28 days left to halt Brexit

Slough for Europe campaigning update

Newsletter 06. 2 March 2019

It's been a quieter week in parliament than last week was, but there have been some interesting developments.
Read on for more details of the People's Vote March later this month and our People's Vote street stall on Slough High Street.

Upcoming events

Campaigning in Slough, Saturday 2nd March 2019

For five consecutive weeks now, we've been running our street stall in Slough High Street.
This Saturday we will be there again.
We've altered the separate event reminders emails, so they are only sent to people who said that they might volunteer. Please message us if you would like to be added to that list and aren't already on it.
As in other weeks, our street stall will be on Slough High Street from 14:00-16:00, in the area outside Boots.
(Full address: 184 High St, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 1JR).
For more info and the latest updates, go to the Facebook Event page.

We need to keep up the pressure and at the same time expand our group, so that we have a larger support base that we can rely on in the town, without having to draw people away from their own groups so often. If you want to help, this is the idea way to get started and only takes a couple of hours of your time.
We are not assisted by any of the groups from surrounding areas this weekend - so any new local helpers are particularly welcome.
With the upcoming March, the focus is shifting to publicising it now - more leaflet distribution and not such a focus on the Brexitometer. We haven't got such great weather forecast as last week, but we won't let that stop us.

Other campaigning locally this weekend

It's another busy weekend of campaigning locally. All on Saturday 23rd unless otherwise noted):

Maidenhead 1000-1200 Outside Coffee Republic
Beaconsfield 1000-1200 Near Waitrose
Winersh 1145:1245 Building Bridges - meet by Showcase Cinema
High Wycombe 1400-1600

Further afield

Aylesbury 1100-1300 Outside Metro Bank (Saturday and Sunday)
Thame 1400-1600
Wallingford 1400-1600
Didcot 1000-1200
Wantage 1000-1200
Bicester 1000-1200

The best place to check for local events and exact locations / contact details is on the People's Vote website.

People's Vote March 23rd March 2019

The politicians are still trying to ignore the ever growing voice of those who want to Remain in the EU.
It's time to demand that they #PutItToThePeople
The last March in London last October was big. This one needs to be even bigger though. If you went last time, then try and invite along at least two people who didn't make it.
If you didn't go last time, then mark 23rd March in your calendar now.

Sign up for the event here, so you will automatically see any updates.
Tell people you are going on the March on whatever social media you use.
Please tell the event organisers you are attending too, so that they get provisional ideas of numbers:
https://www.peoples-vote.uk/march

With Britain set to leave the EU by default before the end of March, this could be our last chance to let the government know that they are not doing this in our name.

Travel plans
Provisional travel plans are as follows:
Meeting points:
- Slough Railway Station (probably platform 3). Plus code: 9C3XGC65+RF

At the latest, get the 10:40 train, to get into Paddington for 10:58.
- Second meeting point is from 11:00 near the Australian War Memorial, where people can sort themselves out, assemble flags and placards etc. Plus Code: GR2X+VF
Maidenhead for EU will also be there - so look out for the Maidenhead or Slough flags.
- Final meeting point after the March for anyone who wants to catch up with other local people: 14:00 to 16:00 near the steps in Trafalgar Square. Plus code: GV5C+8P

If you haven't come across plus codes before, you can type them directly into google and they will pinpoint a fairly specific area whether or not it has a postcode.

Please bear in mind that at the last march, because of the huge number of people there, most people found that their phones worked only intermittently, if at all. So, make sure you know what you are doing and have checked maps etc before you arrive in at the start of the March.

Updates
We will keep the most up to date event details on our Facebook event page, in case of any last minute changes to our plans.

Help someone else to get to the March if you can't make it
Campaigners in Surrey have set up a great initiative to help organise funding to get people to the March. If you would like to donate to it to help pay the travel expenses of those who could otherwise not afford to attend, or if you yourself or friends would be unable to attend on cost grounds, visit their website at getmetothemarch.co.uk.

Weekly protests outside Parliament with SODEM

Steve Bray and his team have been outside Parliament every week it has been sitting for well over a year now.
Tuersday 12 March is currently predicted to be the next big day for voting in the House of Commons, so it would be good to have a sizeable local contingent there.
They are normally there 11am-6pm Monday to Thursday, although there may well be some more extended sessions coming up again soon to align with critical votes in the House of Commons.
Find out more details about their campaign here.
It's always a friendly atmosphere there (amongst the remain protesters) and you can just turn up and leave at whatever times are convenient.

Other upcoming events

01/03/19 The Brexit crisis – where are we, what's to be done? an event in Oxford organised by Oxford for Europe. More info here.
02/03/19 No Pasaran! An event at Bookmarks Bookshop in London about how to confront the rise of the far right. More info here.
07/03/19 - Brexit: The Town Hall Debate. Event in London. More details here.
12/03/19 - Lord Adonis is speaking in Basingstoke. Organised by North Hampshire for Europe. More info here.
29/03/19 - There are already a few events planned for this evening, including a demonstration for Liberty in Europe. It is likely that a lot more will be added nearer the time once what is happening becomes clearer.
30/03/19 - Protest - don't let the far right hijack the Yellow Vests movement. Demonstration in London. Again I think a lot will change as we get nearer to this date. More details here.

