European Movement in Scotland Honours Lord Provost of Glasgow with Honorary Membership in celebration of #EuropeDay2023 and Glasgow’s European City of Sport Title
The European Movement in Scotland (EMiS), the nation’s premier pro-EU campaigning body, is delighted to announce the award of honorary membership to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Jacqueline McLaren.
Accepting the award at a Europe Day celebration in the City Chambers the Lord Provost said: “I am delighted to accept Honorary Membership of the European Movement in Scotland. Glasgow is a city proud to have forged strong bonds, alliances and friendships with our European neighbours. We’re twinned with Marseilles, Nuremberg, Turin and with many more links across Europe through our networks and partnership activity.
Today we mark Europe Day, and all it represents: friendship, unity, tolerance, co-operation and peace. All of which Glasgow endorses and will always hold dear. Whilst no longer part of the European Union, we remain faithful and committed friends to our European neighbours.”
Europe Day, commemorated annually on May 9 since 1950, symbolises the EU’s commitment to peace, solidarity, shared values and working together across borders to achieve common goals. EMiS actively works towards advancing the principles of European integration, advocating for stronger ties between Scotland and the broader European community. Scotland remains a proud European nation and will one day return to the EU, in its own right or as part of the UK.
Glasgow’s recognition as European City of Sport for 2023 has further emphasised the city’s vibrant sporting culture and passion for physical well-being as well as its ability to bring people together through the power of sports.
David Clarke, Chair of the European Movement in Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to award honorary membership to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, a city that embraces the spirit of Europe. Glasgow’s unwavering commitment to openness, cultural diversity, and its vibrant sporting scene make it an ideal symbol of our shared European values. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Lord Provost and express our sincere gratitude for Glasgow’s ongoing support and involvement in Europe.”
This was the message to members and supporters across Scotland:
Happy Europe Day!
Please take the opportunity today to celebrate the unique achievement that is the European project and the European Union.
I want to take this opportunity to celebrate how all of you give so much to our cause, whether manning stalls, talking to friends and acquaintances about the benefits of Europe or simply in your support of our movement.
I hope you will have read the message that went out earlier this month about the various events taking place today and over the next few days as we mark the progress that’s been made in European affairs over the past decades (Brexit notwithstanding). Please join in: EMiS is acting as a central focus for all of the many European groups and activities that are dotted around Scotland.
Let us not forget the great task that we have ahead of us – to get Scotland back into the European Union. There are so many elements pitted against us in this, whether it’s the woeful duopoly of power in Westminster that ignores the wishes of the majority to rejoin the European Union are virtually ignored, or the nativist media which control so much of the discourse in this country, or even the timidity of the BBC which tiptoes around Brexit and its consequences. Let’s celebrate instead the simple appeal of belonging to the world’s most successful bloc of nations, a beacon of human rights, democracy and international solidarity in an increasingly uncertain and challenging world.
On Europe Day, it’s even more important to remember the origins of the European Union. It was never solely about economic integration but expressed a political will to bring together the peoples of Europe in prosperity and peace. It’s underwritten by compromise, agreement and moderation, dirty words in the Brexiteer lexicon. Their transactional, childish “what do I get out of this?” attitude to Europe will never be able to understand that. Their “we win, you lose” fanaticism is running out of steam. In the end it is we who will win this argument! And polls show we already are.
So, let’s get out there and celebrate #EuropeDayScotland!
David Clarke,
Chair of the European Movement in Scotland
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.
