Truss lost for words in the face of proper journalism

Truss lost for words in the face of proper journalism

Sep 30, 2022 | News

The prime minister finally emerged from hiding today to give a series of quick-fire interviews on local radio – and it didn’t go well

Sue Wilson MBE by Sue Wilson MBE

Until her appearance on BBC local radio on Thursday morning, newly minted (if not shiny) PM Liz Truss had been missing in action. A question was being asked as to whether Truss had taken a leaf out of her predecessor’s book and was hiding herself away from trouble or criticism. In a fridge, perhaps. At a time when the public are facing a cost-of-living crisis, inflation, interest rate hikes and real concerns about fuel, energy and mortgage costs, our prime minister been missing in action. Not even an appearance for the seemingly obligatory photo op.

Sound fiscal plan or “material risk”?

Perhaps, we all hoped, Truss was busy coming up with a plan to ease the financial burdens the country is facing. But no. Instead, she was colluding with new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, to come up with the most dangerous, incomprehensible ‘solution’ to the nation’s financial problems possible.

The ‘mini budget’ announced last Friday was so outrageously inappropriate that it caused the most severe of market reactions. The pound fell to record low levels, the IMF – making an unprecedented intervention – suggested the government needed to re-evaluate its policies, and the Bank of England was forced to spend £65bn propping up the financial markets. The chancellor’s budget, they said, represented a “material risk” to the country’s economic health and wealth.

You might have expected that under such circumstances the PM might have something to say on the subject. If only someone could find her. After four days of silence, she finally came out of hiding to comment on local radio. But far from being worth waiting for, Truss’s responses were mind-bogglingly awful and widely and justifiably criticised.

Lost for words in the face of proper journalism

Appearing on local radio, ahead of the Conservative Party conference, is a long-standing tradition for British prime ministers. If Truss had thought that local radio hosts would give her an easy ride, or wouldn’t be all over their brief, then she had made a severe miscalculation. Yes, another one. Not only were the interviewers well informed and articulate, but they did not shy away from difficult questions or from putting Truss on the spot. Hopefully the mainstream media were taking notes.

Kicking off at BBC Leeds, Rima Ahmed asked Truss if she had slept well, then in reference to her disappearing act asked, “Where have you been?” Ignoring the question, Truss responded by saying the government had taken “decisive action” over the energy crisis, in order to deal with inflation and to get the economy moving. It was all Vladimir Putin’s fault, apparently, and the issues were global. Not my fault, not my responsibility.

Avoiding the question, evading an answer or changing the subject completely, was the best we could expect. This was all starting to feel like very familiar territory, even if she had only been in the job for five minutes. Throw in a refusal to accept any responsibility and a misplaced confidence in your own abilities and it was just like old times. Old – well, not that old – Tory times.

Badly briefed, dishonest or just plain incompetent?

An oft-repeated falsehood reiterated by Truss throughout the interviews was that no family would pay more than £2,500 for their energy bills. A ‘fact’ that was immediately repudiated on social media, including by consumer champion Martin Lewis and Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Phillips tweeted that Truss “doesn’t know what she is doing … doesn’t know what she is talking about … is poorly briefed”, and as always, was “trying to blame someone else”. And for good measure, Truss was “lying”.

Comedian David Baddiel also commented, tweeting that Truss came across as “so far out of her depth” that he felt the need to call on the RNLI. From Norfolk to Lancashire, Bristol to Stoke, Tees to Nottingham and Kent, the questions were sharp, the answers were not. Assuming the questions got answered at all. The presenters may have had several clues but the PM clearly couldn’t find one, even with help. At times, Truss was completely lost for words. And when she wasn’t lost for words, we rather wished she had been.

Truss insisted that the government’s “plan” was the right one and she was sticking to it. Even in the face of tough questions on mortgages, pensions and the public’s very genuine financial concerns, Truss demonstrated a complete lack of understanding or empathy. No, she couldn’t guarantee our pensions were safe. No, she wouldn’t change course. No, the mini budget wasn’t the cause of economic problems, but the solution. That’s despite all the evidence to the contrary from those with a much greater understanding of economics than the PM. Which is most of us, it would seem.

