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BREXIT

How Brexit and the fight for rights united Britons from across Europe

The trauma of Brexit and the fight to make sure the UK's divorce from the EU does not ruin the lives of 1.2 million Brits living across the EU has brought people together both online and in person. This is the story of how the 'citizen of nowhere network' came together.

Published: 11 January 2019 13:15 CET

How Brexit and the fight for rights united Britons from across Europe

Jane Golding (holding banner on left) and Kathryn Dobson (holding banner in centre) at the People's March in London in 2018. Photo: British in Europe.

This is Part Three of the story on how British in Europe, the grassroots civil society movement, was born. You can read Part One and Part Two below.

Part One – How a group of Brits took up a struggle for millions of their co-citizens

Part Two – Battling Brexit: How a group of Brits in Europe took on the fight for citizens' rights

The unprecedented campaign for citizens rights by British volunteers across Europe has built bridges from one community to another in individual EU countries and across the continent.

Thousands have come together both in person and online.

Dozens of Facebook groups founded and run by volunteers have united thousands of British citizens left shocked and anxious after the referendum.

While these groups, such as Bremain in Spain and Remain in France Together, are, as their name suggests, Remainer-focused, they have brought and bring together people from all walks of life and even people who voted Leave.

“One of the only positives of Brexit is that I have met some fantastic people across Europe,” the co-chair of umbrella group British in Europe Fiona Godfrey says.

“I have seen people who have nothing to do with politics get involved. The knock on effect will be good for them and their communities,” adds Godfrey. Almost all the campaigners involved with British in Europe are pro-European and ultimately anti Brexit.

Kalba Meadows, who leads the 11,000 strong Remain in France Together (RIFT) confirms the irony that “none of us would have met each other if it weren’t for Brexit.”

Many of the online forums serve as a virtual parliament, court and advice clinic wrapped into one for thousands of upset UK nationals in Europe, many of whom were unable to vote in the referendum.

Members of British in Europe meet with French senator Olivier Cadic and Nicolas Hatton, the head of the3Million.

Clarissa Killwick, a volunteer with Brexpats Hear Our Voice and British in Italy, agrees that the connections made via these online groups are one of the major highlights of her work.

“It is my citizen of nowhere network,” says Killwick, a Brit living in northern Italy, referring to Theresa May's famous jibe against people who believe they are global citizens. “I feel reconnected.”

From the Baltics to Malta, via Czech Republic, Sweden, Portugal and the EU’s major economies, British in Europe is now made up of 25 groups across European states.

'British in the Baltics' is the latest group, says Debra Williams, British in Europe’s outreach coordinator and founder of advocacy group Brexpats Hear Our Voice.

The biggest challenges came in “countries where there wasn’t any coverage,” Williams says.

Groups were started in places British in Europe lacked a footprint in thanks to social media connections, adds Williams. “Facebook was absolutely key in creating connections,” she says.

Williams, formerly with the RAF and an air traffic controller, says her job involves keeping the groups informed about the steering committee’s key policies.

Kathryn Dobson, a British journalist in southwest France who manages social media for British in Europe, joined the movement out of concerns for her children.

“Everybody was talking about the issue of Brits in Europe being one about pensioners when I could see from my own situation that we needed to be talking about families and young people,” says Dobson, who lives in Vienne, western France.

“There was a danger that the whole story was not being told,” she says, highlighting how at the time she suspected what is now confirmed by statistics: that 80 per cent of Brits in Europe are of working age, defying the stereotype that Brits in Europe are mainly pensioners.

RIFT founder Kalba Meadows (holding post card on left) British in Europe co-chair Jane Golding (centre) and the3million CEO Nicolas Hatton (holding postcard on right) deliver a letter to the British PM's office at 10 Downing Street in November 2018. Photo: British in Europe.

As the rollercoaster Brexit process unfolded, British in Europe’s strength has been the ability to adapt and stay relevant.

In individual member states, their efforts have offered thousands of Brits some respite in the face of continued uncertainty.

Following intensive lobbying efforts by British in Europe members, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark have all created contingency plans for Brits in the event that the current Brexit deal collapses and the UK should exit the EU without an agreement.

These contingency plans would continue to guarantee certain key rights for Brits living in those countries, although in certain countries like France, it all depends on Britain securing the rights of French citizens.

In Germany alone, Jane Golding, Daniel Tetlow and other British in Germany members held eight meetings with Germany’s Brexit coordinators at the Federal German Foreign Office. Similar pressure has been placed on governments across the EU.

“Brexit is crap but the relationships developed with MEPs, British in Europe and unlikely champions across the EU is the best bit,” says the organisation’s spokeswoman, Brussels-based Laura Shields.

“I’m now connected with caterers in the Alps, someone who runs a children’s company in Budapest, winemakers in the south of France. I would never have met these people if it hadn’t been for the movement,” Shields said.

