Today marks 100 days since the end of the transition period and the implementation of the government’s hard Brexit deal.
The 100-day mark offers a good opportunity to reflect on where we were, where we are now, and where we’re going. But the truth is that from where I’m standing, Brexit’s negative effects are only growing worse.
These past weeks and months, we have heard from dozens of people directly impacted by Brexit. EU citizens, students, business people, workers – each has told their own story of how Boris Johnson’s bad Brexit deal turned their world upside down.
The European Movement is demanding real scrutiny of this government’s Brexit deal – even if we must do it ourselves.That is why we launched our Crowdfunder campaign to invest heavily in our campaigns and bring the true story of Brexit straight to MPs’ desks.
The PM has betrayed us all but, with your help, we’re fighting back and shining a light on the effects of Brexit. This Sunday marks 100 days since the formal end of the Brexit transition period and the UK’s new status as a “third country” so I’m here to give you the highlights in a slightly longer email than usual.
Even before the transition period ended on 31 January, it was clear that, although the fish were apparently “better and happier”, the UK’s fishing industry was in danger of collapse. Almost 10,000 people signed our petition calling on the Government to urgently remove the barriers to trade that Brexit has placed between the fishing industry and the markets they depend on, and to compensate fishing communities for the economic damage it has caused in the meantime. Just a few days later, DEFRA announced £23 million to support businesses “adjusting to new export requirements.”
Once the transition period did end on 31 January, and Brexit officially took place, we gave the Prime Minister a chance to put his anti-democratic ways behind him and to join our efforts to revitalise democracy across the UK. More than 6,300 people joined us in urging Boris Johnson to profess his wholehearted and undying love for democracy (*SPOILER ALERT*: he didn’t).
When the Health Secretary was found to have acted unlawfully, we wrote to members of parliament across the UK and asked them what they were doing to uphold the law. Shortly after, on budget day, the government attempted to take out the trash while it thought no one was watching with a unilateral extension of grace periods on post-Brexit customs checks at Northern Ireland ports. In a move that European Commission Vice-President and co-chair of the EU-UK Joint Committee, Maroš Šefčovič called “a clear departure from the constructive approach,” the government once again signalled its willingness to disregard international law and we felt compelled to write to MPs once again. More than 6,500 letters were sent and, while some of the responses were disappointing, many others committed to do everything they could to hold their colleagues to account in the House of Commons.
Perhaps the most incredible thing to happen so far in post-Brexit Britain was the government’s attempt to force through the Second Reading of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and the subsequent protest which seriously annoyed the Home Secretary. A permanent constraint on peaceful protest that could land people with up to ten years’ imprisonment for causing “serious annoyance,” almost 30,000 people signed the petition to tell the Home Secretary that government cannot be allowed to bury our democratic rights just because it suits them to do so. Days later the Home Secretary delayed the next stages of the Bill until the Summer but the battle is not yet won and we will be watching developments very closely. We are [still] seriously annoyed and we will not be silenced.
In happier news, on the first day of Spring we launched PR2028, the campaign for proportional representation in time for the centenary of the Equal Franchise Act of 1928. We believe that this is an essential part of the process to fix the flaws in our democracy and that if the House of Commons genuinely represented voters then we wouldn’t have had the Brexit disaster we now face (in part because in 2019 more than 50% of votes cast were for pro-People’s Vote candidates). So far, 21,695 people have signed the petition calling on the government to establish a national citizens’ assembly to consider how different forms of proportional representation might improve public confidence in, and engagement with, the democratic system, and to make recommendations to Parliament.
We also launched the #Plan2Vote initiative. In the lead up to elections on 6 May, we’re encouraging voters to consider who is best placed to protect them, their families and communities. With more than 5,000 vacancies to fill in England, Scotland and Wales, the #Plan2Vote initiative will call on people to vote for the future they want to see.
As the impacts of Brexit become increasingly clear, Open Britain will continue calling them out and forcing the government to mitigate its extremist urges. We want to see a Safer, Healthier, more Open, more Competitive, and Kinder debate in the United Kingdom.
Join us in our efforts to Make Democracy Work…For Everyone and, if you can, consider a donation to help us achieve our goals.
The European Movement in Scotland is committed to promoting the essential European value of free speech. Consequently, we regularly publish articles by leading academics, journalists and others discussing issues germane to Scotland’s place in Europe. Such articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Movement in Scotland.
