Formal Apology to the EU for David Cameron's Statement about Immigration
Formal Apology to the EU for David Cameron's Statement about Immigration
The Issue
On Tuesday 28 June 2016, David Cameron told the UK's European partners, they must compromise their position on the free movement of persons between member States. He said that the UK must have "more control". He blamed Brexit on the EU.
We regret the words of the Prime Minister. We are especially sorry for the misunderstanding that they represent.
We appreciate that the United Kingdom has full control of its borders. We appreciate that it opted out of the Schengen Agreement in 1995. We appreciate, this means that it retains full power to conduct passport, security and immigration checks on any person travelling across its borders with the rest of the EU. We appreciate, this grants the United Kingdom an already special status, shared only by the Republic of Ireland. We appreciate, not even the four non-EU members of the EFTA (Switzerland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland), are in this special position.
We also appreciate that the United Kingdom has enjoyed this special status at the expense of its European partners. Calais' refugee camps are a distressing testament to this. We appreciate that people fleeing the horror of terrorism and war, who have entered the EU via Greece, have access to open borders throughout the European Union and the EFTA, except the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Most importantly of all, we appreciate that the free movement of persons is a core value of the European Union. We wish to reassure you, it is a value that we share. Many people in the United Kingdom have built their lives upon the foundation of free movement of persons between European States. Thousands of British-European children would never have been born, were it not for this value. The cohesion of the lives of thousands of British and European families depends upon its preservation.
We appreciate, Brexit is not a result of the values of the European Union - it is a threat to them.
The challenges confronting the United Kingdom - challenges of education, health care and housing - are the responsibility of its Government to address. They are not the fault of the EU, or of migrants, wherever they are from.
The Issue
On Tuesday 28 June 2016, David Cameron told the UK's European partners, they must compromise their position on the free movement of persons between member States. He said that the UK must have "more control". He blamed Brexit on the EU.
We regret the words of the Prime Minister. We are especially sorry for the misunderstanding that they represent.
We appreciate that the United Kingdom has full control of its borders. We appreciate that it opted out of the Schengen Agreement in 1995. We appreciate, this means that it retains full power to conduct passport, security and immigration checks on any person travelling across its borders with the rest of the EU. We appreciate, this grants the United Kingdom an already special status, shared only by the Republic of Ireland. We appreciate, not even the four non-EU members of the EFTA (Switzerland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland), are in this special position.
We also appreciate that the United Kingdom has enjoyed this special status at the expense of its European partners. Calais' refugee camps are a distressing testament to this. We appreciate that people fleeing the horror of terrorism and war, who have entered the EU via Greece, have access to open borders throughout the European Union and the EFTA, except the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Most importantly of all, we appreciate that the free movement of persons is a core value of the European Union. We wish to reassure you, it is a value that we share. Many people in the United Kingdom have built their lives upon the foundation of free movement of persons between European States. Thousands of British-European children would never have been born, were it not for this value. The cohesion of the lives of thousands of British and European families depends upon its preservation.
We appreciate, Brexit is not a result of the values of the European Union - it is a threat to them.
The challenges confronting the United Kingdom - challenges of education, health care and housing - are the responsibility of its Government to address. They are not the fault of the EU, or of migrants, wherever they are from.
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Petition created on 29 June 2016