TWO of Scotland’s “major pro-European campaigns” are merging into one – and they’ve appointed some former top SNP figures to take on key roles.
The European Movement in Scotland (EMiS) is to merge with EU+me, which is currently chaired by former SNP MP Professor Stephen Gethins, in an effort to “step up” campaigning to rejoin the EU “on the 50th anniversary of the UK joining the then European Economic Community in 1973”.
Gethins will join the EMiS executive as a co-opted member in the wake of the merger, the group said in a press release.
David McDonald, the former SNP depute leader of Glasgow City Council, will also join the renewed EMiS as its membership and campaigns co-ordinator.
It comes as the EMiS sees its current chair, former Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz, step aside and David Clarke, a former Bloomberg journalist, take on the role. Clarke’s remit will include growing the membership base.
Gethins, a professor of practice in international relations at the University of St Andrews, said it was the “right time to consolidate the major pro-European campaigns in Scotland”.
The former SNP MP said: "The European Union is one of the great success stories of our times. It has delivered peace, prosperity and stability to its citizens since it was founded. Every state that has joined the EU has seen an improvement in the quality of life of its citizens. The only Member State to have left, the UK, has seen a deterioration of its citizens' quality of life.
"We all know that leaving the EU against our will has had a devastating impact on our economy, on our freedoms, protections and rights. Young people, who have had opportunity snatched away, and small businesses who have seen a dramatic increase in red tape have been particularly badly affected. It is unsurprising that support for rejoining the EU is growing in support whilst backing for remaining isolated outside is evaporating.
"This is the right time to consolidate the major pro-European campaigns in Scotland. Providing focus, scale and momentum.
“EMiS is the obvious point of consolidation and host for that process. EU+me have now formalised the partnership that we have always enjoyed with colleagues in EMiS. We will now be joining forces putting our resources, innovative content and network of relationships fully behind."
Clarke (above), the new EMiS chair, said: “The statistics are becoming clearer by the day, no matter what the Brexit flat-earthers would have us believe – leaving the EU has made us poorer and our lives more difficult.
“As a result, pro-Europeans in Scotland are uniting around the benefits of closer links with our European partners with the eventual aim of rejoining the EU. We are determined to provide a clear and evidence-based path to closer cooperation with Europe and we look forward to working with partners in Scotland and the wider UK to overturn this divisive and disastrous Brexit.”
Polling through 2022 showed a marked move against Brexit among the UK public, with the number of people saying it was a bad idea, and that they would like to rejoin, hitting record highs.
A UK-wide poll for the Independent reported early in 2023 found that two-thirds of Britons now support a referendum on rejoining the EU.
