Fouchet urges Europeans to rally against Brexit

Bordeaux lawyer Julian Fouchet has launched a campaign urging Europeans who don’t want Britain to leave the EU to join in making their voices heard.

Mr Fouchet is also the lead barrister for the Shindler case, started in the belief that the Brexit referendum was illegal as older Britons in Europe were disallowed from voting on an issue which could change their lives. His stance on the case is that the referendum broke EU rules, but no judgement has yet been handed down. His new campaign is at present being aired on Twitter, with its presence on other social media websites planned for the near future, and is reputedly being supported by a number of British politicians.

Fouchet told local English language media he wants his campaign to be seen and understood all over the EU’s 27 states, as he believes the majority of EU citizens don’t understand why the UK is leaving and don’t appreciate that the 2016 referendum was, in effect, illegal for a number of reasons. In the run-up to the vote, he said, the strict ceiling on spending for promotional marketing was breached, and many after-effects of leaving the UK weren’t disclosed. British voters in British overseas territories were excluded from the vote, in addition to the disenfranchisement of expats who’d lived overseas for more than 15 years. In addition, prisoners in UK jails weren’t allowed the vote, even although the European Court of Human Rights had ruled a loss of voting rights should be restricted to prisoners who’d committed serious offences.

Also, he adds, there was definitely foreign influence on social media, as there was with the US presidential election. All, he believes, makes the referendum illegal. He’s due to send out a press release to European media in the hope it will encourage EU citizens who don’t want the UK to leave the bloc to make their views known. In addition, he's hoping,UK expats living, working or retiring in the EU will come forward in support of the cause. Foucher’s plan is to get everyone on board and to organise protests against the dislocation of Europe due to be caused by the UK’s exit. He sees the referendum as a catastrophe not just for the UK but for the EU as a whole as it’s all based on illegality, and he believes his ongoing protests are his right as an EU citizen.