Our President writes

President of London4Europe Catherine West MP describes the Brexit news from her week in Parliament 15-21 October 2018. You can see a photograph of her on the March here.

Theresa May’s Brexit statement on Monday didn’t say anything new. But what was revealing was how little support there was in a packed Chamber for her negotiating stance. It’s glaringly obvious that any deal this hapless government manages to negotiate will be worse than the one we already have. We have the rabid Brexiteers pushing for no deal, irrespective of the damage it would cause to jobs, industry and people’s lives, the DUP threatening to vote down the upcoming budget and a growing call from all sides of the House for a People’s Vote as the only way out of this mess.

Incredibly, over 700,000 people took part in the People’s Vote March for our Future on Saturday and I was one of them. There was a deep sense of anger and sorrow that a leave campaign that lied, cheated and broke electoral law is being allowed to get away with it. It certainly feels like momentum is continuing to grow for a second vote as the consequences of Brexit become more real. This week we learnt that AstraZeneca have halted their UK investment because of the lack of Brexit clarity and when I spoke at a meeting of the Industry Forum on Monday evening it was clear that the uncertainty is affecting business.

On Friday I joined Members of the European Parliament Lucy Anderson, Seb Dance and Peter Kouroumbashev to speak at an event at City Hall on the impact of Brexit on Eastern European Londoners. For me, one of the worst things about Brexit is that people who have made their homes here for many years and contributed so much to our great city have been left feeling unwelcome and unsure about their future. The event looked at how we can build an inclusive London in the Brexit climate.

Articles on this page reflect the view of the author and not necessarily of London4Europe