Interesting evening (Tuesday 21 June) at the Priory Court Hotel Pevensey, the hotel that is fast becoming the host in the locality for ‘democracy in action’ as Peter Lowton the co-owner of the successful hostelry tells us in describing the meeting space that is utilised by the community for key events with elections and now now referendums.—Bay Life, 22 June 2016
The evening, hosted by non-committal Conservative Party, Huw Merriman, MP for Bexhill and Battle, who is still to declare which way he will vote in the historic day tomorrow (23 June) when we decide our future in the European Union, was well organised and well attended.
Following on from the tragic murder of MP Jo Cox last Thursday, the evening had been re-scheduled.
Huw opened the evening by giving a clear bullet point account of the key elements on behalf of both the remain camp and the leave camp.
In talking a little about the death of colleague Jo Cox, he suggested that across the country ‘she would have wanted the democratic debate over the EU Referendum to go ahead’, which was a thought well received by the audience.
Opening the debate was Labour Party activist, digital publisher, angling film maker, Tim Macpherson, who spoke with knowledge about the local fishing industry. and the benefits of EU Membership.
Listing key themes, he looked at questions with regard to aspects of the debate such as employment rights and the role of small businesses in Europe, speaking with authority given his background and experience. His opening speech was well received.
It was then the turn of Ray Cade, former Wealden Councilor and ex policeman and part of the local vote leave campaign, who spoke about the sovereignty of the nation with some well rehearsed arguments that have been heard, and a well timed mention of the Magna Carta.
The speech was well crafted, articulate and delivered with conviction.
The meeting was then opened to the floor. The surprising openness of the debate gave room for a wide spread of opinion.
Perhaps the format adopted by MP Huw Merriman is the right one. We saw all kinds of different opinion and they were all given the opportunity to be voiced.
One aspect of the Ray Cade speech that was picked up by people was his claim to ‘supremacy’; with regard to the sovereignity of the country, which did not go down too well with some elements of the audience.
Perhaps notions of supremacists called to mind some ugly examples from history.
From the floor we were given a wide range of opinion. Mike Pursglove UKIP member for East Sussex County Council and Pevensey Parish Council spoke about the value of the Commonwealth. This was an interesting contribution in counterpoint to the power of the European Union.
From the Vote Lave Campaign, came a number of what could be called old school views. Conservative party members spoke about their love of sovereignity and conservative values, one with the kind of minor preparatory headmaster school voice that perhaps might have been more at home in the fifties in the last century, rather than downtown Pevensey.
But nonetheless, his voice and view was treated with respect by the audience.
One interesting contribution, perhaps the most interesting of all, was from a member of the audience who suggested that if David Cameron himself, like Huw Merriman, had chosen, once the date of the referendum was announced, to be open and chair of various debates, what has been said subsequently in the media and at meetings over the last four months might have been heard in a different way.
Difficult to imagine how this might have happened, since David Cameron of course has declared that we should stay in the European Union.
Nonetheless in the context of all the hot air and heat rather than light that we have enjoyed over the last four months nationally about the EU Referendum, the original insightful point seemed to hit home with the audience and received a sustained period of clapping.
Closing speeches by both sides ended the evening. The opening statement by the Leave Campaign, represented by Ray Cade, was strong, in comparison, the end speech seemed a little muted, after perhaps the suggestion that the country was seeking some kind of ‘supremacy’.
On balance, from an opening statement by Ray Cade, the final speech did lack a little sharpness. It was noteworthy that questions from the audience were not addressed.
Conversely, when Tim Macpherson for the Stay Campaign rose for his end speech, questions were addressed. For example he looked at the question of the Australian points system for immigration, which had been an issue raised from the floor.
It was then left to Huw Merriman to top and tail the event with a well argued and balanced endpiece.
At the back of the full restaurant, which had doubled as the Peoples’ Chamber for the debate, the staff of Huw Merriman, comprised of three very able and tuned in people, took notes, and pictures and tweeted and posted to Facebook as the discussions were underway, care being taken to see that both camps were represented and their views profiled.
Inevitably, the event was framed by the shocking news that MP Jo Cox, had been murdered less than a week before.
It seemed right that the debate should have been continued and re-scheduled for the night.
It was an interesting night, not hijacked by the kind of UKIP diatribe that has characterised some of the discussions in the locality, and all the better for the absence of xenophobic hatred of immigrants.
