We're getting close to a second referendum, and Remain can't risk making the same mistakes again

In an unequal system ‘take back control’ was a lifeline – it’s no wonder so many took it

Today is the start of the new conversation our country desperately needs – one that will urgently confront the political and social crises we are in. Most of us are sick and tired of the apparently endless political infighting, procedural technicalities and mind-numbing ambiguity of Brexit. So I am joining people from all over the country for an emergency Convention today on what really matters now.

Parliament has asserted its control of Brexit this week and it feels as though a People’s Vote is within reach. So today is about setting the tone for what lies ahead – and hearing new, hopeful perspectives on what our shared future could be like.

Because it’s going to take hope to move things forward. In 2016, “project fear” threatened people with rising prices and falling wages if they dared vote for Brexit. The architects of the Remain campaign didn’t get that, for millions of people in the UK, life was already so desperate they felt like they had nothing more to lose.

In an insecure, unequal and frankly rigged system, where choices in life are a luxury for the rich and powerful, “take back control” was a lifeline. Vote Leave offered people an opportunity to reject the status quo and give the establishment a good kicking – it’s no wonder so many took it.

Yet we have a Brexit deal that will make life harder, especially for those already struggling the most. One that does nothing to address the reasons people demanded such drastic change. That is an unforgivable betrayal – and one that a People’s Vote and Final Say campaigns must start to put right.

If Britain simply voted again tomorrow, the demographics of this country would already have shifted in favour of staying in the EU. But that’s not enough. This isn’t just about winning in a final say at the ballot box. It’s about what kind of country we want to be and winning a different kind of shared future.

To do that we must urgently learn the lessons of the past. The mistakes of the Remain campaign must not be repeated. Britain Stronger in Europe was seen as defending the status quo, with the political elite pulling the strings. It utterly failed to inspire any kind of connection with, or love for, the EU as something worth staying in, defending – and changing too.

If we are to stand any chance of delivering a fairer society, we have to abandon the vapid centrism that has failed so many people.

And we need a referendum campaign that compellingly sets out what kind of EU we want – an EU of the people, an EU of solidarity. We need a vision that galvanises people to stay and fight, not walk away.

We should speak proudly about who we are as a country – our ambition and our courage. It was these values that helped create the European Union, and helped us to emerge from the rubble and destruction of the Second World War into lasting peace with our neighbours – a miracle few would have dreamed possible when the bombs were raining down.

As a former MEP, I know first-hand that the EU isn’t perfect. It is at times a highly political, top-down, opaque and technocratic set of institutions.

But it’s undeniably the greatest international venture for peace, prosperity and freedom in history. Where in the world has there ever been a better example of collaboration in pursuit of such values?

That astonishing achievement ought to be front and centre of the Brexit conversation – and it’s up to those of us who believe in staying and fighting for that legacy to both make the case for reform and set out the reasons to remain.

We must speak proudly too of the social and environmental protections secured across 27 countries, and the remarkable gift of free movement – that precious right to travel, work, live and love across Europe. We should defend the role of the EU as the good angel sitting on our shoulder when it comes to upholding human rights, the friendships across borders, the cultural opportunities, the life without fear and the solidarity.

For the 2016 Remain campaign to have reduced all that to an argument about the cost of a trolley load of shopping was such a tragedy.

In this moment, we must think and act anew. I hope today’s Convention – which rightly puts young people front and centre – marks the beginning of the UK’s social and political renewal. Another vote is possible and when people come together and reach for a bigger future, we can change the course of history.

Caroline Lucas is co-leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion