Vote, vote, vote.

The big scientific news this week is that researchers in the USA have succeeded in restoring some brain function to the brains of decapitated pigs which have been dead for several hours. This is the best news that the British government has had for quite some time, as it means that Theresa May will now be able to find some Conservative candidates for the slaughter that her party is going to face in the forthcoming European elections.

It’s looking extremely likely that the UK is going to have European elections on May 23rd. Theresa May still thinks that it’s possible for some version of her deal to pass through the Commons before May 22nd and thus avoid the poll. But then it’s also possible that she might make a public statement that this entire Brexit mess is entirely her own fault. However 'possible' is not the same as 'probable'. Denial of the probable is this British government’s stock in trade. It’s the closest thing that they have to a strategy. We’ve now reached the point where British policy towards the EU consists of foot stamping and temper tantrums and the insistence that up is down, black is white, and David Davies serves a useful purpose.

The Conservatives are handicapped in launching a campaign for the elections because of their insistence that the vote might not take place, that if it does then we’ll be leaving the EU within a couple of weeks anyway, and their utter inability to come up with some coherent policy that everyone in the party can agree with. Meanwhile Labour is keeping its head down and hoping that no one will notice that it’s trying to make out that a second referendum is an option while at the same time trying to prevent one from coming about.

The other parties have the advantage of a coherent message. It’s a pretty tragic state of affairs for mainstream British politics when David Coburn is more coherent than they are. David has resigned from Ukip and is now a supporter of Nigel Farage’s Nigel Farage Vote Nigel Farage As Seen on the BBC Party. Nigel’s new Brexit party is doing unfortunately well in the polls, having eclipsed a Ukip which has now tacked very firmly to the far right. The two swivel-eyed Brexit parties are now spending much of their energy slagging one another off, putting to very good use the reservoirs of hatred that they’ve built up over the years. Effectively these EU elections are going to be seen as a dry run for a referendum. It will be a choice between parties which want the people to have a say, parties which want the most extreme Brexit possible, or a Labour party which doesn’t really know what it stands for and which is hoping that its confusion will be mistaken for moderation.

The deadline for registering to vote is 7th May. EU citizens can vote in these elections (although 16 and 17 year olds cannot). A recent study from the Electoral Commission found that as many as one third of 18 to 34 year olds are not registered to vote. This is the age group which is most likely to support remaining in the EU. Speak to the 18 to 34 year olds amongst your friends and family, and encourage them to register to vote if they haven’t done so already. We need younger people to vote, otherwise older generations like me will write the future. A future that we won't be around for, let's face it.

If you have moved house, or have changed your name, you need to register to vote again. If you are a UK citizen living in the UK, you can register to vote online. The link is here https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote In order to register you will need your National Insurance number. If you don’t know it, it will be on a payslip, a letter from the Benefits Agency, or a tax return. You can also use this online service to register to vote if you are a UK citizen living abroad. If you are a UK citizen who lives in an EU state, you can choose to vote in the UK or in your country of residence. If you live in any other country, you can vote in the UK. If you live abroad and wish to vote in the UK’s European elections, you must have lived abroad for less than 15 years. You will also need your passport details to input into the site.

It is hugely important to ensure that you are registered to vote. Only one thing are going to matter when the results are totted up – the number of people who voted for pro-EU parties over pro-Brexit parties. This will give us an indication of the strength of feeling in the UK as a whole for a second vote on remaining in the EU. It’s up to us to let our political masters know what we think.