If you live in the Reading West area you can be forgiven for heaving a heavy sigh at the news that there is to be another General Election on June 8th this year. This was supposed to be our year off! During the 2015 election when I stood for the Lib Dems, even I sympathised with my residents who told me their recycling was full to bursting with pamphlets and leaflets, even as I pressed another with my grinning face on it into their hands.

I would apologise for this, but this is our only chance to use our democratic rights to alter the course our country is taking! Theresa May knows that under Jeremy Corbin, Labour seats are ripe for the taking. She also knows that the true economic impact of Brexit on peoples’ finances has yet to be felt. She wants this election to give her enough pro-Brexit MP’s that she can force through whatever final deal on leaving the EU she wants, without opposition.

It’s a callous move and one that underestimates the strength of feeling that Remainers, in places like Reading and Newbury, have about a Hard Brexit. Voters that I speak to feel powerless and angry – being told to just ‘get over it’ and pull together to ‘make the best of it’ – just isn’t working for them, when they know their wages are stagnating, affordable housing is still unattainable, the NHS and our Schools face damaging cuts and hard won environmental protections and workers’ rights are at risk.

Many voted to Leave because they genuinely believed that there would be more money pumped back into public finances, more homes available for British born people and more jobs available for British workers, as a result. They too are feeling disillusioned and betrayed after the Brexiteers admitted that they never had any intention of sticking to these promises.

That’s why I’m going to give this election everything I can. Those of you who are feeling like nobody is listening to you, I want you to know that there is a party that hears your anger and has a clear plan for making sure that your voice gets heard and genuinely wants you to take back control. The Lib Dems are the only party that wants to minimise the damage from the referendum and keep our economy growing.

We are the fastest growing party in British politics. We are gaining members who used to vote for Labour and the Conservatives, but who no longer feel those parties represent them. Locally we have had surge after surge in our membership following the 2015 election, the EU referendum and since the announcement that there’s to be another General Election. We are ready to challenge Alok Sharma and his parties Hard Brexit plans.

Nobody knows what the Labour stance is on Brexit or how they plan to manage the economy in its aftermath. Jeremy Corbin forced his MP’s to vote with the Tories on Brexit and has no interest in letting the people have a final say on the deal. A vote for Labour will be a vote in support of Theresa May’s policies.

The Conservatives are unashamedly courting UKIP voters with their Hard Brexit mission, regardless of if it’s in the countries best interests or not. Pro- Remain MP’s like our Alok Sharma have discarded their beliefs and are ignoring the majority of their constituents by passing whatever is put before them by their Leader without challenge.

The Lib Dems will be fighting this election on a clear platform to prevent a Hard Brexit by staying in the Single Market and to give the British people a final say on the Brexit deal through a referendum. If you want to protect our local economy here in Reading West by staying in the Single Market and if you want a chance to see and vote on the results of the Governments negotiations in Europe, then you must lend us your vote in this vital election.

Only the Lib Dems can provide an effective opposition to Theresa May’s plans for a disastrous Hard Brexit. We will fight for a Britain that is open, tolerant and united.

   Leave a comment