Dear Britain,

I joined about 60 supporters of Dorset for Europe at a vigil in Bournemouth Square to mark our departure from the European Union at 11pm on Friday 31st January. The police attended, just in case, but these Remainers are a peaceable crowd. Some youngsters emerging from the nearby Wetherspoon’s enjoyed shouting taunts. Like many Remain events it was a little bit confusing and not clear who was in charge, yet it had a mix of humour and dignity that was rather moving. Bizarrely, we provided a live feed for Belgian TV.  We were a surprising assortment, only drawn together these past three years by a shared opposition to Brexit. My own first involvement was to speak at a vigil remembering Jo Cox after her horrific murder before the 2016 referendum. These people are good, kind, generous and passionate, and I hope this group’s energy and big heart will survive Brexit and help make Britain a bit better than it might otherwise be. I was invited to speak and I read this rather sad love-letter to Britain…  

Dear Britain,

 

I am writing this letter to you on a rainy Friday afternoon, our last day within the European Union.

 

You are my country and I love you.

 

I am sorry that you are stepping away from the European Union. To my mind, being part of a wider fellowship of nations enlarged rather than diminished you. At times you seemed ill at ease there but despite that I really felt you belonged among that international gathering – and you seemed younger and more hopeful as a result.

 

I worry for many of those who love you but now feel less at home here: those who have moved from elsewhere in Europe as well as those from other parts of the world for whom the atmosphere here has darkened as well. I worry too for all our younger citizens who feel their world has shrunk – and for our elderly as our population ages and is less able to support them.

 

I feel also for all those who have spent so much energy, heart and hope in resisting a decision that at no point seemed to us convincing or necessary. Some of us are gathered here this evening, and it hurts.

 

We do not hate or despise those of an opposite point of view. We have all learned to smile and walk away at the abuse our stand has sometimes attracted – and each one of us knows from experience that friendship can cross all such barriers. None the less, we do feel let down by our politicians of all parties and as a consequence some of us are weighed down by – we must be honest – a mixture of anger, frustration and (shame to say it) apathy.

 

BUT something else, something deeper, I want to say to you.

 

These past, painful years have also given rise to friendships and fellowships that make us stronger. Our gathering here this evening is testimony to this. We have found common cause with others very different to ourselves. We have learned to mobilise and organise our opposition in ways that are positive, life-affirming – and effective, even if in this case, against Brexit and the powers that backed it, ineffectual. We will not easily forget or forsake these new loyalties and we will bring them into service, seeking to ensure that your future as our country is one to which we can entrust our children and descendants: a country that is careful and caring, a country that is open and inclusive, a country that welcomes difference, can learn foreign languages, and appreciate foreign friends. A country that is kind. And I hope, despite the pain in all your joints right now, some of which feel as if they might break apart, you can remain a united kingdom…

 

Finally, dear Britain, God grant that you will never return to those centuries of suspicion, conflict and war that we in our lifetime alone have been spared on this continent. Although I do not foresee in my lifetime your returning to the EU may you forever be, and more and more become, truly European.

 

With fond but frustrated best wishes – and love,

 

From Dorset for Europe.