Michael Anderson
Updates from the Branch
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Michael Anderson published Face The Music Campaign featured in The Independent in News from European Movement UK 2024-12-04 16:44:19 +0000
The Independent ran another piece on our Face The Music campaign.
The Independent quoted our Chair, Dr Mike Galsworthy:
“We’ve long been saying that it isn’t the established artists who are suffering. It’s the ‘jobbing musicians’ – the backstage staff, the small bands who used to jump in a van and play a few European pubs every summer.
“The classical singers who would take last minute jobs in Berlin or Vienna. It’s the Ed Sheeran’s and the Coldplays of the future who are suffering now. Chris Bryant has simply said what our Face The Music campaign has been highlighting – the government needs to help our creative touring artists before it’s too late, and we permanently damage one of the UK’s best global exports – its culture.
“Brexit has made working in the EU so much harder for those working in the industry. We need the government to move forward as soon as possible with its pledge to cut the red tape around touring visas. It needs to be done now.”
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Michael Anderson published Face The Music Campaign featured in The Independent in News from European Movement UK 2024-11-06 15:49:52 +0000
The Independent ran a feature on our Face The Music campaign, citing one of our case studies, the soprano singer, Rachel Nicholls.
The Independent also quoted our Chair, Dr Mike Galsworthy:
“Every day, jobs are being lost, and one of this country’s most important cultural exports is hamstrung by the consequences of a hard Brexit. We need action now and this government should be taking its cue from the vital and vibrant industries of this country.”
[Image: Shutterstock]
Michael Anderson published WATCH: Four Years since Brexit – Dr Mike Galsworthy debates with Nigel Farage and David Davis in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 17:17:58 +0000
Watch Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, debate David Davis and Nigel Farage on GB News on the fourth anniversary of the UK's departure from the EU.
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Michael Anderson published What Are Labour’s Brexit Plans? European Movement UK’s President Lord Heseltine on our exclusive Brexit polling. in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 17:13:14 +0000
President Lord Heseltine reacted to our exclusive polling which found "six in 10 voters saying Brexit and Britain’s relationship with Brussels should be a main election issue".
In i News he said:
“The state of our economy, defence and environment, the need to level up our society, control immigration and restore Britain’s standing in the world. None of these issues can be honestly addressed in isolation from our relationship with Europe. Yet Europe is the no-go area,” Michael Heseltine said.
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Michael Anderson published A new security deal with Germany? Sir Nick Harvey in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 17:07:54 +0000
CEO of European Movement UK, Sir Nick Harvey, in The Independent.
Read here (£).
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Michael Anderson published European Movement Vice President, Dominic Grieve, on the ECHR in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 17:01:28 +0000
Vice President of European Movement UK, Dominic Grieve KC, explains why ‘It’s time to break this election’s conspiracy of silence over Brexit’.
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Michael Anderson published The Brexit experiment has failed, Dr Mike Galsworthy tells BBC Radio 2 in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:49:42 +0000
Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, tells Jeremy Vine that the Brexit "experiment" has failed.
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Michael Anderson published Dr Mike Galsworthy debates Brexit experiment on Times Radio in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:45:09 +0000
Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, debates the Brexit "experiment" on Times Radio.
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Michael Anderson published Britain’s Brexit Border Woes. Dr Mike Galsworthy in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:40:56 +0000
Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, speaks with HuffPost about new charges for UK citizens visiting the EU.
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Michael Anderson published Where next for Erasmus+? Dr Mike Galsworthy in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:36:19 +0000
Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, speaks with POLITICO about the UK's decision to snub the EU over the proposal of a new UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
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Michael Anderson published European Movement UK in The Standard. in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:30:44 +0000
European Movement UK in The Standard.
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Michael Anderson published Sir Nick Harvey on future defence cooperation between the UK and EU in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:20:59 +0000
CEO of European Movement UK, Sir Nick Harvey, talking defence cooperation on GB News.
[Image: Shutterstock]
Michael Anderson published Dr Mike Galsworthy on Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘relationship reset’ with the EU in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:16:47 +0000
Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, on Sky News talking about Sir Keir Starmer’s EU visit.
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Michael Anderson published Is Starmer serious about economic growth? Dr Mike Galsworthy in the FT in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:12:48 +0000
Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, in the FT.
Read the piece here (£).
[Image: Shutterstock]
Michael Anderson published Dr Mike Galsworthy on Brexit in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 16:09:11 +0000
Watch Chair of European Movement UK, Dr Mike Galsworthy, end the argument on Brexit in four minutes.
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Michael Anderson published Why no mention of EU at Labour Conference? Sir Nick Harvey and Dr Mike Galsworthy in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 15:55:54 +0000
European Movement UK in The Express, in a piece on Keir Starmer's speech at Labour Conference 2024.
[Image: Shutterstock]
Michael Anderson published Sir Keir Starmer to set to negotiate on youth mobility scheme. European Movement UK in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 15:51:45 +0000
European Movement UK in The Independent, in a piece by Political Editor, David Maddox, on a new UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
[Image: Shutterstock]
Michael Anderson published “Harsh reality won’t go away just because they are too timid to mention it” - Sir Nick Harvey in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 15:44:52 +0000
CEO, Sir Nick Harvey, in Financial Times.
Read the piece in full, here (£).
[Image: Shutterstock]
Michael Anderson published Will the Budget Mention the B-word? in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-28 13:20:01 +0000
Ahead of the announcement of the budget on Wednesday, Senior Vice Chair of European Movement UK, Molly Scott Cato, asks if the elephant in the room, the UK's departure from the EU, will be mentioned in this huge political moment. Molly is also The Green Party of England and Wales' spokesperson on the economy.
How can the UK economy compete against the low costs of China, the vast subsidies of America’s inflation reduction act and the frictionless borders of the EU? How will we hold our own as the global economy goes through its greatest transformation in two centuries, in response to the climate crisis? We are going to be told that Reeves’s first budget is ‘a budget for growth’, but how is the Chancellor of a small market outside the main trade blocs of the world going to compete and achieve that growth?
[Image: Shutterstock.]
The biggest challenge will be the economies of the EU that have the support of a strong institutional and policy framework. Back in 2019, when Margarete Vestager was answering questions about her vision if she were confirmed as competition commissioner, she characterised the European trading bloc, by contrast to those of China and the US:
‘So my pledge is not to make Europe more like China, or more like America. My pledge is to help make Europe more like herself: to build on our own strengths and values, so our society is both strong and fair – and that for all Europeans.’
This has been the EU’s vision over the past five years: to be a major global player that maintains commitment to social and environmental standards and protects them against unfair competition from other powerful global trading blocs. She also promised a European Green Deal in her first 100 days, a plan to make Europe a carbon-neutral continent by 2050 and achieve a slew of other environmental ambitions through legislation and considerable public finance.
But Vestager was also clear that the EU’s higher standards must not allow the other global trading blocs to undercut European businesses. One of her last actions as competition commissioner was to announce new, higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, on the basis that they had benefited from unfair subsidies. The EU has also protected its pro-climate producers through the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff imposed on imports into the EU that do not meet the bloc’s own stringent climate requirements.
The US has also invested massively in the future green economy via its Inflation Reduction Act, which has subsidised clean-tech sectors including battery, solar panel, and wind turbine production to the tune of a vast $369bn. Some EU politicians have felt threatened by subsidies on a scale on the backing of the US dollar can achieve, but the bloc can at least operate on something approaching the same scale. What about the UK?
The decision by a succession of Conservative governments to turn the net-zero debate into a culture war has damaged our potential to compete in these new sectors as has the reluctance to invest in green technologies, as demonstrated by the collapse of the start-up company British volt and the demise of its plan EV battery plant in Northumberland. The boss of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has been vocal about the threats to the future of the UK car industry unless they receive subsidies similar to those on offer in the US, the EU and China.
The harsh reality of what this means for the UK economy, vulnerable now we are outside these three powerful blocs, was made clear this week by Dave Ricks, CEO of global pharma giant Eli Lilly. Speaking on the Today programme he made his position blatantly clear: ‘I think the difference with the UK is, on your own, separate from Europe, it’s a relatively small market for most multinationals – and certainly Americans. So something needs to be quite different to make it interesting.’ By interesting he means less tightly regulated.
The EU is a large and powerful enough market to defend its high social and environmental standards; outside the EU, the UK is not.
But this risk to EU standards through the back door was anticipated by the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, which is why he included what he titled the Level Playing Field in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This protects the EU single market against UK attempts to reduce environmental standards or offer favourable conditions to encourage inward investment that would undercut the EU.
So, while we are out, we are still protected by EU standards via the TCA. If Labour are tempted to offer ‘interesting’ tidbits to Ricks and other corporate CEOs, we could face the enforcement procedures included in the TCA including suspensions of other favourable trading terms to access the EU single market.
If we seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place, I can suggest an obvious way out: becoming again part of the single market, and not just for trading purposes.
Rejoining the EU's political institutions, and taking our rightful place in designing the global bloc that puts its values of environmental protection and social standards at its heart, offers the best future for the UK to flourish in the green economy that is springing to life all around us.
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Michael Anderson published New All-Party Parliamentary Group on Europe Launched to Strengthen UK-EU Relations in News from European Movement UK 2024-10-25 13:18:00 +0100
On Tuesday 22nd October, the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Europe was officially established, marking a pivotal step in strengthening parliamentary engagement on Europe and enhancing the UK's dialogue with its continental neighbours.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP (Labour) and Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative) were elected as Co-Chairs, with Wera Hobhouse MP (Liberal Democrat) and Ellie Chowns MP (Green) serving as Vice Chairs. European Movement UK is proud to support the APPG's work and will provide the secretariat.
The APPG is set to become a vital cross-party platform, bringing together MPs and Peers to foster informed debate on the UK's relationship with Europe, including the EU and its Member States.
Through constructive dialogue and expert input, the APPG will develop pragmatic recommendations aimed at strengthening cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, ensuring these are heard and considered within Parliament.
At a time when the UK Government has signalled a ‘reset’ in its relations with the EU and with the dissolution of the European Scrutiny Committee, the APPG can serve as a crucial forum for evaluating policies as they evolve. Its role will be to advocate for a forward-looking, practical approach to the UK's partnership with Europe, promoting positive and solution-oriented discussions.
Meeting approximately six times a year, the APPG will focus on a wide range of themes central to UK-EU cooperation, such as foreign and defence policy, security, youth mobility, the creative industries and trade. Each session will feature expert witnesses, with short reports produced afterward to inform parliamentary discussions.
One of the group’s key objectives is to strengthen connections between UK parliamentarians and their European counterparts, including embassies and political representatives, fostering deeper dialogue and mutual understanding. By building these relationships, the APPG aims to create a robust foundation for long-term collaboration.
During this Parliament, the review of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement will be a significant focus, alongside crucial decisions on data adequacy, energy cooperation, and fisheries. The APPG can support ensuring these agreements are effectively negotiated and maintained, which will be essential for fostering a smooth and mutually beneficial partnership moving forward.
Working closely with European Movement UK, the APPG is committed to engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, including business leaders, industry representatives, civil society groups, NGOs and others. By amplifying these voices in Parliament, the group aims to strengthen the UK-EU relationship in ways that better serve the interests of citizens on both sides of the Channel.
[Header image: Shutterstock.]