“Brexit isn’t working” says Newcastle

Brexit isn’t working is the message of North East residents, who took to the streets of Newcastle this weekend to protest against the local impact of the recent HGV and supply chain crisis.

Campaigners from North East for Europe spoke to members of the public at Grey’s Monument on Saturday about shortages of goods and the difficulties faced by local businesses. The event is part of a national campaign by the European Movement.

As part of their campaigning, activists will be gave out leaflets saying “Brexit isn’t working” and chatting to people to find out how Brexit is affecting people at a local and national level.

The group used a ‘localometer’ to collect and collate people’s responses to questions such as:

“Is Brexit good for the North East?”

The answer to this question was a resounding “no!”

Although other countries have experienced shortages of HGV drivers due to the pandemic, North East for Europe blames the government’s Brexit deal for making the situation worse in Britain, by reducing incentives for EU-based hauliers to operate in Britain and increase capacity in our HGV network.

Since the summer, the government’s harsh Brexit deal has given Britain empty shelves, empty pumps and empty pockets, and now it seems that even Christmas is under threat.

It was very encouraging to see a fantastic turnout of volunteers to this event, and there was a lot of interest from people who were out shopping, including many young people. It shows that the North East does care and that Newcastle is still very much a remain city.

The responses on the localometer say it all.

Louise Brown, campaigner and co-founder of the group commented:

“Young people in particular have been hit hard by Brexit. All the red tape means it is almost impossible for bands to tour in Europe or work there in any capacity. All this extra bureaucracy has also hit local business negatively with trade with the EU massively down after Brexit.”

The Road Haulage Association claims that the UK is short over 100,000 qualified HGV drivers, including drivers from EU member states who worked and lived here before Brexit.

No-one voted for this.

Brexit isn’t working.