12 April 2016
To kick off our local “Greens for a better Europe” campaign, keen activist Soo Chapman suggested that the ‘Grassrootsout’ campaign’s local rally at the BIC on Saturday 9 April would be a perfect opportunity to gain some visibility for the Green Party’s own IN campaign, and our SEDGP Communications Officers Lizzie McManus and Rachel Williams agreed. They all organised a counter demo outside the BIC during the event.
A group of SEDGP activists along with friends from the Lib Dems, Angela Pooley from Friends of the Earth, and some non-affiliated supporters held placards and a large European flag to greet those coming in to the Out event. However, despite obtaining e-tickets, none of the IN campaigners was allowed in to the venue, except canny Soo; however, she was ejected when they realized that she was from the IN campaign!
Our counter demo was filmed by BBC South, and included an interview by BBC South’s Bryony Leyland with Liz McManus and Angela Pooley from East Dorset Friends of the Earth. The item was shown on BBC South that evening as well as being mentioned on BBC Radio Solent, and the Bournemouth Echo included it in their item about the event: “Several members of the Remain campaign staged a protest on the steps of the BIC before and during the rally” (they also printed an extract of Molly Scott Cato’s speech at the Bristol launch).
A very successful action all in all!
