‘This is just the beginning of a huge fightback – we can, and will, bring the country to its knees if they do not deliver on the referendum result...’
AGROUP of pro-Brexit truck drivers feel like they have run out of ways to make their voices heard.
That’s why, after three years of inaction since the UK voted Leave, protest organisers rallied support up and down the country to try to “bring the UK to a halt” with co-ordinated road blockades.
Hundreds of frustrated truckers, fishermen and drivers say the feel betrayed by Brexit. Betrayed by false promises. Betrayed by delay after delay. But most of all, betrayed by a lack of democracy.
Speaking before yesterday’s planned protests, Tony West, who co-ordinated much of the action, told the Western Mail: “You only have to look at how the Government and the EU have treated us leave voters over the last couple of days to see what this is in aid of.
“We have had three years of it. We won a vote to leave but here we are no closer to actually leaving.
“I made the event for the south Wales people because there are a lot of people all across Wales that have simply had enough and just want out.
“I gave them a place where they could plan and join us on this national effort to show we are no longer going to sit back and let this happen to our democracy.”
His words came a day after a petition calling for Brexit to be cancelled reached more than three million signatures.
Mr West set up events on Facebook which planned to block the main arterial routes in Britain, including the M1, M6, M25, M62, A1, A55, M5, M4, M42, M55, M61, and the A66.
However, he found that many of his posts were deleted by Facebook, forcing him and fellow organisers to use WhatsApp to arrange the details.
“Facebook have banned me from creating or being admin or a mediator on any group and have now banned me from posting anything on Facebook on the day of the protest,” he said.
On March 19, Brexit Direct Action, a Twitter group of proBrexit campaigners, said it was helping to co-ordinate various protest movements, which included March to Leave, helping hauliers organise go-slows, and petitions to political parties.
It said: “BDA believe that our government should fulfil their manifesto and EU referendum pledge to exit the EU on March 29 with either an acceptable withdrawal agreement or WTO managed exit.
“In anticiaption of a delayed Brexi – or worse – government and proremain activists forcing a second referendum or stopping Brexit from happening altogether, we are building a large database of pro-Brexit supporters (voters) with the intention of providing block support for pro-Brexit candidates at the forthcoming local authority and possible EU elections.”
The group says its Twitter page, which opened on February 28, 2019, was set up to promote a clean Brexit from the EU in accordance with the 2016 referendum.
It already has more than 8,000 followers, and says it has been approached by some people asking if they would back and help to orchestrate the national truck drivers protest.
One Twitter user, who plans to take part in a blocakde of the A55 said: “Dishonourable MPs blocked our freedom date of March 29 so we will start blocking planes, trains and roads. We will not give up our democracy to dictators May and Corbyn without a fight.”
Mr West said: “Brexit was in no way just about immigration, there are a plethora of reasons why people voted to leave the totalitarian European Union.
“The claims that a majority of youngsters being against Brexit and so incredibly pro-EU, away from mainstream media and in real common life, is hugely false.
“There is more than enough hard proof of what the EU (not Europe) is truly about and what it has been for over four decades. It has had a long period of time to become a better version of itself but they willfully ignore this.
“Then, you come to the UK Government, who are woefully inept, who are railroading their elitist desires through, whilst utterly ignoring a political referendum result.
“This direct action has only just begun. If the Government plan to keep on as they are, spouting baseless platitudes and if we don’t receive the no-deal Brexit that was democratically voted for, then this co-ordinated national action will likely continue. But more importantly, it will expand and grow in size, emboldening our Common Law legal right to peaceful protest and we shall continue to exercise this right.
“Politics as we know it, is dead in the UK. Democracy as we know it, is dead in the UK.
“What is not and will never be removed, is that well over 17.4m voters now have incredible will, desire, resolve, passion and energy to keep this fight for our very futures going. We will make sure that this sovereign nation is not sold out by our ‘sick’ quisling Parliamentarians.
“Finally, we don’t wish to be taking this action, as we’re by and large law-abiding working class people.
“So when the general public wonder why we are doing so, be annoyed with the Parliamentarians and their duplicity, collusion, corruption and narcissism. They are bringing this on themselves, it is entirely their fault not ours.”
Phillip Rogers, from Pembrokeshire, who supports the roadblocks agreed with Mr West.
“The reason is simple, when democracy is denied and the votes of 17.4 million people are ignored then you have to resort to direct action, and this weekend’s protests are just the beginning of a huge fightback against our political class,” he said.
“We can and will bring the country to its knees if they do not respect our democracy and deliver on the referendum result.
“The protests and road blockades
are primarily being organised by the fuel protest organisers from north Wales, but already have well over 22,000 members and a further 40,000 waiting to join.
“Another Brexit direct action group on Twitter has a further 7,000 members so social media helps to spread the message and the action nationwide in minutes. Road blockades and go-slows begin this evening across the country.”
He added that there are also protests planned at the two Welsh ferry terminals in Pembroke Dock and Holyhead today.
According to Mr Rogers, the protest at Pembroke is two-fold.
“We are supporting British fishermen and want to reclaim our waters, while at the same time we are also granting Leo Varadkar his ‘backstop’.
“We can if we choose block all Irish goods and produce from entering the UK market,” he said.