European Movement Macclesfield and East Cheshire, along with Wilmslow for Europe ran 3 very successful street stalls on Saturday as part of a nationwide People’s Vote Action Day.
In Macclesfield, many of David Rutley’s constituents were eager to express their dissatisfaction with Theresa May’s deal and how the Brexit negotiations have gone; over 100 postcard messages were written during the morning. One local campaigner, John Handford said, "Standing around casting long winter shadows in Macclesfield could have been a chilly experience but the warm reception and enthusiasm from so many people, very keen to sign and send off cards to their MP in support of a People's Vote, certainly has been growing noticeably in the past few weeks. Many were keen to take extra cards for family and friends too. All very encouraging really."
The Nantwich stall meanwhile drew people to its Brexitometer, a straw poll which revealed most enthusiasm for ‘No Brexit’ and the right of the public to have the final say in a People’s Vote. But even many in favour of Brexit agree that, now so many of the 2016 promises have been shown to be undeliverable, it would be fairer to put the Brexit deal that we have ended up with back to the people.
In Wilmslow, 400 postcards were distributed to shoppers for them to send to local MPS. Local campaigner, Sarah Murphy summarised the day of action as follows, "The overall impression was that people were incredibly fed up with Brexit, however they voted in 2016. They felt that Theresa May’s deal was worse than being a member of the EU and putting the deal back to the public, seemed the only fair way out of an impossible political stalemate."
Members of the public commented that they were very anxious about the ongoing division and economic harm continuing with an unpopular Brexit would cause, that they did not feel confident that politicians would really act in our best interests, and that the government could not have made more of a mess of Brexit. One lady whose brother lives and works in Northern Ireland running a cross-border business said that he was devastated by how badly the Brexit negotiations had gone.
Given that Parliament will vote on Theresa May’s soon, it is crucial that MPs understand just how little popular support for the deal there is, and as it's become increasingly clear, the deal is very unlikely to change at all. The only thing that seems to unite East Cheshire and the country as a whole now is its dislike of what Brexit really means.