Grassroots Summit Welcome Event – Downing Street, 19 May 2025

IMPORTANT UPDATE – Recent reports suggest that the venue of the Summit is being relocated to Lancaster House. We are checking and if this is confirmed we will shift our event accordingly. We will advise you as soon as we have further news.

Citizen groups say: Banish a Bad Brexit, Choose Europe!

‘Choose Europe!’ That is the simple message pro-European civil society groups will be sending when we gather outside the UK-EU Summit in London on 19th May.

We want to urge both sides to be ambitious in starting to repair the trail of economic and political destruction Brexit has left behind it.

On Monday, from 10am on, representatives of over a hundred citizen’s and campaigning groups will gather outside Downing Street for a Grassroots Summit Welcome Event to celebrate the first summit meeting of UK and EU leaders since Brexit.

John Gaskell, (Chair, Grassroots for Europe) said:

“We want this summit to agree on much closer cooperation on defence and security. We want a youth opportunity scheme that allows young British people to work and study in Europe. And we want to see cuts in the red tape that is obstructing trade with our closest neighbours. We want to see better visa-free work and travel arrangements for everyone.”

While a number of useful but limited improvements are potentially now on offer, taken together these offer only a minor mitigation of Brexit’s 4% hit to the UK economy.

Richard Corbett CBE, Former Labour Party Leader in the European Parliament. said:

“Without ambition, the summit cannot deliver for our economy or our security. Being European is part of our rich, shared identity. We are told we cannot go ‘back’ to Europe, as though Brexit was a step into the future. In reality, the public are ahead of the politicians. They are not afraid to see the truth about Brexit; they know it has been a dead-end, an error and a failure.”

For a growing majority, especially the young, the future is Rejoin.

The majority of the UK public now considers that Brexit was a mistake which needs to be corrected, adapting with political courage and ambition to today’s circumstances, to help UK and EU to address the new challenges that face us.

Representatives will be available for interview throughout the day on May 19th, at Richmond Terrace, outside the summit.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Colin Gordon colinngordon@aol.com +44 [0] 7557 909811

Sent on behalf of:

Grassroots for Europe john@grassrootsforeurope.org https://grassrootsforeurope.org/

National Rejoin March