We had a simple dream for our retirement – a home by the sea, plenty of sunshine, a relaxed, healthy lifestyle and a Mediterranean diet, writes our Guest Writer for Today, Sue Wilson.

Ten years ago, we took the plunge and moved to Spain. We have never looked back.. until 24 June, 2016.

On that fateful day, our whole lives were turned upside down –

our futures threatened. Would we be able to remain in Spain, receive healthcare, survive on a reduced income, travel freely? Brexit could change everything.

To say that the referendum result was a shock would be an understatement. It was like a death in the family.

It was a full three weeks before I could make any sense of anything. Disbelief turned to sadness, sorrow turned to anger.

I’m still angry. I will stay angry until Brexit is cancelled.

I had never been particularly interested in current affairs or politics. The referendum changed all that.

My husband would ask me if I’d seen such and such a story in the newspapers – my answer was always “no”.

By July 2016, my answer had changed to “yes, I’ve read it, and I’ve already shared it on social media”. A casual interest in monitoring the Brexit-related news had become something of an obsession.

I’ve gained more new skills and knowledge in the last 10 months, than in the previous 10 years. I now know more about trade deals than Liam Fox and more about negotiations that David Davis, but they are both very low bars.

If anyone had told me what I would be doing now, just a year ago, I never would have believed them.

Fortunately, I was able to vote in the referendum. Many Brits abroad were not so lucky due to a rule preventing them from voting if they had lived abroad for more than 15 years.

In the Conservatives 2015 manifesto, David Cameron promised to scrap that rule.

But the government then announced that it couldn’t implement the new voting arrangements in time for the referendum. Instead, it promised that all Britons abroad would have ‘Votes for Life’ by the time of the next General Election in 2020.

When I pointed out to politicians that a vote by 2020 would be of no use should there be a second referendum, or indeed a snap election, I was told categorically that was not going to happen.

As it turned out, my premonition was correct, so yet again, many were denied a vote, and what’s more, the pledge to return voting rights was removed from the Queen’s Speech and the Tory party manifesto.

To be denied a vote that could directly affect your life so dramatically – not once, but twice – is cruel and underhand.

Despite worries about the election when it was announced, the result has changed everything. May is powerless, her supposed mandate gone, and the mood of the country, and the debate, has changed.

No longer do we constantly hear about “when” Brexit happens, but more often now it’s “if”. More and more public figures are talking about the very real possibility that Brexit won’t happen at all, which would have been unthinkable just a few short weeks ago.

We’ve worked hard for our life in Spain, and we aim to keep it. You’ll not find us in a bar festooned with Union Jacks, or at the bowls club. We do not spend our time on the beach or drinking G & Ts.

We are not tourists – this is our life. We work, shop, do laundry. Our Spanish isn’t fluent yet but we make an effort to integrate and our Spanish friends are like family.

Our EU citizenship is a treasured possession to be protected. The rights and freedoms we currently enjoy are too important and too valuable to lose. We will fight tooth and nail to protect those rights, but the easiest way to protect ourselves is to fight to stop Brexit.

We are not bargaining chips or negotiating collateral. We are not traitors or any less British because we chose to live in a different location.

We are told that we are the most important thing on the negotiating agenda. From where I’m standing, it looks to me like money is the priority. We certainly aren’t made to feel important – invisible, more like.

Whatever else we are though, we are proud Europeans and we fully intend to stay that way. Spain is my home – I plan to keep it that way.

Sue Wilson lives in Spain with her husband, Steve, as part of the Valencian Community in Alcossebre. She works part-time as a project manager, and is currently renovating a villa. In the UK, she was a Sales Manager & Management Trainer. Sue is Chair of ‘Bremain in Spain’: bremaininspain.com/about/bremain-history/

Article written for Reasons2Remain Group

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Libdems are well-informed on our issues (unlike other parties I could mention!). They are keen to understand fully the position of EU and UK citizens’ groups regarding the negotiations, and consider our expectations and demands. Ed Davey intends to write a letter to David Davis and the Home Office on our behalf and will show us the draft for approval.

I had supplied the hosts, in advance, with copies of the British in Europe Alternative White Paper, the BIE/3Million joint response to Theresa May’s underwhelming offer and over 50 testimonials submitted by Bremain in Spain members. It was clear that these documents had been read before the meeting.

The meeting lasted longer than intended and there was an opportunity afterwards to chat to the hosts informally. I’m sure this is the beginning of a partnership that will continue for many months, if not years.

On a final point: Ed Davey stated categorically that the LibDem position is, and will remain, to fight Brexit and keep the UK in the EU. They still believe a second referendum is the best approach and confirm that Vince Cable, the new party leader, will be calling for an “exit from Brexit”.

