THE chair of a major campaign to get Scotland back in the EU has pledged to work to make sure the “complete disaster” of Brexit will not be “brushed under the carpet” at the next General Election.
David Clarke, of the European Movement in Scotland (EMiS), said while “everyone knows” the negative impact that leaving the EU has had on the UK, it remains the “elephant in the room” which many are unwilling to admit.
The EMiS announced last week it is stepping up its campaign in 2023, with new hires including David McDonald, the former SNP depute leader of Glasgow City Council, and a merger with EU+me, currently chaired by former SNP MP Professor Stephen Gethins.
A YouGov poll in November found only 32% of people across the UK now believe it was right to leave the EU, while 56% say it was wrong – the widest margin recorded since the 2016 referendum.
The number of Leave voters who think it was wrong for Britain to leave the EU has been steadily increasing since 2021, hitting a record 19% in November, according to the survey.
Clarke, a financial consultant and former journalist, has taken over the role of chair from Mark Lazarowicz, the former Labour MP.
He told the Sunday National: “We are at the point where it is becoming clear in the data that this was a big mistake, that we are losing money, that we are poorer etc as a result of this.
“People can see the evidence in front of them – whether it is in the cost of living, whether it is in queuing at airports.”
He added: “In terms of the practicalities of it, our path is to prepare Scotland for our re-engagement with Europe, to talk to governments here, to reach out to the parties.
“We are campaigning on issues like re-entry into Erasmus and anywhere where we might have the competency in Scotland, in particular, to reinforce those networks.”
The EMiS is campaigning for Scotland to become a full member of the EU again – a step which the SNP say can only be achieved through independence.
But Clarke said the group included all political parties and was “studiously neutral” on whether independence was the best route to achieve rejoining the EU.
He said: “When I took on the role, I was called up by quite a few senior people from the SNP, who were the first to say ‘we have got to make sure this is not seen as some SNP or independence-leaning front’. We are absolutely not that.
“The honest opinion is that there are two ways to get Scotland back into the EU – one of those is by Scotland becoming independent and joining the EU.
“And one of those is through the UK joining the EU again and Scotland remaining a member of the UK.”
Clarke said those with Unionist or pro-independence views did not “leave them at the door”, but recognised the pragmatism of working together.
He added: “They understand we are all in this together on the pro-European side.
“I’ve had views on independence over the years and personally I can see both sides of it.
“I was definitely one of those people that when the European vote came in, was pushed that bit further across to independence.
“And there is definitely a reflection of that, I am sure, in our membership.”
However, Clarke said that he had difficulty understanding the position of committed Unionists who are also “vehemently anti-EU”.
“It is so bizarre because if you are trying to sell the Union of the UK, I would have thought you would sell it on an equal partnership of nations,” he said.
“And if there is one thing that is clear about this whole Brexit process is that – this is not trying to make a political point, this is a factual point – is that the weight of England has ridden roughshod over the view of other nations of the UK.
“So the kind of Unionist who would be pro-European would find that distressing, I think.”
Clarke said the impact of Brexit was in plain sight, but its supporters will do everything they can to “muddy the waters”, by blaming the economic situation on factors such as the war in Ukraine or China.
But he added: “If you put up a trade barrier between yourself and the biggest economic bloc on Earth, the richest economic bloc on Earth and make it more difficult to trade with that bloc, you are going to be poorer.
“However much percentage that we are poorer as a result, that is that many fewer doctors, that many fewer hospitals, that many fewer nurses, that many fewer schools.
“We need to make that point it is there in plain sight for all of us to see and that’s why it should be the centre of that election when it comes – it should and it will be.”
He added: “We will be making sure that politicians – or anybody – does not leave this aside or brush this under the carpet. It has to be discussed.”
