Sue Wilson Writes: What the EU election results mean for those Brits in Europe fighting Brexit.

Sue Wilson Writes: What the EU election results mean for those Brits in Europe fighting Brexit.

May 30, 2019 | Articles, News, Sue Wilson Writes

On Sunday 26th May, British citizens throughout Spain joined their Spanish neighbours in voting – many for the first time – in local and European elections.

With a choice of voting for the EU elections in their ‘home’ or ‘host’ country, many Brits chose to vote in the UK to voice their opinions about Brexit. Others elected to vote in Spain. For some people, that was their only option, having been disenfranchised from voting in the UK.

Here in Spain, the experience of voting in the EU and local elections was quick and easy, and the ‘extranjero’ voters were welcomed with open arms. Unfortunately, the experience for EU citizens in the UK was rather different, with many being turned away at polling booths. British citizens living abroad who had selected a postal vote faced significant problems, with ballot papers failing to arrive in time, if at all. This further disenfranchisement of British citizens in Europe and EU citizens in the UK caused a stir on social media, with #DeniedMyVote trending on Twitter.

Because of the outcry, British in Europe and the 3Million are examining the feasibility of a legal challenge over this issue, and questions have been raised in both Westminster and Brussels. Despite many hundreds of thousands of people being prevented from voting, the EU elections had the largest turnout across the continent for over two decades. The motivation for many voters, in the UK and across Europe, was clearly a desire to rally against the rise of the far-right. In the UK, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party won the largest number of seats – although fewer than predicted. Most were taken directly from Ukip, which failed to retain a single seat. Voters failed to be impressed by party leader, Gerard Batten, and his sidekick – the notorious Tommy Robinson. Nigel Farage naturally claimed a massive victory and, as usual, garnered endless media attention. Remain campaigners pointed out that the Brexit Party’s ‘spin’ didn’t depict the whole picture. In fact, it was the Remain supporting parties – LibDems, Greens, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Change.UK – that could rightly claim the victory, having secured around 40% of votes compared to the Brexit Party’s 35%. In fact, the number of seats for Brexit supporting parties (Brexit Party, Ukip and Conservatives) has declined by 10, compared to the 2014 EU election results.

The surge of voters abandoning the Conservative and Labour parties was significant, as was the considerable increase in seats for all explicitly pro-Remain/pro-referendum parties. The Liberal Democrats and Green Party had their best results to date – a position that was widely reflected across Europe. Concerns in Brussels that the far-right would gain increased support proved unfounded. In fact, the balance of the European Parliament has shifted more to the left, with an increase in both the Green and Liberal groupings. The ALDE group is now the largest group in the European parliament. In response to Labour’s poor showing, with their seats halved, Jeremy Corbyn said the Conservatives were “disintegrating and unable to govern” and, with parliament in deadlock, Brexit would have to go back to the people “through a general election or a public vote”. The Labour party leadership will now be under enormous pressure from its own MPs, MEPs and members to climb off the fence and fully support Remain and a #FinalSay referendum. With the Conservative party in disarray, and a leadership contest underway for the next Prime Minister, it remains to be seen how the EU election results will influence a newly-elected leader.

The number of potential candidates to replace Theresa May is increasing daily – there’s barely a cabinet minister that hasn’t thrown their hat into the ring! It seems likely that our new Prime Minister will be a Brexiter, possibly even a Brextremist. Many of the candidates are claiming that ‘no deal’ should be back on the table – or is the desired destination. It’s blatantly clear that the Conservatives are worried about Farage and his followers. However, the government could reflect that, perhaps, it’s facing in the wrong direction: the bigger threat is coming from pro-Europeans. We cannot deny that Farage and his Brexit Party machine have made a significant impact on British politics and will continue to influence events in Westminster. However, the pro-Europeans are still here, we’re growing in numbers, and we’re making progress.

More importantly, we’re still in the European Union! As re-elected Labour MEP Julie Ward said: “Every day we don’t Leave the EU is a day to Stop Brexit – the fight is on!” We’re ready!

Sue Wilson Writes: How Brexit changed our lives

Sue Wilson Writes: How Brexit changed our lives

May 23, 2019 | Articles, News, Sue Wilson Writes

Do you remember those innocent, peaceful days three years ago, before our daily existence was dominated by Brexit? When we wouldn’t have known what a Withdrawal Agreement was, even if it came up and bit us on the backside? Me neither!

BREXIT TURNED ME INTO A DIFFERENT PERSON

I was a political virgin before the June 2016 referendum. I took little interest in current affairs, and zero interest in the antics of the UK government. I felt perfectly content living in Spain and in ignorance, and felt that any decisions made in Westminster were of little consequence to me.

The referendum result shocked me out of my naivety and changed my life. It woke me from a self-induced, rather pleasant coma and, over time, turned me into a different person.

It turned me into a campaigner.

