The European Movement UK ran a day of action on Saturday 14 October highlighting the threats Brexit poses to the NHS in 13 different locations across the UK from Macclesfield to Southsea.
Action Day in Islington
European Movement supporters also took part in the Regional Rallies organised in European Parliament constituencies, backed by pro-European groups and activists.
The Day of Action builds on the momentum gained in recent weeks through the pro-European rallies organised by the European Movement and partners in Brighton, at the Labour Party conference, and in Manchester, at the Conservative Party conference; as well as other action against plans to exit the European Union which has taken place with grassroots support.
The grassroots European Movement is rapidly expanding, with its growing branch network, membership and supporter base enabling us to make a stand together against Brexit and fight for a future alongside our European partners and neighbours and inside the EU.
Action Day in Leicester
Retaining our EU membership is proving vital in order to keep our NHS healthy:
- EU nurse applicants dropped by 96% since the Brexit vote
- 3,500 EU nurses left the NHS last year
- Half of nurses don’t have enough staff to do their jobs properly
- 42,000 nurses – the number we could need after Brexit, according to government figures
- 80% of the UK’s international research includes co-authors from the EU
- €8.8 billion science funding was received by the UK from the EU between 2008 and 2013
Michael Young, CEO of the European Movement UK, said:
“It is those who are most vulnerable that the government should be doing its best to protect, and yet by trying to lead us out of the EU, it is risking the health of the NHS and all those who rely on it. Our NHS is served by many hard-working EU citizens who now face uncertainty over their futures in the UK. This is unacceptable, discriminatory and retrogressive.
“The European Movement, with its ever-increasing grassroots support, aims to expose the damage that Brexit is already doing and give a voice to all those who value a future in which we are not pulled away from our European partners and neighbours; but instead fight to have a place at the heart of Europe.
“While there is division and bickering amongst the Tories and Labour figures out its position with regard to Brexit, thousands of people from different places and with different stories are uniting behind the Movement with the same motivation: because they do not think ending EU membership is in the UK’s best interests and they want to change the course we are on. We will help them.”
Notes to editors:
Sources of NHS statistics:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40248366
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-nurse-shortage-40000-post-brexit-trusts-hospitals-uk-healthcare-leaked-government-a7671791.html
http://www.health.org.uk/sites/health/files/Workforce%20pressure%20points%202017%20FINAL_0.pdf
http://www.nhsconfed.org/~/media/Confederation/Files/public%20access/European%20Office/Brexit%20Health%20Alliance%20Asks.pdf
The European Movement Action Day events took place in:
Islington, Leicester, Macclesfield, Oxford, Salisbury, Stockport, Streatham, Winchester, Hackney, Wandsworth, Greenwich, Reading, Southsea, Halesworth, Birmingham, Hammersmith, Bakewell, Cumbria, Mile End.
The Regional Rallies covered:
East Midlands Region, Eastern Region, London Region, North East Region, North West Region, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South West Region, Wales, West Midlands Region, Yorkshire and the Humber.
Header image: Action Day in Greenwich