National Rejoin EU March, on Saturday 10th Sept
| Dear Supporters, In this newsletter, we are publicizing the National Rejoin March, which is taking place in London on 10th September. It’s important that as many of us as possible attend this, to demonstrate that the effects of the government’s disastrous Trade and Cooperation Agreement are still very much a live issue. Details below. Although we are affiliated with the European Movement, we receive no money from them and are reliant for funding our activities on contributions from our members. Please contact our treasurer, John White, on jswhite@cix.co.uk, for details on how you can make a contribution. |
| Follow North Herts for Europe If you want to follow what the North Herts for Europe group are doing more closely, you can subscribe to our Twitter feed, @NH4Europe, which normally has several tweets a day commenting on current events, and our Instagram feed nherts4europe. |
| Regular updates Please also look out for regular updates on our website (https://www.northhertsforeurope.org.uk) and the videos of the live events we host on Zoom which are posted on our YouTube channel, NorthHerts 4Europe. We are planning a fresh programme of these, starting in October. Please get in touch by email to nherts4europe@mail.com to suggest ways in which we can respond to the developing situation – suggestions about local issues would be particularly helpful. Do consider joining the NH4E organizing committee – we are a small group, and can always do with more recruits! |
| The National Rejoin March, 10th September 2022, London 12.00-4.00pm Whether you think we should just join the Single Market and/or the Customs Union, try for something bespoke or simply #RejoinEU – YOUR VIEW WILL BE HEARD AT THE NATIONAL REJOIN MARCH. Meet at Hyde Park by Marble Arch at 12.00pm. More information on http://www.marchforrejoin.co.uk/ #MarchForRejoin. The march is supported by the European Movement, representatives from which will be speaking on the day. We are distributing leaflets at Hitchin, Stevenage and Letchworth railway stations at rush hour (5.00-6.30pm) to publicize the march – pleas contact us on nherts4europe@mail.com if you would like to be involved in handing them out – the more the merrier. There will be a European Movement social at The Red Lion, Westminster, https://www.redlionwestminster.co.uk from 4.30pm, which might be an interesting opportunity to connect with members of other pro-European groups. |
| Have your say on the consultation on plans to close BBC World News and News Channel, deadline 14th September 2022. There has been very little publicity about the plans to close these major BBC news outlets, which are likely to lead to less coverage of foreign and local news (exactly the areas in which the government is less likely to be able to manipulate the news agenda to cover up the effects of Brexit). While it’s been easy to feel in recent years that the BBC could have done more to publicize the current and likely effects of Brexit, reduction of BBC news output will just make it even easier for the largely right-wing and pro-Brexit UK news media further to dominate the agenda, and also to promote the abolition of the BBC license fee, an agenda being pursued very actively by Nadine Dorries and other members of the current government. There is a good article by Alastair Campbell (no uncritical friend of the BBC) on the implications of this development here, https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/alastair-campbell-on-supporting-the-bbc/. Please respond to the consultation on https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/modernising-bbc-operating-licence before 14th September. |
| SMR Pro-European Radio Podcast Sixteen Million Rising (SMR) is the UK’s longest running weekly “Grassroots” Pro-European radio show. Find the latest episode on https://www.mixcloud.com/SixteenMillionRising/smr-ep173-calling-all-patriots/. They are appealing for regular subscribers to keep the show running. All these, together with many current news stories, have already been publicized via our Twitter feed @NH4Europe, to which you might like to consider subscribing. It is very hard to do justice to the extremely fast-moving nature of the current UK political debate in an occasional email. The appointment of Liz Truss as the next Prime Minister shows a Conservative Party dedicated to continued trouble-making with our nearest neighbours, in particular over the Northern Ireland Protocol which less than three years ago was being hailed as a negotiating triumph which would allow the United Kingdom to ‘move on’ from Brexit. Now we may be looking at yet another snap election in the autumn, and it is beginning to look as if the United Kingdom itself will not survive Brexit as a unified political entity. North Herts for Europe will continue to campaign for greater involvement between the UK and the rest of Europe, with the long-term aim of the UK eventually rejoining the EU. |
| Yours sincerely, Gavin Budge Chair, North Herts for Europe |