UKPEN.EU

Should we campaign to rejoin the Customs Union?
2021-03-22 18:00 (Europe/London) | Online
This is a Labour for a European Future webinar for members only. You can join LEF here: https://donorbox.org/lef-membership
Members will be sent a link shortly before the beginning of the webinar.
Speakers to include:
David Henig (UK Director of European Centre For International Political Economy and Co-founder of UK Trade Forum)
Mike Buckley (LEF Director)
Dan McCurry (activist)
More speakers tbc.

Time for Liberal Values?
2021-03-24 18:00
Brexit is far from ‘done’. The government is taking an increasingly confrontational approach with our European allies. At the same time, the same government is threatening not only ministerial accountability and the rights of Parliament, but also the judiciary, the media and even the freedom of peaceful assembly. To achieve this it is shamelessly exploiting the bandwidth taken up by coronavirus and the Royal Family to distract from its plans. For years we have taken for granted that liberal values are safe in this country. Are we wrong to do so? What can we as citizens do to safeguard them? How should pro-Europeans and Liberals respond?

Speakers: Layla Moran MP, Ian Dunt.

Where do we go from here?
2021-03-24 19:30 - 21:00 | Online
Covid-19 has upended everyone’s plans over the past 12 months and has partially knocked Brexit off the agenda. But Brexit hasn’t gone away and its impacts are creeping up on the public consciousness as it becomes clear that they are serious and likely to be long term.
So, how do we as a movement prepare ourselves to re-enter the fray once, as we hope, the virus recedes? Do we talk about the negatives of Brexit or do we need to offer a more positive narrative?
Our guest speakers for this event are very well placed to answer these questions and more. Naomi Smith, as Chief Executive of Best for Britain, regularly takes soundings from the public in the form of polling and focus groups, so can offer excellent insight into the messages which resonate with the public and those which fall flat. Effective campaigner, Femi Oluwole, has years of experience of taking messages onto the streets and our TV screens and is hard to beat when it comes to debating our opponents and communicating with the general public.

Isolation Insight Devolution: change, continuity and crisis
2021-03-25 12:00 - 13:30
Brexit’s impact on UK devolution has been a major issue since the EU referendum.
How has the UK’s departure from the EU impacted the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales? Is devolution in crisis after Brexit and Covid-19? And what do the public think about devolution?
Discussion with:

Professor Sir John Curtice, Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe and Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde
Professor Ailsa Henderson, Principal Investigator for the ESRC-funded Scottish Election Study
Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Director of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre and Principal Investigator for the ESRC-funded Welsh Election Study
Philip Rycroft, former Head of UK Governance Group, Cabinet Office
Chair: Dan Wincott, Director, Governance after Brexit

An evening with Prof. John Curtice: Implications of the 2019 election for the electoral reform debate
2021-03-25 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
Make Votes Matter are delighted to be joined by one of the UK’s leading experts in polling and elections: Professor John Curtice. Professor Curtice is a regular on BBC election night results programmes, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, President of the British Polling Council, Senior Research Fellow at ScotCen Social Research, and a Fellow of the British Academy. If you’re interested but can’t make it, register anyway and we’ll send you a recording of the event afterwards!

Brexit: Ending the City’s Dominance of European Finance?
2021-03-25 19:00 | Online
Graham Bishop discusses the future of the financial services industry – centred in the City of London – that matters enormously to the health of the United Kingdom’s economy.
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) has few provisions on financial services and the UK now appears set to drive a wedge between EU and British rules so it can “benefit” from its new-found Brexit freedom.
In reality, this “wedge” is unlikely to benefit the economic prospects of the City or the United Kingdom.

European Movement conference: Building Bridges not Barriers!
2021-03-27 10:00 - 16:30 | Online
Speakers will include Ian Murray MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, David McAllister ME, Chair of the European Parliament UK Coordination Group, Noelle O’Connell, CEO of European Movement Ireland, Kishan Devani BEM, Honorary VP of Green Lib Dems, Howard Goodall, EMMY, BRIT, and BAFTA award winning composer, Anna Bird, CEO of the European Movement, Jon Worth, Political blogger, teacher at the College of Europe, Deborah Mattinson, Founding Partner of Britain Thinks. Panel discussions on campaigning tips, the brexit deal three months on, reaching outside our bubble, and brexit and the creative industries.