Before Brexit, I had never campaigned for anything in my life. I once attended an anti-apartheid rally in Trafalgar Square, several decades ago. That was the sum total of my political activism, and it lasted all of five minutes.

RAPID TRANSFORMATION TO ACTIVIST

I never set out to become an anti-Brexit campaigner, but I became increasingly involved. When I look back, I’m still surprised at the speed of my transformation. Within three months of engaging with the Bremain in Spain campaign, I was the chairperson.

Many Bremain members describe how Brexit has changed not only British society, but their own lives and natures as well. They speak of the damage it has done to their sense of security, their health and well-being, and the anxiety it causes about the future.

Many people explain how their post-Brexit relationships with family and friends reflect the divisiveness now experienced by UK society. Britain is no longer divided along party-political lines, but by how we feel about our wider European family.

I’ve heard people say they are quick to anger now; they’re more emotional, lacking in patience. I share those feelings entirely.

In the past, I always avoided confrontation. I kept calm and cool. Where politics was concerned, I never voiced an opinion – after all, I didn’t know what I was talking about! Now it’s difficult to shut me up – in fact, I’m not sure I have another topic of conversation!

Along the way, my language has become more choice. I understand, from talking to other Brexit-campaigners, that this is a common side-effect.

Walls are turning blue all over Spain and the UK, from the constant shouting and swearing at TV screens whenever May or Farage make an unwanted appearance.

NEW SKILLS  AND A NEW PURPOSE

Brexit has made me a different person in many negative ways, but it has changed me for the better too. It has taught me new skills and given me the confidence to do many things I never thought I could do before. For example, I would never have imagined delivering a speech to a room of 100 people, let alone addressing tens of thousands.

Read the full story in Dispatches Europe

 

Sue Wilson Writes: Why we Britons in Spain had to march for a People’s Vote

Sue Wilson Writes: Why we Britons in Spain had to march for a People’s Vote

Mar 27, 2019 | Articles, Campaigns & Events, News, Sue Wilson Writes

On Saturday 23 March, I was privileged to join the ‘Put it to the People’ March in London, alongside over 100 of our Bremain in Spain members.

Campaigning for a ‘People’s Vote’ has always been a priority for Bremain, so this wasn’t the first time we’d voted with our feet, but it was our biggest ever marching contingent.

The timing of the march was critical, coming just six days before the scheduled Brexit date of 29 March, which has now been postponed. Expectations ran high that numbers would exceed the 700,000 who marched in October. The organisers were not disappointed, with numbers confirmed at well over one million people.

Bremain in Spain marched with other campaign groups: Brexpats Hear our Voice, In Limbo Project and Espanoles de Reino Unido – a group of Spanish citizens based in the UK. We were also joined by a Spanish TV crew that was filming a documentary called ‘30 minutes’, scheduled for broadcast on TV3 in April.

Many excellent speakers – including First Minister for Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson and Lord Michael Heseltine – gave passionate speeches about the shocking state of Brexit, and the urgent need for another referendum. This is now the only democratic and sensible option left to extract Britain from the Brexit impasse.

Since Theresa May gave her widely derided speech on Wednesday evening, pitting the public against parliament and laying the blame for the failure of Brexit at the feet of MPs, there has been a noticeable change in mood. Both the public and parliament have reacted rather differently from how May might have hoped or expected, by expressing widespread outrage. Most notably, the public has been signing a new petition, ‘Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU’ (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584), literally with millions of signatures, making it the largest petition in British history. It seems that we Remainers are making history all over the place at present!

The march itself was peaceful, fun, full of humour, hope and inspiration. The inventiveness of the banners and the costumes was a sight to behold, and I was in good company in my blue wig! 

Following events on the main stage in Parliament Square, the No. 10 Vigil hosted its own event opposite Downing Street at its usual, thrice-weekly venue. I was invited to make a speech on behalf of the five million UK-in-EU and EU-in-UK citizens, and directed much of my speech directly at Theresa May. I reminded the crowd how the British citizens in the EU have been ignored and side-lined since June 2016 – out of sight and out of mind. How our rights and freedoms have been threatened, and how the only way to guarantee their preservation is to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit. 

With the petition and the march, we are now closer to reaching our goals than ever before. A year ago, only 25 MPs supported another referendum – now it’s rumoured to be 10 times that number and climbing. The amazing events on Saturday will not have gone unnoticed in

Westminster or, indeed, in Brussels, and the appeal of putting the Brexit issue back to the public will only continue to grow.

This week, parliament will debate alternatives to Theresa May’s unpopular deal, with the aim of reaching consensus. With Remain MPs committed to averting a no-deal Brexit, and extreme Brexiters equally determined to prevent any softening of Brexit, it’s difficult to see what other option might achieve a majority. Putting the decision back to the people could be the only option that stands any chance of being supported by both sides.

