In this issue of Brexit Watch... 🗞️
Event : A Vision for the Future of Europe
This week
News
Opinion & Analysis
Tweet of the week
Podcast of the week
Video of the week
Cultural PS (Almodovar)
We are hiring - Head of Membership
Farewell to Hugo Mann!
Event : A Vision for the Future of Europe
We are pleased to announce that next week, on Thursday 03 February at 6.30pm, the European Movement UK will host a special online event entitled "A vision for the future of Europe". The event will discuss the Conference on the Future of Europe, how its outcomes could change things for people both inside and outside of the EU, and about how people in the UK can contribute to its vision for the future of the continent.
The discussion will feature former leading UK MEPs from across the political spectrum:
CATHERINE BEARDER, MEP for the South East (2009 - 2020), Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament (2014 - 2019)
CHARLES TANNOCK, Conservative MEP for London (1999 - 2019)
MOLLY SCOTT CATO, Green Party MEP for the South West (2014 - 2020)
RICHARD CORBETT, MEP for Yorkshire & The Humber (1996 - 2020), Leader of the Labour Party in the European Parliament (2017 - 2020)
The event will be introduced and hosted by RICHARD MORRIS, International Officer of the European Movement UK. We look forward to seeing you there.
This week 📰 Our take on the top story in the headlines Ukraine Russian troops are massed on the Ukrainian border. The west – including the EU - is struggling for unity in the face of Russian threats and aggression. The UK has provided welcome backing to Ukraine. It remains influential in NATO, in so far as defence and military issues are concerned. But it is no longer at the top table in the EU, for example to use its influence for robust economic sanctions, or to make sure UK interests are represented on issues such as defence procurement. In any geopolitical crisis, even an exemplary UK response can only move the dial to a very limited extent on its own. What matters most is using every available lever, including the EU as well as NATO, to maximise influence and unity with others. The Centre for European Reform puts it like this: “Brexit has given the UK greater flexibility to ‘go it alone’ in devising foreign policy; it has not made it any more likely that splendid isolation in Europe will help the government achieve its policy goals, especially when dealing with a ruthless, disruptive actor like Putin.” The Russian regime wants and needs divisions between democracies. There is a reason Kremlin-backed trolls tried to bolster the Leave vote in the Brexit referendum – and according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and others, they may have succeeded. After the referendum, the UK rejected the EU’s offer of talks on a foreign policy, defence and security agreement, as a complement to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Reversing that decision, and closer cooperation on issues of urgent foreign policy as a matter of urgency, is part of a step-by-step approach to putting the UK back at the heart of Europe where it belongs. Meanwhile, Partygate drags on and cake-eating hard Brexiteers are shredding the UK’s international credibility – and playing into the hands of dictators and authoritarians.
Other stories you may not have seen Farm antibiotics The EU has banned farms giving antibiotics to healthy animals. Legislation on veterinary medicines and medicated feed comes into force this month. UK Ministers have so far declined to commit to doing the same, as the Guardian reports here. This is not necessarily a simple issue. Farmers’ representatives question the need for a formal ban. But it is a reminder that protecting standards is not just about being vigilant and ready to oppose any post-Brexit proposals to weaken UK food standards, something EM UK has already been very prominent in doing, for example here. It is also about keeping up to speed with new steps by the EU - and indeed by other jurisdictions - to reinforce protections. We need to make sure that the post-Brexit UK does not get left behind, for the sake of human health and animal welfare.
UK Regions set to lose out A Treasury Committee report has highlighted that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is worth just 60 per cent of the value to UK beneficiaries of the EU Structural Investment Fund it is replacing, as the Yorkshire Post, among others, reported. It is true that when the UK was in the EU, it was a net contributor to the EU budget and that the UK received far less per capita from regional funding than many other Member States. But the Brexiteer government, instead of increasing the amount available to UK beneficiaries, seems to be slashing it. The general hit to prosperity - and therefore to tax revenue - from Brexit, estimated at 4% of GDP by the independent Office of Budget Responsibility, may well lead to further spending cuts across the board in the months and years to come. Brexit is not about taking back control or levelling up – it is taking away money from those who need it. News 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 Other Brexit news from UK Truss and Sefcovic discuss Northern Ireland Brexit row in ‘constructive’ talks(Independent) Dover Queues: the firms struggling with Brexit red tape (BBC) UK arms exports held up for months due to Brexit (Politico) Post-Brexit Greenland trade deal could cut fish prices (Express) – hmm, we’ll believe that when we see it The big news in the EU International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January): Gen Z and the Holocaust: How do young people address it? (Deutsche Welle – in English) Macron says Europe is preparing 'common response' in case of Russian aggression(France 24) As Ukraine conflict heats up, so too does disinformation (Politico) Vacation rental nightmares: Living with ‘a former KGB spy’ in the room next door (El País – in English)
Opinion & Analysis 🗣️ Jonty Bloom – former BBC business reporter – in the New European: Talk of Singapore on Thames economy is merely a reflection of Brexit ignorance Long read from Professor Tim Bale and Professor Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, for UK in a Changing Europe: Mainstream right in Western Europe: challenging times; trouble ahead
Tweet of the week Jon Henley of The Guardian responding to Lord Frost’s assertion in The Sun that ‘if we are making things more expensive or people’s lives more complicated, then we are getting it wrong.’ Podcast of the week Two in fact: EM UK Chair Andrew Adonis talks to LBC’s Iain Dale about politics, Brexit and ‘a bit of the story of my life’ Politico’s EU Confidential podcast looks at the knock-on effects of the Ukraine crisis in the Baltics and at the UK government’s response, among other things
Video of the week Furious lorry drivers stuck in Dover queues are blaming Brexit, despite government denials and gagging of port officials. An excellent report from ITV news
Click here for an equally excellent, more in-depth piece from Byline TV. Cultural PS We are hiring - Head of Membership There are still a couple of days until applications close for our current vacancy for the role of Head of Membership. We are looking for an ambitious and innovative team player with a track record of delivering impressive member and/or supporter growth in a comparable organisation to join our team and to drive a rapid growth in membership so that we can become a mass membership organisation within 5 years. Does this sound like the job for you, or somebody you know? The deadline for applications is 31 January and details can be found here.
Farewell to Hugo Mann! This week we say goodbye and a huge thank you to Hugo Mann, our Director of Partnerships and Engagement. Hugo joined the European Movement in 2017 and has made a massive contribution, growing the branch network and steering us through some of our most challenging times as interim CEO in 2019-20. He will much missed and we wish him all the best for his new job and for the future. That's it for this week! Let me know what you liked and what you didn’t, what you would like added/removed, etc. on mark.english@europeanmovement.co.uk
Please note that the external sources quoted or linked to in this newsletter do not necessarily represent the view of the European Movement UK
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