Brexit on the doorsteps

On Saturday I had my first chance to canvass door to door just on Brexit, with the local elections and the Police Commissioner elections behind us. It was very different to canvassing in support of individual candidates for office.

Many more people wanted to answer the door and engage in conversation on the topic. Many more wished to test out their current thoughts on UK membership of the EU. More were grateful that I had troubled to call, and were very friendly to us  volunteers delivering the leaflets and putting the case. This probably reflects the obvious point that none of us are motivated by self interest in the way a candidate and party seeking  office is partly motivated by the wish to take on a job. An MP or Councillor campaigning on one side of the referendum is clearly running the risk of annoying some voters when he or she need not do so, because he or she believes in the cause they are  supporting.

The national polls seem to be right in several respects. People who want to leave feel much more strongly about it than most of those who might vote to stay. They are more determined in their vote and more determined to vote. Older voters are more likely to be for leave than younger voters, though there are plenty of young voters who want out. Few people who remain like the EU or  buy into the idea of political, economic and monetary union. Most who say they may vote to stay do so out of fear that the economy could be damaged, reflecting the lies and absurd fears put about by the Remain side.

Most people who want out that I spoke to majored their case on the wish to restore control over our own laws and decisions. The best reason I heard was someone who began by saying he was a businessman and took a  business  view of the issue. He had found his own business had been damaged by an EU law, so he now saw the EU as unhelpful, leading in his case directly to a loss of jobs and activity.

Many of the  possible Remain voters are unsure of their position and open to persuasion. Many do not like many features of the organisation and want to stay opted out of much of it as possible. All of you who believe in leaving need to help us get out the leaflets and talk to the voters. There are  not many days left before the postal votes at the end of this month, and many people who would appreciate a call and a talk. If the media wont give us the airtime to explain how we will be better off out, we need to do it door by door.