An open invitation to Lisa Nandy to join the latest People’s Vote event

You hear it all the time.

The North is Brexit heartland. Barely anyone higher than Watford wants a People’s Vote. The are perceptions that the campaign for a public vote on Brexit isn’t based in, nor understands the North of England – which, aside from the more metropolitan big cities, voted to Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum.

As a proud supporter of For our Future’s Sake from Bury, I’ve known that’s not the case for some time. For instance, there were more Remain voters in Sunderland than there were in Cambridge.

But even if that wasn’t the case back then, it certainly is now. The biggest swing from Leave to Remain over the last three, chaotic years, has been Labour supporters in the North of England. There’s a simple reason for that – people voted because they had legitimate grievances with their lives. But what was promised 3 years ago is not what’s being delivered now. Economic forecasts show that it is the North of England with the most to lose from a No-Deal Brexit – which is becoming increasingly likely.

That’s why in every single one of Labour’s 260+ constituencies, including in our ‘heartlands’ in the North and Midlands – there is a majority in support of a People’s Vote on Brexit.

Which is why it’s so disappointing that there are still MPs who peddle myths about both the support of a People’s Vote in the North, and our campaigning in these areas.

In contrast to the many Labour MPs in seats that voted to Leave, for instance James Frith in Bury North, Wigan’s MP Lisa Nandy says that the People’s Vote campaign doesn’t speak to communities like hers. We’re hosting an event in Wigan tomorrow and she has told us she will not be attending.

This event is not focused on the technicalities of customs or obscure European treaties, but the issues that unite us as a country and matter to communities in the North. Better buses, devolution, a Green New Deal.

For months, MPs like Lisa Nandy have led a false narrative that the ‘North’ of England is Brexit heartland, and in particular, that the People’s Vote campaign does not speak to communities like the one she represents in Wigan. But this is not true. We know that it is communities like Wigan who were most betrayed by the Leave campaign in 2016, who were most passionately sold the false vision of a Brexit utopia and now stand the most to lose from the consequences.

This is why the People’s Vote campaign are hosting an event in Wigan, speaking to members of local community about Brexit, following our 400 strong rally in Sunderland on Sunday the 7th.

We’re listening to people, people who, faced with the disastrous consequences of a tory or No-Deal Brexit, are now saying they have changed their minds – I hope MPs like Lisa Nandy will listen too.

– The People’s Vote ‘Let Us Be Heard’ event takes place in Wigan on Thursday, July 11 at 6pm at The Edge conference centre.