Enough of ‘Remainers’ and ‘Leavers’ – we are all in this together now

The first way we need to move on from 2016, now that the deal is done, is to stop the endless and wrongful categorisation of people based on their views of the referendum

We think that this is a starting point to our new relationship with Europe, one which any decent government would want to work on year in, year out (PA)

I was not selected to speak in the debate in parliament about the very late-in-the-day deal between the UK and the European Union. I was not selected to take part in the debate and so watched, as most did, from home, my vote ready to be cast by one of my colleagues who was present.  

It is the first Brexit vote where I have not been in the middle of its beating angry heart, the first time I have not had journalists and cameras shoved in my face as I made my way into parliament to cast my vote.

Being at arm’s length, in my constituency among the very people I seek to represent and support, was an eye-opener. As I walked around, popped out to get milk, no one mentioned the deal or the vote to me. No one waved a flag at me outside Asda and told me what I should or shouldn’t do. On the news, the debate on the deal was the third item to be discussed. I guess school closures, soaring death rates and hospitals at breaking point, trumps a deal which has been discussed for four years in the hearts and minds of most of the nation.  

There were times when, for me, the Brexit debate threatened my safety and security; it reared up in my face screaming and shouting. It placed us all as Leavers and Remainers, as if this was the single most defining part of our personality and nothing else mattered.

I come from a Leave-voting area, I represent a Leave-voting area, thousands more of these people who the press often refer to as “Leave voters in the midlands and the north” voted for me after the referendum in which I supported Remain. Perhaps the first way we need to move on from 2016, now that the deal is done, is to stop the endless and wrongful categorisation of people based on their views of the referendum. Most people care significantly more about pretty much anything else and don’t want to be defined in this binary way. It is something that happened in the past and people are far more worried about their future.  

My vote for the deal is based on the judgement that it is far better than no deal and certainly does not mean silence or no further scrutiny. Our relationship with Europe will continue to be crucial to our country and strengthen it where it makes sense. As the realities, rather than the words, of it start to hit the streets of places like Birmingham Yardley, I am not interested in being right that this deal isn’t good enough for a variety of industries in my city and region; I am interested in making sure this deal works its socks off, so that I am wrong and that people don’t lose their jobs because buyers in Europe or elsewhere start buying from mainland Europe.  

What we have to do now is look at how this deal plays out for our financial services and for our cultural industries, both of which rely on global platforms and audience. Access to vital cross border security information in real time is vital for our nation’s security, but currently the deal doesn’t allow for it. So how are we going to make sure we replace it, replicate it, or access what we had before, so that we are safe? These are legitimate questions that we know we have to find legitimate solutions for.  

As the many amendments that the Labour Party tabled on possible improvements and review points show, we think that this is a starting point to our new relationship with Europe, one which any decent government would want to work on year in, year out. They are our nearest and biggest trading partner and ally. We have got to be able to ask throughout 2021 and beyond how things are going, what might need changing and where things are failing.

I believe in the strength of togetherness, it is the fundamental basics of being a social democrat. I believe – in fact, I know – that we are better, safer, stronger and more peaceful when we have an internationalist approach and seek alliances rather than isolation. I will always believe this and I will do whatever I can to make the best out of something I believe is not good enough for my people, because anything else would be more about me than about them.

This isn’t where I wanted to be but it is where I am. From today, it is my job, as always, to get the very best for the UK for the future. I am not a Remainer, my constituents are not Leavers – we are all just people who want peace, safety, security a decent job and a nice place to live.   

Jess Phillips is the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding