Actor and Campaigner Kate Willoughby, pictured above, will open the presentations as suffragette Emily Davison, a role she has performed in the House of Commons and other venues in the play she wrote about Emily called “To Freedom’s Cause”.

Hosted by Roger Casale. Other presenters are Glyn Ford, Rafal Skarbek, Joan Pons Laplana, Else Kvist, Dr Michaela Benson and Charlotte Gath.

The Labour Movement for Europe (LME) have invited Labour International to participate in this Zoom workshop to help create a citizens’ rights manifesto for #the5million.

Five million is the total number of EU citizens in the UK plus UK citizens in the EU. The workshop is organised by New Europeans on behalf of Labour Movement for Europe (LME), one of the Labour Party’s affiliated socialist societies.

Labour International members and their friends and family who are concerned about these issues are welcome to attend. All participants will have the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and ideas by joining in the discussions in small groups.

• The host Roger Casale will appear at intervals to explain the format
• Welcome by Glyn Ford on behalf of Labour Movement for Europe
• Introduction by actor Kate Willoughby, in the role of suffragette Emily Davison, to New Europeans’ Citizens Rights Manifesto
• Joan Pons Laplana, a Spanish nurse working on COVID19 frontline in Yorkshire, will call for an EU Green Card.
• Rafal Skarbek, a Polish community worker living in Somerset, will talk about issues around Settled Status
• Else Kvist, a Danish freelance journalist in the UK, will call for voting rights and citizenship for EU citizens.
• Following the presentations participants will be put into zoom break-out rooms/smaller groups to discuss the issues and provide suggestions on the way forward.
• Feedback from the first round of discussions

Round 2

• Presentation by Dr Michaela Benson of her ​research into the effects of Brexit on British citizens living and working in Europe.
• Charlotte Gath, doctor and health professional, will discuss Green card issues for British-European families.
• Followed by the second session of zoom break-out discussions
• Feedback from the second round of discussions
• Summing up

The results will be used to contribute to a citizens rights manifesto for use by the Labour Party, in cooperation with our sister parties in Europe, to call on the UK and EU governments to make commitments to safeguarding the citizens’ rights that are in danger of being lost.

• Kate Willoughby – actor, writer and equality campaigner. Her play, ‘To Freedom’s Cause’ in which she took the lead role as suffragette Emily Davison, was performed in the House of Commons. #EmilyMatters is the ongoing campaign linked to it. Her #CourageCalls project shares a positive story about why all our voices matter.
• Glyn Ford – a political and diplomatic consultant and researcher and former Labour MEP. He is currently a member of Labour’s National Policy Forum. His particular interests are in science and technology policy,  racism and xenophobia, and Japanese and Korean politics.
• Joan Pons Laplana from Barcelona but now in Yorkshire. he is an award-winning nurse and NHS reform campaigner  He became a frontline worker during the Covid-19 crisis.
• Rafal Skarbek – a community worker in Somerset who migrated from Poland as a child. He did a  2,000 km bike ride from Somerset to Santiago de Compostela to raise awareness of the New Europeans Green Card proposal
• Else Kvist, a Danish multi-media freelance journalist and researcher for TV and films. She has lived in the UK for 27 years.
• Dr Michaela Benson – academic researcher and author specialising in migration studies and leader of the BrExpats research project
• Charlotte Gath – NHS campaigner and formerly a GP, medial school tutor and public health consultant.
• Roger Casale – former Labour MP for Wimbledon. founder and CEO of New Europeans. Previous president of Labour International.

Download Courage Calls: A Citizen’s Rights Manifesto for the 5 Million for further information

Make sure to pre-register to attend the workshop

If you have any queries or suggestions contact:
Tim Clapham – LI Regional Coordinator for Europe, Africa and the Middle East
europe-africa-middleeast@labourinternational.net