In a rather chilly and windy Sevenoaks on Saturday 26th Jan 2019 SSTIE had 16 members and supporters out leafleting and canvassing for a people’s vote. We were also collecting signatures for the PV petition; 108 signatures were gathered which is a record for us in terms of interest in signing this petition and is a marker for the increasing interest in a People’s Vote.
Members reported another excellent morning on the streets of Sevenoaks – with a big majority of passers-by accepting leaflets.
Sevenoaks shoppers fell into the following main categories as recounted by several members:
- want a PV – with more commitment than ever / signing petition more than ever – and to remain
- voted remain but don’t want PV because of potential ‘civil unrest’ (shows the gov tactic to scare people is working)
- ironic smiles – totally fed up – no longer caring – just sort it out whatever
- voted leave and still want to leave and quite angry (less keen than usual to engage in discussion)
It was very worthwhile to be there, raising awareness that Leaving is not a done deal and correcting false information, as with the young man from the pub who thought that we were wasting our time because “Sevenoaks is a strong Leave area, probably the most Leave-voting town in Kent.” He was pleasantly surprised when our members put him straight on this as he declared that he had voted Remain in 2016 (he was old enough to vote in 2016) and told us of his frustration that it is his future which is adversely affected by leaving the EU rather than “the seventy-five year-olds!” He then congratulated us for our efforts and gave us each a complimentary cup of tea.
It makes us realise, too, how tragic the situation is for some people like the sweet middle-aged lady who was so upset about the prospect of Leave, and incredulous that our government could be making such a big mistake.