What We Stand For

 

For 75 years the European Movement has campaigned for close links between the UK and Europe. The movement campaigned for EU membership before the UK first joined in 1972, and it campaigned against Brexit in 2016. It is campaigning now, in Derby, and nationwide, for the UK to rejoin the EU. Brexit was a mistake it will harm our country long into the future. Britain needs to go back in.

The European Movement argues that the advantages of membership of the EU, the world’s biggest trading bloc, heavily outweighed any disadvantages. These advantages have been thrown away, and our economy, our civil society and our environment are all suffering as a result. Derby, with a local economy that is very sensitive to world events, is suffering alongside the rest of the country. Recent local news reminds us just how much our city depends on the outside world for its prosperity.

 

• The shocks of Covid and the Ukraine conflict have added additional strain, but the UK is faring worse than most other advanced industrial countries who have mostly bounced back from Covid and are weathering the storm of the Ukraine war. The UK is exceptionally vulnerable to these problems, and to other external knocks, because it was already suffering the shock of Brexit.

• As consumers we are suffering from reduced choice, as the supply of goods from the EU is choked off by the terms of the exit treaty. We can see this in the supermarkets here in Derby every day. And its going to get worse.

• The EU kept environmental and public health standards at a reasonable level, including standards in food production, distribution and retail, the production of a whole range of consumer goods containing potentially hazardous materials, and general environmental protection. These standards are now slipping in the UK.

• Travel to our nearest neighbours has become much more difficult because of the end of free movement, and study opportunities in Europe for UK students have also been severely curtailed by our withdrawal from the EU’s Erasmus programme. Problems of holiday travel affects most of us a few times a year, and student travel is usually most relevant at one stage in our lives. But put together they lower the quality of all our lives.

• Perhaps the biggest potential loss from Brexit is the UK’s general isolation in the world. As the world becomes more dangerous, and as US politics become more volatile, we can no longer rely on America to protect us. Our nearest neighbours are our natural allies, and our relationship with them will become even more important over the next few years, as Russia threatens the whole of Europe.

On the other side of the coin, the Brexit dividends that were promised – especially the extra money for the NHS- have never materialized. Indeed the NHS is in a far worse state than it was in in 2016. Again, many of us can see that in Derby every day.

 It is vital that relationships with our neighbours are rebuilt, and that the UK moves closer to the EU. It may be that there is not enough public support for a move to rejoin the EU in the near future, but we can build support to restore some of our links, and start revitalizing our European identity now. 

Three main obstacles lie in our path.

• First, we must accept that some of our fellow-citizens still strongly oppose closer ties with Europe. A majority in Derby voted for Brexit and many of those did so because, like people all over the country they felt disregarded and left behind by the political class. For them the Brexit result looked at first sight like an important victory for the ordinary citizen. For many the Brexit vote was the first time they felt they were taken seriously. They may be disillusioned now with the results of Brexit, but some would still see rejoining as a betrayal; just another confirmation that they are ignored and excluded. Some of our family, friends and neighbours here in Derby will probably feel this way.
• What can we do? Those grievances are real, even though their expression through the Brexit vote was an act of self-harm. We need to acknowledge the feeling behind it and make it clear that we as pro-Europeans, have many of the same concerns. We need to work, here locally in Derby, and nationally, to address the problems in our political system and constitution that alienate so many people.

• Second, Brexit is not high in most people’s priorities. Given the current troubles that many are experiencing, that is hardly surprising.
• What can we do? There is hope in the fact that younger people are on average more internationally-minded and more open to arguments for rejoin than are their elders. Areas where younger adults are more engaged- Universities, Creative industries, Social Media- are probably the places to focus a campaign to strengthen ties with Europe. The fightback needs to happen there, as well as in the more conventional arenas of politics and media.

• Third, the two main UK-wide parties with pro-remain members and MPs,  Labour and the Liberal Democrats, both fear loss of votes if they commit to rejoining the EU. The Lib Dems have recently made a commitment to re-entering the internal market, and the party membership tend to be in favour of full re-entry. That is certainly true of many Lib Dem members here in Derby.  But the leadership are worried about the electorate’s reaction to talk of closer ties. Nonetheless, their pro-European reputation does not seem to have hurt them in the last election. Many Labour Party members, nationally and in Derby,  are also in favour of rejoin, but the Labour leadership has dismissed any such prospect, and still talks about ‘making Brexit work’. Now that Labour is in government, their fear of the electorate’s reaction may diminish, but there is also a danger that rejoin will remain a taboo subject indefinitely for Labour and the Lib Dems, because it is easier to do that than to risk bruising the Brexit wound. 
• What can we do? By joining and working within those parties locally in Derby we can keep the issue alive, and create movement toward convergence with the EU, and eventually toward rejoin. For those of us who feel comfortable in Labour or the Lib Dems, that is a good way forward. The alternative for those who prefer it is to support one the smaller pro-EU parties. Here in Derby, we have the Greens or the Rejoin EU Party. And for those who are so inclined, the SNP, the SDLP, Alliance, Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru all accept members or associate members resident in England. 

Of the other parties, Reform need not detain us. The Conservatives have been purged of their remainers, though there are clearly a few survivors lying low within their ranks. Its very hard to see how the Conservative stance will change in the near future.

However, the international developments I discussed earlier could well help to crystallise voters’ thinking. Aggressive Russia and isolationist US will both push us back toward our nearest neighbours, the EU.

But we can’t rely on events to do the work for us. We must continue to do the hard political slog of shifting public opinion over the next few years. The Brexiters showed great commitment in pursuing their agenda over the decades up to 2016, moving the centre of gravity of politics and public opinion in their direction. And it worked. Now we must do the same.