Many of these groups serve as informal therapy forums and safe havens for vulnerable Brits to express their concerns about Brexit. But the groups have also helped outline and bring together a British diaspora in Europe.

“It’s a resource for Britain,” says author Giles Tremlett, who has been based in Madrid for the last 25 years. “We’re not represented in parliament in the same way expatriates are represented in France or Italy,” says Tremlett, a key middleman who helped establish British in Europe in late 2016.

While French citizens in the UK have Senator Olivier Cadic to represent them, Italian citizens abroad are looked after by Luigi Vignali, director general for Italian citizens abroad at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affair. UK nationals in Europe have no equivalent.

“British in Europe is filling that role,” says Tremlett.

Without doubt one of the highlights of the coming together was on October 20th last year when protesters set off from across all parts of Europe to join the 700,000 marching on London calling for a People's Vote.

Joining the march in London was also a show of solidarity by British in Europe with EU Citizens in the UK, another cross-border bond that has been forged as a result of the uncertainty and fears over Brexit.

“The campaign and advocacy group British in Europe has worked hand in hand with our counterpart the3million for two years now, and our friendship and collaboration has been one of the few positives to come out of Brexit,” RIFT's Kalba Meadows told The Local at the time.

“We'll be meeting and marching together as The 5 Million to celebrate that friendship as well as our shared European-ness.”

The campaigning, the lobbying, the marching and the sharing of experiences will likely continue for months if not years to come, but at least Britons in Europe have a community ready for battle.

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What Labour's UK election win means for Brits in Spain

The Labour party won a landslide victory in the UK general election on Thursday, bringing an end to 14 years of Conservative party rule.

The result has gained significant coverage in the Spanish press on Friday morning, reflecting the sense that it’s a sea change moment for British society.

El País went with the headline: “UK ends Conservative era, gives Labour’s Starmer a historic majority.” Spanish daily El Mundo reports: “Labour’s ‘supermajority’ ushers in a new era in the UK.”

Online outlet 20 Minutos chose to highlight the longevity and unpredictability of Tory rule: “Conservative decline in the UK: Brexit, an 8-year ordeal and five leaders gives way to the Labour party.”

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez congratulated Starmer on Twitter/X this afternoon, saying that “Spain and the UK are friends, partners and allies. We will continue to work together to tackle global challenges on the basis of our shared values.”

Enhorabuena, @Keir_Starmer, nuevo primer ministro de Reino Unido.

Felicidades por la histórica victoria del laborismo, @UKLabour, en las elecciones.

España y Reino Unido son países amigos, socios y aliados. Continuaremos trabajando juntos para hacer frente a los retos globales…

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 5, 2024

Labour ‘supermajority’

The new Labour government enters office at a time of high political and economic uncertainty, stagnant growth, public services pushed to breaking point, and Britain’s international reputation tarnished after the Conservative government staggered from calamity to calamity in recent years.

Leading up to the election, the question was not if Labour would win but when, and how big the majority will be. In the end Labour has won one of the biggest landslides in British political history, taking 412 seats. However, in terms of vote share it won just 33.8 percent of the vote, less than when it lost in 2017 under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

The Conservatives polled 23.7 percent, a staggering fall from the 42.4 percent it won in 2019 under Boris Johnson, and has been reduced to 121 seats.

Smaller parties and independent candidates also had successful nights and capitalised on the general malaise and anti-Tory feeling in the country. As such, many political pundits are viewing this huge Labour victory not as an endorsement of the party or Keir Starmer, but an anti-Tory majority.

Many this morning will, despite having just handed the party a huge landslide victory, be wondering what exactly Labour intends to do with this power.

For many Brits in Spain (as well as those in the UK), the elephant in the room in this regard is, of course, Brexit.

What the new Labour government does (or more likely, doesn’t) do with its massive majority could have big implications on life for approximately 400,000 UK nationals living in Spain.

Sue Wilson MBE, Chair of the Bremain in Spain pressure group, told The Local that she was happy to see the back of the Conservative government that denied British citizens’ rights abroad: “Though not unexpected, we are delighted to be rid of the Tory government that caused so much economic damage, wasted so much taxpayers money and that gave us Brexit.

“They robbed British citizens in Europe of so many valued rights and benefits whilst destroying the dreams of so many in the UK that hoped to follow in our footsteps. That option is now only available to the well off,” she added.

Keir Starmer (R) in 2017, back when he was the Labour Party’s Shadow Brexit Secretary. (Photo by Geoff CADDICK / AFP)

Starmer and Labour’s Brexit policy

But what, if anything, does a Labour government actually mean for Brexit and Brits in Spain?

