Campaigners from the Bath for Europe group are travelling to Brussels this week to meet with senior politicians and officials from both the European Parliament and European Commission.
The aim of the visit, by the Bath for Europe and Bristol for Europe groups, is to raise awareness of grassroots campaigning in the UK for the Remain cause, and help ensure Brussels politicians recognise that the views of a large proportion of the electorate are being ignored whilst the government pursues a hard Brexit agenda.
Both the Bath and Bristol groups have been extremely active in organising street stalls, rallies and demonstrations, leafleting, media activities and speaker events in the South West region.
They are keen to impress on the Brussels politicians how there is a co-ordinated network of Remain groups working tirelessly across the country to avert the disastrous political and economic consequences of Brexit.
With opinion polls now showing a swing towards the Remain cause, the campaigners also want to feed back the messages of anger, fear and frustration they are hearing from people in the street, many of whom believe that neither the government nor the opposition are prepared to listen to objections about the way in which the Brexit process is being handled.
There is also concern that many media outlets are not accurately portraying the Remain campaign.
The group has scheduled meetings with a number of MEPs and key figures, and aims to discuss a wide range of topics including the Irish border, trade, citizens’ rights, aviation, security and defence.
The group will also appeal for support, ideas and messages for its campaign activities in the UK.
The visit will take place between Monday 19th and Wednesday 21st March. As well as meeting with MEPs and other officials, the group will have specially organised tours of the European Parliament and the Commission.