What should Labour do about Europe? EM conference fringe event
2021-03-27 13:00 - 14:00
Speakers:
Andrew Adonis (Peer, and former government minister and adviser)
Laura Parker (former Momentum National Coordinator)
Jackie Jones (former MEP, Welsh AM candidate)
Paula Surridge (senior lecturer at the University of Bristol’s School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies)

At this, a fringe event for the European Movement conference, Labour for a European Future is bringing together voices from across the Labour movement to discuss what Labour should do about Europe.
This is the moment when things are, arguably, as challenging for Labour’s pro-Europeans as they have ever been. Yet there is great scope for progress: a majority of both Labour members and the public more broadly still support EU membership.
How do we go about making the Labour Party more pro-European, and the country more broadly? What should the Labour Party’s position on Europe be? How do we go about learning the lessons the past has taught us on these questions and others?

Glasgow loves EU lockdown livestream
2021-03-29 19:30

Telling the Truth in the Age of Lies
2021-03-31 19:30 - 21:00
Webinar with Peter Jukes, Byline Times, and Mike Galsworthy, Scientists for Europe, and Q&A.

Wales' Post-Brexit Future
2021-04-05 18:00 - 19:00
Webinar with Tonia Antonazzi MP and Mick Antoniw MS on the future of Wales post-Brexit.

Why we should absolutely continue shouting about Erasmus+!
2021-04-08 19:30
With the decision of the UK government to withdraw from the Erasmus+ Programme and to replace it with the Turing Scheme, a panel of experts within the field of international education will consider the real impact of this loss and discuss how we can make a difference to the inevitable negative outcome. For more details and to register, click on Zoom link.

Kitchen Table Conversations for EU Citizens
2021-04-08 19:30 - 20:30 | Online
An invitation to London EU citizens: How are you affected as a Londoner? What would you want the Mayor to do for EU citizens? Guilene Marco, current London Assembly candidate and Olivia Vincenti, former EU Parliamentary candidate, both EU citizens, are on hand to discuss making our voices heard in the London Assembly Elections and how to shape a London that works for us.

EU Citizens Politics Festival
2021-04-12 12:00 - 2021-04-18 20:30
A week of online workshops, informative webinars, panel discussions, and interactive networking sessions as part of the #OurHomeOurVote campaign!
With over 16 events to choose from you’ll learn new skills, discuss important issues with leaders in the field, debate relevant topics and, most importantly, have fun!

Common Sense - Why We Must Rejoin Europe - with Will Hutton
2021-04-12 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
Will Hutton will be joining us virtually to talk about how Brexit is going and tell us why – and how – we must rejoin the EU.

Security and the EU-UK Relationship
2021-04-14 19:00 - 20:15 | Online
Security is an issue that is hugely important. It was also the reason the body which would become the EU was originally created, and it was a key part of the UK’s EU membership. Now, with the UK outside the EU, there is a need to keep working together on security going forward.
Speakers:
Catherine West MP, Fabian Hamilton MP, Clare Moody (Labour ex-MEP) & Christos Katsioulis (FES London)

Brexit - The First 100 Days
2021-04-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
100 days after the end of the Brexit transition period, our panel of speakers will be reflecting on the many areas that Brexit is impacting, such as our business community, loss of opportunity for musicians and the arts, health, the Financial Services sector, food and farming, fishing, the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Good Friday Agreement. There will be time for questions and discussion. Click on the Eventbrite link for more details and to register for the event.

Trade Policy after Brexit
2021-04-15 19:30 - 21:00 | Online
David Henig discusses what is happening to UK Trade outside the Single Market, with significant border barriers to 50% of UK trade which was with the EU?
Will exporters recover from the 40.7% drop in exports to the EU in January?
Join this talk by a leading expert on the development of UK trade policy post Brexit.

Launch of a report "Comfortable Leavers"
2021-04-19 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
A new report by UK in a Changing Europe and NatCen sheds a light on ‘Comfortable Leavers’ – Leave voters with comparatively high incomes, based in relatively affluent places – and what they hope and expect from British politics and the economy after leaving the European Union. We bring together the authors of the report, those involved in conducting the eight deliberative workshops and political commentators to discuss the findings and their implications.
Panel:

Dan Wincott, Director, Governance after Brexit
Ceri Davies, Director, NatCen Centre for Deliberative Research
Matt Holehouse, British political correspondent, The Economist
Chaired by Paula Surridge, Deputy Director, UK in a Changing Europe

An Evening in Conversation with Gordon Brown
2021-04-19 18:00 | Online
An opportunity to gain perspective on the unprecedented challenges that lie ahead, through the eyes of the prime minister who led the UK through both the Great Recession and a flu pandemic.
Mark Malloch-Brown and Naomi Smith will be talking to Gordon about unprecedented challenges that lie ahead. In the midst of the coronavirus crisis and our trade agreement with Europe still incomplete, there are many questions to be asked about what ‘Global Britain’ will look like.
We’ll also be asking what the Erasmus+ replacement means for the next generation of Britons? What the current Chancellor should be doing for a whole generation of young people facing joblessness? And what must happen to do to restore the UK’s commitment to aid and international development.”

