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Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

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Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in parliament ahead of talks  with Prime Minister Theresa May (Reuters)

Jeremy Corbyn told to demand a second referendum in any deal with Theresa May (inews)
Jeremy Corbyn is under increasing pressure from senior Labour MPs to demand a second referendum as the price for any deal with Theresa May. The Prime Minister also faces calls from retired civil service chiefs and Tory-supporting business leaders to put any agreement on extending Article 50 to a public vote.

The United Kingdom has gone mad (New York Times)
What we’re seeing is a country that’s determined to commit economic suicide but can’t even agree on how to kill itself. It is an epic failure of political leadership.

European press reaction to May’s Brexit initiative (Stern)
Poker. Political high-wire act. Sensational U-Turn. The final gamble of a prime minister who has reached the end. (German)

Ex-Tory MP hits out at 'cowardly' cabinet (BBC)
Former Conservative MP Nick Boles accuses the cabinet of being "cowardly and selfish" for failing to challenge Theresa May's approach to Brexit. No-one who has served in her cabinets is fit to stand for future premiership.

From InFacts

Tusk speaks for UK citizens rights even if PM won’t (Quentin Peel)

Pro-Europeans are true patriots and democrats, not Brexiters (Hugo Dixon)

Norway and Labour Brexits aren’t the same but both are bad (Luke Lythgoe)

European elections in the UK; bring them on (Quentin Peel)

MPs must listen to Im marchers and put Brexit to the people (David Hannay)

From European Movement

Portsmouth and Chichester marches

South West Surrey joins the People's Vote March

The way you look at life

It's not a re-run of 2016

Tweet of the week

From FFS co-founder Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson

Quote of the Week

“The world is watching, and where the UK used to be a beacon for stability, we are now becoming a laughing stock.”

Juergen Maier, chief executive officer of Siemens UK, laments the UK’s reputation amongst global business in a letter to Politico.

Brexit Comment

May’s bombshell means the Little English nationalist revolution is over (Guardian)
In effect, May has bottled out of a fourth “meaningful vote”, ditched the threat of no deal completely and, in a desperate attempt to avoid an election, has thrown herself on the mercy of parliament. It should show no mercy.

Goodbye EU, and goodbye the United Kingdom (Financial times)
The invented identity of ‘Britishness’ is unravelling as English nationalism takes hold...Goodbye to Brussels is shaping up as the first act in a two-part drama. The second may well wave goodbye to the UK.

EU citizens in the UK must not be stripped of their rights after Brexit (Harriet Harman, The House)
The Immigration Bill leaves EU citizens in limbo after Brexit. Promises of future action and soothing words from ministers is not enough - legislative protection must be guaranteed.

Labour have no reason to rescue May - they can relax and watch the Tories implode (Nick Timothy, Telegraph)
Since erasing her Brexit red lines, Theresa May has struggled to avoid the fate of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth century prime minister who split the Tories and consigned them to opposition for three decades. But the offer she made to Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday – to decide the terms of Brexit together – risks blowing the Conservatives to smithereens.

More Brexit News

'Totally unacceptable': MoD criticises troops after Corbyn picture used in target practice (Sky)
A Snapchat video showing the Labour leader's image used during target practice has been widely shared.

Police warn MPs and campaigners not to inflame tensions (BBC)
Chairman of the National Police Chief Council Martin Hewitt says the UK is in "an incredibly febrile atmosphere" as a result of debate over leaving the EU and there is a lot of "angry talk" on social media. "I think there is a responsibility on those individuals that have a platform and have a voice to communicate in a way that is temperate and is not in any way going to inflame people's views."

UK has become a laughing stock over Brexit, says Siemens boss (Times)
Jürgen Maier, chief executive of Siemens in the UK, said Brexit was “exhausting” the company and destroying the country’s “tremendous reputation as an economic powerhouse”.

Theresa May in quotes: from ‘Brexit means Brexit’ to I quit (Washington Post)
Theresa May is the “Brexit Means Brexit” prime minister. For almost three years since Britain voted to leave the European Union, May repeated the mantra that she would deliver the departure. But time and circumstance have made her change her words.

If only bums on glass was the oddest thing to happen in parliament this week (Guardian)
Theresa May’s Brexit manoeuvres make Extinction Rebellion’s semi-naked protest look like an outbreak of sanity.

