What a wonderfully sunny, magical Saturday, not football, not cricket! Belper Goes Green is a community, eco, and arts event hosted annually and staged at the Belper Meadows cricket ground in Derbyshire. Over 100 community and business participants were present over three days at the family event.
The focus for the European Movement Derbyshire stall at Belper Goes Green was the opportunity to canvas views and concerns in respect of the changes the UK has experienced since leaving the European Union. Extraordinarily informative and exciting discussions were held – with many individuals expressing their concerns.
So much lost for such thin gains
Heartfelt stories were told of barriers of access to the EU; one woman had needed to sell her Spanish home where she had lived and return to the UK because of the 90-day rule. This rule means that UK citizens may only remain in any EU country for 90 days in any 180-day period. Needless to say, the upset was apparent.
Out of the nearly 100 persons with whom discussions were held, just five people expressed their wish to stay outside of the EU and to maintain the losses of the ‘four freedoms’. (The free movement of goods, capital, services & people). Not wishing to be part of the European Union, the sale of UK goods, the difficulty in reversing the decision, the myth that the EU is ‘undemocratic’, retaining jobs for UK people, and the perceived unfair distribution of EU funds to other EU countries were some of the reasons cited by respondents.
A visitor told a story of their actor friend working in Europe on a visa; the visa expired before their work was complete and they were deported and unable to finish their show. Another told of visa issues, deportation from Sweden, and the inability to see their children. Feelings ran palpably high. Some apathy was apparent as many believed that politicians would give no opportunity for a re-think. Many were pleased to have the opportunity to discuss losses that were keenly felt.
Engaging with young people at Belper Goes Green
It was such a brilliant family day that all ages were present on this beautiful Saturday, although, sadly, most of the young people really did not know about the politics of the UK, or the EU, and how being outside of the EU has impacted on their lives going forward. The gradual realisation of this naivety felt quite devastating.
An informative discussion with a teacher of economics was able to highlight the specific problems apparent in the information that is available to 16–18 years. In the teaching of this subject, young people are given the opportunity to learn about Europe; the customs union, the single market and to learn of trade agreements. Such a prospectus enables them to arrive at informed opinions.
In the current educational curriculum, those who do not study economics or politics have little to no access to information on the EU, the UK, and the workings of democracies. This was borne out with many discussions.
Positively though, most thought that they needed to engage more proactively with politics and the implications concerning the EU in respect to their own lives.
European Movement Derbyshire’s campaign to rejoin
It was explained to many visitors that the objective of the European Movement and their campaign was to rejoin the EU. On the day, nearly 95% of respondents expressed enthusiasm at the thought of a chance of a vote to rejoin. A certain sense of happiness and hope took hold when explaining to many visitors that they were in good company – that the massive crowd at the event appeared positively pro-European. On this evidence, there appears to be a positive outlook for any future rejoin opportunity and its potential success – this indeed would be ‘cricket’.
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