It was always the intention of the People’s Vote campaign to not push too hard or too soon in parliament for another referendum, in the hope of ruling out other options first. A People’s Vote referendum needs to be the ‘last man standing’, so the timing has always been crucial. Whether all campaigners agree with that approach is questionable, but nobody can argue about the success of the march or the wide media coverage achieved on Saturday.

For those taking part, the march was a chance to feel part of something historic and significant – a huge shot in everyone’s arm that made us even more determined to do everything we can to further the battle.

For me personally, it was a fantastic opportunity to meet friends old and new, to put faces to names, and to be moved by the passion and eloquence of speakers and marchers alike. We are closer than ever to another referendum but, as I said in my speech, “we should not think of it as a second referendum, but as a first referendum based on the facts – a referendum that is fair, honest and legal”.

Theresa May’s lead role in the Brexit soap opera looks destined to end soon. It’s difficult to see how she could have alienated more people, had she been trying! So, I’ll end here as I ended my speech on Saturday, with a direct message for the Prime Minister, from Brits all over the EU: “You are not on my side. You do not speak for me. It’s time to pack your bags and leave!”

The UK is not leaving the EU on Friday March 29 – but wouldn’t that be a great day for May to make her exit!

Sue Wilson – Chair of Bremain in Spain

Article from The Local

Bremain Strong at the march

Bremain march for People’s Vote

We want a final say!

Sue goes all EU

John Moffett Flying the flag for Bremain

Over a million strong march

People’s vote march

Bollox to Brexit!

All the way from Spain to march

The ladies go all blue for the EU

Sue Wilson speaks.

Sue Wilson Writes: Having a second Brexit referendum is the only way ‘to take back control’

Sue Wilson Writes: Having a second Brexit referendum is the only way ‘to take back control’

Mar 18, 2019 | Articles, News, Sue Wilson Writes

Isn’t it high time we “took back control” of the referendum process to establish if leaving the EU really is the “will of the people”, argues Sue Wilson from Bremain in Spain.  Since the fateful day of 23 June 2016, I have never been able to respect the result of the Brexit referendum.

At first, my lack of acceptance was due to my reaction of shock, anger and sadness. It was then exacerbated by the emerging lies and misinformation of the Vote Leave campaign, which persuaded so many people to vote the way they did, through no fault of their own.
 
Over time, it has become increasingly clear that the people behind the lies and misinformation were complicit in breaking the law, including some senior members of government.
 
The Vote Leave Campaign were fined the maximum amount possible by the Electoral Commission, having exceeded legal spending limits, especially in the run-up to the referendum. Vote Leave was subsequently referred to the Metropolitan Police and National Crime Agency to answer possible criminal charges.
 
Several months later, we still await the outcome – or any news whatsoever – of those investigations.
 
Recently, I took Theresa May to court, through the UK in EU Challenge, to question the validity of the referendum result. The premise of our case, known as “Wilson vs. The Prime Minister”, was that the illegal activity renders the result of the referendum unsound, and that the Prime Minister made an error of judgement in activating Article 50 in the belief she was acting on the “will of the people”.

Our legal team believes that Leave’s overspend directly affected the referendum result and, even if it hadn’t, the result was still invalid.

 
Read the full article in The Local
 
Sue Wilson Writes: Brexit month is finally here – or is it?

Sue Wilson Writes: Brexit month is finally here – or is it?

Mar 6, 2019 | Articles, News, Sue Wilson Writes

Sue Wilson UK May 2018Sue Wilson, chair of Bremain in Spain, reckons that Brexit could be further away than at any time during the last 18 months.

Whether you’re excited or terrified about the prospect of looming Brexit day, recent developments may have led you to question whether it will happen, as scheduled, on March 29th.

Over the last few months, Prime Minister Theresa May has remained adamant that the UK is leaving on the stated date, even if that means leaving without a deal. In fact, she has reminded us that she intends to remove the United Kingdom from the European Union on March 29th over 100 times, with an increasingly insistent tone.

In the last few days, the tone of the rhetoric has noticeably softened. No longer are we “definitely” leaving this month – instead, there’s talk of the government ‘aiming’ to leave on March 29th, and it still being possible to do so.

Inevitably, any talk of moving the goalposts with the exit date leads to discussions of a delay and extension to Article 50.

May is now openly discussing the possibility of an extension, although her preference is for just two months. As has frequently been the case with Brexit, May has misjudged her authority – any decision on the length of an extension will not be hers to make.

The EU favours a longer extension period: in fact, up to two years. According to Michel Barnier, the EU might consider a “technical extension” – however, only if May’s deal is passed by parliament, and solely for ensuring that the necessary legislation is passed.

The EU proposal seems to be to remain in the EU for what would have been the transition period, while simultaneously being able to start discussions on future trading arrangements. This would allow time for a rethink and, perhaps, a softening of May’s red lines, should her deal fail to be accepted by parliament on March 12th when it returns to the House of Commons for the ‘meaningful vote’ mark II.

Read full article in The Local