Truss’s main priority, she told us, was to protect the public from economic shocks. The fact that her own government has been responsible for the most extreme of these economic shocks seems to have failed to register. When Truss can’t or won’t answer a question, she now regularly turns to her go-to trite response, “I don’t accept the premise of your question”.

Well, I’m not quite sure how to break it to you, prime minister, but most of the country doesn’t accept the premise that you are our prime minister. You may be lost for words. I, on the other hand, have a few choice ones I’d be only too happy to share!

If you missed the interviews, catch up via BBC Sounds.

Just Biden our time

Just Biden our time

Sep 22, 2022 | Bylines, News

Waking up to the reality of Brexit – our biggest trading relationship is destroyed and we can’t conclude one with the world’s biggest economy writes Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE for Yorkshire Bylines.

Before Liz Truss had even got her feet under her desk at Number 10, she was already preparing her excuses. In advance of her meeting with the President Joe Biden, she was telling the country why a free trade deal with the US was not on the cards. Probably for years.

As world leaders assembled in New York on Wednesday for the United Nations summit, Biden and Truss were preparing to meet. It appeared as though both would come to the table with very different agendas. The president’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, had already made it clear that Biden would want to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol “in some detail”. Truss, meanwhile, was insisting that a UK/US trade deal was not on the agenda and there were no negotiations currently taking place. “I don’t have any expectation”, she said, “that those are going to start in the short to medium term”. That timescale looks certain to be after the next general election.

 

Waking up to reality

On becoming trade secretary in 2019, Truss regarded a trade deal with the US as her main priority. She was “confident that things were moving in the right direction”. Not any more, it seems.

It was also seen as a major priority for Boris Johnson when he became prime minister. Not only was it regarded as a seemingly straightforward task to do a “great deal” but we’d be “first in line”.

A former adviser, Ben Ramanauskas, said Truss “did try very hard” in earlier negotiations with Biden but was now forced to accept that “reality” had caught up with her. A trade deal with America was, according to the BBC, now “on the back burner because Truss knows it is unattainable”.

Not so special relationship

The most pressing issue affecting any potential trade deal, for Biden at least, is the Northern Ireland protocol and protecting the Belfast Good Friday agreement (GFA). While Truss insists that the government’s controversial Northern Ireland protocol bill itself provides protection for the GFA, it is not a position that many outside the government support. Least of all, the US president. While Truss will be seeking to distance any discussions of trade deals from those on the protocol, Biden will be keen to link them inextricably together.

However, not all issues surrounding trade negotiations, or the ‘special relationship’ between the two countries relate to the protocol. On the UK side there are issues – for the British public and farmers, at least – relating to food, health and animal welfare standards, such as hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken.

On the American side, there are issues over policy – currently British economic policy. As Truss admitted that her economic proposals would benefit the rich the most, Biden said he was “sick and tired of trickle-down economics”. The Americans, he said, were “building an economy from the bottom up and middle out”. The right-wing economic theory – suggesting that cutting taxes for the wealthy would “trickle down” to the less well off – “has never worked”, he added. Although not a specific condemnation of Truss and her policies, Biden’s comments ahead of their meeting will not have improved already strained relations.

 

Steadfast allies

If the mood music before the meeting was cool, Biden and Truss made an effort at the UN. Presumably keen to demonstrate their similarities of purpose rather than their differences, Truss described the US and UK as “steadfast allies”. The words ‘special relationship’ were never uttered.

Both sides reiterated their commitment to the GFA, even though they have very different ideas on how to provide the protection they both seek. Biden said he was looking forward to hearing what was on Truss’s mind and to further discussing how to make sure that the GFA was “upheld into the future”.

The president is planning a state visit to the UK in the first half of 2023 to mark the 25th anniversary of the GFA. In effect, the visit will provide a deadline for resolving the issues surrounding the protocol.

 

Rewriting history

With the prospect of a quick trade deal with America dissolving, Brexit supporters are attempting to change their stories. A US/UK trade deal was never promised, they say. It’s not important to the UK economy, they say. And the always familiar Brexiter refrain, they need us more than we need them.

Alternatively, they say that everything is going to plan/going well, or going exactly as they anticipated. Or that all will be well if we just wait long enough. In other words, the same tired excuses and lies we hear every time the truth about Brexit becomes blindingly obvious, even to those wearing rose-tinted goggles.

