Edge Hill Speech: EU Nationals' Belongingness and Mobilisation in the post-

Brexit Era: Implications for policy and advocacy

When the UK held the European Union Membership referendum in 2016,

people did not know, beyond reasonable doubt, what they were voting on.

That is true of both the leave and remain campaigns.

 Lies about £350 million to NHS, how we would make Britain great again.

 No-deal wasn’t seriously mentioned and people thought we would get

some amazing deal.

 David Cameron didn’t try hard enough to fight for reform and should have

tried to work with other countries who wanted reform.

 Now, just over 3 years and 4 months on from the day our country voted

to leave, the UK is still a member of the European Union and we still do

not know the implications of what voting to leave means for our country.

Amidst this cloud of uncertainty, the current government still seem

determined to try to push through Brexit

 Delivering a damaging, harmful Brexit for citizens of the UK and the EU

and not a lot else.

 Look at the amount of money flushed in to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

In August the Chancellor announced £2.1 billion to be spent in

preparations for a no-deal Brexit. A no-deal Brexit that would cause

untold problems and issues throughout the UK. Now know that no-deal is

an unlikely possibility and should never have been something we

prepared for.

 Money wasted on the infamous Brexit countdown adverts seen across the

UK. Cost the taxpayer £100 million. Another £100 million of misspent

public money.

 Waste of money spent on the commemorative 50p coins minted to mark

Brexit on 31 October which will now be melted down. A spokesman for

the Treasury said the U.K. will still produce a coin to mark its departure

from the EU - whenever that takes place.

 This is all pointless expenditure and a complete waste of time. Think

where this money could and should have been spent. Think how it could

have been spent to assure rights for EU workers in the UK by speeding up

processes to get them settled status.

Focus of all politicians should, like it is with my colleagues in the European

Parliament, be on properly securing EU citizens’ rights.

 How can we gamble with the lives of the 3.4 million EU citizens who live

in the UK when they provide such a strong backbone to our nation. They

provide an important, unrivalled service that would be a huge loss.

 Example from my background in my previous job, look at the NHS.

- The number of NHS staff from EU member states dropped from 11% in

June 2016 to just 5.5% this year. This figure includes 9% of doctors and

16% of dentists.

- Trend is particularly concerning in the area of nursing and midwifery.

The number of nurses and midwives from the European Economic Area

(EEA) joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register fell by 91% from

2015/16 to 2017/18.

- There are 33 NHS trusts where over 10% of staff are estimated to be

nationals of other EU countries

 Highlights just how important our cross border working is and without

these vital members of staff, service standards are bound to drop and

leave the country at higher risk. For example in the UK, shortage of NHS

staff is linked to 115,000 delayed cancer diagnoses causing unnecessary

loss of life.
  Problems with the settled status scheme and process.

 The rights and status of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens living in the UK will

remain the same until 30 June 2021, if the UK leaves the EU with a deal.

 If you apply to the EU Settlement Scheme successfully, you’ll be able to

continue living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021.

 A total of 1,860,200 applications were made to the Government's EU

Settlement Scheme by September 30. Still less than the 3 million,

worrying that either people do not know about it or they haven’t

bothered to apply as don’t want to be in the UK.

 People need to be told more about it and the assurances settled status

provides.

What have I done as an MEP

 Hosted meetings in the European Parliament with my Lib Dem colleagues

talking to both British in Europe and the 3 million, discussing their

concerns and offering support in their fight to ensure rights for all citizens

in Europe. Through this we hosted Lib Dem events at conference with

Jeremy Morgan from Britains in Europe being part of the fringe event

discussing the situation of many in Europe and raising awareness of the

problems faced by British in Europe and Europeans in the UK.

 In my role as MEP I am a member on the Employment and Social Affairs

committee. I represent my political group on a legislative report called the

European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

When a company goes out of business and results in a large number of

redundancies, the Member State can apply for funds in order to help

retrain and upskill with the objective that these redundant workers will

find new jobs as quickly as possible.

 In my role on EMPL in the future I will fight for the rights of EU workers in

the UK to be able to keep their jobs and find jobs easily. Fundamental that

after Brexit we still provide opportunities for others as we can learn so

much and overcome so much by working with our neighbours.

 Outside of the parliament taken part in various events, including speaking

with various influential figures at various events including an event in