For many, Starmer first came to national prominence in his role as Brexit secretary in the Corbyn shadow cabinet. He was then an ardent Remainer, and largely responsible for Labour’s eventual position on a second referendum, demanding that the British people deserve a “confirmatory vote” on Europe.

How things have changed. In the build-up to the election Starmer categorically ruled out the idea of rejoining the single market and the customs union, let alone a second referendum on rejoining the EU. He has, however, stated that he will take steps to ease trade barriers and sign a bolstered security agreement with Brussels.

Asked recently by the British press if he could envision Britain re-entering the EU in his lifetime, Starmer was unequivocal. “No. I don’t think that that is going to happen,” he said. “I’ve been really clear about not rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union – or a return to freedom of movement.”

In essence, despite his Remain-backing past, Starmer’s position seems to be that Labour can improve the Brexit deal signed by the Johnson government in January 2020, rather than tear it up or try and force the UK back into the EU on new terms.

For those hoping to rejoin the EU, this will be disappointing. Brexit became something of an internal psychodrama for the Conservative party, yet Starmer’s Labour appear to have accepted it as the political framework and don’t dare to reopen the debate.

For the 400,000+ UK nationals living in Spain, this will dash dreams of potentially improving their residency rights, working and tax arrangements, and family and living situations.

Data released by Eurostat in November 2023 showed that of a total of 858,000 Britons with the right to live in EU Member States post-Brexit, 412,000 (48 percent) reside in Spain. UK nationals make up one of Spain’s largest migrant groups.

A man holds European Union and British flags during a protest against Brexit in Málaga in 2019. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

Does this actually change anything for Brits in Spain?

Labour has been tight-lipped on what its Brexit policy will actually mean in practical terms, but of the few concrete proposals it has outlined so far there are plans to revamp a veterinary deal on animal products to ease on paperwork and border checks, as well as making it easier for qualifications to be recognised abroad.

Labour has also promised to enshrine rights to consular assistance for UK citizens abroad in cases of human rights violations, and to make reciprocal arrangements for touring artists and musicians moving between the UK and EU.

In terms of broad strokes commitments, however, it’s hardly ambitious.

With regards to Labour’s largely non-committal approach to Brexit, Wilson of Bremain in Spain tells The Local: “As for the new government, their insistence that the single market, customs union and EU itself is off the table flies in the face of growing public opinion. Hopefully, that position is unsustainable, and it is one we will continue to challenge.”

One way that it may still become unsustainable over time is due to the economy. Starmer and his soon to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, have bet almost their entire political platform on securing economic growth.

Getting the economy growing in order to invest, rather than increasing taxes or borrowing, has been the Labour economic message.

However, experts suggest that rejoining the single market or customs union would significantly boost the British economy, so some hold out hope that the political and economic reality may force the new Labour government to reconsider its position on Europe somewhere down the line.

Cynics of Starmer suggest that his cautious Brexit position, as with U-turns on other policy areas including the Green New Deal policy, was part of a wider campaign strategy to remain uncontroversial and win the election by default. Critics argue this is evidence of backtracking on pledges and saying whatever is necessary to win power.

For Spain’s británicos, as well as millions of pro-Europeans back in the UK, they will hope this was indeed an electoral ploy rather than a hardline position, and that Starmer, now backed by a massive Commons majority, will have the confidence to rekindle some of his Remainer instincts.

96 percent of Gibraltar’s population voted for the UK to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

Closer UK-EU ties

However, though the prospect of a second referendum or fully rejoining the EU seems unlikely, rebuilding Britain’s relationship with the EU does seem more plausible under a Labour government.

The man expected to be the next Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has stated that a Labour victory could symbolise a new page in UK-EU relations.

Speaking to the Foreign Press Association, Lammy said recently: “I think we are in a cycle where we have to turn the page on the rancour and some of the bitterness that we’ve seen in the past and move forward.

Gibraltar

One glaring aspect of this is Gibraltar. Though Boris Johnson’s landslide 2019 victory was won on the premise of getting Brexit ‘done’, in reality the deal negotiation by the Johnson government was incomplete.

Despite the referendum vote being eight years ago, and the UK officially leaving the EU four years ago, there is still no official Brexit deal for Gibraltar.

Since then, locals have lived in uncertainty, and border arrangements have essentially been fudged by Spanish authorities and proven unpredictable.

Lammy has signalled his intention to pick up negotiations where predecessor David Cameron left off. Before the election was called, Spanish press reports stated that Cameron’s injection into government had improved talks. Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares suggested significant progress was made before talks were suspended for the election campaign.

“It’s a file that clearly I will pick up from David Cameron, and I look forward to doing that,” Lammy stated. “I recognise it’s an outstanding issue that comes out of the Brexit arrangements, and I will pick that up.”

Many in Gibraltar will hope that a new government can refresh talks and finally bring Brexit to a conclusion after years of negotiations and uncertainty.

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