Brexit rivals, civic leaders and religious figureheads today urge Britain to reunite and reconnect as the country marches into a new decade.
As the UK prepares to leave the European Union in just 30 days, the Leave and Remain campaign chiefs call on the nation to finally begin the healing process – a plea echoed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his New Year message.
Three-and-a-half years since voters split by 52% to 48% to quit the EU, Matthew Elliott and Will Straw urge Britain to “leave behind a decade of division and begin our decade of reconnection”.
Mr Elliott was chief executive of Vote Leave, the official pro-Brexit campaign, while Mr Straw was his direct counterpart as executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe.
They hope factions, friends and families separated by the passionate arguments surrounding the EU debate can now put aside their differences.
The identical demands spanning the political divide are aimed at moving on from the bitter divisions which erupted in the run-up to the 2016 referendum and which are yet to be bridged.
Their message comes in an open letter signed by a cross-section of society leaders to mark the start of a new decade.
Signatories include GMB union chief Tim Roache; Confederation of British Industry director Dame Carolyn Fairbairn; and Glastonbury Festival organiser Emily Eavis.
(Image: DAILY MIRROR)
Faith chiefs, think tank bosses and British Olympic Association chairman Sir Hugh Robertson have also added their names.
The letter says: “As we start this new year and new decade, our country feels more fragmented than any of us would like.
“Too often we hear that our divisions – by class or geography, by politics, age, race or by faith – have come to define us.
“If we are not happy with the state of our society, it falls to us all to do something about it.
“New Year is the time for resolutions and on this first day of the 2020s, we urge others to join us in making a resolution for the new decade.
“Our resolution is to reconnect.
“To reach out to just one person we don’t know, or from whom we have drifted apart.
“To start rebuilding connections between neighbours and fellow citizens.
“While our politics and media have become more polarised we, as people, have not.”
Britain is still to recover from the rancour unleashed in the run-up to the landmark referendum.
Just a week before polling day, Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in her West Yorkshire constituency by a far-right extremist shouting: “Britain first!”
Experts have blamed the Brexit debate for driving a rise in hate offences ever since.
Racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41% in the month after the UK voted to quit the EU.
Some 3,886 such crimes were logged in July 2015, rising to 5,468 in July 2016, according to the Home Office.
Figures revealed in October last year showed an 11% year-on-year rise in race hate crimes recorded by officers.
There were 78,991 offences in 2018-19, according to Home Office statistics.
That compared with 62,685 in 2016-17, which included the referendum and subsequent months.
Charities claimed the figures were “the tip of the iceberg” because many offences go unreported.
The Home Office admitted at the time there had been “short-term genuine rises in hate crime” following certain events such as the Brexit referendum.
In the aftermath of the EU vote, the National Police Chiefs’ Council revealed hate crimes reported to police soared 57% between polling day and the following Sunday, compared with the equivalent days four weeks earlier.
The letter published today is the latest attempt to urge people to “find some common ground”.
It goes on: “There is much that we share with each other: sit any two people down together and they will find some common ground.
“So the power of reconnection will depend on how many of us, as citizens, step up together.
“Every institution, too – not just government but education, business, sport, civic society and faith – should play its part in helping bridge social divides.
“Today is about a small first step that we can all take – to leave behind a decade of division and begin our decade of reconnection.”
(Image: PA)
In his traditional New Year message, the Church of England’s most senior minister, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, also pleads for chasms to be overcome and the UK to “start healing divisions”.
Archbishop Justin says he has been inspired by the “heroism and hope” of RNLI volunteers at Dover lifeboat station.
In his message, broadcast on BBC1 at 1pm today, he says: “As we wonder how we are going to start healing some of the divisions that we’ve seen over recent years, the sort of people at this lifeboat station are signs of hope.
“I’ve met some of the over 70 volunteers who are involved in keeping this station operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“It’s not just a group of people working together, it’s a family.
“The seagoing crew includes a student, a train driver, a chef, an electrician. The youngest is 17, the oldest is 62.
“When their pagers go off – day or night – they’re prepared to risk everything to rescue whoever needs their help.
“There are so many ways we can connect with others.
“It could be by joining a voluntary organisation or a charity, it may be sorting food in a foodbank or joining a lifeboat crew.
“When we hear someone described as a Good Samaritan, we think about that person taking the time to help another.
“But it’s a story told by Jesus about someone taking the risk of reaching out to another who was very different to them.
“Yes, the person needed help – but they also needed connection.”
He went on: “We rightly think of lifeboat crews as heroic, although they may be embarrassed to hear that.
“Yet every time we reach out and connect with someone it is an act of heroism – don’t underestimate it.
“It could be someone you know, it could be someone you’ve always wanted to connect with but never have, it could be someone you really disagree with.
“Let’s go for a heroic New Year’s resolution – let’s resolve to reconnect, to reach out to just one person we don’t know or from whom we have drifted apart.
“Pick one person – pick up the phone, send them a text, meet them for a cup of tea.
“Make that connection. Let’s begin cementing our unity one brick at a time.”
The full list of signatories includes:
- Amanda Watkin, General Secretary, Rotary Club International Great Britain and Ireland
- Angela Salt OBE, Chief Executive, Girlguiding
- Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, Director, CBI
- Emily Eavis, Organiser, Glastonbury Festival
- Sir Hugh Robertson, Chair, British Olympic Association
- Jacqui Smith, Chair, Jo Cox Foundation
- James Mitchinson, Editor, Yorkshire Post
- Jasvir Singh OBE, Chair, City Sikhs
- John E McGrath, Artistic Director, Manchester International Festival.
- Karl Wilding, Chief Executive, NCVO
- Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE, Artistic Director, Young Vic
- Lynne Stubbings, Chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes
- Matt Hyde, Chief Executive, Scouts Association
- Matthew Elliot, former Chief Executive, Vote Leave
- Maurice Ostro OBE, Vice Chair, Council of Christians and Jews
- Mike Sharrock, Chief Executive, British Paralympic Association
- Mustafa Field OBE, Director, Faiths Forum for London
- Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds
- Rabbi Nicky Liss, Chair, Rabbinic Council of the United Synagogue and Rabbi of Highgate United Synagogue
- Paul Reddish, Chief Executive, Volunteering Matters
- Imam Qari Asim MBE, Chair, Mosques & Imams National Advisory Board
- Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive, Scottish Refugee Council
- Sanjay Jagatia, Chair, Hindu Think Tank UK
- Sunder Katwala, Director, British Future
- Professor Ted Cantle CBE, Chair, Belong – the Cohesion and Integration Network
- Tim Roache, General Secretary, GMB
- Dr Victoria Winckler, Director, The Bevan Foundation
- Will Straw CBE, former Executive Director, Britain Stronger in Europe.
