Brexit Watch

Good morning

Michael and Sean here, come rain come shine (more rain this week), to present Brexit Watch, your weekly member briefing on all things UK-EU relations. 

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Badenoch wants UK to withdraw from ECHR

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Yesterday, leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch MP, reaffirmed her view that the UK should leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

Badenoch wants to “set up a commission to examine whether the UK should withdraw from a series of international legal agreements” (BBC News).

In a speech on Friday, Badenoch argued that the ECHR had become a ‘sword used to attack democratic decisions and common sense’, though she did stop short of completely committing her party to leaving. The opposition leader instead laid out five tests, saying that if all five could not be met, and if there was no prospect of changing the offending parts of the treaty, then she would call for the UK to leave the ECHR with ‘no hesitation, no apology’.  

Contrary to Badenoch, we maintain that the UK should remain in the ECHR because it is the last line of defence of our rights and freedoms, which we think are pretty important indeed.

If you haven’t already, sign the petition to keep the UK in the ECHR, where it belongs.

50th Anniversary of the 1975 Referendum

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Thursday 5th June 2025 marked exactly 50 years since the first UK referendum on Europe, when Britain voted overwhelmingly to stay in the European Economic Community (EEC). 

To mark the occasion, we spoke to David Steel, now Lord Steel of Aikwood, who was one of the main politicians at the time promoting the 'Yes' campaign, and later became leader of the Liberal Democrats, on what lessons from 50 years ago were still relevant in a Britain which now lies outside of the European Union.

Watch Lord Aikwood tell his story of that crucial referendum here.

Product and Metrology Bill Goes to Report Stage

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In a debate on Wednesday, the PR hack’s nightmare-named bill - the “Product Regulation and Metrology Bill” - reached its third reading in the House of Commons.

This bill, originating in the House of Lords, carries significant implications for the UK’s post-Brexit regulatory framework. 

Pro-European MPs were quietly reassured, as the bill’s provision for “dynamic alignment” with EU standards offers a practical route for businesses and consumers alike. Cross-party concerns focused on its status as a “skeleton bill” - this means that this legislation grants broad powers to ministers without specifying how those powers should be exercised. 

Meanwhile, the usual cries of Brexit betrayal were dutifully trotted out. A cross-party amendment proposing a scrutiny committee was also tabled by Stella Creasy and Richard Tice (among others) was not selected, another sensible (but short) step in the right direction by the government.  

Now, the bill goes to the report stage.

UK and EU music industry chiefs join forces to urge political leaders to tear down barriers to touring the EU

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Backed by thousands of people working across the UK and EU music industries, an open letter was sent last month (a few days before the UK-EU Summit) from the top dogs of the UK and EU music sectors to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

“The open letter – which has more than 550 signatories from organisations and individuals - outlines how the barriers of soaring costs and red tape means ‘audiences, artists and venues in the EU and UK are missing out on the enormous benefits which closer cultural exchange would bring’.

The letter called for the UK and EU “to overcome any obstacles and barriers affecting the economic and cultural growth of this important sector, that currently stand in the way of fulfilling this relationship.”

And this is exactly what our Face The Music campaign is calling for.

European Movement steps up calls to rejoin Erasmus+

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Following the recent UK-EU summit, the European Movement's Education Sub Committee met this week with the wider team to discuss creating a campaigning group. The aim of the group will be to support and drive forward our movement’s calls for rejoining Erasmus+ in the next 12 months, while bringing together people with experience of Erasmus+, the education sector, private enterprise, and grassroots campaigning to ensure maximum impact.

This successful first meeting has laid the foundation for future collaboration between YEM, EMUK and wider civil society to influence government and build on Erasmus+ being included on the agenda for future UK-EU negotiations.  

And you can get involved! Will you sign our petition to rejoin Erasmus+ and help create opportunities for thousands who had them taken away by Brexit?

In case you missed it (ICYMI) 👀

In the days following the UK-EU Summit, the movement was in the spotlight, the studios and papers. Here is a round-up of the movement’s press hits from last week.

Also, this week, the European movement spoke to former leader of the Liberal Democrats David Steel, now Lord Steel of Aikwood, discussing the ECC referendum 50 years ago and how lessons learned then could still be very relevant today. You can watch the interview with Lord Steel here.

This week's special mention go to 👏

John Elledge for his piece in The New Statesman this week titled, ‘The public doesn’t like Brexit. Has anyone told the media?’

Elledge offers a scathing assessment of the media’s “downbeat” assessment of the UK-EU Summit, drawing on the nature of news consumption at large.

“One surprising group who might disagree with this rather downbeat assessment were the actual British electorate.

“The general public and newspaper readers are not the same thing. They never perfectly aligned, of course; but now the group that reads newspapers is a fraction of the public as a whole.”

