Love Socialism Hate Brexit: We’re going on tour and want to meet you

Love Socialism Hate Brexit is a group made up of Labour MPs who came together in February to fight Brexit and campaign for a socialist Labour government that can transform our society for the better. I was proud to co-found the group with Kate Osamor, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Marsha de Cordova and a number of other comrades on the left of the parliamentary party, alongside activist comrades.

All of us understand that Brexit – a right-wing project led by the Tory right – is dripping in reactionary nostalgia and racism. It is an anti-worker project, bad for the environment, and especially dreadful for migrants who call the UK home and contribute so much to our society. Brexit will only serve to undermine the working-class communities that Labour exists to represent, with its key architects scheming to deregulate the economy, lower standards through rubbish trade deals, and impose another decade of austerity.

The British people simply cannot take another ten years of this. Brexit will leave working people poorer and with less control over the key decisions that affect their lives. Nobody wanted this when they voted to “take back control” in 2016, nor did they vote for Theresa May’s now three-times defeated mess of a deal. That’s why we recently wrote to Jeremy to insist that a final say on Brexit is our party’s bottom line.

Overwhelmingly, Labour members and CLPs agree with us – the Labour grassroots do indeed love socialism and hate Brexit. We saw this ahead of party conference last year, with an unprecedented number of contemporary motions submitted explicitly calling for Labour to back a public vote. Polling of party members regularly shows over 80% back a public vote and think Brexit will be bad for Britain.

However, we understand that some members still have reservations about Labour boldly campaigning for a public vote, especially those members in communities that voted to Leave in significant numbers. With discussions in Europe looking like they will produce a lengthy extension of Article 50 so we can sort out this mess, we are now in a position to discuss these crucial issues within the labour movement, work through any differences, and step up our campaigning on the biggest political issue of the day.

That’s why I’m really pleased to announce that Love Socialism Hate Brexit will be going on tour, and may come to a town near you. Over the coming months, we want to meet and hear from members and further the conversation about where our county and our movement is heading during this time of great political turmoil.

We want to hear from you – Labour members, trade unionists and Momentum activists, whether in agreement or disagreement – and encourage others to join the campaign as we take the fight back to the Tories. You can go to our website to find out more about our roadshow and to request a Love Socialism MP to come and speak at your CLP meeting or local Momentum group. We can’t wait to hit the road!