Lord Heseltine, Deborah Meaden and Caroline Lucas MP will be among the speakers at the European Movement’s virtual conference this Saturday, attended by nearly three thousand pro-European activists and supporters. The speeches, panel discussions and fringe events at the “Building Bridges, Not Barriers” conference will highlight the key issues facing the UK three months into Brexit, discuss solutions on how to mitigate its impacts and debate how Britain rebuilds bridges with the EU.
Lord Andrew Adonis, recently elected chair of the European Movement, said:
“Every single sector and industry in the UK has been affected by Brexit, a self-inflicted wound exacerbating the damage caused by the pandemic. Exports have plummeted and jobs are being lost. Companies face going to the wall, drowning in red tape and hit by rising costs, reduced demand, never-ending delays and supply chain hold-ups. Unless the government urgently takes action to deal with the mess it has made, and tears down those barriers to trade, things will only get worse.
“This unfolding disaster highlights the urgent need for us to rebuild bridges with our European neighbours. On Saturday the European Movement will bring together thousands of our members and activists with politicians and industry voices to begin to lay the first bricks. We are growing a mass movement for change – and step by step our movement will forge a way back from this government’s awful, isolationist deal.”
Anna Bird, CEO of the European Movement, added:
“At our conference, we will hear from a range of keynote speakers from across the political spectrum, as well as grassroots campaigners, local activists and representatives from business and the arts. Saturday’s conference is our latest in a series of events and campaigns the European Movement is running to highlight the impact of this bad deal for Britain and making the case for a closer relationship with Europe.
“The European Movement is rapidly growing – our membership has more than doubled in the last six months, with new members in every part of the country – and we will introduce new leadership, new strategy, and a host of new initiatives into the Brexit debate. We are building a movement, with almost 12,000 members and more than 150,000 supporters, and 123 local groups in communities throughout the UK, ensuring people’s voices are heard, and the government is held to account.”
Other speakers at Saturday’s event include award-winning composer Howard Goodall, actress and musician Jess Murphy, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP, chair of the European Parliament foreign affairs committee David McAllister MEP, former Leader of the House of Commons David Lidington, former leader of Labour’s MEPs Richard Corbett, and leading pollsters Deborah Mattinson and Peter Kellner.
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