The People’s Vote National Day of Action on January 12th, ahead of the ‘meaningful vote’ in the commons on Theresa May’s Withdrawal Bill, was set to be by far the biggest yet.
Suffolk EU Alliance really pushed the boat out. We’ve previously held one street stall and Brexitometer most weekends in towns around Suffolk. This time we had seven! SEUA chair, Julia Ewart, knew we could do it.
The logistics was a challenge, getting equipment, banners, brexitometers and leaflets to each person running a stall. With our committee spread thin, we were heavily reliant on volunteers. Despite the cold weather, we had around a hundred helping out across the county. In some cases, it was volunteers themselves who actually ran the stalls on our behalf. For those, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Kristine Bantick in Newmarket, Caroline Goldsmith in Framlingham, and Michael Nimmney in Felixstowe. Further thanks go to the local Lib Dem and Cambridge Stays groups who helped us out by publicising the events to members, which resulted in extra volunteers at Felixstowe and Newmarket respectively.
There was lots of engagement with the public out for their Saturday shop. While there was some negative reaction to the sight of our stalls, decked out in EU flag bunting, there were plenty of positive reactions too. Anna Damski, SEUA committee member running one of the stalls said, “Here in Lowestoft, it’s ‘Leave Central’, so Remain voters who feel heavily outnumbered around here often came up to us to express gratitude for what the Suffolk Alliance is doing. One man told me he was upset that he’d lost a number of friends over Brexit, some he’d known for over forty years. This really shows the strength of feeling about the issue – it’s incredibly divisive.”
By the end of the day, the results were clear and compelling: there’s no doubt there’s a strong appetite for a People’s Vote, interestingly even amongst those who want to go ahead with Brexit.
SEUA Chair, Julia Ewart said, “Without a doubt, Brexit remains on the tip of everyone’s tongues, and more importantly we’re learning just how disgruntled and conned Leave voters feel at the chaos we’re now experiencing.”
Ipswich 
Lowestoft 
Halesworth 
Saxmundham brexitometer 
Saxmundham
Newmarket 
Felixstowe