Classical Brexit

Speaker John Bercow sings the name of leading brexiteer MP Peter Bone to the music of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (YouTube)

Conservative MP Peter Bone driving out of parliament during a week of turmoil. (Reuters)

Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

Britain’s New Europeans (New Statesman) Brexit, a calamitous act of national self-harm, has achieved what no liberal politician could: the creation of Europhile demos. History suggests that the consequences will be profound and unexpected. Pro-Europeans have already reshaped UK politics.

Limbo remains despite May's grand gesture (BBC) For our politics, for businesses trying to make decisions, for all of us, divisions and tensions between and inside our government - and our Parliament - are too profound to bring this limbo to an end.

A packed room and MPs in tears: Behind the scenes at the 1922 meeting where Theresa May announced her resignation (Telegraph) The 1922 meeting was so packed that one late arrival - Penny Mordaunt, the International Development secretary - was left standing in the House of Commons committee corridor, trying to listen through the keyhole.

Leave campaign chief Dominic Cummings in tirade at ‘narcissist-delusional’ Brexiteers (Times) The director of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign issued a vicious critique of hard Brexiteers, calling them “useful idiots for Remain” and likening them to a “metastasising tumour”. Dominic Cummings took his antagonism with former colleagues to a new level as he accused them of forming views simply so that they could get on the radio.

From the Floor of the House

“Consider the consequences for trust in politics if this House forces an outcome on the people that they no longer desire. That really would be the undemocratic establishment stitch-up of all time.”

-Margaret Beckett MP on case for public vote

From InFacts

Tusk speaks for UK citizens rights even if PM won’t (Quentin Peel)

Pro-Europeans are true patriots and democrats, not Brexiters (Hugo Dixon)

Norway and Labour Brexits aren’t the same but both are bad (Luke Lythgoe)

European elections in the UK; bring them on (Quentin Peel)

MPs must listen to Im marchers and put Brexit to the people (David Hannay)

From European Movement

People’s Vote campaigner arrived in London after 200 mile walk from Swansea for the People's Vote March

European Movement 1066 attends the People's Vote March

Veterans for Europe attend the People's Vote March

Worcestershire for Europe joined 1,000,000+ for the People's Vote March

The biggest pro-European March in History

Put It To The People

More Brexit News

The PM must heed the million marchers and put a brake on Brexit (Dominic Grieve, Evening Standard)

By refusing to consider going back to the public, and trying to close down the possibility of a People’s Vote, the prime minister and like-minded parliamentary colleagues are doing our country a grave disservice. They are contributing to the political paralysis which they condemn because it takes off the table the one proposal that could give clarity to what the public want.

Video of the Week

WATCH: Aerial footage from the BBC of the weekend anti-Brexit demo in London.

Voices from the march: ‘I'm fed up with hearing May talk about who voted to leave’ (Observer)

“Brexit is disastrous for our country. I’ve not been on a march since 1962 when I marched out of the army. However, I felt very strongly that I had to come here today.”

Mandarins and ministers braced for full public inquiry into Brexit (Sunday Times)

Politicians and civil servants are expecting a Chilcot-style inquiry into the Brexit negotiations after a week of blame and recriminations over the prime minister’s stalled deal.

Brexit: Firms tell MPs to 'stop chasing rainbows' (BBC)

British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall: "Three years going round in circles... is long enough...To Westminster we say: We are frustrated. We are angry. You have let British business down. You have focused on soundbites, not substance. Tactics, not strategy. Politics, not prosperity," he is set to say in a speech, the text of which has been released.”

NatCen polls shows popular move against Brexit

The longer the Brexit process has gone on, the more critical and pessimistic voters have become. Indeed, Leave voters have emerged from the process almost as critical of its handling and of the outcome as those who voted to Remain.

Quote of the Week

“Walk tall. Keep the faith. Go back to your villages, your towns and your cities. Tell them you were here. Here, in Parliament Square. Outside the buildings that inspire parliamentary democracy. Fighting for our tomorrow. In peace. Secure. The bitterness and bloodshed of Europe’s past buried with its history.”

Former Conservative deputy PM Michael Hesseltine made one of the most powerful speeches at the People’s Vote march.

