Dear friends,

I have been surprised at the advice I have received from some supposed “pro-European quarters” not to stand against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election.

These advisers apparently believe Count Binface is a better carrier of the pro-European cause than anyone explicitly doing so.

And because they fear that fighting for our cause in what was one of the most pro-Brexit seats in the country will allow Farage to avoid judgement on his financial affairs and reveal our ongoing weakness.

But what does having a dustbin do our work say about us? What does it say about how we view the people of Clacton? How we view democracy? What message does it send to our erstwhile European partner nations whom we must persuade to allow us to rejoin them in the EU? No election in a democracy is a joke. The issue of our deepest national identity and strategic place in the world is not a joke.

Fear of taking on Farage directly over Brexit, the foundation of his entire position in our politics, has long been our fundamental weakness. The fear which has so far prevented the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties from heeding seriously the some three-quarters of their voters in 2024 who polling shows now believe Brexit to have been a massive national mistake that must be reversed. And which has so far prevented the Conservative Party from heeding at all the almost half of their voters in 2024 who now take the same view, trapping them in pro-Brexit servitude to Reform and Restore.

Of course, Clacton is at the very epicentre of the pro-Brexit cause. In 2024, Farage got 46% of the vote. The Conservatives got 30%, Labour 16% and the Liberal Democrats and Greens both 4%. The turnout was 58%. But opinion has moved very dramatically against Brexit since then, with barely 30% of all voters still believing it was right for the nation. And Farage’s personal popularity is now eroding rapidly, even amongst some of his erstwhile supporters. If the pro-European cause can secure a respectable vote in Clacton, against Farage, that fear will start to evaporate and a proper, national, cross-party campaign to rejoin the EU can be launched.

That is my objective in this by-election. I believe it to be, bizarrely, given the extraordinary and unexpected circumstances of its calling at Farage’s personal choice, the greatest opportunity for the pro-European cause since the referendum. I would ask all pro-Europeans to join this fight in any way they can.

Yours,

John Stevens

Rejoin EU Party candidate in the Clacton by-election

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The Rejoin EU Party is campaigning to re-join the EU because we believe re-joining is the only way to solve the multiple problems Brexit has created. Brexit is broken and it’s breaking our country too. All the promises on which Brexit was sold to the electorate in 2016 were nonsense. Far from reducing red tape and providing £350m a week for the NHS, Brexit makes trading with the crucial European market more complex, difficult and expensive and threatens to reduce funding for public services. If you agree Brexit is making our country poorer, less tolerant and less united, join us and send a message to Westminster that you want your EU membership back, with all its freedoms and benefits.

Promoted by Richard Hewison for the Rejoin EU Party, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE.