Launch of the Liberal Democrat EU Referendum campaign in the East of England

21 Feb 2016

Sir Graham Watson, at the East of England launch of the EU referendum campaign — Sir Graham Watson, speaking in Ipswich

On Saturday, David Cameron confirmed that the long-awaited date for the EU Referendum would be 23rd June. While he was meeting with his Cabinet in Westminster, Liberal Democrat members in the East of England were meeting in Ipswich to launch their campaign for the EU referendum. Lib Dems from across the region came together for a full morning of presentations and information sharing -- the tenth (and final) such launch held by Lib Dems across the country. Guest speakers Sir Graham Watson (former MEP and a leading light in ALDE, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and Catherine Bearder (MEP) opened the session.

Sir Graham Watson's address started off with a bang, warning of the dangers of Brexit. "Our country could be about to make the worst foreign policy blunder since George III lost America over a tax on tea." He described how public perceptions of the European Union have been poisoned by propaganda in politics and the press, and how people simply aren't made aware of all that the EU has done for them, or the things that it has enabled through cultural funding, science funding and Europe-wide policies. He asked how many British people know that low-cost airlines are only possible thanks to policies agreed at EU level? Or that when there was a major terrorist attack in London, it was an EU initiative that enabled us to to call on blood supplies from across the continent? Picturing the aftermath of an "out" vote, Graham suggested that we could be reduced to a bargain-basement Britain, trying to undercut our EU neighbours in everything from workers' rights to environmental safety standards, just in order to stay afloat.

Catherine Bearder followed, stressing the role that the EU plays in protecting the environment and in helping to fight against crimes that cross borders, such as human trafficking. She finished by donning her trademark Union Jack scarf to make the point that the national flag should not be allowed to become a symbol of isolationist right-wing nationalism, but instead remain a patriotic icon for a UK that is proud to be part of a European Union.

There followed presentations and question sessions on exactly what Liberal Democrats want to communicate in the EU referendum campaign, along with how we will approach this, and the mechanics of doing so. As well as running our own campaign (http://www.libdems.org.uk/europe), Lib Dems will be working with the cross-party Stronger IN group (http://www.strongerin.co.uk), to make sure that the "Remain" message reaches as many people as possible.

For anyone who couldn't be there, the following two video presentations were included in the morning's programme:

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