SSTIE Campaign in Sevenoaks Saturday 12th Oct
In the last month SSTIE has invited local political parties who are in favour of a People’s Vote to join with us in a Remain alliance and campaign together. As a result, we had visits to the stall in Sevenoaks from Kyle Marsh PPC for the LDs in Dartford and Helen Fiorini of the Labour Party. This cooperation will hopefully develop and will be invaluable going forward in the event of another Referendum.
We had 14 members out on Saturday in Sevenoaks and Tonbridge. in two groups of 7. Nick Goulds , PV South East Regional Manager joined the Sevenoaks group and brought along stickers, posters and a top up of leaflets. See his comments on his visit below.
The object of Saturday’s exercise was to distribute leaflets advertising the March on the 19th October and hundreds of these were distributed in each town.
There was lots of encouragement for our actions and the usual opposition as well. Numerous conversations with soft leavers also took place. It is noticeable that some of the Leavers are concerned that their democratic gain of winning the Referendum could be at risk in the event of another People’s Vote.
In terms of people’s awareness of our campaign and our visible presence it was interesting to hear this question while standing in front of our stall bedecked as in the photo above:
“Which side are you on ?”
This question was put to one of us on 2 or 3 separate occasions. Clearly we need to make our stall visibly more pro EU!
It was absolutely fantastic getting to meet your team and speak with the guys and see how things were going. I found it really uplifting and encouraging that everyone was so determined, focused and committed to the cause
Comments of Nick Goulds People’s Vote South East Regional Manager after his visit with SSTIE in Sevenoaks
– lots of people taking leaflets from where I was positioned – I had people coming from three different directions
– in some cases people were coming over to me (whilst I was talking to someone else) asking for leaflets
– If I realised someone was really keen or enthusiastic I asked/managed to get them to take a dozen/half a dozen leaflets to give to friends/family
– lots of verbal support for a People’s Vote/a final say referendum. People agreeing it was the best solution to the crisis
– people were thankful, and welcomed the incredible effort being put in by you all. They showed encouragement and told us to keep going with a nice handshake/wished well with our endeavors.
– had the chance to have one or two positive and engaging conversations with soft Leaver voters and soft Remain voters about the fact that nobody voted for no deal, the fact there is no mandate for no deal and that it would be a democratic outrage to inflict No Deal on the British people without their consent
– This is just a personal opinion, but I always find it a lot easier going into a conversations with passers-by neutrally, without wearing EU colours/stickers (even though I’d like to). I’ve found through personal experience that it’s much easier to be slightly more moderate and engage this way, as excessive blue and yellow can put some people off.