One of the moments I most cherish from 2019 was standing on Scarborough Harbour on a cold, bright morning with Bob Roberts and Razan Alsous.
Bob, 72, is a lobster fisherman, passionate about what he believes EU regulation has done to his home town. Razan fled Syria for Yorkshire with her lovely family after her husband narrowly escaped an explosion.
We asked Bob and Razan to meet as guinea pigs for our ground-breaking Britain Talks project in which thousands of politically opposed readers met up to see if they could find more in common.
In a year where seismic political events polarised us all ever further, this was a tough ask. But Britain Talks offered hope. More than 4,000 people signed up to meet their political opposite for a cup of tea or a pint on June 23, the third anniversary of Brexit.
The feedback, again and again, was that people enjoyed meeting and finding more in common when they were face to face.
That day would also have been Jo Cox’s 45th birthday, her life and values a huge inspiration for the project.
On paper, Bob and Razan had little in common. But over fish and chips they soon found a shared passion for food and family. “She’s more Yorkshire than most Yorkshire people,” Bob said, after hearing how Razan had started a halloumi business in her kitchen.
In 2020, we plan to make Britain Talks even bigger and better. We can choose to become smaller and angrier... or come together and lo ok for what unites us. Join us.