The pro-Brexit campaigns sold the prospect of doing free trade deals around the world – and especially with America – as one of the biggest wins of leaving the EU. Even as recently as August 2020, the Expresswas talking about a “Brexit trade breakthrough”, with a headline claiming that the Remainers had been “silenced” as a “brilliant US/UK future deal plan revealed”. Just this week, their own headline tells a very different story, as they admit that the deal “might take years”, and describe Biden as “uninterested”.

Having witnessed the kind of harmful compromises the British government have already made when making post-Brexit trade deals, many will see any delays to a US/UK deal as a relief. Not least British farmers, and the British public, concerned about the cost to our valued health and food standards.

As regards the damage to our economy that a failure to secure a deal would bring, this perhaps is the least of our economic concerns. Damaging as the situation might be, it pales into insignificance when compared with what we have already lost.

 

If leaving the EU was about enabling our freedom to deal independently with countries around the world, it has failed. Either the Brexiters were lying or they were overly optimistic about their own talents. Or both. In the process, they have destroyed our biggest trading partnership with our closest and most important neighbours, and without accepting any responsibility whatsoever. That’s more than just a spectacular failure. It’s criminal negligence, and they seem to be getting away with it.

Biden is smart. He can see through this government’s nonsense. Thankfully, finally, it would appear that the British public can too.

Liz Truss – Brexit Britain’s anti-monarchist, Remainer PM

Liz Truss – Brexit Britain’s anti-monarchist, Remainer PM

Sep 22, 2022 | Bylines, News

‘These are my principles, if you don’t like them, I have others’ seems to be PM Liz Truss’s modus operandi. Lisa Burton, Bremain vice Chair takes a closer look for Yorkshire Bylines“

I’m against the idea that people can be born to rule – that people, because of the family they are born into, should be able to be the head of state of our country. I think that’s disgraceful.”– Liz Truss

 

Once, it was widely known and accepted that Britain had its fair share of republicans, but these are strange days in British society. Right-wing tabloids, commentators and a rise in nationalism mean that we must watch our language. Not showing enough reverence to royalty, the country, and even Brexit can land you in unpatriotic deep water. Indeed, criticism can even get you arrested.

Yet here we are. We have witnessed the new British prime minister get through an entire leadership contest, meet the Queen and subsequently King Charles with hardly a mention from mainstream media that she, a former Liberal Democrat, was a republican who campaigned for the abolition of the monarchy. When her previous views were reported, well before the death of the Queen, there was no criticism. Indeed the Daily Mail’s front page reporting was of her regret and mistake.

While social media responded to Truss’s bizarre attempt at a curtsy/bow, now dubbed ‘the burtsy’, with a mixture of cringe and humour, we should consider the abuse Jeremy Corbyn received on front page spreads when ‘he didn’t bow deeply enough’ at the Cenotaph.

 

The hypocrisy of the government-supporting media

Truss and her supporters would say it’s irrelevant because she was young, or she has changed her mind. So let’s pretend it was Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon who campaigned for the abolition of the monarchy when young.

It is undeniable that the right-wing, Conservative-supporting media tabloids, like the Daily Mail, Sun and Express, would attempt to annihilate them over their stance. After all, the Mail ran 13 days of front-page coverage over ‘Beergate’ in line with the advice of their old pal Goebbels who said, “repeat a lie often enough it becomes truth”. Sorry, folks, it doesn’t change the law though.

Every time Corbyn interacted with the Queen, he was regularly attacked and criticised for his republican beliefs and perceived lack of respect, as these headlines show.

‘NATIONAL DISGRACE Jeremy Corbyn refuses to bow to Queen.’

‘Leftie who hates royals will kiss Queen’s hand to grab £6.2 million.’

‘Jeremy Corbyn snubbed Queen with ‘deeply insulting’ refusal: Don’t expect to kneel’

‘Jeremy Corbyn branded ‘disloyal’ after refusing to sing national anthem.’

‘”Scruffy and disrespectful” Corbyn is slammed for his appearance at Cenotaph service.’