Peter French – #StopBrexit National March 1/10/17 Manchester

It was my pleasure to have lunch with Peter in Westminster and discuss how his plans for the march on the Tory party conference are progressing. The route has been finalised and the timings are almost confirmed. The march will dovetail with other events in Manchester on the same day, including a pro-EU street party and at least one other (non-Brexit but anti-austerity) march.

It is sure to be a great day and is guaranteed to receive considerably more media attention than the last march in London, by virtue of the Tory party conference. Peter has firm support from Alistair Campbell and A.C. Grayling. He plans to widely publicise the march soon.

My flights and accommodation for the march are booked and over 20 Bremainers have already expressed an interest in joining me. I hope that many more will join us on the day! We’ll need a few to carry the Bremain in Spain banners.

Our new partners – European Movement

I also visited the new HQ for European Movement in Victoria and met campaign manager James MacCleary, Tim Verboven and CEO Michael Young. I was briefed on EM’s current activities and we discussed how EM can help us gain further exposure.

Tim Verboven
Office Manager

In conjunction with British in Europe, I’ve been asked to compile a list of questions that we would like to raise in the House of Commons. EM will put those questions forward to their contacts in parliament. I hope we can have our voices heard in the House of Commons in the same way that they reached the HOL. EM will also specifically raise the issue of Votes for Life, alongside any concerns about our rights regarding Brexit and provide help with our political lobbying.

After many months and changes in its structure and personnel, I now possess signed paperwork making us official partners with EM. We’ll benefit from dedicated space on its website and will enjoy fresh support and exposure. EM works closely with Britain for Europe, another of our partners, and its aims are exactly the same – to Stop Brexit! I am looking forward to working together.

When will the British media end its infuriating habit of referring to me and the other 1.3million UK citizens who live in the rest of the EU as ‘expats’?

by Laura Shields – Media trainer, EU campaigner, British-American in Brussels 4th July 2017

It might be ok if they referred to our three million EU friends in the UK this way. But they don’t. They’re always ‘migrants’ or ‘nationals’.

And it’s not just the usual right-wing media suspects who employ this silly double standard. As a fully integrated British migrant running a business in Belgium and putting my bi-lingual son through the local school, I regularly have to send my blood off to cold storage whenever I hear the BBC (where I used to work for disclosure’s sake) referring to Theresa May’s ‘fair and serious’. Brexit offer to ‘EU migrants in the UK in the hope that British expatriates in the EU’ will receive the same treatment in return. 

All while playing bowls.

Let me burst this image for you with some cold hard facts.

Firstly, I know at least three Brits in Europe (including me) who hate gin.

Secondly, four out of five Brits who live in the EU 27 are working age. Many of us run businesses, hold down jobs, pay into the system and make a point of learning the local language. Many of us (again including me) work in several EU countries and really need freedom of movement to be able to do our jobs.

And thirdly – and sorry to disappoint you here – but, as my friend Sue puts it, no Brit in Europe we know has ever set foot in a bowls club.

More worryingly, any British-qualified doctor, architect or vet working in another EU country will tell you that Brexit is putting their qualifications in doubt and without something called ‘mutual recognition of qualifications’ it is unclear whether these hard-won skills will continue to be recognised once the UK ceases to be a member of the EU. If this needs spelling out, pretty much everyone in London, Birmingham or Manchester has been in the back of a taxi driven by a Nigerian doctor or Iranian PhD who can no longer practise their trade because the UK doesn’t recognise their training.

Do I really need to go on?

If the British Government is genuinely ‘serious’ about a ‘fair’ (whatever that means) deal for the five million people affected directly by Brexit then it would help if we Brits in Europe were treated in the same way as our three million EU counterparts and friends in the UK.

The UK should stop the vagaries, step up to the table and agree to the EU’s already comprehensive offer that protects its nationals and us with the full acquired EU rights we were all promised during the Referendum by Vote Leave. And the deal should be agreed and ring-fenced ahead of the inevitable mud-wrestling over money and trade.

Worldwide, there are 4.9million Britons living outside the UK. This is the 10th largest diaspora and builds on a long tradition of Brits going out into the world to seek adventure and be ambassadors for their country. The slimmed down Queen’s Speech made no reference to the Conservative manifesto pledge to restore vote for life to Brits who have lived outside the UK for more than 15 years. This was a mistake in my opinion. In a post Brexit era, the UK is going to need all the friends it can get. It should begin by making some with its own migrants.

Getting our collective name right would be a good start.