Brexit in Westminster 🗣️

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On 2 June, the Government responded to a question from TUV MP Jim Allister on the implications of the new UK–EU SPS Agreement for Northern Ireland. Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Minister for UK–EU relations, confirmed that the agreement will, once implemented, remove key barriers to agri-food and plant trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Health certificates, checks, and Plant Health Labels will no longer be needed for goods like seed potatoes, plants for planting, and used farm machinery. Restrictions on so-called ‘high-risk’ plants will also be lifted. He stressed that Northern Ireland would retain dual access to both the EU Single Market and the UK internal market—giving local businesses a clear competitive edge.

Also on 2 June, during a debate on the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, APPG on Europe Co-Chair, Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate, called on the Government to prioritise renewed cooperation with the EU to tackle irregular migration — including restoring real-time access to EU databases such as the Schengen Information System. In 2019, the last year the UK had access, British police checked the system over 603 million times.

On 5 June, during an oral question on steps to improve relations with the EU, Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the UK–EU agreement announced on 19 May marked a major step forward in improving relations with Britain’s largest trading partner. He described the deal as being “in the national interest,” with benefits for businesses, travellers and young people. The agreement, he said, would cut red tape, ease border checks, and expand access for British exporters — and confirmed that e-gate entry for UK citizens would begin at Faro Airport in Portugal this week.

MPs from across the political spectrum welcomed the reset. Josh Dean (Lab) and Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem) both called for rapid progress on the Government’s commitment to a UK–EU youth mobility scheme and potential re-association with Erasmus+. Thomas-Symonds said talks were moving ahead at pace, and reiterated that any scheme would be capped, time-limited and visa-controlled, following the model of existing UK agreements with countries like Australia and Canada.

Jon Pearce (Lab) and Sarah Olney (Lib Dem) urged the Government to provide more clarity on timelines, stressing that young people needed certainty to plan placements, study and travel in Europe in the coming year.

From the Opposition frontbench, Mike Wood (Con) queried how tightly the youth scheme would be capped. While welcoming the principle, he warned against allowing Brussels to dictate the terms. Thomas-Symonds responded that all terms would be negotiated in the UK’s interest and welcomed the growing consensus in favour of structured UK–EU youth exchanges.

Also on 5 June, in a Westminster Hall debate on animal welfare in farming, MPs from across the political spectrum raised concerns about how the UK’s departure from the EU risks undercutting standards and called for closer alignment with the European Union.

Green Party MP Adrian Ramsay highlighted the EU’s commitment to ending caged farming by 2027, warned that recent UK trade deals could allow the import of products produced to lower welfare standards, and noted that the UK’s rating on the World Animal Protection Index has declined since leaving the EU. Labour MPs including Sam Carling, Sadik Al-Hassan, and Alex Mayer urged the Government to match or align with EU reforms, particularly on banning sow stalls and improving welfare labelling. Conservative MP Dr Neil Hudson stressed that the UK should use its higher standards to influence the EU.

Now showing at The Theatre of Brexit 🍿

Playing Bingo Inside Britain's First REFORM PUB | The News Agents

Mayor of London: Brexit was a real blow to the UK | CNBC

‘Nigel Farage was right about everything – including Brexit’ | LBC

And that was The Week That Was. 

IN OTHER NEWS (UK) 📰 Consumer confidence has not recovered since Brexit vote, says Barclays | Retail Week Post-Brexit pet travel scheme comes into effect | BBC News Why The New European is becoming The New World | The New World	IN OTHER NEWS (EU) 📰 Costa hints EU could penalize Israel over Gaza offensive | Politico EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges | Reuters EU proposes extending right for 4m Ukrainians to stay in bloc until 2027 | The Guardian

OPINION & ANALYSIS 🔍

‘Let’s forget the culture war over Europe and embrace Harold Wilson’s spirit of 1975’

Former Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, looks back on the European Economic Community referendum in 1975, and scrutinises the difference in rhetoric between then and now. Where once the conversation was one of national interest, now the conversation turns to ideology and culture wars. Johnson argues that now is the time to get back to ambition and cooperation, rather than conflict and isolation.

THINK TANK CORNER 🤔

The case for using the Anti-Coercion Instrument against Russia | Centre for European Reform

Aslak Berg, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, looks at tensions between the EU and Viktor Orbán over the bloc’s sanctioning of Russia. With such actions requiring unanimity among member states, pro-Russian actors within the EU, like Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, can exercise vetos or simply leverage that possibly to extract concessions from other member states. 

But Berg argues that there is a way around this – the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) - which would allow the Union to bypass the veto powers of more pro-Russian member states by declaring that the bloc is suffering economic coercion from a third country (in this case, Russia). 

PODCAST OF THE WEEK 🎙️

China, Russia, and Cyberwarfare: Is the UK preparing for the wrong war? | The Rest Is Politics

Rory and Alastair discuss the state of defence and security in the UK and Europe, while asking what effects the recent presidential election in Poland and new defence policies here in the UK may have. Plus, the two look at how China is fitting into the rapidly changing world order, and where things may go from here.