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Since the UK crashed out of the EU, our country has stumbled from one crisis to another. Businesses have collapsed, prices have soared, and hardworking people have paid the price.

Politicians have refused to engage with the economic truth and confront the chaos that leaving the EU has created.

But as Brexit takes out its fourth Prime Minister, it’s time to be honest with the British public: What started as a false slogan on the side of a bus has begun to erode the soul of our country.

And here’s the reality: Brexit still risks fundamentally and forever changing the character of our country for the worse.

But who we are can be decided by the people and shaped by our optimism, no matter how regularly tested it is. Our courage, which runs deep when we need it, can define us. And it can be our empathy, our willingness to see each other not as enemies and traitors but as fellow Britons and Europeans, that can save us.

That is why we must take action to reclaim our country’s soul and restore our future – surely few things can be more important than that.

The next Prime Minister must stop the financial self-harm, halt the hurt and decide who we are as a country.

The European Movement is the only organisation with the courage to expose the calamity of Brexit and win the Battle for the Soul of our Country.

On Thursday 20^th October at the TUC Conference in Brighton, Sir Keir Starmer used a somewhat familiar phrase.

The leader of the Labour party declared a “Battle for the Soul of our Country”, but supporters and members of the European Movement might have felt a sense of DeJa’Vu – that’s because we launched our ‘Battle for the Soul of our Country’ campaign over six months ago. 

Indeed, we took that message right to the heart of the Labour party at their conference in Liverpool, and let’s just say: you couldn’t have missed it.

Perhaps Keir got the idea for the slogan from our stall, t-shirts and badges or the Labour directory – it even made it onto BBC’s Politics Live.

Or perhaps our door hangers pleading with his party to stop side-lining the issue of Europe caught his attention – after all, we did hang them on over 1,000 doors in the hotels Starmer and his MPs were staying in. 

Or perhaps Labour MPs Stella Creasy, Hilary Benn and Catherine West told Keir about the slogan after they hung out with us at our stall or during our Fringe Event “The Cost of Living with Brexit?”

However, we don’t mind Labour using our slogan, in fact we love it. When I was in Liverpool for Labour Conference this year, I saw a party that knows what’s at stake. A party that wants to rebuild our reputation on the world stage and, as a crucial part of that, our relationship with Europe.

There is a lot for pro-Europeans in the Labour party to be optimistic about: Labour is talking about closer ties with Europe and improving the UK-EU deal for a start, and now they are even using our slogan! But now they must be honest with themselves and the British public: Brexit isn’t working and can’t work. 

If Labour is going to steal our messaging, then we want them to sign up to our values too:

• Labour must be bold.
• They must have a vision for rebuilding the UK’s relationship with Europe.
• They must not sidestep or shy away from exposing the real impacts of Brexit.
• They must lay out a path for a closer alignment with our European Neighbours, including improved market access to Europe to help tackle the cost-of-living crisis and protect peace in Northern Ireland.

So, if Starmer is serious about winning the Battle for the Soul of our Country, he needs to do more than pinch our slogan. He needs to start by ending the conspiracy of silence on Brexit.

In 2015 Brexit was merely the policy of Farage’s fringe party. Now, to our shame, it defines all our national policy. But as economies across Europe begin to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic consequences of Brexit are being felt more than ever.

Brexit has brought down four Prime Ministers, ripped parties and communities in half and run aground our country’s economy. Businesses have collapsed, prices have soared, and hardworking people have paid the price.

That’s why we have taken action to reclaim our country’s soul and rewrite our story.

So, I am delighted to see Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party talk about joining us in the Battle for the Soul of our country. But here’s the reality: It won’t be politicians and political parties that win this battle. They will always lag behind public opinion. The European Movement is the only organisation with the courage to expose the calamity of Brexit and win the Battle for the Soul of our Country. Anything from anyone else is just the sincerest form of flattery.

Here they introduce themselves in their own words.

Hi, I’m Amelia Hughes 

My interest in politics, and travelling have meant that I have been fortunate enough to work with politicians in Europe and further afield. In the UK I have worked with MPs and local councilors in the North East, seeing first-hand the positive impact the EU has had on that region. Internationally, in Brussels, I conducted research on youth unemployment for S&D MEPs and worked in Essen on a Comenius Project coordinating a programme on youth homelessness. 

In 2018 I studied abroad in Washington DC where I worked closely with the Governor of Maryland and, in the US Capitol, wrote speeches for Congressmen. In 2020 I relocated to Sydney, Australia, where I worked in the United Nations office focusing mainly on how Sustainable Development Goals benefit local communities. I am now living in London where, with EM, I will use my experience to help reverse the calamity of Brexit. 

And I’m Michael Anderson

I have to say that I’m very excited to be onboard. 

