Edmund Sides is walking from Swansea to London to express his annoyance about the way that Brexit is being handled and to join the People’s Vote March on Saturday 23rd March in order to call for a referendum on the final deal.

Who am I?

My name is Edmund Sides and I am resident in Swansea, Wales. I was born and brought up in Ireland and over the course of a forty-year working career I have lived and worked in five different European countries. I am now a dual Irish-British citizen resident in Swansea, Wales.

I first became involved in political campaigning during the EU Referendum campaign in 2016, and since then have been an active member of, and campaigner for, Swansea for Europe. Over the past year, I have heard many opinions about Brexit whilst manning street stalls and leafletting around Swansea. One of the main messages I get from people on both sides of the argument is the feeling that their opinion is not being listened to. I have tried to listen to the views of people from the other side and have had many reasonable discussions with people who hold opposing views. However, over the past few months, I have found that such arguments tend, all too frequently, to degenerate into situations where both sides end up shouting at the other “You are not listening to me!”.

This cannot go on! We will not win our arguments by shouting at others. I firmly believe that the vast majority of people in this country are tolerant and reasonable people who are looking for politicians to provide a solution that will allow us all to move on and spend our time addressing important issues such as education, health, social welfare, trade, migration control and economic growth.

During my walk, I intend to reflect on several of the Brexit issues and to discuss them with people I meet along the route. I am planning to issue daily blogs on my progress via Wales For Europe’s website and I hope that these will stimulate some wider discussion on such issues.

Both Swansea For Europe and Wales For Europe have endorsed the idea of the walk and I will be supported by the local groups of Wales For Europe for the portion of the route within Wales. Other groups affiliated with the People’s Vote, will provide support along the English portion of the route.

ROUTE

The estimated distance involved in the walk is over 300 km (around 200 miles) and I will be covering this in the period 6th to 22nd March in order to arrive in London in time to join the People’s Vote march on the 23rd March. The proposed route of the walk includes the following main centres:

Swansea – Bridgend – Cardiff – Newport – Chepstow – Malmesbury – Swindon – Didcot – Maidenhead – London