The speech

In her previous incarnation – before she became a Conservative and a monarchist – Truss was president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats and very much an anti-monarchist.

In 1994 she made a ‘monarchy-bashing’ speech at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton. If a ‘leftie’ spoke these words previously, the tabloids and so-called ‘patriotic’ commentators would likely be foaming at the mouth:

“This Party, unlike Labour, will not duck and weave about debating the issues people are interested in. When they examine what we stand for, unlike the figure at the centre of this debate (meaning the Queen), we will not be caught with no clothes on.”

 

She is referring to the expression ‘the emperor has no clothes’, which describes a situation in which people are afraid to criticise something or someone because the perceived wisdom of the masses is that the thing or person is good or necessary. It is often used in political and social contexts for any obvious truth denied by the majority despite the evidence of their eyes, especially when proclaimed by the government

 

Truss, the ardent Remainer

In the six years since the Brexit referendum, Truss has gone from being a vocal and ardent supporter of remaining in the European Union to being a ‘born again Brexiter’.

In May 2016, Truss, then secretary of state for the environment, addressed the Food and Drink Federation to speak about the benefits of the European single market and encourage them to vote remain. It is a speech worth listening to because, for once, she was spot on.

 

“I do think that the decision on the 23rd of June probably will have a greater impact on the food and drink industry than it would have on any other parts of the economy. That’s because if we look at trade, the food and drink industry exports 60% of all its products to the EU.”

She was right to be concerned. The value of food exports to the EU dropped by £2.4bn in the first 15 months after Brexit, according to analysis of HMRC data.

She also said:

“If we are a country like Norway, we’d have to fill in 50 boxes on a form every time we went to export something. In products like agricultural products, there’s a regime of quotas and tariffs.”

 

Right again. This is becoming impressive. Maybe Truss is a clairvoyant?

It wasn’t just trade – Truss campaigned for remain for our children’s future benefits

Speaking in 2016, the Conservative MP then said she championed Britain staying inside the EU to protect her daughters’ future and the environment.

I don’t want my daughters to grow up in a world where they need a visa or permit to work in Europe; or where they are hampered from growing a business because of extortionate call costs and barriers to trade.

“Every parent wants their children to grow up in a healthy environment with clean water, fresh air and thriving natural wonders. Being part of the EU helps protect these precious resources and spaces.”

 

Truss called this one right too. Brexit is cited as a factor in the recent sewage scandal, allowing water companies to increase how much sewage they discharge into Britain’s waterways and oceans.

Is she now happy that her daughters are hampered from growing a business due to extortionate costs? Does it fill her with glee that her children are now unable to travel freely, with no limits, to work, marry and retire in 26 other countries?

 

In Brexit Britain – you can change your mind – but only if it’s in the ‘RIGHT’ direction

UK government members are no longer traditional Conservatives. The party’s lurch to the populist right has been ongoing since those same forces brought about Brexit.

It has become a country where all polling shows that the majority of the UK now thinks Brexit is a failure and mistake and evidence abounds of its damage. Yet, discussion in addressing issues around Brexit is shut down. People who express these opinions are called traitors, remoaners, and unpatriotic.

Liz Truss can turn from anti-monarchist to monarchist and Remainer to Brexiter without being crucified by the tabloids, because her words align with the people and forces pushing the hard-right political agenda in Britain. She is now their figurehead who will willingly do their bidding and be protected for as long as she toes their line.

The hard-right of the party now drives Conservative policy. The ERG, Taxpayers Alliance, and Net Zero Scrutiny groups are just some examples. I recommend reading this investigative report by Byline Times and this article by Ann Moody in Yorkshire Bylines, which expose that Truss’s Cabinet appears to be ideologically aligned with some of the most controversial themes of far-right activism in the USA, including women’s (abortion) rights.

Six of Truss’s Cabinet appointments and four of her advisors have funding ties to Conservative organisations connected to American billionaires, the Mercers. The Mercer lobby has been called “the chief financiers of the fascist movement”.

 

Will Truss stick or twist?

In an LBC interview with Eddie Mar in March 2019, the conversation with Truss went like this:

Eddie: “People can change their minds, can’t they?”

Truss: “But they were told in the referendum in 2016 that their vote would be implemented.”

