British students protest Brexit as threat to their futures in Europe

Student leaders representing 100,000 of their peers studying in North East universities are urging a referendum on the final Brexit deal in order to protect their rights to study and work in Europe.

Elected student leaders from the Universities of Teeside, Northumbria and Durham are calling for a nationwide second referendum as a people’s vote on the final Brexit deal. The move is part of a nationwide campaign being backed by over a hundred student leaders representing 60 student unions with a total of almost a million members across the entire UK. Student leaders believe the world has changed since 2016, and promises made during the referendum have either been broken or haven’t been acted on.

The ramifications of Brexit as it now stands are expected to be very damaging to academia, whether at the student level or in essential research centres financially supported by the EU. In addition, students planning to study for a masters’ degree at a European university fear they may not be accepted, and others wishing to become entrepreneurs in Europe may be stymied once freedom of movement is ended. In addition, many students fear the effect of Brexit on the UK economy may spoil their chances of getting the right job.

Campaign for our Futures co-director Amanda Cowieson told reporters students are now well past the point of total frustration with the British government’s failure to achieve any success in the Brexit negotiations. The Labour Party’s lack of commitment to an anti-Brexit position is also causing anger amongst student groups. The North East is one of several regions with the most to lose post-Brexit, with its young people now demanding a say in their own futures.

Campaign leaders all believe Brexit is a huge threat to future generations, and it’s not what young people in the country want. All the individual university groups are at one in calling for a People’s Vote on the actual terms of the deal as, if it was rejected, the 2016 result would also be nullified. In a letter to parliament, the groups state their belief that the EU has acted as a force for good, both for society at large and for the ability to work, travel and study freely, all of which are valued highly by the present generation of university students.