On the day the House of Lords is starting discussing the Act that gives Prime Minister Theresa May the power to invoke article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (Brexit), protests have been organised all over the UK by European and non-European citizens worried about their status once the divorce from the European Union comes through. This 20th February 2017 has been nicknamed “One day without us”, a day of national marches to celebrate migrants’ contribution to the UK, to coincide with the UN World Day of Social Justice. One thousand European citizens will meet in Westminster, where they will be received by 50 MEPs to whom they will ask to fight to protect their right to stay in the UK after Brexit. Universities, trade unions and art galleries, such as the Tate and Tate Modern, will support the rallies along with the “New Europeans” organisation, that has three million members. Shops and businesses will close to highlight the importance of migrants’ contribution to the country’s economy. Early in the afternoon, the protesters will gather in the squares and in the parks and will link arms in sympathy with the European citizens whose rights will be suspended during the Brexit negotiations.
What is certain is that the Lords, non elected MEPs, will not stop the Act that kick-starts the Brexit process but could force the MEPs to revise it. Today and tomorrow, the peers of the Kingdom will discuss the principles of the Act, while next week the Act will be voted on by the committees. The Government, which promised to start the Brexit negotiations by the end of March, does not have the majority at the House of Lords, where 191 members will speak and will propose a long list of amendments. “I will support all the amendments that protect the right of the European citizens who are residents of the UK to stay in this country when the Brexit process is over”, Lord Alton, the most influential Catholic politician in the UK, said to SIR: “Many Europeans have given a phenomenal contribution to our country and we would be infinitely poorer without them”. Great Britain would have wanted the rights of resident European citizens and the rights of British citizens in other European countries to be protected before starting the Brexit negotiations, but the European Union asked for the issue to be covered by the negotiations, which will start in late March.