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The EU has changed since UK left – what now for Brexit Britain?

July 03, 2023

European Movement UK does Pride

July 03, 2023

Monthly Chair Report | July 2023 (Members Only)

June 30, 2023

What a month it has been.

We’ve smashed through the 20,000 members barrier and have taken on Dominic Grieve as our new Vice President! Plus – we have an exciting new CEO.

Membership

A massive ‘welcome’ to over 1,300 new members since my last update a month ago! At the time of writing, I see our live membership counter is clocking in at over 20,800 European Movement members. We’re becoming a mass movement fast – and I want to thank all of you who helped us reach this target. Also a big ‘thank you’ to all the local groups who are encouraging their lists of followers to come onboard. We’re growing at pace and it's very exciting!

Dominic Grieve

I’m absolutely delighted that Dominic Grieve accepted our offer to become an EM Vice President (alongside Vince Cable, Caroline Lucas MP and Baroness Joyce Quinn) and that his appointment was so overwhelmingly and enthusiastically approved by our Executive Committee and National Council. Dominic is a champion of our movement and the affection between him and our grassroots is clear to see. Since his announcement as our new VP, we have seen another wave of new members. See The New European article on his appointment.

A new CEO of European Movement

I want to take this opportunity to thank our former CEO, Anna Bird, for her leadership and stewardship of the movement. Under her tenure, the membership has grown by 50%; turned the organisaiton into a laser focused, campaign driven movement which has contributed to a significant shift in the public’s opinion of Brexit.

Anna left big shoes to fill, and the recruitment process is now complete. We were very flattered by the calibre of applicants and, despite the range of strengths presented before us, we all settled on one candidate. The new CEO will take up their new role on July 17th. I cannot tell you who it is yet, but you’ll be finding out very shortly!

On behalf of everyone at European Movement UK, we owe a huge ‘thank you’ to Emma Knaggs, our Interim CEO, for her flawless work in stepping up to the plate and running the team. Emma will soon return to her role as Deputy CEO & Head of Grassroots Engagement.

European Movement in Scotland (EMiS)

Last Saturday, I went to Edinburgh and Glasgow to visit European Movement in Scotland. I enjoyed spending time with the EMiS Chair, David Clarke, meeting with the Exec about their priorities, dropping in on the Young European Movement meeting up there and then talking at a rally in the evening. Scotland is its own nation with its own political environment and that’s why at EMUK, we know the right way forward for pro-Europeanism in Scotland is to get behind EMiS and resource them with everything they need to be THE society-wide cross-party driving force for rejoin in Scotland. We’ve laid out some plans together on how best to do that and are working on them now, so … watch this space! And you can read some of my thoughts on it in my interview with The National.

In case you missed it…

Make sure you catch up on two articles by European Movement President, Lord Heseltine: The first being on Boris Johnson’s departure where Heseltine says that Johnson’s “real legacy is Brexit, the biggest historic mistake this country has made in peacetime” and the second being a follow-up entitled: “With Boris disgraced and his Brexit project failing, we must rethink joining Europe”.

Also, did you see the stunning finding that only 18% of Leave voters think Brexit has gone well? Hardly a ringing endorsement of the calamitous project! In fact, there’s more bad news for Brexit coming out of the Covid Inquiry too, as it’s becoming increasingly clear that part of our poor preparation and response to covid was down to no-deal Brexit risks dominating the government’s attention. It is interesting to see just how much bite the Covid Inquiry has when it comes to setting the record straight. Surely that only strengthens the hand of the campaign for a Brexit Inquiry, run by Leeds for Europe.

Finally, we would just like to note the beautiful message that Sadiq Khan sent to EU citizens in the UK on the seventh anniversary of the Brexit vote. In fact, we liked it so much that we invited him to echo that message again in an email to our followers. If you missed it, search your inbox for his name and an email entitled “Europe is a core part of our identity” – it’s bang on about the values we should be championing.

Until next time,

Dr. Mike Galsworthy, July 2023