Eddie: “What about people who have changed their minds between then and now?”

Truss: “I don’t think people have changed their minds.”

Eddie: “You have.”

Truss: “I have, that’s true. In the other way, though.”

Ah, that’s ok then, and who knows, maybe the winds of politics will change direction, and Truss will become an anti-monarchist, liberal Remainer again. She might even regain some of her previous convictions. However, we can be reasonably sure that the right-wing, Conservative-supporting tabloids wouldn’t let her off so lightly if she shifted in the other direction.

The King’s first speech

The King’s first speech

Sep 12, 2022 | Bylines, News

On Friday, King Charles III gave his first speech to a nation in mourning – what did this tell us about the king he plans to be? Sue Wilson MBE, Bremain Chair writes for Yorkshire bylines.

The day after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, on Thursday 8 September, Prince Charles became the oldest heir, at 73, to ever accede to the throne. From St Paul’s Cathedral, King Charles III gave his first speech to a nation in mourning. The speech was warmly received and described as “remarkably personal” (The Telegraph) and full of “heartfelt tributes” to his mother (The Times).

But what did the new king have to say about how he might handle his new responsibilities and what his priorities would be?

 

Continuity and service

The speech contained affectionate praise and respect for his mother’s long service and a promise to renew that dedication to the nation personally. King Charles spoke of the Queen’s “profound personal commitment” to the Commonwealth – a commitment he clearly shares.

“As The Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.”

In what was described by chief political commentator (The i), Paul Waugh, as the “most politically interesting passage” of the speech, Charles referenced how he anticipated his son Prince William would follow his lead. Charles expects William – who succeeds him as the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall – to “inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given”. A reference, perhaps, to the increasing gap between the rich and poor in our society, and to the cost-of-living crisis; or indeed to the many sections of society who feel excluded.

 

A new era

Charles spoke of an ethnically diverse nation of many religions and beliefs and how the institutions of state had changed over the last 70 years. His upbringing, he said, had taught him to have the “greatest respect” for the “precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government”. He also expressed his “deeply routed” faith in the Church of England and the “values it inspires”.

Regardless of where you live in the United Kingdom, or in British realms or territories, and irrespective of your background or beliefs, Charles promised to serve all equally with “loyalty, respect and love”.

“In the course of the last 70 years we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many faiths. The institutions of the state have changed in turn. But, through all changes and challenges, our nation and the wider family of realms – of whose talents, traditions and achievements I am so inexpressibly proud – have prospered and flourished. Our values have remained, and must remain, constant.”

 

The implications of new responsibilities

In the past, the former Prince Charles sometimes caused controversy supporting causes close to his own heart – causes such as architecture, interfaith dialogue, the environment, and alternative medicine. In total, he previously supported at least 19 causes and 17 charities and foundations, including the Prince’s Trust, Red Cross, Children in Crisis and the National Wildlife Federation.

He acknowledged in his speech that with his new responsibilities, he would no longer have the time or the energy to dedicate to these causes. Of the many that Charles has supported, climate change has been at the forefront. He now passes the baton to the “trusted hands of others”, and in the case of the environment, this is something his son William has already taken up.

“My life will of course change as I take up my new responsibilities. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.”

Apart from having less time for important causes, Charles will also have to rein in any personal comments regarding government policy. His recent remarks regarding the Rwanda immigration scheme were considered outspoken and misplaced by some, even as the son of the monarch. As King Charles, he will no longer be in a position to make such direct criticisms of government policy, much as he might wish to at times.

 

Family ties

Apart from his affectionate, loving and “heartfelt” comments about his “beloved mother”, Charles also took the opportunity to express his love, affection and respect for his wife and children. He concluded his speech with the recognition of the “loyal public service” given to him by Camilla, during their 17 years of marriage. He fully expects, he said, that she will bring the same “steadfast devotion to duty” to her new role as Queen Consort.

The new Prince and Princess of Wales were also praised, and Charles gave a special mention to his younger son Harry and wife Meghan, expressing his love as they “build their lives overseas”.

The speech ended with thanks to the nation for their condolences and support and with the mention of laying his mother to rest in a week’s time.

“We will come together as a nation, as a Commonwealth and indeed as a global community. In our sorrow, let us remember and draw strength from the light of her example.”

