Campaigning hard to 'Remain'

Yesterday for the second Saturday running I was out with a large campaign team from Ipswich Labour talking to residents about the EU referendum.

I have enjoyed both sessions as residents want to talk about vote in June, most people you speak to have a view and also know that this may be the most important vote they ever make.

It is also noticeable the large number of hustings that are being held from small community halls, to schools to churches to those being held at places of work. People are interested and talking about the referendum.

But is enough being done on the doorstep? It seems Labour are leading the doorstep campaign maybe because of the quite deep split between 'Leave' and 'Remain' among Tory activists. Here in Ipswich our Tory MP is also keen we stay in Europe but seems unable or unwilling to get out on the doorstep every Saturday with the few activists he can muster up but he is keen to attend as many hustings as he can.

Not that all is rosy in the Labour garden, we have a few members and MPs who wish us to leave and at first some of leadership were not keen to get out but it has been great to see over the last few weeks, Jeremy Corbyn put some considerable time and effort into campaigning to 'Remain' in the EU.

We still have the thorny subject of sharing a platform with Tories and other groups - some on the Far Left are quick to attack those who find themselves campaigning with the Tories ( but they remain silent or even support campaigning with the Green Party or some far left splinter group) , I understand their concerns, a joint platform with Tories/Lib Dems did damage us in Scotland but our future and the future of our children is too important an issue to let those concerns stop us from campaigning to 'Remain' in the EU even if it does mean we have to share a platform with those we have very little else in common with..

We must understand that if we vote to remain we will see some of our 'core' vote move to UKIP but we already are in a desperate need to attract working class voters back to the party and the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader has seen us become even more 'middle class'. So we already need a strategy to regain the votes of many in wards like Gainsborough and Gipping and how we vote in the EU referendum will not change that.

So for the next few weeks, i will be campaigning hard with fellow Ipswich Labour members for us to remain in the EU, I know it is the right thing to do both for our country and our children.