Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium since 2009. He was the Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008 and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from 1985 to 1992. He was a Member of the Chamber of Representatives from 1985 to 2009.
Scottish independence is the political movement for Scotland to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
Richard Graham Corbett CBE is a former British politician who served as the final Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), from 2017 to 2020. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Merseyside West from 1996 to 1999 and then for Yorkshire and the Humber from 1999 to 2009, when he lost his seat, and again from 2014 to 2020. He attended Shadow Cabinet meetings and was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee.
Young European Federalists is a political youth organisation. Active in most European countries, it seeks to promote European integration through the strengthening and democratisation of the European Union (EU). JEF has close ties to the European Movement and the Union of European Federalists and is a full member of the European Youth Forum (YFJ).
Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom is a continuum of belief ranging from the opposition to certain political policies of the European Union to the complete opposition to the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union. It has been a significant element in the politics of the United Kingdom (UK). A Eurobarometer survey of EU citizens in 2009 showed that support for membership of the EU was lowest in the United Kingdom, alongside Latvia and Hungary.
Nicolas Bay is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. He has served as General Secretary of the National Rally since November 2014 and a Regional Councillor for Normandy since January 2016. He served as a Municipal Councillor for Elbeuf from 2014 to 2015.
Hope not Hate is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-partisan, non-sectarian organisation." The group was founded in 2004 by Nick Lowles, a former editor of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight. It is backed by various politicians and celebrities, and it has also been backed by several trade unions.
The anti-austerity movement in the United Kingdom saw major demonstrations throughout 2010s in response to Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government's austerity measures which saw significant reductions in local council budgets, increasing of university tuition fees and reduction of public spending on welfare, education, health and policing, among others. Anti-austerity protests became a prominent part of popular demonstrations across the 2010s, particularly the first half of the decade.
Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The UK is the first and so far only sovereign country to have left the EU, after 47 years of having been a member state of the bloc — the EU and its predecessor the European Communities (EC) including the European Economic Community — since 1 January 1973. Under the terms of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, Northern Ireland continues to participate in the European Single Market in relation to goods, and to be a de facto member of the EU Customs Union.
Bpoplive was a planned music festival and political rally in support of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union ("Brexit"), supported by the pressure group Leave.EU and scheduled to be held on 19 June 2016 at Genting Arena, Birmingham. The proposed line-up for the event was changed several times, as artists pulled out complaining that they had not been told that it was a political event. The original plan was for three events to be held in the run-up to the EU membership referendum, but the concert, which was to be held on 8 May 2016, was cancelled when all of the line-up except Phats and Small pulled out.
After the British EU membership referendum held on 23 June 2016, in which a majority voted to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom experienced political and economic upsets, with spillover effects across the rest of the European Union and the wider world. Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for Remain, announced his resignation on 24 June, triggering a Conservative leadership election, won by Home Secretary Theresa May. Following Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn's loss of a motion of no confidence among the Parliamentary Labour Party, he also faced a leadership challenge, which he won. Nigel Farage stepped down from leadership of the pro-Leave party UKIP in July. After the elected party leader resigned, Farage then became the party's interim leader on 5 October until Paul Nuttall was elected leader on 28 November.
The result in favour of Brexit of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum is one of the most significant political events for Britain during the 21st century. The debate provoked major consideration to an array of topics, argued up-to, and beyond, the referendum on 23 June 2016. Factors including sovereignty, immigration, the economy and anti-establishment politics, amongst various other influences. The result of the non-legally binding referendum was that 51.8% of the votes were in favour of leaving the European Union. The formal withdrawal from the EU took place at 23:00 on 30 January 2020, almost three years after Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on 29 March 2017. This page provides an overarching analysis of the different arguments which were presented by both the Leave and Remain campaigns.
The Football Lads Alliance (FLA) is a right-wing movement in the United Kingdom founded by John Meighan in 2017. According to The Times, "the movement was set up as a self-proclaimed 'anti-extremist' movement" but has increasingly become associated with far-right politics and far-right activists.
Leave Means Leave was a pro-Brexit, Eurosceptic political pressure group organisation that campaigned and lobbied for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union following the 'Leave' result of the EU referendum on 23 June 2016. The campaign was co-chaired by British property entrepreneur Richard Tice and business consultant John Longworth. The vice-chairman was Leader of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage.
Since the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum, a number of demonstrations have taken place and organisations formed whose goal has been to oppose, reverse or otherwise impede that decision.
People's Vote was a United Kingdom campaign group that unsuccessfully campaigned for a second referendum following the UK's Brexit vote to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. The group was launched in April 2018 at which four Members of Parliament spoke, along with the actor Patrick Stewart and other public figures.
Our Future Our Choice (OFOC) was a British pro-European Union advocacy group for young people.
For our Future's Sake (FFS) was a student-led pressure group supporting a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement. It represented at least 60 Students’ Unions, and 980,000 students, across the UK.
Steven Bray is a British activist from Port Talbot in South Wales, who in 2018 and 2019 made daily protests against Brexit in College Green, Westminster. He is variously known as Stop Brexit Man, Mr Stop Brexit or the Stop Brexit guy. He was often heard during TV broadcasts from College Green at Westminster shouting anti-Brexit statements or seen quietly walking into the background of live TV interviews, wearing a colourful blue outfit and carrying placards with a simple 'Stop Brexit' or anti-government message.
Another Europe is Possible is a civil society organisation based in the United Kingdom which was founded in February 2016 to campaign for the 'Remain' option during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, while also advocating for internal reform of the EU. The group describes itself as advocating a "Remain position in the EU referendum from a specifically left, progressive perspective" and came together to work "across party political lines to campaign for democracy, human rights, and social justice". It states that the EU requires "radical and far-reaching reform, breaking with austerity economics and pioneering a radically new development strategy". The group gained attention as a high-profile protest organising platform during the 2019 British prorogation controversy.
