Peter Burke
Chair
Oxford For Europe
10 September 2025
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We have a job to do. Can we do it? YES WE CAN!
As chair of Oxford to Europe I have been working for the past seven years with a dedicated and enthusiastic group of volunteers who all share the mission of bringing the UK back to its rightful place at the heart of Europe. We work together with many like-minded groups around the country under the umbrella of the European Movement (UK) and Grassroots for Europe.
Often at meetings and street stalls we are challenged. People ask us why we carry on when rejoining the European Union seems such a distant ideal, and increasingly so with the rise of far right extremism. Many doubt whether our European friends would ever let us back in, given what a thorn in the flesh the UK has been over the years. Such negative predictions are self fulfilling, and they exemplify why Oxford for Europe exists.
There are dark forces trying to gaslight our allies who voted Remain into believing that the fight is lost, or even that it is somehow unpatriotic to continue it, because Brexit is “the will of the people“ and to question it is to disrespect democracy, even while admitting that its consequences have been catastrophic. Sadly there are many politicians in both of the largest parties who collude with this nonsense. Our first mission is to show it up for what it is, to give our friends hope and to tell them that it is okay to believe in a better future, whatever liars and charlatans like Farage try to tell them.
Our second mission is to appeal to the many people who voted to Leave and who now see that they were voting against their own best interests or the interests of their nearest and dearest, especially their children. We want them to know that we are on their side, we are not saying that they were wrong but rather, as JM Keynes is supposed to have said “when the facts change I change my mind, what do you do?“. We know that we live in a world where even Nigel Farage can tell us that Brexit has failed. We know too that what we are speaking up for is now “the will of the people”. And to join in the narrative that the Europeans would not have us back is tantamount to saying we don’t deserve to be let back in, and that would be to hand victory to those politicians among us who have deliberately turned the UK into an international pariah. We are better than that, and we are capable of showing goodwill.
We in the European Movement are the true advocates of democracy. It may be a long fight but the tide of history is on our side.
If you share our values, join us.
Also: Save the date. We will be hosting Caroline Lucas on 19 November
The views expressed here are the author’s own and not necessarily representative of Oxford for Europe
If you wish to comment on this blog, please email oxfordforeurope@gmail.com
Please look at our previous meetings featuring brilliant speakers – Details and videos here.
See Also:
https://www.facebook.com/OfEcomms
https://www.facebook.com/oxfordstays
Twitter: @Oxfordstays