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@villa-ru
Dear villa-ru,
Thank you for writing to me about the EU referendum. I campaigned hard to secure a Remain vote and, although Croydon voted to stay, I am devastated that the majority of voters across the UK chose to leave. We are already seeing how damaging this is with mounting job losses, billions wiped off share values, the pound sliding, the UK’s credit rating downgraded, and a terrifying surge in racist attacks. I hold David Cameron and the Conservatives responsible for gambling with the country’s future in this reckless way.
Following Britain’s vote, there is no certainty the UK will be able to remain in the Single Market, and if we do it may only be on terms far less advantageous to us than we previously had. Once the public start to see just how catastrophic Brexit is for people’s jobs, incomes and prosperity I believe they will start to regret their decision.
In those circumstances, it may be possible to win people’s support for a second referendum after they have the information the Vote Leave campaign failed to offer this time with details of the terms of our exit made clear. That, plus the economic uncertainty that will certainly damage the economy in the meantime, would give voters a clearer understanding of the impact of leaving the EU.
I hope, too, that the Brexit result will convince leaders of other member states that it is in their interests to engage in serious reform of the EU to help tackle growing anti-EU sentiment across the continent. The EU needs to work much harder to make sure everyone in every region benefits from growing European prosperity.
In those circumstances, I would support a second EU referendum, and I will push for my party to include a pledge to do so in our next election manifesto. In the short term I do not believe it would be acceptable for Parliament to over-rule the democratic decision of the British people, but I very much hope we will be in a position to ask the public to consider the matter again before the decision becomes irreversible.
Sincerely,
Steve Reed OBE MP
Member of Parliament for Croydon North