Reintroducing Liberal Leave – Liberal Democrat Voice

Liberal Leave was formed as a part of Vote Leave during the EU referendum. It had the slogan Liberal. Democratic. Internationalist. and it mainly operated through social media. The most high-profile figure in the Group was an ex-MP called Paul Keetch who wrote an article in the Independent called Think that if you are liberal you should vote to stay in the EU? Think again. I was part of that group during the EU referendum and I now chair it.

I have tried to change the group so it is about a compromise between Remain and Leave, one that can be found in the Icelandic option which differs from the Norway option due to its use of safeguard measures. Compromise is what I feel Brexit should now be about, because otherwise hard-line groups on either side will shape it for us in the years to come.

We are against a second referendum. The argument used by Tim Farron during the recent election campaign was that we didnt vote for a destination, just to leave the EU and thats right. Therefore, we should have a referendum on just that, the destination. Do we want to remain members of the single market and do we want to remain members of the customs union? We should ask that rather than replaying the EU referendum.

During the referendum, the European Free Trade Association +European Economic Area (EFTA+EEA) model was the object of attacks from both Remain and Leave supporters. I often heard people say things like They accept all EU laws when they only accept laws related to the single market. Pay, no say was another popular one and it brings up two important areas. They do have a say just in global bodies where they always have their own seat and their own voice rather than a say in the EU. The pay part is better than it sounds with the EFTA+EEA countries paying for EU programs like Erasmus+ which we would probably take part in anyway, EEA grants which go towards poorer EU countries and payment for EFTA membership. Most importantly EFTA+EEA countries dont contribute towards the EUs central budget. They are also under the EFTA court, not the ECJ as many expect. Finally, They have to accept the four freedoms. Liechtenstein doesnt and the rest have safeguard measures that can be triggered solely by them, when they want and for however long they want. More on Free Movement controls can be found here.

Brexit is not going to be a single event and even if during the two-year negotiations we completely drop out of the single market we should aim for the Norway model. Why? Because it offers fairness, stability and security.

* Torrin Wilkins is Chair of Liberal Leave and a Liberal Democrat member.

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Reintroducing Liberal Leave - Liberal Democrat Voice