A constant feature of Leeds for Europe’s campaign to rejoin the European Union are the regular street stalls we hold in Leeds city centre. Earlier this September we went a step further and travelled with the stall to Leeds’ twin city of Lille, in France, to take part in the Grande Braderie de Lille.
‘Grande Braderie’
On the first weekend in September Leeds twin city Lille, in northern France, holds its Grande Braderie, when a large portion of the city becomes the largest flea/street market in Europe. Many roads are closed to allow for 100 kilometres of aisles and some 10,000 stall holders, many of whom are ordinary citizens selling their unwanted belongings outside their houses. The Braderie dates to the 12th century and attracts between two and three million visitors every year.
There are other attractions beside the market. The Port de Paris, opposite the Lille Town Hall, is given over to political “associations” to promote their causes, engage with citizens, and generally advertise what they do. That is where Leeds for Europe pitched our special street stall.
We first became aware of the Braderie and the opportunity to take part from the work we had been doing to try to promote closer ties with Leeds’ twin cities, Dortmund and Lille. The pan-European political party Volt Europa put us in touch with their Lille branch Volt Lille who invited us to have a stall next to them at this year’s event, an invitation we were delighted to accept.
Europeans’ views on Brexit
We felt this was an excellent opportunity to engage with Europeans and try to understand their views on Brexit, the EU, and whether they would welcome the UK back to the EU, although we were aware that we might not get the answers we were looking for.
Our group of six Leeds for Europe members who made the trip (all funded out of our own pockets) had an early opportunity to gauge the views of a group of young Volt members when we met part of their team who would be manning the Volt Lille stall at a café in Lille the night before the Braderie.
The group was made up of young people from Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands and it was wonderful to talk to them about Europe, their enthusiasm for the EU project and their wish to see the UK rejoin the Union. If you are wondering where the French representative was, Sven Frank, Volt Lille’s president and vice president of Volt France, is a German who has lived in Lille for 16 years. Freedom of movement in action.
The following morning, we were in place at our pitch on the Porte de Paris at 8.00am, before the road closures took effect. We were equipped with leaflets in English and French explaining who we are and what we do, Leeds for Europe badges, stickers, wrist bands, National Rejoin March leaflets and badges, and most importantly our Brexitometer.
Introducing the ‘Brexitometer’
If you have not come across a Brexitometer before, it is a vox pop questionnaire with 4/5 questions on a board where people are invited to answer by putting a dot sticker under Yes, No, or Don’t Know, or in this case Oui, Non, or Ne Sais Pas (NSP).
Our questions:
- Was Brexit a good idea?
- Does being a member of the EU bring advantages to France?
- Would you welcome the UK back into the EU?
- After Brexit, is it less likely you would visit the UK?
- Was Brexit bad for the EU?
Once set up we nervously waited to see what was going to happen and how we would be received. We needn’t have worried: throughout the day we had a steady stream of visitors, ordinary citizens from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany right through to local and European politicians.
Feedback on Brexit
We spoke to teachers who were devastated that it was now almost impossible to bring groups of school children to the UK.
We spoke to Rudi, a Belgian who sells high-end antiques in the UK through the well-known auction houses. He used to bring his antiques over to the UK himself but had to stop because of the difficulties Brexit created. Recently he had some unsold items and had to pay £2,000 to have them returned to Belgium. Rudi is seriously considering not selling his antiques in the UK now. He was just one of several traders from both sides of the channel we spoke to who are finding it virtually impossible to trade with the UK post Brexit.
A French woman married to an Englishman who worked in London felt unwelcome and thought the general atmosphere toxic in the UK after the referendum, so moved back to Lille. Her husband is still finding it difficult to get a job in Lille.
Eurostar stops at Lille, and we spoke to a number of people from the city who used to jump on the train and spend the day or weekend in London. Post Brexit they don’t bother.
Not everyone agrees on welcoming the UK back to the EU
One young man from Germany told us that he would support the UK rejoining the EU, but not the UK that left. As he put it, we must be full members and not keep trying to “f**k the EU up”.
Many people told us that they thought “everybody” had voted to leave the EU. Some were incredulous that the UK took such a step on a 52% majority.
However, it is fair to say support for the EU amongst the people we spoke to was not unanimous. We spoke to a woman who even used the word “Frexit” because she wanted France to leave the EU, and not everybody was enthusiastic about the UK rejoining. But the overwhelming message we were given was that ordinary people regret Brexit and would welcome the UK back.
It was not only the ordinary citizens who spoke to us. On Saturday we were visited by Lille City Council deputies Marie-Pierre Bresson, Jerome Pianezza (who has special responsibility for Lille’s international relations), and Deputy Mayor Audrey Linkenheld. The Green Party mayoral candidate Stephane Baly visited the stall on both Saturday and Sunday and Lille MEP Karima Delli spent some time talking to us. All of them welcomed our presence and expressed their regret over Brexit and their hope that the UK will rejoin the EU as soon as is possible.
An encouraging response
By the time it we had to pack up on Sunday evening we were exhausted but encouraged at the reaction we had enjoyed. Brexiters claim EU citizens don’t like the UK and wouldn’t have us back, but our experience, after actually speaking to people, is that this just isn’t true. At times it was quite overwhelming the enthusiasm our visitors showed. The comment that will live with me was from a Belgian English teacher from Ypres/Iepers, referring to the number of Great War cemeteries in the area she grew up in: “You must come back. Iepers IS Britain”.
