Greens Support Oxford March for Europe

Oxfordshire Green Party will be supporting the Oxford March for Europe, being held on Saturday 3rd September at 11.00am, starting at Bonn Square and marching to Broad Street.

This demonstration is being organised by the Oxford Stays campaign. The Oxford March for Europe will occur at the same time as demonstrations in London, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh and other cities. Two days later, parliament will reconvene and debate the Brexit process.

Dr Hazel Dawe, Chair of Oxfordshire Green Party's European Campaign Committee, comments:

We should all be concerned by media reports that the Prime Minister Theresa May could trigger Article 50, beginning the process of withdrawal of the UK from the EU, with no reference to Parliament. Our MPs need to be confident that good, lasting agreements to secure the interests of the UK are within our grasp before committing to a two year timetable to withdraw from the EU. Many important employment rights, consumer rights and environmental regulations have come to us from Europe. We want our government to retain those rights as part of the laws of our country.

She adds: "Oxfordshire Green Party recognises that the status of EU citizens here in Oxfordshire remains unclear after the LEAVE vote. It remains vital, as many business organisations have indicated, that we have access to the labour force of the EU to attempt to deal with our skills shortages."

Hazel Dawe also notes:

Oxfordshire Green Party's European Campaign Committee will continue to operate for as long as necessary to support action in the UK's interest in relation to the EU. We will also support initiatives to challenge the rise of racism which has followed after the LEAVE vote, and Government efforts to abolish the Human Rights Act and other protections of citizen's rights in the UK.