Politicians and world leaders have dominated the headlines in the campaign for Britain’s EU referendum, but a passionate battle for the country’s future is also being fought by activists on the streets.
At a stall in the bohemian London district of Fitzrovia last week, Sheila Hawkins tried to persuade workers on their lunch break that leaving the bloc in the June 23 vote would be a “disaster.”
Standing on a street corner handing out leaflets, the pensioner volunteered with the “Britain Stronger In Europe” campaign to allay her own fears of what would happen in the event of a so-called “Brexit.”
“I was so worried, I thought: ‘Stop worrying and do something about it,’” she told reporters.
Hawkins set out the case for staying within the EU to Awo Davis, a 45-year-old producer, who said that he has yet to make up his mind how to vote.
“I’m not completely convinced by the EU, but then again I’m not all together convinced the EU doesn’t work either,” he said, complaining about a lack of impartial information.
However, Clive Pool, 57, said Britain can flourish outside the EU and rejected attempts to suggest the country would risk its security by going it alone.
The following day, a few kilometers away in the south London suburb of Croydon, activists from the “Vote Leave” campaign were out canvassing in the early evening sunshine.
James Bradley, a 38-year-old clutching leaflets under his arms, rang the doorbell of a modest house belonging to Desiree Peacock.
The 60-year-old opened the door with a tin of food in her hand and seeing Bradley’s campaign literature, cut him off as he began his introductions.
“I’m leaving,” she said, before complaining about immigration from within the EU — which Brexit campaigners say can only be stopped by leaving the bloc — and the powers exercised by Brussels.
“It’s about losing our identity as a country. I don’t like that — I want Britain back again,” she said, a small white dog barking at her heels.
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