Briefings for Brexit becomes Briefings for Britain
BriefingsforBritain (originally BriefingsforBrexit) was founded in response to a widespread media view that all sensible and informed people opposed Brexit. We knew that this was simply not true and viewed it as divisive and tending to undermine democratic legitimacy. Our original aim was thus to provide a platform for informed analysis and for the expression of opinion which believed that the future welfare of Britain and Europe require that the choice made in the Referendum should be fully and positively carried out.
Most of the founders of this initiative voted for the UK to leave the EU. Our reasons for doing were not identical and we came from different parts of the political spectrum. However, what brought us together was a firm conviction that Brexit was about reasserting popular control over decision-making in the United Kingdom. We did not think control is a fantasy or a dream. Nor did we think it is worth sacrificing in exchange for EU membership. We believed and still believe in the sovereignty of the people, independent of supra-national bodies, including the EU. After a considerable amount of economic analysis we also felt, and still feel, that leaving the EU will not be economically damaging, even though a degree of short-term disruption was anticipated.
The decision to leave the EU has been confirmed by a succession of popular votes, and is now law. Democracy has been upheld, the legitimacy of our system of government has been restored, and our independence as a nation reaffirmed. However, the struggle was far longer and far more difficult than any of us could have imagined, and it became obvious that much of the media, academia and parliament regret Brexit and will campaign to undo it. This includes persistent flawed attempts to demonstrate that Brexit is damaging the UK economy. For this reason, we have continued the website, under its new name Briefings for Britain, to provide factual evidence and reasoned arguments. We believe that the people of Britain are fully capable of assessing information which is explained clearly and simply, and the spirit of this platform is to encourage debate and discussion.
We are concerned that the UK should develop outside the EU as a united, sovereign and prosperous country. Although we welcome a range of articles on aspects of life in post-Brexit Britain our central focuses are on the economy, on maintaining the Union and on the quality of our democracy. Because Brexit will not be complete while Northern Ireland remains a semi-detached part of the UK, governed partly undemocratically under the NI Protocol, attempts to reform the Protocol are a particular concern.
We are an independent group whose small operating costs are met by public donations. We are not beholden to major donors and have a small advisory group to make strategic decisions. The joint editors Dr Graham Gudgin and Professor Robert Tombs, both at Cambridge University take day to day decisions on what is posted on the website and occasionally post articles themselves, The site’s weekly Newsletter is edited by postgraduate students at the university.