Moving forward

In a week that has seen a new prime minister and a new monarch, it is difficult to predict what difference these significant changes will make. Our divided country is facing many serious problems. For many, the Queen was the glue that held us together and that crossed divides between rich and poor, left and right, and across political boundaries. For anyone under 70, she was the only monarch they have ever known – a symbol of stability and continuity when our political landscape is anything but.

For those of a more republican persuasion, perhaps this is the time to start a conversation about the future of the monarchy. For monarchists, it is an unsettling time of immense sadness and of wondering what the future will hold. King Charles III’s role as head of the nation must be to speak for the whole country, republicans and monarchists, rich and poor, left and right, alike. It won’t be an easy task, but it is one he has been preparing for his whole life.

This is the end of an era and the start of a new one. A reminder that in this modern, global world, we cannot live in the past, nor should we wish to. We have reached that turning point that we have been anticipating for years. King Charles III, and the nation, must grab this moment in time with both hands and take the country forward.

 

“The Queen is dead. Long live the King.”

National Rejoin March on Saturday: going the extra mile

National Rejoin March on Saturday: going the extra mile

Sep 8, 2022 | Bylines, News

Lisa Burton, Bremain Vice Chair talks to some of those who are travelling from Spain to London this Saturday to join the National Rejoin March, writing for Yorkshire Bylines.

The first National Rejoin March will take place in London this Saturday, 10 September. It has the support of dozens of UK-based, pro-European groups who will travel from across the country to attend. But what motivates those coming from further afield? I spoke to some fellow British immigrants living in Spain and asked them why they were making the effort, at considerable personal expense, to attend an event that lasts just a few hours.

Attending the National Rejoin March: Sheila

Sheila and her husband live in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands and are retired. Her husband has health and mobility issues, yet, at considerable expense and disruption, will take the four-hour flight to London, arriving after midnight the night before the march and flying back the day after.

They have been living in Spain since 1993 and are well settled and legalised, with Brexit not causing any specific problems for them personally. So why make an effort at all?

Sheila spends time on forums helping people in crisis because of Brexit. Whether it be denied residency, advice on health, driving, families separated due to different immigration statuses or a friendly, supportive ear. She sees the stress and difficulties Brexit has wrought on many people’s lives. People have had to leave and sell their homes. Lives shattered.

Sheila’s son has lived in France for 15 years. She fears they may need his support as she and her husband get older. Brexit makes that extremely difficult. UK nationals have rights in their host country but lost their freedom of movement and must adhere to the 90/180-day rule in the rest of the Schengen zone.

Sheila, like many UK nationals residing in the EU, did not have a vote in the Brexit referendum due to the 15-year limit. She wants to voice her opinion. “Brexit has caused so much damage to so many people.”

Attending the National Rejoin March: Hilary and Stewart

Hilary and her husband Stewart will be flying in from Valencia. They are both passionate pro-Europeans and have attended protests previously.

Hilary told me:

“I have felt a deep sense of commitment towards Europe from the day we joined in 1973. For 47 years, we enjoyed all the benefits of being part of a group of nations that always sought to improve the lives of its citizens. I never even dreamt that one day I would find myself on the outside looking in. I am deeply ashamed of what Brexit has done to our once-proud nation and shall continue to resist until the day we resume our rightful place at the heart of Europe.”

Hilary and Stewart supporting SODEM and Steve Bray (Mr Stop Brexit) 2020, photo used with permission

Attending the National Rejoin March: Vanessa

I came across Vanessa a couple of weeks ago as she reached out for help on a Facebook group. She has an elderly mother in Spain who has sadly had a stroke and needs care. Brexit has made it impossible for Vanessa to stay and take care of her mother. Her tenaciousness and attitude are admirable. She has tried every avenue to get help and her story heard, including contacting many Spanish authorities, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Sky News, the BBC and LBC radio, and is still looking for solutions.

Vanessa must leave Spain on 8 September and leave her mother for three months before returning, or she will be deemed illegally overstaying. I couldn’t practically help Vanessa, but I was able to tell her story, which you can read here in full.

