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Over a thousand pro-European campaigners from scores of groups across the country, including Labour supporters, have written to Sir Keir Starmer urging him to moderate his hardline backing for Brexit. The campaigners are urging Sir Keir to stop claiming that “there is no case for rejoining the EU”. They say he should recognise the reality that Brexit isn’t working and that, in the national interest, the question of the UK’s relationship with the European Union will need to be revisited sooner rather than later.
Grassroots for Europe asks for a national dialogue
The letter was organised by Grassroots for Europe, founded three years ago as a peer network for the local pro-EU civil society campaign groups which sprang up across the country around and after the 2016 referendum.
The campaigners challenge Sir Keir over his continuing claim that there is no case for rejoining the EU. They ask why Labour can’t keep a more open mind on our future direction. They encourage the opposition leader to open up a national dialogue, rather than shut it down.
Proposals for a more positive relationship with Europe could be a vote winner for Labour, if argued “with clarity and conviction”, the letter says.
A united Europe is needed say the campaigners
Grassroots for Europe (GfE) adds that “there is very much a case for rejoining” – a case now made stronger by the threat of Russian aggression, the role of the EU in rallying democracies in support of Ukraine, a queue of countries eager to join the bloc and an America which increasingly see a united Europe – not an isolationist Britain – as its main ally on the continent.
The national chair of GfE, John Gaskell said:
“The Covid-19 pandemic masked the first effects of Brexit, and forced us to pause and scale down our campaigning. But across the country, polls show that doubts over the 2016 vote continue to grow, and many people who voted Leave have now seen that Brexit has no benefits. People have seen a business struggle or fail, had their future taken away, been made insecure and suffered deep personal dislocation and distress.
“Many of our people are shocked to hear the blanket dismissal of even the possibility of rethinking Brexit. It defies common sense and risks tying Sir Keir’s own hands when a Labour government has to deal with the continuing damage of a Brexit that isn’t working.
“Our supporters come from a well-informed and motivated part of the electorate – one that might at the next General Election be willing to at least lend their votes to a Labour Party that properly reflects our progressive and internationalist outlook.”
Richard Wilson, founding chair of GfE and chair of Leeds for Europe, added:
“The majority of Sir Keir Starmer’s supporters agree that Brexit was a bad idea which has then been made worse by the way it’s being implemented by his Tory rivals. Enormous damage has been done to Britain already and – unless it is reversed – that’s only going to get worse…Rejoining should at least stay on the table, along with other options such as rejoining the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union.”
Lord Andrew Adonis, the Labour peer and chair of European Movement UK, commented recently:
“There is obviously a case for rejoining the EU… A majority of the public already think Brexit was a mistake. It won’t be long before there is majority support for moving step by step towards rejoin”.
Grassroots for Europe agrees with Lord Adonis.
