It is crucially important that you know who I am as a candidate. I'm here to represent you, and so it is only right that I disclose my political interests outside of the party. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to make clear that I am both a member of, and media spokesperson for the Stay European campaign, a campaign for associate EU membership following Brexit.
I sent an email out to the membership mailing list a few days ago, and I have attached the email below.
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Hi – My name’s Ollie Tucker, and I’m one of the media spokespeople for Stay European.
My 18th birthday was a few days ago, and in all honesty, it wasn’t how I imagined it would be. The world’s in a strange place at the moment – between COVID-19 and the shambles of our government, it really didn’t seem like the right time to be celebrating.
It is now fewer than 200 days until we finalise Brexit and lose our EU citizenship for real – so we need to organise, and fast. So why should we choose to Stay European? Here are my top three reasons:
1. I wasn’t old enough to vote in the referendum. There’s no two ways around it – I would’ve voted remain then, and I’d still vote remain now. I know that for young people like myself, we feel robbed of a very significant choice in our future.
2. I trust in the European Community. When I look at Europe now, I see a community hit hard by coronavirus. But, when I look at the UK, I see a country that has been ravaged by it. It disheartens me that I cannot officially express my solidarity with Europe, and associate membership would allow me to do this.
3. I want to have a future where I can access the EU. I don’t know what I want to do with my future, but I know that I don’t want to limit my freedom to travel and work, and I don’t want those opportunities to be taken from my children as well.
We are going to be emerging into a scary new world following this virus – we shouldn’t be committing this act of national self-harm when we are at our most vulnerable. It is down to us, in our individual capacity, to fight for the right to travel, to work, and to be a part of the European community.
I urge you all to stick with the campaign. Brexit may be out of the mainstream agenda for the moment, but it still looms over the country, and we have everything to fight for.
I wish you all the best.
Ollie Tucker
Twitter: olivertucker01