August 2, 2019
You’ve probably heard about the result of the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election.
Only two parties could ever have won it – the Conservatives or the Lib Dems. It was always going to be close. And the majority of people voted for parties who want to leave the EU.
But because the Brexit Party split the vote, Brecon and Radnorshire now has a Lib Dem MP.
And she’s made it her mission to stop Brexit.
It’s an unfortunate fact, but it’s true. If even half of the Brexit Party voters in Brecon and Radnorshire had voted for the Conservatives instead, we’d have another Conservative MP who would back Brexit in Parliament, rather than a Lib Dem MP devoted to stopping Brexit.
And we’re not the only ones saying it. The BBC are reporting: If the Brexit Party hadn’t been standing, the Conservatives might have clinched it. And the Director of Deltapoll, Joe Twyman, claimed on Sky News that “If the Brexit Party voters had voted Conservative, the Conservatives would have won that seat.”
So there’s no avoiding the facts. A vote for the Brexit Party is a vote to get a remain MP.
This is not the first time that votes for the Brexit Party have let a remain candidate into office. As recently as June, Labour candidate and remainer Lisa Forbes became MP for Peterborough with a vote share of just 30.9% – the lowest at a by-election since 1946.
She won because the vote was split almost evenly between the Brexit Party and the Conservative candidate Paul Bristow. Combined, their vote share was over 50% of all votes and would have trounced the Labour remain candidate.
The facts are simple – people voted for the Brexit Party. But as a result, they got a remain MP.
Boris Johnson has made clear that we’re going to restore trust in our democracy, fulfil the repeated promises of Parliament to the people, and leave the European Union by the 31st of October – no ifs or buts.
And we want to get a new deal that maximises the opportunities of Brexit, while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe. One that is based on free trade, democracy, and mutual support.
Unfortunately, some parties seem to still not get it. So the message is clear. If you want to deliver Brexit by the 31 of October, you’ve got to back the Conservatives.
Commenting, Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, said:
“Corbyn’s Pension Tax will see ten million savers facing a huge bill forcing them to delay their retirement for almost three and a half years.
“This is just one of the ways a Corbyn government would hammer hardworking people on top of his plans to hike up taxes by £2,400 a year, as well as the cost of his plan for unlimited immigration and the chaos of 2020 being dominated by two more referendums – one on Brexit and another on Scottish independence.
“Only Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party can get Brexit done with a deal, get parliament working again and turbocharge our economy to unleash Britain’s potential.”
Read more about how this Pension Tax will impact millions of savers (PDF)
