An awesome letter from a European referendum voter

Reproduced from a public Facebook post:

A Letter to the Leavers

Hello everybody out there who voted to Leave

Let me say hello and introduce myself.

My name is David Welsh and I was born in Birmingham 46 years ago. My dad was a printing press operator at the Birmingham Evening Mail (it’s the biggest newspaper in town). My mum was a cleaner and a house wife.

I have one brother. He joined the Army.

My great grandfather was also in the Army, as were both my grandfathers. Grandad Welsh (Private Welsh of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment) was wounded at the Battle of the Somme.

My father did his national service in the RAF, an uncle fought in the Korean War and another during the revolt in Cyprus.

I was lucky enough to do well at school. It was an ordinary state school in Bourneville, not far from Cadbury’s chocolate factory. I went to university in London with a grant I earned and was lucky enough to get a second degree a few years later. That was paid for by a grant I won in a competition.

I’m married to a wonderful woman and live a pretty simple life. We have a small flat and I have my own small business helping people find jobs. Many of them are in a lot of trouble and I really enjoy helping them get their lives back on track.

Until the morning after the referendum I was pretty happy.

I know a lot of you don’t understand why many of us go on believing we should stay in the European Union. Some of you think we are betraying the country.

I know this will come as a shock to many of you, and that you would never agree with such things. But I have had two death threats from Leavers because I continue to speak.

I have also had every bit of my character attacked. I have been accused of treason over and over again.

For a man with four generations of soldiers in the family that’s the hardest thing to hear. My wife had a relative imprisoned in Stalag Luft III (the home of the “Great Escape”) after he was shot down. It makes her pretty sad too.

But I’m not going to stop.

Many of you admire Churchill. So do I! He’s my hero. In fact, I volunteer as a guide at a museum about his life.

Churchill was famous for his “bull dog spirit”. “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in!”.

So I’ll admit I’m tough and have a quality many of you admire! Many of you have it too.

I’ve voted in every General Election since 1992 and have always respected the result. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost. If I lost, I worked to win next time.

And that is all I am doing now. All those relatives fought so I could speak my mind. That is what I am doing.

Just because you lose, under our laws you do not become a non-person, with no voice and no vote. That is true for you and it’s true for me.

I’m going to carry on trying to change your mind. We’ve all gone through the arguments and I’m sure you need a break from the details as much as I do.

I won’t talk about food prices, jobs, security, taxes, Northern Ireland, our voice in the world. We’ve spoken before and we’ll speak again about that.

I’d far rather talk about racing cars but for now other things are more important.

But I just wanted you to know who I am. You may disagree with me completely. But I am just one man who cares for my country and for its people. I see a terrible time for all of us, young, old, whatever we may look like and whatever we believe.

I really would be a traitor if I sat by and watched this happen.

And so long as I keep talking, respectfully, I keep the door open for you to change your minds.

That’s all.

The very best to you. The sun’s out for a change and there’s a beer with my name on it.

Have a great day wherever you are and let’s talk again soon.

Always

David