These kinds of events were once common place in this country. Historians wondered in the late nineteenth century how the street and marketplace staged talks by stars of the political age, which attracted up to 3,000 people, could possibly have been heard by all the people present, since there were no microphones.
The answer is that they did not hear everything, they came along to see ‘democracy in action’.
There were ‘tallymen’ in the audience who heard the headlines from the middle of the crowd. They relayed these headlines to the crowd at the back much in the same way that football audiences sometimes even now communicate.
These democratic debates are a long standing tradition. Ray Cabe, was right to quote Magna Carta, the event which in 1215 was witnessed by five people from Pevensey.
But then again, as renowned historian Simon Sharma along with 306 other historians point out, Britain has an irreplaceable role to play in Europe.
Standing in front of the picture of Guernica by Picasso, in his “Lessons from history for the Brexiters” he says, ‘as historians of Britain and of Europe, we believe that Britain has had in the past, and will have in the future, an irreplaceable role to play in Europe,’
It just leaves one voice unheard, that of Huw Merriman., He is one of only 7 Conservative MPs currently as things stand today, who has not declared which way he intends to vote tomorrow.
Hum Merriman is an interesting MP. Billed perhaps pre 2015 election as a home grown Tory careerist, he is anything but. Without doubt he is set to be a high flyer of some description, and who can doubt that he is set for office of some description.
Having said that, there is an honesty and sincerity and commitment about what he says, as well, and it has to be said, a tremendous record of hard, gruelling constituency work, one of the key markers in how to test the record of an MP.
Given the fact that he is still hobbling after a major leg operation, that is a record of merit.
His staff when asked last night, if this was the last of his public engagements, before EU Referendum Day, were adamant that this was not the case. They were right. There are more schools and more debates today.
He has chaired events right across the constituency for communities, primary schools and colleges with regard to his ‘open topped’ tour of the constituency over the last three months. The staff just smiled, when we recalled what an exhausting schedule it must be in the cause of democracy.
Sometimes we do not give MPs the credit they deserve. The appalling tragedy in the murder of MP Jo Cox last week has given not just every MP in the country food for thought, but all of us.
As Huw Merriman explained, when he began his opening speech last night, Jo Cox MP, he felt sure, would have wanted us to continue the debate about the EU Referendum. Perhaps the most important vote in our lifetime takes place tomorrow.
There is one small tribute to Huw Merriman, with this three months of open meetings across communities, schools and colleges that lies unnoticed.
Politicians, like estate agents do not generally speaking get good press and their role is not always thought of in high regard.
What is important to us as a nation, is that whichever way the EU Referendum debate goes tomorrow that we see the the value of our democracy and the fact that we can make claim to being the second oldest, continuous democracy in the world. (The first is Iceland).
These rights are worth defending. It is through our representatives that we promote our values and it is to people like Huw Merriman that we look, quite rightly to see that our voices are heard.
Children these days want to be astronauts (quite rightly, especially in Sussex, with Tim Peake!!!!), doctors, engineers, scientists, business leaders and teachers. It is interesting to see how much now the gender roles, quite rightly, have shifted, with as many girls as boys now wanting to be astronauts, for example!!!
Touching therefore to see in the Huw Merriman Twiteer feed, what lies unnoticed. There is the story of the young girl who rushed home to her mother after a debate in her school and announced that she wanted to be a politician.
Fitting therefore that after his eight debates and something like 20, 25 meetings across the constituency and promoting democracy that on his twitter feed feed that there is a record that should make him proud.
Congratulations to Huw Merriman and the speakers that gave such a good account of themselves last night at the Priory Court Hotel in Pevensey. Congratulations to the audience as well, for the balance and insight in the comments from the floor.
The staff that Huw Merriman employs are first rate contributors to the success of these days and evenings as well. Since they do not often get credit for all the hard work that goes into making these events, such a success with their organisation, should also be noted.
Tomorrow we wait to see what the historic vote will mean to our country. Nobody can say, particularly in the constituency of Bexhill and Battle that we have not had an opportunity to have our voices heard.
Simon Montgomery
editor, Pevensey Bay Life
IMAGE CREDIT: Peter Lowton, Co-owner, Priory Court Hotel
EU Referendum Debate, Priory Court Hotel and Restaurant, Pevensey, 21 June 2016
