Veterans for Britain is a pro-
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...
organisation opposing British involvement in the
Common Security and Defence Policy
The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
The CSDP involves the dep ...
of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
(EU).
Formation
It was formed in 2016 in the context of the
referendum of that year on the United Kingdom's membership of the EU. It has had links to the
Vote Leave campaigning organisation from which it received a donation.
Veterans for Britain was set up “to put forward the Defence and Security arguments for the UK to vote to leave the European Union”.
Membership
Veterans for Britain has attracted the support of senior figures with a military background.
Supporters listed on its website have included
Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, retired
Chief of the Defence Staff.
Policies
Veterans for Britain takes the view that it retains an important role after the membership referendum.
The organisation is pro-
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
and opposed to UK involvement in the EU's new political initiatives in defence, on which it attempts to raise awareness. It is opposed to UK involvement in EU policies on
defence procurement, which they say work against the notion of cross-border access to defence contracts and instead create a protectionist EU market for defence, expanding the regulatory and financial role of the EU in defence industry and procurement, while tying both of those to the EU's expanding military policy.
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Veterans for Britain has also become involved in controversies regarding prosecution of veterans for crimes committed when they were serving in the armed forces. It has appointed
Hilary Meredith, a solicitor known for her work on behalf of armed forces personnel, to its board.
References
External links
official website{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2019
Brexit–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom