Meet the general election candidates for the Harborough seat: Zuffar Haq (Liberal Democrats)

This is the pitch from Zuffar Haq, representing the Liberal Democrats (all the other candidates can be found on our website):

Leicestershire-born Zuffar Haq is a successful businessman and health campaigner.

His passion to make the Harborough constituency a better place to live was sparked by his experience of raising a child with severe special needs. The people he encountered in the NHS, social care and education shaped this desire.

This election is like none before. It offers a stark choice: a disastrous hard Brexit or a more stable, sensible future. The Liberal Democrats offer a confirmatory referendum on Brexit – a people’s vote with an option to remain. This is a sensible approach to a seismic issue. Most people voted for Brexit in good faith, but Brexit will not solve the problems they are rightly worried about. We were promised an impossible dream with no downsides. If we do not stop Brexit, it will dominate for decades, while we ignore the real crises that we face.

A majority of Harborough constituents, whether they voted remain or leave, share one reality: they couldn’t vote for the Brexit that now threatens our country. People in the NHS, social services, farming and beyond are concerned about the difficult questions the government has avoided. These industries rely on hard-working carers, nurses, doctors, vets, fruit pickers and more. To fill these roles, they depend on free movement to and from the EU.

When millions of pounds of crops are being left to rot, we have to ask ourselves what this achieves. Being in the EU also gives us the best chance to make an impact on crucial multinational challenges, like food standards, workers’ rights, security and the worsening climate emergency. People tell us they miss sensible, rational, calm politics. We need to stop pretending the Brexit referendum was the only vote this country has ever taken. It is OK to change your mind. It is OK to think again. It is OK to change direction.