Dear Lord Heseltine,
I am writing to you as acting President of the British European Movement in France, Geoff Ross our President being currently away from Europe. We have just held a meeting to discuss the current Brexit position, a number of those present having returned from the march in London, and great concern was voiced about the strength of support for the Government’s withdrawal plan on the grounds of Brexit weariness and support for the slogan “let’s get it over and done with”.
Our conclusion was that it is vital for the European Movement to campaign to explain why this slogan is so misleading. The two main grounds for such a campaign should be:
- The proposed Withdrawal Agreement states that: “The objective of the Withdrawal Agreement is not to establish a permanent relationship between the Union and the United Kingdom. The provisions of this Protocol are therefore intended to apply only temporarily”. So, should that Agreement be finalised, all the work on concluding a final agreement will have to start all over again.
- That, however, is far from all. The Political Declaration sets our numerous areas of further joint work to be undertaken. We have listed these areas, there are in all 52 of them, many of them involving areas that are likely to be controversial and also many that require participation at ministerial level. I do not think it necessary for me to bother you with this list but can readily send it to you should you so wish.
Some of our members still receive communications from the Conservative Party. One of these says: “Together, as a country, we’re moving forward. We’re getting Brexit done – because with Brexit out of the way, we can focus on our priorities like the NHS, police and schools.” The country needs to understand that this is false; the proposed agreement does the opposite in that it increases the amount of work and the probability of Brexit disputes. Of course the only way to get Brexit out of the way is the revocation of the UK’s Article 50 declaration.
The campaign that you are leading is greatly appreciated by British expatriates in France and, I am sure, more widely. You will continue to have our grateful support.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Jacobs
Acting President of the British European Movement in France