“This will be the first protest march I have ever attended. Brexit has turned people’s lives upside down in a way few understand. My mother wants to remain in her home of 22 years, and I just want to take care of her.”

Attending the National Rejoin March: David Eldridge

“Although on a personal level, I’ve recently rejoined the EU by becoming Spanish, I’m travelling to London for the march because I still care for my former compatriots (including close family) in the UK.”

David continues: “To those that say it’s too early to campaign to rejoin the EU (we’ve been dubbed ‘extremists’ in one tabloid). I know the UK isn’t going to rejoin soon, and rejoining will be a long process involving profound changes to British society and the political system. But we can start on that path immediately after the next election if the political will is there and embark on a step-by-step process. Erasmus, Horizon, an amended treaty encouraging UK-EU trade rather than inhibiting it, eventually leading to rejoining the single market and customs union, the restoration of reciprocal free movement rights until the time is right to take the next logical step and become full EU members again.”

Attending the National Rejoin March: Sue Wilson MBE

Sue is chair of the citizens’ rights group Bremain in Spain and one of the guest speakers at the event. Before Brexit, Sue was not interested in politics but was devastated by the referendum result. She was the main plaintiff in a case that took Theresa May to court over the legality of the Brexit referendum. The government accepted the referendum broke electoral law and that had the result been legally binding, it would have been overturned. However, even though it was treated as binding by the government, it was, in fact, merely advisory; therefore, the court ruled that the result should stand.

 

“As British citizens abroad, we have always felt as though we were invisible to our own government. We’ve been treated like bargaining chips during negotiations and had rights we expected to hold for life stripped away from us. Brexit is an unmitigated disaster, and we’ll keep turning up in Westminster – even from Spain – until politicians of all persuasions get the message. It’s time to get Brexit undone and rejoin the EU.”

Sue Wilson MBE – Chair, Bremain in Spain, photo used with permission

Let down by our government

What I note most strongly when speaking to UK migrants in Spain is the sense of feeling let down. Let down by a government that didn’t tell them or the country the truth about what Brexit would mean. Saddened that so many UK nationals don’t fully understand the far-reaching consequences of Brexit, what the loss of freedom of movement truly means and the difficulties it brings. After all, it was only the British that lost this right.

The Brexit referendum was six years ago and no one born this century voted for Brexit. Evidence abounds that Brexit is damaging the fabric of Britain, its investment potential, growth and the UK’s world standing. Almost half of all businesses have ceased trading with Europe due to costs and red tape.

While the Conservatives, Brexit-supporting media, and even the Labour Party may want to avoid the B word altogether, many say it is time for an open and honest conversation about the damage of Brexit and how it is exacerbating all the UK’s issues. And how the most simple solution to so many problems would be to rejoin the single market at the very minimum.

These people are no longer Remainers. They are Rejoiners, and they are not going away.

Dear Brexiters – What if this was your mother? Vanessa’s Story

Dear Brexiters – What if this was your mother? Vanessa’s Story

Sep 7, 2022 | News

One of the most under-reported and tragic consequences of Brexit has been the impact on those with deep family connections to Europe

Lisa Burtonby Lisa Burton

At the 2019 Conservative party conference, Priti Patel announced, “I have a particular responsibility when it comes to taking back control. It is to end the free movement of people once and for all”. Her statement was met with rapturous applause, and Brexiters all over the country rejoiced and boasted of this perceived win.

This celebration always struck me as bizarrely nonsensical. After all, the only people losing their freedom of movement were the British – no one else. The repercussions and consequences are complex and multi-faceted, affecting trade, goods, and people.

UK nationals can no longer retire in the EU if on a basic UK state pension. The minimum income requirements for a non-lucrative visa are €27,793 a year. Young adults can no longer pop over for the experience of a summer job, and the option to ‘try before you buy’, i.e. come over for a few months, get a job and see how it goes, has now gone.

Most people in the UK understand that the United Kingdom now has third country status in the EU and that the loss of freedom of movement affects their future options for living and working in another EU country. However, little is understood about how this status change affects British nationals residing in a European Union member state. These issues are far-reaching and complex. Here is just one story.

