These are dark and frightening times for anyone who believes in democracy and internationalism.
An unelected Prime Minister is suspending democracy to ram through a catastrophic crash-out Brexit
We have a Prime Minister who was elected by less than 100,000 extreme members of the Conservative party, who’s faced one day of scrutiny in his time as Prime Minister and who lays claim to be Prime Minister on the basis of a parliamentary majority which may no longer exist.
And that unelected Prime Minister is now suspending democracy to ram through a catastrophic crash-out Brexit that nobody voted for. A Brexit that will leave us all poorer, that will take away our right to live and to work and to love in 27 countries, that will put our friends and colleagues who rely on essential medicines at risk and that is making 3 million EU citizens who have made their home in this country unwelcome in their own homes. I want to say that you are not unwelcome. We value your contribution and we are so grateful that you are here.
It is not okay that 3 million Eu citizens have been told that their homes are somehow not their homes
My grandmother is one of those 3 million people. As a child, she survived the Nazis in occupied France. She has lived in this country for more than 70 years, longer than Boris Johnson has been alive and she has spent 40 years teaching in our secondary schools. She spent a week looking through old papers to find the piece of paper that she registered with in this country in 1951. That is not OK.
And it is not OK that 3 million other people in this country, who have made an equally if not more valuable contribution, have been put in that same position of being told that their homes are somehow not their homes. We say no! This is not the country that I love.
Every single day that we are still in the European Union is a victory,
This has been a hard few years for we Remainers – but in the end, we need to take hope because we are still in the European Union. Every single day that we are still in the European Union is a victory, and in the end, we will keep fighting, and in the end, we will win. And I know that we will win because of you.
I am a proud Liberal Democrat and I am so proud to share the stage here today with members of the Labour party, with members of the Green party and with people of no party because in the end, if we are to defeat this, we need to stand together.
If we are to defeat Brexit, Boris Johnson and the coup, we need to stand together.
I am proud to stand with thousands of ordinary people all over this country, not just here in Sheffield but all over this country, who have come out onto the streets today to make our feelings known and to make clear that we will not stand for this and to say no! No to the suspension of democracy. No to this dishonest and right-wing government and no to destroying our future through Brexit.
And when we stand together, when we say that whatever we disagree on, we will put that aside and we will work together, we will fight for as long as it takes then we cannot fail and we will not fail.
Thank you for being here. Let’s work together. Let’s keep working together, let’s keep getting out on these streets, let’s keep fighting and in the end, staying united, we will win. Thank you.