Open Britain is a British pro-
European Union campaign group set up in the
aftermath of the 2016 European Union referendum.
Background
Following the referendum, the official remain group in the
2016 EU referendum
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
,
Britain Stronger in Europe, changed its name on 25 August 2016 to Open Britain.
Open Britain defines itself as campaigning for the United Kingdom to be open and inclusive, open for business, open to trade and investment, open to talent and hard work, open to Europe and to the world. It is originally campaigned for Britain to remain in the Single Market as part of the outcome of the
Brexit negotiations
Between 2017 and 2019, representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union negotiated the terms for Brexit, the planned withdrawal of the UK from the EU. These negotiations arose following the decision of the Parliament of the United ...
.
In October 2016, Open Britain launched a 'Write to Remain' letter-writing campaign directed at
Theresa May asking her to guarantee the right of EU nationals to stay in the UK.
The individuals involved in the campaign group include former Ministers
Pat McFadden
Patrick Bosco McFadden (born 26 March 1965) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since ...
(Labour) and
Norman Lamb
Sir Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee ...
(Liberal Democrat). Conservatives
Anna Soubry,
Nicky Morgan, and
Dominic Grieve cut their ties with Open Britain in April 2017 after it began to campaign against the re-election of anti-EU members of parliament, mostly Conservatives.
Open Britain continues to campaign in collaboration with other major pro-European campaign groups such as Britain for Europe and
European Movement UK. It launched and promotes
People's Vote in April 2018 to campaign for a
second referendum.
In October 2019, shortly before the
2019 general election, CEO James McGrory was forced out
of
People's Vote and Open Britain. Almost all the directors resigned. As the lead organisation behind the People's Vote campaign, this led to a
major staff walk out in protest at Roland Rudd's, the Chairperson's, actions.
Stop the Rot
In 2022 Open Britain began a campaign called 'Stop The Rot' promising "Enough is Enough - Johnson Must Go Join the #StopTheRot Summer of Action".. The campaign to remove
Boris Johnson was backed by 'Fairvote UK' and 'Let's Take Back Control Ltd' run by campaigner Kyle Gregory Taylor a former candidate for the
Advance Together party in the 2019 general election.
Further reading
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References
External links
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2016 establishments in England
2016 establishments in the United Kingdom
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
Brexit–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
Consequences of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
European Union–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
International liberal organizations
Lobbying organisations in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in the City of Westminster
Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
Political organisations based in London
Pro-Europeanism in the United Kingdom
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