Recent activities

27th February in London with Sodem

On 27th February, many members of Berkshire for Europe and local groups within Berkshire (including Slough) joined SODEM to protest outside parliament.
Even though Theresa May had postponed the proposed vote on the revised withdrawal agreement, there were still many remain campaigners there.
The theme for the day was pies, not lies, so there was also a range of sweet and savoury pies, pasties and other snacks from around the country available.
It was an especially enjoyable day because a taxi drivers protest had closed off all the roads and the sunshine was out making it feel like late spring, rather than the tail end of winter.
There are more photos on our Instagram account.

23rd February street stall in Slough

Saturday 23rd February was another busy day for our street stall in Slough High Street. We managed to encourage plenty of people to stop and talk with us, sign up to our mailing list and make their feelings known on the Brexitometer.
The final result was once again clear that revocation is growing in popularity (although perhaps not politically possible), closely followed by a People's Vote.
Few people think that another General Election will provide any sort of solution to the problem.
The focus was on publicising the upcoming march, so the Brexitometer is less important now as an engagement tool than in previous weeks.
Thank you again to everyone who gave up their afternoon to support this event.

I have forwarded photos of all these Brexitometers to our MP (Tan Dhesi). If you haven't already done so, please email or write to him to encourage him to give his clear backing for a People's Vote.

Other news

National issues

A delay to Brexit?

After strenuously denying that there would ever be any form of delay to Brexit, Theresay May on Tuesday announced that if her withdrawal agreement did not pass, then there would be a vote on extending the article 50 period.
Many people have wrote in depth articles about this - what needs to be avoided though is for us to extend, but not participate in the EU elections in May. This would create a hard cliff edge for the UK, which would be much harder to extend past.
Some in the EU have been talking though about extensions of up to 21 months - that is to say that the whole of what was the transition period. This would remove the time pressure on the negotiations, something the might suit some, while annoying others.

Labour backs a second referendum

On Monday, the Labour Leadership have tentatively come out in favour of a second referendum, although it remains to be seen exactly how this is tabled. There are still some MPs very strongly against it, although most would agree that they are in the minority within the party.

No deal, no pallets

If the UK leaves with no deal, we won;t have the right sort of pallets for shipping items to the EU on. Read more here.

Brexit no-deal impact assessments released

After threats of contempt proceedings, the government finally released their no-deal impact assessments.

Citizens rights slightly better protected amid government chaos

The amendment to protect the rights of UK citizens in the EU in the event of no-deal passed, amid utter chaos from a dysfunctional government which lead to the minister who put forward the amendment being forced to resign, before the government decided to support the amendment themselves.

General campaigning update

Our website

Our website is now up and running, although some of the recent news articles still need adding.
You can view it at sloughforeurope.eu.

Social media

As well a Facebook and Twitter, we are also now on Instagram.
Facebook public page: /sloughforeurope
Twitter: @sloughforeu
Instagram: @sloughforeu
Also, please join our closed facebook group, where we can talk through plans for new events etc in more detail without the whole internet seeing what we are saying. Join up here: /groups/sloughforeurope.group/
Rember, the more you share, like, and retweet stuff on social media, the more people will see it. If you know of any friends locally who might be interested in finding out more about the campaign, tell them too follow us too.

What Can I do to help

Time is running out and wee still need to build more momentum in Parliament to delay Brexit and call for a People's Vote. Every little thing you do can help this.

Email your MP - this is still one of the most important things which everyone should be doing on a regular basis. If they don't get post about something, they will not think it is an important issue for their constituents. The best site to use for this is Write This Wrong. Slough's MP Tan Dhesi is against the Government's proposals, but is following Labour Party Policy at present and has yet to come out directly in support of a People's Vote.
Write to your MP - Actual physical letters are harder to ignore than emails. It doesn't have to be a long message - you can send a simple postcard. Remember to include your address (if you are a constituent) and to let them know if you voted for them at the last General Election (and whether you still would, based on their stance on Brexit).
Join a local group. Even if you aren't that local to Slough, there are other local groups that you can join. If there really isn't one already, then you could always set one up...
Become more active in this campaign. We always need more volunteers, to run street stalls, deliver leaflets etc. New faces are always welcomed.
Tell a friend. If you know anyone who is even only tentatively interested in stopping Brexit, point them in our direction - either they can start by following us on Social Media, or there is a signup form on the website at sloughforeurope.eu/signup to add their details to this mailing list.

Berkshire for Europe

We work closely with our neighbouring groups. Berkshire for Europe does a great job of coordinating activities among us. There are local groups in Windsor, Maidenhead, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and West Berks.
Go to the Berkshire for Europe website to sign up for their newsletter and to find out contact details of the other groups in the county.