of Brexit that a majority of voters support.

      So what do we do? We go back to the people and ask them what they would like to do next. It’s the most democratic way forward, and if the Leavers are right, people won’t have changed their minds and will give a clear steer on which option they want (May’s deal, no deal or remain) and we can get on with it.

  10. John H says:

    Should ask the electorate to vote again on the results of national and local elections? Just in case we have changed our minds.

    • John Hartley says:

      Absolutely, John H. There’ll be another local election in May of this year and the next general election is scheduled for 2022.

      That’s the whole point of democracy, isn’t it – folk can change their minds and vote differently from how they did the previous time.

      Good to see that we agree that decisions should be in the hands of the people. At least, I think we agree 🙂

  11. Bob Thomson says:

    Iain,
    Our first past the post political system leaves a lot to be desired. Too often our political representatives are elected from a minority of those who voted resulting in the majority view not being represented locally and across the Country.
    A system of proportional representation or something similar would mean that those who govern us (on our behalf) would reflect the views of the majority.
    Two years ago we were given the the opportunity to vote on whether or not we wished to stay in the European Union (EU) and on one of those very rare occasions the majority view was taken into account. We voted by a majority to leave the EU.
    You now suggest (along with many other politicians) that those who voted to leave did not understand what they were voting for (an insult to many of us) and that we should have another “people’s referendum”. You suggest there should be three choices on this new referendum –
    1. Theresa May’s proposed deal
    2. No Deal
    3. Remain in the EU

    We have already had a democratic vote and the majority decided to leave the EU. If there is to be any further democratic referendum then as we have already democratically voted to leave the EU it should only be on the Prime Minister’s proposed plan or to leave with No Deal.
    Those who lead us do not appear to be listening to those who voted them into office. Is Democracy dead and if it is then so is Parliament!

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