Meet Vanessa and Margot

Vanessa lives in Byfleet, Surrey, and her mother, Margot, 86, lives in the town of Jávea, in Spain’s Costa Blanca region. Margot moved to Spain 22 years ago to retire and has, like many others, come to love her host country, which she now calls home. 

On 5 May, Vanessa received a call from a close friend of her mother, informing her that Margot had a fall and was acting confused. At the time, Margot was suffering from a urinary tract infection, but Vanessa felt something more was going on, so she flew out to Spain as quickly as possible and is thankful she did.

Margot was taken to the hospital for an MRI, which showed she’d had a stroke. She was admitted to the hospital for three days and then had to return three times weekly for physiotherapy. Margot had paralysis on her left side and needed speech and language therapy.

The 90 in 180-day rule for third-country nationals

Margot needed help with cooking, cleaning and taking care of herself. Naturally, Vanessa wanted to, and, as an only child, felt she had no option but to be the one to stay and take care of her mother while she recuperated. This would not have been a problem pre-Brexit, as Vanessa could have stayed and obtained residency, but it is now.

With the UK’s third-country status, the time its citizens can spend within the European Union is subject to restrictions.

UK nationals are only allowed to spend 90 days in the whole of the Schengen zone in any 180. If you spend three months in Spain, you cannot visit anywhere else in the EU for another three months. Vanessa and Margot were about to realise the enormous implications of this.

An impossible situation

Vanessa visited her mother earlier in the year, so she had used part of her 90/180-day allowance by the time of her mother’s stroke. They knew that if Vanessa stayed past June, she would breach immigration laws. Overstaying would be committing a serious infraction that could lead to significant penalties, including being banned from entering Spain altogether, so she had to leave in July for a week and returned a week later to start the process. Little did they know, though, just how difficult it would be.

Jumping through hoops

For tourists, a visa to overstay is only given in exceptional circumstances. Suppose you had a car crash and could not leave the hospital, for example. There are family unification visas, but they are very restrictive, and you can only regroup children if they are under 18.

You must apply for the visa through Spain’s Ministry of the Interior and the National Police. It is not a simple process. Vanessa tried to make an appointment, but none were available in time, so on 20 June, she approached a lawyer.

The National Police and the lawyer were based in Alicante. Neither Margot nor Vanessa have a car, so it took three round bus trips to complete the paperwork. The first two round trips took 16 hours, and the second 12.

All documents needed to be officially translated into Spanish. The cost for Vanessa’s birth certificate to be translated, notarised and apostilled cost 300 euros. She required extra health insurance and proof of that and proof of enough funds to live on 100 euros per day. Her visa would grant her an additional 61 days. That equated to over 6,000 euros, money neither Vanessa nor her mother had, so she had to borrow money from her daughter and husband to put in her bank account and submit statements as evidence.

Eventually, after being in limbo and having an irregular immigration status for weeks and expenses of 1,000 euros, the extension was granted on 22 August.

On 8 September, Vanessa will have to leave her mother again

Although the visa was issued on 22 August, it was backdated. Otherwise, Vanessa would have been deemed overstaying when trying to obtain the visa. Vanessa has to fly back to the UK on 8th September and leave her mother alone for a minimum of three months before she can visit again. What happens if Margot has another fall or her health deteriorates? It would be illegal for Vanessa to fly and see her in Spain. The worry of this is enormous.

Margot

The effect on the family

Vanessa has a husband and twin adult daughters. Her husband has been living alone without his wife. One of the daughters is entering her third year studying Spanish and French in France. Vanessa wanted to attend her introduction week at university there. She now can’t. Vanessa had to give up her job as a private swimming instructor. All her old clients have moved on to someone else.

Some say Margot should return to the UK so her family can care for her there. Margot says, “no way”. She lives in a small apartment in a modest area, likes her neighbours and gets on well with them. She has grown to love the sense of community her Spanish town gives her.

How typical is Vanessa’s story?

While most British immigrants residing in the EU are of working age, Spain is different. It has always been a highly attractive place for the British to retire.

It is impossible to know how many people are affected, but Vanessa and Margot are certainly not the only ones.

There are 407,000 Brits who took up their right to live in Spain, and 152,000 of them are pensioners. Many families could face formidable, life-changing decisions they never thought they would have to consider, and it is all down to Brexit.