Published on Liberal Democrat Voice by Chris Bowers | Sat 14th September 2019 – 9:37 am

The Liberal Democrats have been the proud standard-bearers of the rearguard action from the 2016 EU referendum. That Britain is still in the EU, and we as a party are enjoying a revival from the drubbing of 2015, are direct results of our commitment to what looked at the time like a lost cause.

But if, as seems likely, we go into the next general election with a policy of revoking Article 50 without another referendum, it will become absolutely vital for us to present to the electorate a ‘non-Brexit dividend’ – otherwise we will fail the very society we have claimed to bat for over several decades.

Last year I wrote in LDV that our party’s approach to the most pressing issue of our time should be summed up by paraphrasing Tony Blair’s dictum from his time as shadow Home Office Secretary – we should be ‘tough on Brexit, and tough on the causes of Brexit’. We have been brilliant at the first but not so good at the second. That must now change.

There are no policy disagreements here. Whatever the question was, Brexit isn’t the answer. The EU is far from perfect, but the idea that we’re better off outside than inside is preposterous. But precisely because Brexit makes no sense, we have to look at why so many people voted for it. And to dismiss it as just years of anti-EU hectoring by the press won’t bring people round to understanding our view.

Our line to date has been that we want a people’s vote. In other words, there is so much doubt about what the 2016 Leave vote meant, and how legitimate the mandate is, that we have to put it back to the people. But if we’re not now putting it back to the people, we have to show that we’re as tough on the causes of Brexit as on Brexit itself, or we really will leave ourselves open to accusations that we are illiberal and undemocratic.

There’s an easy way to do this – we package a number of our existing anti-austerity policies into a non-Brexit dividend, which we market with all the zest and zeal of a front-line election slogan. Among the policies that would fit in this non-Brexit dividend are our plans to put more money into local government, and to build more houses, our NHS and education strategies, and even our approach to a land tax. Any policy that addresses the concerns of those who feel left behind by the affluence of the south-east and the international business elite can be part of the non-Brexit dividend package.

Having a non-Brexit dividend (see how often I’m trumpeting it already!) will do two things. It will establish in the minds of the public that there are material gains to be had from staying in the EU. I know we’ve been saying this, but it’s been very theoretical – our non-Brexit dividend needs to make the gains relevant to the everyday lives of Brexit-leaning voters, and to tell them that by staying in the EU we can afford anti-austerity measures. And it will offer a reward or compensation to those who feel they are giving up on their cherished dream of Britain leaving the EU.

I confess I’m not totally comfortable with us campaigning to revoke Article 50 without a people’s vote. We have deftly steered clear of the anti-democratic accusation for three years, largely because we could legitimately argue that ‘review and affirm’ is part of the British culture (we don’t exchange on buying a house until solicitors and surveyors have done their investigations; members have a vote on a completed trade union negotiation; shareholders vote on a proposed takeover; a doctor must regularly update a patient’s consent, etc; so why shouldn’t we put a Leave deal back to the people?). But I fear that not putting it back to the people will make accusations that we’re anti-democratic more likely to stick.

Whether that’s our policy or not, we have to be tough on the causes of Brexit, and that’s why the non-Brexit dividend should be an integral part of our policy offering at the next election. It involves little or nothing new, just repackaging in a form the public will get. Basic marketing really.

* Chris Bowers was a two-term Councillor on Lewes District Council and a co-editor of “The Alternative” which explored the idea of a progressive alliance.

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