Pro-EU parties in Britain, including the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Independent Group (TIG), will not form pacts or alliances at the forthcoming EU elections, hoping to use the poll as a “soft referendum” to show a surge in support for remain. If no Brexit deal is passed by parliament, the UK will be required to hold the poll on May 23rd. “We want to use the momentum from the locals, which very few other parties will have, as a springboard for European elections,” a party source said. “One thing we can agree on is that our politics is broken, and has failed to fix the intolerable inequality and insecurity which caused the Brexit vote. The party leader, Annabel Mullin, said the elections would be “seen by many as a soft referendum on EU membership”.

Source: The Irish Times April 13, 2019 10:07 UTC