We went on the Brexit bus from Stroud - here's what protestors had to say

The plan: depart Stratford Park at 8am on Saturday, June 23, arrive in London for noon, and then join protestors outside Parliament demanding a vote on the final Brexit deal.

And what we wanted to find out: if the pro-EU activists got their way, how did they think Stroud would vote now, in contrast to the Remain result in 2016?

The activists we joined marched under the banner of Glostays, a Gloucestershire group formed in the wake of the Brexit result that campaigns for the UK to remain in the EU.

Activists from Glostays after arriving in London

Once on the bus, we first spoke to Charlie and Eva - in their words a “mixed European couple.”

Charlie is born and bred in Gloucestershire, while Eva is from Germany, having moved to the UK about twenty years ago.

Their concern about Brexit is, firstly, practical: what rights will Eva have in the UK after we leave?

Uncertainty about this straight after the Brexit vote meant they initially considered moving to the continent, but soon dropped the idea.

“We have a lot of friends here, and we’d hate to have to start all over again, rebuilding the relationships we have,” they explained.

And they were sceptical the Government’s proposed ‘settled status’ for EU nationals who arrived in the UK before March 2019 would give Eva just as many freedoms as before.

Such concern was echoed by Nadine and Phil, opposite Charlie and Eva on the bus.

Nadine is also from Germany, having moved to Stroud when she was young, while Phil’s father is Swedish.

They said their biggest fear was being unable to easily visit Nadine’s elderly parents back home.

They also said such anxiety was felt throughout Stroud’s European community, some of which, suggested Phil, had been first drawn to the area by its Steiner schools.

But Charlie and Eva stressed that, for them at least, their concern was not just about the practicalities of living together in a post-Brexit Britain.

“We fear Brexit means there’s no room for a progressive future in the UK,” explained Eva.

Likewise, Charlie was quick to decry seeing the UK embark on a “race to the bottom” after Brexit, and he expected tax and spending cuts. Nadine and Phil later carried a banner at the march that read ‘Brexit = Austerity’.

Nadine and Phil's banner at the march 

As they explained this on the bus, their concern soon gave way to frustration. Since the referendum there had been no conversation about what to do to solve the concerns of those who voted Leave, they argued.

But not all protesters predicted post-Brexit doom. For Rob from Gloucester, whose mum had often visited a European town twinned with Tewkesbury, he said he simply felt European and so would just miss being part of the EU.

What did the protestors make of suggestions from some SNJ readers that, in calling for another vote, they were protesting against democracy?

At the same time as the demonstration in London, pro-Brexit campaigners were marching in Gloucester calling for the Prime Minister to respect the original Brexit vote and to stop “dilly dallying”

But those on the Brexit bus, like Antony from Nailsworth, were unphased.

When we put the question to him, he argued: “We’re doing the opposite - our protest is a manifestation of democracy.

“Democracy is not static and people are allowed to change their minds.”

He also denied second vote would re-open the country’s wounds from the fight over the first - “the wounds haven’t healed anyway,” he replied.

Others, like Pauline from Tetbury, took a different line, arguing the original referendum result was based on “lies”, which made it illegitimate.

Pauline was similar to many on the bus, in that either the march was their first protest, or the first for a while - the last time Pauline was at a demo was in the 1980s for a Free Nelson Mandela protest.

Tizzy from Rodborough couldn't vote in the first EU referendum

But though she had not been particularly active in the 2016 campaign, seeing consequences from Brexit already in her work - her job means she spends time with universities who, she claims, are already losing funding - has energised to get out and campaign on the EU for the first time.

“Beware the angry middle-aged woman,” she warned us.

Similarly, Graham, an elderly Liberal Democrat from Stroud who carried the Glostays banner part way through the streets of London, had never been to a protest before.

But, being old enough to have been born before World War Two, he said he had been motivated to march to keep his grandchildren safe, arguing that Europe needed to “stick together” for the sake of peace.

By and large, protestors from Glostays were on the older rather than younger side, though there were a few exceptions.

Take Tizzy from Rodborough: she had had been too young to vote in 2016 but now, having recently turned 18, she wanted a second vote to cast a first ballot on Brexit.

So, why did protesters think Stroud voted Remain in 2016, and did they think the district would do so again?

When we put this to Gill Lloyd, who chairs Glostays, he praised the campaign led by Neil Carmichael, Stroud’s pro-EU Conservative MP at the time of the referendum.

And, once we got to London, it turned out Mr Carmichael was actually at the march.

“I tried to lead from the front during the referendum, and never shied away from praising Europe - to some extent I think that made a difference,” he later told the SNJ.

The march ended outside Parliament, where pro-EU figures gave speeches to the crowd

Others, like Gareth from Stroud, argued it was less about the campaign and more about the district's ethos.

"The general attitude of Stroud people is that we're inclusive - just look at the welcome we've given to Syrian refugees."

All of the Glostays activists we spoke to, however, were confident Stroud would opt for Remain, or an option close to that, in a second vote.

What do you think? Should there be another vote? Would Stroud vote Remain again? Email your thoughts to alex.clark@newsquest.co.uk