Some may remember me from when I was, before commencing in this position with EM, the Coordinator for the Young European Movement. 

I hail from a Brexit stronghold, my beloved Essex. I have a BA in History from University of Southampton and an MSc in Global Environmental Politics & Policy from Birkbeck College, University of London.  

Like Amelia, and many of our expanding team, I’m now based in London where I am – aside from working to help reverse the calamity of Brexit - an active musician and writer.  

Before I joined EM, I gathered years of experience working both in the sustainability sector and as a policy researcher for the grassroots organisation Labour for a Green New Deal, with periods living elsewhere, in the likes of Argentina and Australia. 

We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. In celebrating her life, we are given the opportunity to reflect on her remarkable legacy.

She has shown tireless service to the United Kingdom. She has sought to promote unity and pride in our great nation. And she has committed her reign to improving the lives of millions of people across the UK and around the world. Through this service, she has provided leadership and comfort to all of us, including through times of distress and turmoil.

The European Movement joins the United Kingdom, and the rest of the world, in a collective period of mourning. As a mark of respect, we have paused all campaigning until further notice.

Lord Andrew Adonis
Chair - European Movement United Kingdom

Today, Liz Truss is our new Prime Minister. She deserves our open minds and the chance to lead.

But for seven years, Brexit has tested us in every possible respect. During this time, we have seen that our country is more divided than we thought, and there are times when the traditionally bright light of our British values shone rather dim.

And so, the new Prime Minister must stare this reality in the face: Britons are hurting like never before.

British values, which once offered hope, friendship and leadership around the world, have been trampled by short-sighted, self-serving politicians whose actions have done serious damage to our country’s character and soul.

Now, more than ever, our British values need reclaiming, restoring, and we need to heal.

As Liz Truss enters our highest office, she has the unique opportunity to get our country back on track and reclaim what makes Britain great. It is a unique chance to rewrite what the world thinks of us and what will become our country’s story. But she must actively choose to do so.

One of her first actions as our new Prime Minister must be to concede that the precious Good Friday Agreement and her predecessor’s hard Brexit are simply incompatible. 

She must urgently re-think legislation on the Northern Ireland Protocol and put a stop to actions that risk a trade war with Europe. In doing so she will be sending a clear sign that as PM she will put peace and prosperity before party politics.

In the meantime, the European Movement will do all we can to reignite the British light, rebuild relationships across Europe and help the UK find our place back on the world stage. We are the only organisation with the courage to expose the calamity of Brexit and win the Battle for the Soul of our Country.

Anna Bird

CEO - European Movement UK

Rishi Sunak, one of the candidates for our next Prime Minister, announced he would tear up decades of European legislation that protected food standards, animal welfare, employee rights, and the environment. 

A leader should prioritise tackling the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation. If you or I were Prime Minister, I would like to think that we would look at the racket of crises facing our leaders — war in Europe, the like of which we have not seen in 77 years, increasing fuel prices, record-breaking energy bills — and do things differently.   

Our first 100 days would focus on issues that matter most to people. That can make a difference to so many facing an uncertain economic future.   

Instead, Rishi Sunak has said that in his first 100 days, he would repeal 2,400 laws and protections created by the UK and its European neighbours over the last 50 years.   

These laws limit the number of hours an employee can safely work every week. They protect animal welfare and ensure animal abuse does not go unpunished. They prevent over-processed food like chlorinated chicken from appearing on our shop shelves. 

Ripping up these protections is what Rishi Sunak wants to focus on. He said that the first 100 days are critical to “keep Brexit safe”.  

Rishi is right to run scared. Brexit is far from safe. Because of the actions of this Government, it is clearer now more than ever before that Brexit has failed.  

The first 100 days of the next Prime Minister will be more Brexit purgatory. More time spent out in the cold, a void of leadership and direction that has already claimed the careers of the last three Prime Ministers and will likely end the next one’s too.  

At the European Movement, we want to send Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss a clear message: your scramble to appease your party faithful confirms that we face a real Battle for the Soul of our Country.   

And we are ready. 

We will always stand for a strong united Europe, focused on the issues that matter the most to people. We are calling out the lies and warning against making the same mistakes that ended David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson’s premierships.   

Brexit is far from safe because Brexit isn’t working. We need to win the Battle of the Soul of our Country, and then we can finally take our place back at the heart of Europe.   

Lord Andrew Adonis

Chair, European Movement UK

Reacting to news that Boris Johnson is resigning as Prime Minister, CEO of the European Movement, Anna Bird, said:

“For seven years, the Brexit bullring has been used to spread lies, undermine democracy and strip away integrity from public office.  

“What followed was a tanking economy, collapsing businesses, families set to be worse off by nearly £1,000 a year and colossal damage to our reputation around the world.   

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