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This government's cruel and unnecessary immigration policies must be resisted, writes Heather Glass, Chair of Lambeth for Europe.

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Commenting on the midnight deadline today for EU nationals to register for settled status, and the Government’s hostile environment policy towards anyone who remains unregistered, Dominic Grieve, spokesperson for European Movement said: 

“The failure of the Government to extend the deadline for settled status for EU nationals is likely to cause serious problems and injustice similar to that which has occurred over Windrush. The Government should think again about this process.” 

To raise awareness of the deadline, European Movement UK and Lambeth for Europe, have hired an ad-van to drive around South London’s largest EU national communities today, including Stockwell’s Little Portugal, calling on people to register. 

Commenting on this initiative, Chair of Lambeth for Europe, Heather Glass said: 

“Lambeth is home to one of the highest concentrations of Portuguese nationals in the country and we know that thousands of other EU nationals also call our borough their home.  We love and value our EU citizen friends and neighbours and are terrified that many of them will lose their right to live and work here after today. 

So many in Lambeth in the Windrush generation and their descendants have suffered at the hands of the Home Office, and we urge all EU citizens to check if they and their children need to apply for settled status and to do so today.” 

Commenting on the implications of the impending deadline, CEO of European Movement UK, Anna Bird said: 

“Earlier this month it became clear that tens of thousands of EU Nationals face missing the deadline today, with the most vulnerable, victims of trafficking and modern slavery, the elderly and children most at risk. In mid-June, the immigration minister, Kevin Foster told MPs the Home Office had a backlog of applications in excess of 400,000, and that 10,000 applications were being received each day. It is madness not to extend the deadline and inhumane to persist with the Government’s hostile environment policy.” 

ENDS

For further information contact Press Team on 07739 728 079 or [email protected] 

Notes to Editors    

1. European Movement UK is a grassroots, cross-party campaign group working to uphold European values, standards and rights post-Brexit, and campaigning to maintain a close relationship between the UK and our European neighbours.
2. Lord Heseltine is President of the European Movement UK and Lord Adonis is Chair of the European Movement UK.

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The settled status application deadline must be extended and enforcement paused, writes Alyn Smith MP, SNP Foreign Affairs Spokesperson.

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Brexit is not "done" and neither are we, writes European Movement President Lord Heseltine.

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Andrew Brown, a farmer in Rutland, discusses the details of the Australia Deal announced this week.

If you have seen the European Movement's social media posts today, you already know the Great British Sell Off is well underway.

This week the UK government has signed a trade deal with Australia that removes tariffs on meat imports produced to a much lower standard.

Boris Johnson’s own manifesto committed to protecting British food standards. Instead they are undercutting British farmers who will not be able to compete with these imports produced elsewhere using methods that are rightly banned in the UK.

Not only are farmers’ livelihoods at risk, but it also means a race to the bottom in standards for the food on your plate.

Here are just some of the key differences in standards between food produced in Australia and the UK: 

• Animal welfare: As part of the EU, the UK has long prevented hormone-reared beef being sold here and outlawed ‘mulesing’ - the removal of a sheep’s skin while it is still alive. But 40% of Australian beef supply is treated with hormones, causing animals to suffer, and Australia allows ‘mulesing’ to continue.
  
  
• Threats to our health: intensively using antibiotics in farming can lead to deadly diseases becoming resistant to antibiotics that are crucial to saving lives. They are banned for use in UK farming, but they are used regularly in the Australian industry.
  
  
• Pesticides: UK pesticide standards - although not perfect - are some of the strongest in the world. Australia's standards are far weaker. For example, an Australian apple can have as much as 30 times the amount of toxic insecticide buprofezin than a UK apple.
  

Liz Truss and Boris Johnson are so keen to rush through trade deals without proper scrutiny that they are willing to risk undercutting our farmers and weaken our proud British standards – and for what?

Australia accounts for just 1.6% of UK exports, and even the UK government predicts it will only grow the economy by 0.02% over 15 years.

Farmers like me have been put in an impossible catch-22 situation. If we then drop our own standards to compete with low quality imports we will lose access to the EU market which accounts for 60% of our produce exports.  

This deal could become a template for trade deals with other countries like New Zealand and the US. Whilst the government continues to negotiate trade deals we must get this message across: it is not worth selling off our standards for a trade deal worth a fraction of our trade on the EU market! 

This is a fight we simply cannot afford to lose if we want to prevent our proud standards from being torn apart in the Great British Sell Off.  

That is why we are teaming up with Save British Farming to organise demonstrations and create noise around this critical issue.

Our activists will be standing with our farmers as they fight against the weakening of our food and farming standards. If you want to get involved, please sign up here.

When we speak with one voice, we can defend our European values.

The European Movement UK and The New European are today announcing a strategic partnership, bringing the Movement’s members the very best news and analysis and supporting the pro-European media to thrive. 

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Richard Morris, Member of the European Movement National Executive and European Movement International Board Member, discusses how you can take part in the Conference on the Future of Europe - and why it is so important.

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