We are better when we stand together - the EU is part of the solution

UPDATE: Samit is organising two more rallies this September. (A link to his website can be found at the bottom of this article):

On June 3 2017 a pro-European Union rally was held in Brussels. Gemma, a speaker, addressed the rally:

Hello fellow Europeans!

I am here today representing the 48% and Beyond. The group was set up a year ago by EP Ward for a few friends. He didn’t realise a few meant 60 thousand. And counting.

The 48 and Beyond is not affiliated to any greater national movement. We ARE, in fact – a national movement!

The group has supported various initiatives and provides a sparking ground for ideas.

• More than 650 local groups

• 4 marches, from London through to Edinburgh

• Lobbying Parliament and the House of Lords in the run up to Article 50 by RepresentUs.

• The “Mildly Subversive” fringe EU flag Mafia who have made flag bombing a thing

• The Richmond Vigil, which takes our voices to Parliament three times a week.

• And thanks to Samit, we have come to Brussels to let them know That Remainers will not give up!

This is not an exhaustive list. Everything we have done, has been done by ordinary people. People like you and me.

Not the rich.

Not the elite.

Not the famous.

People are campaigning every weekend to fight this. And we will get there! If the referendum has taught us one thing, it has been if you want to get something done, you cannot leave it to the politicians!

Leave won the referendum and in doing so managed to derail the country. They only managed this through excluding of 5 million people from voting. They only managed it by lying. But, ladies and gentlemen, they spectacularly lost the debate.

Have you met one leaver who can give you a positive and workable version of the future available to the UK outside the EU? Have you found one person who could give you one good and valid reason to justify

• walking away from a project that has helped shore up 72 years of peace,

• that has brought continuing prosperity,

• that has given us access to the world’s largest single market

• which has provided us with the right to work, live and love in 27 other countries,

• given us access to specialised health care abroad and allowed many to settle in the sun to enjoy their retirement?

• How many people on this planet can boast that they have at least two citizenships to protect their rights?

We are here, because the face of the UK is one that many of us no longer recognise. We are here, because we have the feeling that the UK has gone off the rails.

The majority of our press incites hatred towards anyone who does not agree with their narrow definition of jingoistic nationalism.

Our politicians pander to hate while their policies drive division further into our society.

Our country is 1.5 trillion in debt. The value of wages has declined by 10,5% since 2007.

This is the result of TORY austerity. Not the EU. The Tories.

The UK has problems. It has valid problems. But the punch it swung on the 23rd of June 2016 was misdirected. Instead of hitting the EU, we should have gone for the Conservative government.

A Tory majority will not get May a strong hand at the negotiating table in Brussels. Even if 650 seats went to the Tories – the UK is still one country. Facing a Europe which has never been stronger, more stable or more united in its purpose.

And despite the predictions of leave and the wishful thinking of Farage, the EU is far from falling apart. Those regressive forces that want to take us back to the era of the nation state have failed – Austria, The Netherlands, France – all stated at the ballot box that a departure from the EU is not for them after taking one look at the madness that has taken hold of 27% of the UK population.

The 48 and Beyond is a growing movement, and as the clouds grow darker, the UK will need us to keep the light shining.

We know that the EU is NOT the cause of the problems our country faces, but part of the solution

We are better when we stand together.

So what are our challenges for the future?

1. We need to speak out – to make sure those who have honoured our country by choosing the UK as their home – our husbands and wives, daughters and son in laws, neighbours, friends and colleagues – we need to let them know they are part of what makes the UK what the UK is – vibrant, innovative, international.

2. We need to make sure that over the coming months and years the blame for the debacle that is coming towards us as surely as the titanic met the iceberg – we need to make sure that we lay the blame for that squarely at the feet of those politicians and pundits who have deceived the public. May, Farage, Cameron and Boris, to name but a few.

3. We need to remind our fellow Europeans that the other UK, the open, pragmatic, humorous and humane, progressive and positive UK is still there. And that we want to be part of driving this Union forwards. There is so much we can do together for this world.

4. And we need to educate and inform. To be ambassadors for the EU. To make sure that people know the history of this place. That it was created to ensure peace, prosperity, progress. That while it may not be perfect, it is good. And it is the best we have.

Like any country, the UK has its demons to deal with. And we will deal with these demons. Because, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are Europeans. We are Brits. And we are patriots.

And we will get our country back on track.

Gemma and Samit are just two members of the Facebook group The 48%. Gemma was a speaker and the rally was organised by Samit, who is also the founder of EUNITE.