#YoungPeoplesVote

Why I marched for a People’s Vote on 20 October and what you can do if you want your say

#YoungPeoplesVote

OK, so we’ve already had a people’s vote, it was the 2016 referendum - should Britain stay in or leave the EU?  We know the result.

By demanding another, are we repeating the question till we get the right answer?
Are we opening national wounds that might just heal if we could get through Brexit?
Are we fomenting dissent while our government is wrestling with fine-tuned negotiations?
And is everyone sick to the back teeth of the words Brexit and Europe?

NO WAY is the answer from 700,000 people who marched on parliament on Saturday 20 October.

So what are the arguments for another argumentative and divisive referendum?

  • LIES were told in 2016.  Especially £350 million pounds per week to the NHS. Even Nigel Farage admitted that was a porky the day after the referendum.

  • UNFAIR PLAY The Leave campaign has been fined and is now under police investigation for over-spending. It acted illegally. Is that how we want the UK to ‘take back control’?  Sounds more like the Mafia to me.

  • COMMON SENSE  By a small margin the 2016 referendum gave the UK government a mandate to explore leaving the EU – it was ‘advisory’. However nobody knew what the terms would look like.  

    What other major decision would you take without checking the small print? If you buy a house, you make an offer because you like the look of it, then you get a survey and in a third of all house offers, you walk away. Wiser.

  • MESS  I don’t think citizens of any persuasion are proud of the conflicted, embarrassing negotiations our government has conducted with the EU. We feel more like a banana republic than a country which has led the way in democracy, parliamentary process and social opportunity.

  • DEMOCRACY IS A LIVING ORGANISM Since 2016 there are 1.6 million new voters on the electoral register. Given that these young adults will live with the results of the Brexit deal all their lives, don’t they also deserve a vote on the terms?

In many ways the last of these is my biggest reason for marching for a people’s vote, and I was proud to see the march led by young people and hear so many speaking from the platform. Well done to For Our Future's Sake (FFS)  - interviewed by Voice here - and other groups for activating this.

If you want your voice to be heard, WRITE TO YOUR MP. Our Future Our Choice has made this easy with a template letter and list of MP email lists so this will take you 10 minutes max.  Do it now.

Author

Diana Walton

Diana Walton Voice Team

I'm the director of Upstart Projects which supports the Voice Team and other young creatives to run great projects. Proud to have been involved with Arts Award since it was a twinkle in the eye, and to watch it build many young people's brilliant artistic and leadership skills. And now we can shout about these on Arts Award Voice!

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