Hertsmere for Europe

25/09/2021

26/08/2020

We really appreciate all the interest there has been in this group. For practical reasons, we are joining forces with the marvellous St Albans for Europe, one of the most successful pro-Europe campaign groups in the country. We would like to suggest that everyone interested in staying in touch with pro-EU campaigning asks to join the very active St Albans For Europe Members Group. If you go to their page and click the Join button, that will send a request to their page administrator. Thank you all very much for your interest and support :-)

09/06/2020

The British government is currently in negotiations with the EU to put together a deal for Britain's future relationship with the EU (covering trade, medicines, aviation, fishing and many other vital areas). Press reports suggest negotiations are not progressing fast enough to have a reasonable deal negotiated by the end of 2020. The British government has until 1st July to request an extension to the transition period, which will allow negotiations to continue for a further 12 to 24 months. The EU will grant an extension if Britain asks for it, but the government is showing no sign of doing so. While we understand the coronavirus crisis is rightly everyone's top priority at the moment, the government must give themselves time to negotiate a reasonable deal with the EU. PLEASE email or write to our MP, Oliver Dowden, to ask him to push for an extension to the transition period. His email address is: [email protected] and his postal address is: Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP, House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA

27/01/2020

Opinion is split on the Treasury's decision to release three million commemorative Brexit 50p coins into circulation on January 31st.

24/01/2020

Let our friends in the EU know we'll be back one day

16/01/2020

On 31 January we leave Europe but, fear not, our connections are deep and lasting

16/01/2020

Please donate - let's raise £500,000 for something that really matters!

Helen is raising money to help The Trussell Trust

15/12/2019

Let’s be honest – this election result hurts. Tears have been shed – not because we lost, but because we fear for the future. We don’t know what Boris Johnson and his party are going to do now. He has said so many contradictory things, that no-one has any idea what he will do next, apart from take the United Kingdom out of the European Union within the next few weeks. He has lied and cheated over and over again. We doubt very much that he cares for the poor, the sick and the vulnerable. These are things that we cannot change. However, we should all be proud of what we have achieved. We campaigned for the truth and to benefit everyone in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU. We offer our gratitude and respect to everyone who campaigned, everyone who told the truth and everyone who had the courage to change their minds. We especially want to thank our fabulous friends in St Albans for Europe, who helped us so much. We also thank everyone who voted on Thursday – we know you voted in good faith and in the genuine belief that you were doing your best for your country. We also note that more votes were cast for Remain-supporting parties (if Labour is included) than for Brexit-supporting parties, but our electoral system doesn’t reflect that in the MPs that it chooses. What do we do now? It will take time to work this out, but here are some first thoughts. Despite our frustration, we are not going to be Remoaners. We accept the result and we are going to be polite and constructive, particularly in public and on social media. We are also going to look for opportunities to support those who are directly affected by the UK leaving the EU, by the probable continuation of austerity and by climate change. We want a better UK and a fairer world and we are going to work at helping that to happen.

11/12/2019

Today, the Guardian published an article with links to information about every candidate in every constituency. Here are the links for Hertsmere. We hope they are useful: Stephen James Barrett (LibDem)
https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/person/55864/?utm_source=guardian&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=GE2019 Oliver Dowden (Con) https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/person/4796/?utm_source=guardian&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=GE2019 John Humphries (Green) https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/person/72000/?utm_source=guardian&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=GE2019 Holly Kal-Weiss (Labour) https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/person/71840/?utm_source=guardian&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=GE2019

Stephen Barrett is the Liberal Democrats candidate in the constituency of Hertsmere in the UK Parliament elections. Get the latest information on this candidate at Who Can I Vote For?

09/12/2019

The constituency of Hertsmere had a Conservative majority of 16,951 at the 2017 election. Our MP, Oliver Dowden, has never voted against the government, even on issues like Brexit and climate change, where conscience should matter more than policy. While many of us would prefer an MP with a more active conscience, we are very unlikely to overturn such a large majority, even with tactical voting. However, it’s worth considering the issues that matter most and voting accordingly. For us as a group, our top issues (in no particular order) are: Brexit, anti-semitism, austerity and climate change. These are all huge issues, and there is no major party with an unblemished record on all of them. Every vote sends a message – even if it may seem like a small and possibly ambiguous message. Please consider what message you want to send with your vote. And above all, please vote! However frustrating politics is at the moment, we should still all vote, if only to protect ourselves from despair by making a gesture of defiance. (And, yes, spoilt ballot papers with STOP BREXIT written on them have been done 🙂.) And, whatever the election result and its implications for Brexit and everything else, we hope you all have a safe and happy Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year. With best wishes from Hertsmere for Europe.