Brexit Comment

Brits pretend they’re sick of Brexit but truth is they’re obsessed (Washington Post)

Your average Brit will tell you they’re sick and tired of Brexit, that the country has had enough, it’s knackered. But clearly, they have not had nearly enough. Britain is obsessed with Brexit.

To avert this Brexit disaster, MPs must smash the party system (Guardian)

Brexit has changed the political map and the old structures can no longer contain the crisis.

How the UK lost Brexit battle (Politico)

Britain mishandled Brexit negotiations from the start, entering into a series of miscalculations and capitulations that undermined its position. “The story that emerges is of a process in which the EU moved inexorably forward as Westminster collapsed into political infighting, indecision and instability.”

Brexit at the Proms

Royal Albert Hall soprano told to change her 'EU flag' dress (Telegraph)

Soprano Anna Patalong wore yellow and blue with a distinctive necklace of stars, in what appeared to be a defiant message to the electorate through the prism of classical music at the Royal Albert Hall. Concert organisers, determined the night not be hijacked by disagreements over Europe, asked her to change.

Click on picture link to see video of Ms Patalong reconfiguring Rule Britannia to the unofficial EU anthem Ode To Joy during the concert at the Albert Hall.

Soprano Anna Patalong with People’s Vote campaigners Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry at Saturday’s referendum demonstration. (Twitter)

Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

When is the Put It To The People protest and where will it take place? (Independent)
Everything you need to know about Saturday’s event here. Let’s make history!

'It was not clear if she had a plan at all': how May's night at the summit unfolded (Guardian)
“It was 90 minutes of nothing,” one EU source said. “She didn’t even give clarity if she is organising a vote. Asked three times what she would do if she lost the vote, she couldn’t say. It was f***ing awful. Dreadful. Evasive even by her standards.” And there’s plenty more of that in this Guardian roundup.

Scapegoat or hero? British parliamentary speaker John Bercow (New York Times)
A measure of the strangeness of the times in Brexit Britain is that one can buy T-shirts bearing the face of John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, in the stylised stencil preferred by street artists and skateboarders, with the word ORDER.

(Reuters)

From InFacts

Parliament in turmoil but what do the public think? (Luke Lythgoe)

Now let’s take EU extra time and get a People’s Vote (Jenny Sterne)

We must revoke. But first let’s get a People’s Vote (Luke Lythgoe)

It’s not deal versus no-deal - Tusk didn’t say that (Hugo Dixon)

From European Movement

Banner making - St Albans for Europe gets creative for the Put it to the People March

Lord Adonis speaks to North Hampshire for Europe

European Movement Eastbourne - March 2019 Dinner

A Bag Full of Thank Yous

Britain's Place in the EU

Call for Brexit being Put to the People - This Saturday

Video of the Week

WATCH: Actor and comedian Stephen Fry is asking you to join the Put It To The People march in London this Saturday.

Brexit Comment

Brexit may have just killed the British constitution (Irish Times)
Even if Brexit is cancelled, the partisan politics it has brought about may make the UK constitution unworkable.

Britain’s Brexit crisis is rooted in the power of our public schools (Guardian)
Brexit should focus minds on how we begin to cut the ties that bind the state, politics and key professions – including journalism – to a tiny number of schools. The past three years of British history have proved that privilege often breeds a dangerous mixture of ineptitude and arrogance, as well as incubating the kind of unhinged ideas that could appeal only to people removed from ordinary life, who tend to see the world in terms of crass abstractions.

British science needs to remain open to the world after Brexit (Times)
As Brexit and a redesigned immigration system loom, we must make Britain an attractive destination for scientists. As the US-born chemical technologist Jason Hallett puts it: “By far the easiest way to cross-fertilise ideas is to hire people from other places, especially those with different research backgrounds.”

The Brexit farce: Shame on you, you British! (Die Welt)
“If it weren’t all so tragic, one could say with some justification: The Brexit comedy is reaching its provisional high-point. The negotiations… will go into history as a paramount example of the worst kind of dilettante maladministration.” (In German)

Radio of the Week

LBC radio’s James O'Brien believes the “Leave Means Leave March” from the north to London is a perfect analogy for Brexit - a few people abandoned in the rain by wealthy Brexiters who are warm and cosy back in London. Listen here.

Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage pictured during 'Brexit Betrayal' march from Sunderland to London, shortly before he left the march (Reuters)

More Brexit News

Theresa May: The  Prime Minister of humiliation (Der Spiegel)
A good summary of how other countries see Theresa May: Despite facing one embarrassment after the other, British Prime Minister Theresa May continues to plow ahead, seemingly undeterred. It's becoming increasingly clear that she is the main impediment to solving the Brexit mess.

Phil Wilson & Peter Kyle: Only our compromise can break the Brexit impasse (Guardian)
“Our own frontbench leadership is reaching a settled view that any Brexit deal – including its own – would only be approved by parliament on condition it goes back to the people. Backbenchers who have been adamantly opposed to a people’s vote are talking to us about how our compromise would work.” Labour MPs Phil Wilson and Peter Kyle explain their plan to break the Brexit deadlock.

Let’s make the Put It To The People march a positive story about how Britain can be renewed (Independent)
“When we march on Saturday, we will of course be marching against Theresa May’s miserable Brexit deal – and against crashing out of the EU with no deal at all,” writes Hugo Dixon. “But we also have a fantastic opportunity to march in favour of a positive vision for our country. In favour of a fair and open society, and in favour of honest politics.”

People's Vote march: 200 coaches heading to London (BBC)

An anti-Brexit march held just after the 2016 referendum (Reuters)

‘Cordial’ chat fails to bring Johnson back into the Brexit fold (Times)
Theresa May spent 40 minutes trying to persuade Boris Johnson to back the deal on a day of top-level meetings across Westminster that failed to break the Brexit deadlock.

The choice facing British citizens living in Germany (BBC)
Instead of waiting to see what's in store, an increasing number of British people abroad are applying for citizenship in the European country where they live and work. Germany was the place that welcomed most new citizens from the UK in the year following the referendum.

(Reuters)

Brexit food stockpiling loan ad banned (BBC)
A financial services company has been ordered not to reuse an advert in which it tried to persuade people to take out a loan, in case they wanted to stockpile food because of Brexit.

UK to lose £1tn of financial assets to Europe due to Brexit (FT)
Financial services companies have committed to move about £1tn of assets out of the UK into Europe as the industry triggers its worst-case contingency plans with no Brexit deal in sight, according to consultancy EY.

And finally… tweet of the week

Paul Bernal’s response to Sky correspondent Kate McCann pretty much sums up where the government’s at right now.

Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

You are cordially invited to subscribe to the People’s Vote campaign’s Morning Briefing. Click here to sign up.

MPs force Theresa May to table Plan B if she loses Brexit vote (Guardian)
Theresa May will be obliged to present MPs with a new Brexit plan within three days if her current proposal is voted down next week, after a procedural amendment to the plan’s progress through the Commons was passed amid chaotic scenes. Speaker John Bercow provoked fury from the Tory benches for selecting the amendment, which government sources alleged went against the advice of the House of Commons.

1. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, here in full ceremonial attire, drew objections from Brexiters by allowing a vote on an amendment that effectively reduces the prime minister’s control over the Brexit process. (Reuters)

May seeks Labour support for Brexit deal with worker rights offer (FT)
The prime minister is stepping up efforts to win support from some Labour MPs for her Brexit deal by promising enhanced guarantees on the environment and workers’ rights.

UK ‘puts out feelers’ to pause Article 50 (Telegraph)
British and European officials are discussing the possibility of extending Article 50 amid fears a Brexit deal will not be completed by March 29, the Telegraph can reveal.

UK minister rules out Brexit process extension (Associated Press)

From InFacts

Bravo to MPs for stopping May running down the clock (Hugo Dixon)

Is Commons majority for People’s Vote starting to emerge? (Nick Kent)

Extra time without a People’s Vote is another fantasy (Hugo Dixon)

Expect turbulence if your flight is delayed after Brexit (Joel Baccas)

No, Boris, crashing out of the EU is not what people voted for (Luke Lythgoe)

From European Movement

The EU: Peace, Co-operation and Equality

How to convince your MP to support the People’s Vote (and why you should try)

The truth is out there..

From apathy to volunteering for the People's Vote campaign

Why Brexit is a health risk

Quote of the Week

“This is what has happened to our country.”

