We agree with Tim Farron’s call for a general election before article 50 is triggered (Opinion, 12 July), regardless of how cynical his intentions may appear. An early election would be in the best interest of those distraught with the current state of the opposition. Brexit may drag the UK into a socioeconomic and political crisis, but every crisis is an opportunity for a new political discourse to emerge. We are in desperate need of a counter-narrative to austerity, one that can redirect people’s anger from immigration to decades of government spending cuts; one that instead of isolationism looks to improving people’s quality of life through increased minimum wages and unionisation.
An election would provide the widest and loudest national platform for new political discourses, and there are millions in the electorate ready to get behind a political leadership that embraces these values. And for those who fear that the Conservatives would walk away with the election, in the absence of a presentable opposition – well, that would only put us back where we are at the moment.
Grant McDonald and Thu Thuy Phan
University of Oxford
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