Webinar: Scotland, the UK and the EU
2021-04-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Online
Speakers:
Ian Murray MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland)
More speakers tbc.
In this webinar we will discuss the two big issues on Scotland’s constitutional horizon: its relationship with the EU and independence.
Since Brexit it has repeatedly been mooted that independence is a way for Scotland to rejoin the EU. But, even if this is possible, is it the right way to go? Can Scotland maintain its membership of the UK whilst having a good relationship with the EU?

Webinar with Sajjad Karim, former Conservative MEP and member of the European Movement National Council
2021-04-20 18:00
The Oxford Series of webinar discussions with senior pro-European Conservatives continues when Oxford Region branch of the European Movement welcomes Sajjad Karim. An MEP for 15 years for North West England, he fought back against an attempt to expel him for his opposition to Brexit and survived. He’s now on the EM’s National Council, helping to reach the liberal Conservatives whose votes will be key to our return to leadership at the heart of Europe.

What do people think about Brexit? Interview with Peter Kellner
2021-04-20 19:00 | Online
Peter Kellner, pollster, analyst and an active member of European Movement, will talk about his polling experience and where he sees the public sentiment regarding Brexit just now, how pro-Europeans should address this sentiment to succeed and deliver our aims.
On the night, join the meeting by putting these log-in details into the Zoom app:
Meeting ID: 837 4001 8293
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Or click the Zoom link below to join the meeting from your browser.

Leaving Erasmus - Lost Opportunity or Fresh Start?
2021-04-21 19:00 | Online
Despite the assurances, we are leaving the Erasmus scheme and in its place a student exchange programme called the Turing Scheme has been established by the UK Department for Education . Our expert panel will debate whether this is a lost opportunity or a fresh start for young people in the UK, with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.

The fundamental problems in the UK-EU trade deal and how it can be reformed,
2021-04-25 08:00 - 17:00 | Online
Our new report, The fundamental problems in the UK-EU trade deal and how it can be reformed, identifies a series of critical failings in Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal and offers a clear an concise roadmap for a better relationship with Europe. The report has been backed by figures from across the progressive political spectrum.

"What is best for Britain?" Relaunch Event
2021-04-26 10:00 - 11:00
As Best for Britain moves from a temporary campaign to a permanent organisation promoting internationalist values and working with the world, we wanted set out what we believe in.
Speakers: Emily Thornberry MP, The Rt Hon. Sir David Lidington, Caroline Lucas MP, and former UK Ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott.
We want Britain to be a trusted, leading and democratic trading ally that pursues multilateralist solutions to global problems. That starts with repairing our relationship with Europe.
We need to be a country that seeks to improve all elements of democracy and pursues meaningful action on climate change. We cannot slip into isolationism and xenophobia.

Europub
2021-04-26 19:00
Discussion among participants on European matters.

Meeting with GLA candidate Richard Hewison of the Rejoin Party
2021-04-27 19:30
Discussion with Richard Hewison, candidate from the Rejoin Party in the GLA elections

The Future of UK-EU Relations
2021-04-28 19:30 - 21:00 | Online
With relations between the UK and the EU seemingly at an all time low, how are we going to repair relationships and re-establish the connections we will need if the UK is going to embark on its journey back to the heart of Europe? At this webinar we hear from two figures who will both have important roles to play in bridging the divide.
Susanne Oberhauser is Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK. German-born Susanne has worked for the European Parliament since 1991 and was appointed to head up the UK office, in Smith Square in London, in 2019 just as the UK was about to exit the EU.
Richard Corbett CBE is an ex-MEP, formerly head of the European Parliamentary Labour Party. Since the UK’s departure from the EU, Richard has maintained his links to the European Parliament, where he is currently Deputy Head of Cabinet for Constitutional and Institutional Affairs. He was also recently appointed to the Common Secretariat of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

UK Trade and Business Commission: Food and Drink trade since 1 January 2021
2021-04-29 10:00 - 12:00 | Online
This session will look at UK food and drink trade, the changes that came into force on January 1, their impact, how this can be mitigated, and the way this may change for better or worse in the future. There will be a particular focus on Northern Ireland, which is being treated as part of the EU in terms of rules covering goods products.
Different products and sizes of exporter are affected in different ways, with potentially different solutions, and therefore we need to seek specific examples wherever possible. The impact of delaying checks on products coming into the UK should also be considered.
Aodhán Connolly, Director Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, will be Chairing the session.
Witnesses

Emily Rees, Senior Fellow at ECIPE and Managing Director at Trade Strategies

Karin Goodburn, Director General of the Chilled Food Association (CFA)

Nick Allen, Chief Executive Officer of the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA)

William Bain, Policy Advisor at the British Retail Consortium
