Thursday 7 July 2016

Referendum

That was the Week that was: the country voted to leave the EU, the Prime Minister resigned, the Labour Party MPs passed a motion of no confidence in their leader as they continue along the road to political oblivion, two of the three frontrunners to become Conservative leader have fallen by the wayside and Cleethorpes took centre-stage with the National Event to mark Armed Forces Day. And, just to take our minds off the politics, our football team lost to Iceland.
All of these political changes are taking place and yet almost everyone is going about their business; a few hundred can always be relied on to turn up at a moment’s notice to demonstrate in Parliament Square costing the rest of us millions in police time, but for everyone else the world goes on and, yet again, Britain demonstrates what a mature democracy it is. In many countries, probably the majority, troops would be on the streets and a real, rather than manufactured, crisis, would exist.
The referendum result was in the balance until polling day itself when, as I always hoped, the British people would vote in the way that they truly believed. The truth is that British people has never been anything other than half-hearted about EU membership. Year after year successive prime ministers have been forced to travel to Brussels telling us they were determined to get a better deal. They have returned telling us that they have gained some sort of privileged position, that they have opted out of this or that policy so why should we be surprised when the British people said ‘if that’s the case let’s opt out of the whole thing.’ The most repeated comment on the doorsteps was ‘we want our democracy, our country back.’ It was a heartfelt plea and one that I have always shared.
The Tories in having major figures on both sides of the EU argument were speaking for the electors who themselves were almost equally divided but Labour, with a few notable exceptions, batted for the Remain side despite knowing, or at least they should have known, that at least half of their supporters would be voting Leave. If they continue to ignore the views of their supporters it’s going to be a long road back for them.  
The condescending remarks from some commentators that it is the ‘uneducated’ who voted to leave or that we are all racists is insulting and quite simply wrong. They should get out into the provincial towns and villages of Lincolnshire and elsewhere rather than hiding within the M25. Are two-thirds of the people in North East Lincolnshire uneducated and racists? Of course not and to suggest so is deeply offensive.
I’m genuinely saddened that David Cameron has chosen to stand down but he has taken an honourable course. It’s a major personal blow to someone who has served his country well and it is to his great credit that he travelled to Cleethorpes to pay tribute to our Armed Forces past and present, and as we remember the Battle of the Somme and, in particular the role of the Grimsby Chums, we recall how much we owe to those who serve, both past and present.      
My reflections on the referendum campaign are that, though it was somewhat bruising, it was passionate and clearly engaged the electorate to the extent that 72 per cent voted – much higher than in recent general elections. In the early stages the debate was pretty poor but once we reached the later stages and the TV debates began people became more engaged. What is very clear is that people in this area feel too distant from the decision-makers and neglected.
Now that we are bringing the European dimension of decision-making back from Brussels to London, coupled with the devolution policies of our Government that is being addressed but the new prime minister must recognise there is something of a north-south divide that must be recognised and policies devised to reverse the drift south.
Politics will soon return to normal, the one or maybe two new party leaders will get down to work and, hopefully, those in the media will recognise that it is the Government who are responsible for delivering Brexit not the Vote Leave campaign. David Cameron deserves credit for granting the referendum, delivering it, and accepting the result as an instruction from the people. That instruction will be carried out and talk of a second referendum should be forgotten; quite simply it isn’t going to happen.          
It’s now time to come together as a country, accept the majority decision, and work together to build a better future.