As Remainers, we have lived by the first two parts of Churchill’s famous saying from World War Two in our fight against Brexit. We have been by turns both resolute and defiant.

Now, on the verge of victory (not yet certain I know but looking more likely) we need to start looking at how we can be magnanimous and promote, hopefully, good will. To do this, we need to look at the reasons why some many areas outside the main metropolitan areas voted to leave the EU.

The lack of affordable housing, the concentration of economic development in the Home Counties and some other large metropolitan connotations, and the running down of services like health and education in the name of Austerity have all played their part but just as importantly, there has been a growing lack of connection between Government, National & “Local”, and those governed.

For the last 40 years, Central Government has attacked Local Government by cutting their powers, reducing their revenue generating ability but heaping more and more responsibility on them. This has meant that that for many, they are left feeling less and less connect to those with power over them. It isn’t just local Councils, every part of contact with “officialdom” now seems more and more remote. Austerity, and its associated cuts, have has accelerated this as services are moved further and further away.

The small town where I live is typical of many. Our main industry (mining) which gave the town its character and economy has been closed down and not been replaced with a similar industry, just some low skill, low wage logistic depots and food processing factories which have a large number of Eastern Europeans working in them. Unemployment levels are low but good jobs are hard to find.

More and more functions have been moved from our local Police Station, our secondary schools are now part of an Academy Chain with no Parent or other locally appointed Governors, it is harder and harder to get appointments with GPs or dentists.

I could go on and I am sure that others who live in the towns and small cities who voted Leave have similar lists of local blight.

For the last 30 years, politicians and much of the media have used the EU as a shield to deflect blame for what is happening in towns like mine so is it any wonder that the justified anger of local people was aimed at the EU?
So, what can we do to embrace the Leave voters and show them that we understand why they voted as the did? How can we start to heal the divide in our country?

We need to invest in social & affordable housing to allow young people to have secure homes, we need to rebalance our economy so that those areas devastated by decline get real economic regeneration, we need to put money into the NHS and Social Services so people can get the treatments they need.

Most importantly, we must return power to Local Government, make the word “Local” meaningful again so people can feel that they have a direct say in what is happening in their community and not just elect councillors/MPs once every so often but feel powerless between elections. This means that Central Government has to make devolution mean more than Westminster just moving budgets from Whitehall to Directly Elected Mayors, unanswerable to anyone between elections.

What we must not do, what the Quitters have done for the last two-and-a-half years, is ignore the half of the country who will feel betrayed and forgotten. We must reach out and show them that we care about the reasons behind their vote and that we, along with the EU, can help them and be part of the solution to their problems not the reason for them.

* Leon Duveen is Chair of Liberal Democrats for Peace in the Middle East, a new group of Lib Dems working to support those trying to a solution to the Palestine/Israel conflict and to providing information about these peacemakers.