Pro-Remain Tory MP Anna Soubry, as she faces intimidation and shouts of “Nazi” outside Britain’s parliament.

(Reuters)

And Chuka Umanna's response...

Brexit comment

Our uncivil war over Brexit was fuelled by deceit, not one oddball (Guardian)
“Watch Graham’s drama and weep,” writes journalist Anne Perkins. Channel 4 broadcasts James Graham’s dramatisation of the Brexit campaign focusing on Dominic Cummings the mastermind who stood behind the politicians and coined the winning slogans, such as “take back control”.

Labour faces mass exodus over Brexit policy (Observer)
Thousands of Labour members have demanded their party oppose Theresa May’s Brexit deal and backs a People’s Vote over EU membership. The call comes before a key party gathering which will be held amid warnings that some are already ending their membership over the issue.

This rotting cabinet (Conservative Home)
“Authority drains away from Theresa May’s government to Parliament...There is no Cabinet consensus about what to do if the deal goes down. This cabinet is firewood.”

(Reuters)

Tweet of the Week

Young anti-Brexit activists stood outside Downing Street as MPs arrive for a cocktail party given by Theresa May to promote her Brexit deal.

More Brexit News

Theresa May claims Brexit bonus will help fund new NHS plan (FT)
The prime minister says some of the “vast sums sent to Brussels” at the moment could help fund the NHS — a claim used by the Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum. But the government’s own analysis has shown that because the economy is likely to grow more slowly after Brexit than if the UK had remained in the EU, there would be less money for public spending.

Manston Airport hosts lorry park trial (BBC)
An exercise to test plans for border disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit has been described as "too little too late" by hauliers. A convoy of 89 lorries took part in two test runs from the disused Manston Airport, near Ramsgate in Kent, on a 20-mile route to the Port of Dover.

(Reuters)

World Bank warns of wider no-deal fallout (Guardian)
A no-deal Brexit will have a negative economic impact from Moldova to Morocco, as the shockwaves sweep eastwards across Europe and through trade links to North Africa, the World Bank has warned.

Jaguar Land Rover to lay off up to 5,000 workers (BBC)
The layoffs are part of a £2.5bn cost-cutting plan amid what industry insiders have called a "perfect storm".They mean a downturn in Chinese sales, a slump in diesel sales and concerns about UK competitiveness post-Brexit.

Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

You are cordially invited to subscribe to the People’s Vote campaign’s Morning Briefing. Click here to sign up.

Theresa May experiences a historic parliamentary humiliation (Anne Applebaum, Washington Post)
Brexit has been a catastrophic political failure. This messy, unpopular deal, the most unpopular government policy that anybody can remember, was produced by a political class that turned out to be ignorant — about Europe, Europeans, trade arrangements, institutions — and arrogant, disdaining knowledge and expertise. It was the work of leaders who favoured identity politics over economics, who preferred an undefined notion of “sovereignty” to the real institutions that gave Britain influence and power, who believed in fantasies and scorned reality.

No-deal Brexit could be 'taken off the table', Chancellor Philip Hammond tells business leaders in leaked conference call (Independent)
Chancellor Philip Hammond told business leaders that a no-deal Brexit could be "taken off the table" and Article 50 "rescinded", according to a transcript of a leaked conference call obtained by the Telegraph.

(Reuters) Anti-Brexit protesters stand next to a Pro-Brexit billboard outside the Houses of Parliament

The UK as an island of losers (Die Zeit, German)
The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the European Union “stronger, more just and more united” than ever before, a truly “global Britain” – that’s what Prime Minister Theresa May promised at the start of negotiations. Today in an eerie manner, the country has turned in on itself, it has seldom been as weak in its long history; a truly torn Kingdom.

BBC review of British newspaper reaction

Batten down the hatches; it’s time for a no-deal Brexit (The Sun)
The Sun says: We never wanted a No Deal... it would mean a tough and probably damaging few months, but it is the only solution left that defends our democracy.

'It's a shambles': the view from the country on Brexit now (Guardian)
A Guardian report finds a Britain sharply divided over Brexit as they speak to voters in three places that voted very differently in the 2016 referendum.

