The EU vote isn’t just about Westminster – we need grassroots campaigns too | Mike Galsworthy
This year will almost certainly be the year of the EU referendum. Although some parts of the media will portray it as a struggle between two official campaigns, the real story must be a rich national democratic debate. There are many grassroots communities emerging with vital understandings of the importance of continued EU membership. Doctors, nurses, researchers, farmers, lawyers, police, environmentalists, as well as Brits living abroad, all have much to say.
As the Scottish independence referendum showed, an agile swarm of passionate activist communities can run rings around a top-down Westminster-based operation and engage voters whom politicians cannot reach. The official Britain Stronger in Europe campaign can benefit enormously by engaging with what is already a very diverse array of pro-EU campaigns, with several more emerging. The question must be not only what these campaigns can do for BSE, but what a central campaign can do to support these passionate and committed communities.
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