At 11 am on Saturday 17 February Cambridge Stays supporters joined about one hundred people at the One Day Without Us rally outside the Guildhall in Market Square Cambridge, to celebrate the contribution that people from all over the world make to life in the UK. The Rally was organised by Karol Florek of One Day Without Us, and supported by Unison, Hope not Hate, Cambridge Stays, Amnesty International Cambridge City Group, Global Justice Cambridge and others.
The rally opened with a piece of performance art created by Liesbeth ten Ham from Amnesty International Cambridge Group, which highlighted how migrants are not just a statistic or economic unit but valuable members of our society.
Following the artistic performance Cambridge Stays Chair Paul Browne welcomed rally attendees with a speech highlighting the contribution people in the UK make to our economy, services and communities. He also highlighted how Theresa May’s policies have not only caused misery and uncertainty for millions, but have also enabled the scapegoating of immigrants by right-wing politicians whose goal is to dilute and degrade environmental, workers and consumers protections for the benefit of a wealthy elite.
Paul then introduced the other speakers, who included Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner, Zareen Taj of Stand up to Racism, Dan Ellis of the Cambridge Refugee Campaign, Local business leader Marcus Johnson, Aiden Baker of Global Justice Cambridge, Professor Catherine Rowett of the University of East Anglia, Mitch Mitchell of Refugee Lifeboat, and Liesbeth tem Ham of Amnesty International.
The rally concluded with an appeal to register to vote. On the 3rd of May 2018 local elections are taking place in Cambridge and many other areas of the country, and will be seen as a key indicator of whether the country has confidence in the Government. Citizens of EU member states, Commonwealth member states, and the UK are all entitled to vote, so Paul reminded rally attendees that it is vital to register and to get out and vote for candidates who support the rights of migrants in the UK.
Following the rally Cambridge Stays volunteers were joined by European Movement and Open Britain members for a stall to celebrate the role EU nationals play in the UK, and explain how important EU membership is to protecting our NHS. With a dozen volunteers (some of whom are pictured right, others were busy off camera) handing out leaflets and speaking with passers by it was our busiest stall yet, and the reaction from passers by was very positive…more and more people can not only see that Brexit must be stopped, but that it CAN be stopped!
To make things even more exciting we had a Channel 4 film crew join us for over an hour, recording interviews and footage for an item on anti-Brexit campaigners that was broadcast a few days later.
Thanks to everyone who joined us on Saturday, at the rally or on our stall, it was an exhausting but inspiring day!
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