The Great Northern Stop Brexit Conference
Sep. 12th, 2018 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeSandwiched between our two trips to the Leeds International Beer Festival was the Great Northern Stop Brexit Conference, which was somewhat unfortunate timing in some respects. However, we managed to be reasonably sensible on the Friday evening and while getting up for an event which commenced in Leeds city centre at 11am was a little tough, it wasn't too onerous and indeed we managed to get there bang on time. The event took place at the Leeds Met Hotel, a beautiful red brick building which I had never been inside. It was quite a wonderful space and the yawning main hall was the perfect place for a conference. As soon as I had discovered it was on, I decided to book a spot, although it did feel at times like I was the only one there who was not an active member of a poltical party (Wolfie aside of course). Still, we both feel that stopping Brexit is important and as this was another event in our home city - the Leeds For Europe group are doing wonderously well in organising these things - we thought we would lend our support.
Ultimately, the Great Northern Stop Brexit Conference was six hours of talks about the politicial situation in the UK right now. The opening speech was delivered by the imperious Will Hutton of The Observer, which very much set the tone for the rest of the day. The rest of the talks were in a panel format, with four experts (politicians, businessmen, industry types) and a chair moderating the discussion. Questions were then opened to the floor which again stimulated debate. I wanted to ask Lord Tyler, who has commissioned a report about political reform and referendums in the UK, about a few technical points but alas I was not picked in the melee. Still, it was great to hear stimulating political debate and see a number of people speak who I follow on Twitter, not least Madeleina Kay (EU Supergirl and Young European of the Year) and Richard Corbett MEP who baffingly follows me. The best thing about the day was the passion with which the debate was held, alongside the fact that the message we now have is a positive one addressing the real issues in our country, almost all of which have nothing to do with the EU. The reasons why the Leave vote happened seemed to have been accepted and lessons learned, and should we get a People's Vote on the final deal, I go into that with renewed optimism. Of course, time is running incredibly short but we can only try our hardest. The other positive was the range of topics discussed, such as how to make the positive case for Europe and how to campaign more positively in the second referendum. It certainly felt a lot more rounded and natural than the lifeless one-dimensional Stronger In campaign had been two years ago.
I must say that I did find the Tory speakers, all two of them, particularly compelling and persuasive. Indeed, it was great to have a cross-party aspect to this as I feel it's the only way we are going to reverse the tide. I also thought Natalie Bennett's speech about how the UK is NOT a democracy raised a number of very interesting constitutional issues. Regional devolution was a key theme running through the conference and what we are going to do about the towns that have been left behind. This, to me, seemed to be key but at least these things are now being discussed and are a world away from the 'Project Fear' narrative. There was some fear mixed in though, particularly through the In Limbo project, a poignant look at the lives of some EU citizens in the UK (and vice versa) whose future is still uncertain.
The conference overran by over half an hour and indeed we had to leave before it concluded in order to get to the Beer Festival, but it was an enlightening and heartening day, not least because a lot of things that were discussed were things with which I have agreed for a long time. One thing I did notice was that the age demographic of those there were skewed towards the older generation, which was something of a surprise, but it was good to speak to a couple of people over the afternoon tea as we took a break. Indeed, everyone seemed really friendly yet had a gritted determination to stop this thing and I left the event feeling rather positive, as if I had been surrounded by allies. Events have somewhat eclipsed that but we must keep pushing on and fighting for what we think is right. This conference highlighted that none of us are alone in that.
Ultimately, the Great Northern Stop Brexit Conference was six hours of talks about the politicial situation in the UK right now. The opening speech was delivered by the imperious Will Hutton of The Observer, which very much set the tone for the rest of the day. The rest of the talks were in a panel format, with four experts (politicians, businessmen, industry types) and a chair moderating the discussion. Questions were then opened to the floor which again stimulated debate. I wanted to ask Lord Tyler, who has commissioned a report about political reform and referendums in the UK, about a few technical points but alas I was not picked in the melee. Still, it was great to hear stimulating political debate and see a number of people speak who I follow on Twitter, not least Madeleina Kay (EU Supergirl and Young European of the Year) and Richard Corbett MEP who baffingly follows me. The best thing about the day was the passion with which the debate was held, alongside the fact that the message we now have is a positive one addressing the real issues in our country, almost all of which have nothing to do with the EU. The reasons why the Leave vote happened seemed to have been accepted and lessons learned, and should we get a People's Vote on the final deal, I go into that with renewed optimism. Of course, time is running incredibly short but we can only try our hardest. The other positive was the range of topics discussed, such as how to make the positive case for Europe and how to campaign more positively in the second referendum. It certainly felt a lot more rounded and natural than the lifeless one-dimensional Stronger In campaign had been two years ago.
I must say that I did find the Tory speakers, all two of them, particularly compelling and persuasive. Indeed, it was great to have a cross-party aspect to this as I feel it's the only way we are going to reverse the tide. I also thought Natalie Bennett's speech about how the UK is NOT a democracy raised a number of very interesting constitutional issues. Regional devolution was a key theme running through the conference and what we are going to do about the towns that have been left behind. This, to me, seemed to be key but at least these things are now being discussed and are a world away from the 'Project Fear' narrative. There was some fear mixed in though, particularly through the In Limbo project, a poignant look at the lives of some EU citizens in the UK (and vice versa) whose future is still uncertain.
The conference overran by over half an hour and indeed we had to leave before it concluded in order to get to the Beer Festival, but it was an enlightening and heartening day, not least because a lot of things that were discussed were things with which I have agreed for a long time. One thing I did notice was that the age demographic of those there were skewed towards the older generation, which was something of a surprise, but it was good to speak to a couple of people over the afternoon tea as we took a break. Indeed, everyone seemed really friendly yet had a gritted determination to stop this thing and I left the event feeling rather positive, as if I had been surrounded by allies. Events have somewhat eclipsed that but we must keep pushing on and fighting for what we think is right. This conference highlighted that none of us are alone in that.
