Politics
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Gina Miller.
- The woman who forced Theresa May to hold a parliamentary vote on Article 50, accuses the official second Brexit referendum campaign of failing to convince voters.
- Gina Miller accuses the People's Vote campaign and its political supporters of failing to communicate effectively to the public.
- Miller, who has been tipped as a future Lib Dem leader, rules out running for the job.
BRIGHTON - The official campaign for a second referendum is too "vague" and is failing to properly communicate to the public of the need for another vote, Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner who successfully forced Theresa May's government to hold a parliamentary vote on Brexit, has said.
Miller, who addressed the Liberal Democrats' autumn conference in Brighton on Monday, said the official "People's Vote" campaign "isn't defined enough" and hasn't communicated effectively with the public.
Asked whether she liked the phrase "People's Vote" - which MPs like Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable, Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry support - Miller told journalists: "I don't like the phrase.
She said: "In my view, it's not defined enough. Is it a People's Vote on three options? Is it a People's Vote on leave with no deal? It doesn't have enough detail. I don't know if they've tested it.
"As a marketer, I like to know data behind things. I like to have things tested. I don't know what testing has done. I get the feeling it isn't defined enough."
She added that her research showed that a number of Brits believed no deal meant staying in the EU and everything remaining the same, and blamed this on the failure of politicians to communicate effectively.
"To me, it illustrates how badly politicians are communicating this. People aren't understanding basic things. By far the biggest search is still 'what is Brexit?'... Nobody has explained it enough. That's why the dial hasn't moved on that."
She also criticised the use of the phrase "stop Brexit."
"I wish you would all stop saying this," she said.
"You know, it's really not helpful. All of you around here, stop saying 'stop Brexit'. It's really not helpful."
Earlier on Monday, Miller used a speech to Lib Dem conference to urge politicians to put the country before party
She ruled out a bid to succeed Cable as Lib Dem leader, saying: "I am not addressing you as your leader-in-waiting."
Miller has been tipped as a potential successor with the party set to pass reforms which will allow non-MPs to stand in future leadership contests.
Miller later told journalists that she had no plans to even become a Lib Dem member, despite giving a speech at the party's autumn conference, and would speak at Conservative and Labour conferences if invited.
The self-described "pro-transparency" campaigner also called for a referendum on Brexit in which the public would have three options - no deal, the UK government's deal, and staying in the EU.
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