From European Movement

To Believe in the EU is to Take Pride in British Accomplishments

Speaking up for the NHS

A meeting on Brexit with my local MP

From InFacts

We must stop no-deal. Here’s how (Hugo Dixon)

Now PM’s deal is defeated, everyone must stop wasting time (Luke Lythgoe)

MPs’ cunning plan for a committee more Baldrick than Lenin (Nick Kent)

Magnificent victory but lots of work to do (Hugo Dixon)

5 answers to hard questions from soft Brexiters (Hugo Dixon)

4 other times in history we had a stab at ‘Brexit’(Richard D Simmons)

(Reuters) Frankfurt - A trader reacts to news of May’s Brexit defeat, reading the headline: “The British pitch Europe into BREXIT-CHAOS”

Brexit Comment

Amid Parliament’s Brexit Rebellion, a Tectonic Shift in How Britain Is Governed (Ellen Barry and Stephen Castle, New York Times)
The Brexit fiasco seems to be forcing a tectonic shift in how Britain is governed, as Parliament flexes its muscles and the Prime Minister struggles to force through her agenda — a dynamic more characteristic of America’s gridlock-prone system.

It’s time for parliament to wrest control from the zombies (Matthew Parris, Times)
“Theresa May isn’t any good, she doesn’t have a fiendish, secret strategy, she’s careless with the truth and will say anything to get her through another week. She doesn’t know what to do. Jeremy Corbyn is equally useless. He, too, is playing for time.”

Corbyn and Labour must now go hell for leather for another referendum (Polly Toynbee, Guardian)
Never forget, it was Tory voters – the shires, the Tory elderly – who were the backbone of the Brexit vote. Those left-behind Labour towns were a small, if worrying, part of the result. Those places can and must be won back, now that Labour has chosen to no longer be muffled. Roll on a splendid Labour campaign.

Theresa May can't be trusted with Brexit - but Jeremy Corbyn needs to start acting like part of the solution (Independent Editorial)
Something profound has overcome British parliamentary politics in recent weeks. The government has, very gradually, lost control of its European policy. Though dramatic, the historic defeat on the Prime Minister’s deal merely drew attention to the fact.

Quote of the Week

“There are no more words to describe the frustration, impatience and growing anger among business after two and a half years on a high-stakes political rollercoaster ride that shows no sign of stopping.”

   Adam Marshall, head of the British Chambers of Commerce, reported in FT.

Tweet of the Week

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq delayed her caesarian birth to take part in Tuesday’s vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

More Brexit News

More than 170 business leaders join call for second Brexit referendum (Guardian)
More than 170 business leaders, including Terence Conran and Norman Foster, have thrown their weight behind the campaign for a second referendum on Brexit.

Macron says Brexit referendum was 'manipulated' (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron warns of the dangers of referendum votes, and says the Brexit campaign was 'manipulated from the exterior by a lot of what we call fake news'.

Don’t pivot to the Customs Union, Prime Minister – it could destroy the Conservative Party (Stewart Jackson MP, Conservative Home)
Conservative Associations are much less deferential, more activist, and frankly more Eurosceptic now. If May takes the path of least resistance by adopting the Customs Union post-Brexit to get any deal through the Commons, she risks not just a terrible party schism but electoral Armageddon.

William Hague says Brexit crisis could yet lead to an election (FT)
Former Conservative party leader William Hague tells City of London figures that the Brexit crisis may lead to a snap general election. Although Theresa May has insisted the next election will not take place until 2022, some cabinet ministers are discussing the idea of a new poll to break the deadlock at Westminster over Brexit.

Deciphering the voting system

London4Europe Committee member and former Home Office senior civil servant Michael Romberg gets to grips with the D’Hondt system of proportional representation.

Closed party list

London is a single electoral region. We will have eight MEPs.

Each elector will have one vote. They may cast it for a party or an independent. Votes for a party lead to the candidates on the party list being elected in succession. So if Party X has two candidates elected, then the first two names on the party’s list are chosen.

An elector is not able to express a preference between candidates on a party list. Nor can an elector express a second preference between parties.

Read more

Former diplomat Robert Chase gave a talk on “Some historic and diplomatic arguments for Brexit” at our April dinner starting with key events in Britain’s history, which helped develop our strong sense of separate national identity.

Read more

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