EUROPEAN Parliament chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt has thrown his weight behind a campaign by a group of charities to have the voices of young Scots heard in the EU talks.
Yesterday, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland Bruce Adamson, along with charities Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), and Children in Scotland, met in Westminster with parliamentarians and counterparts from other organisations across the UK, at the launch of a campaign to stop children being excluded from the Brexit dialogue.
They called on the UK Government to keep children involved and informed in discussions around Brexit, to understand that children and young people are disproportionately affected, and to give children’s views a platform.
READ MORE: Anger as Defence Secretary Michael Fallon says UK arms sales could grow after Brexit
Speaking to The National from Brussels, Verhofstadt gave the campaigners his backing:
“As parliamentarians, we all have a duty to represent the views of everyone in society, in particular the young people and children who will deal with the far reaching consequences of Brexit,” he said. “For me, it’s important that young British Europeans will be able to continue to take part in exchange programmes with schools and universities on the continent after Brexit.”
Bruce Adamson, said the meeting had been successful. “It highlighted that there’s a long way to go and some real challenges ahead,” he said. “It’s a really concerning and scary time right now, particularly for EU national children.
“We spoke a lot about that. We spoke a lot about child protection and safeguarding.
“The way that’s done across in terms of child trafficking, in terms of sharing information, and Europol. Those are all based within EU agreements, and there are some concerns about how we make sure child protection continues to work.”
Adamson added: “If you’re under 18, you didn’t get to vote in this, yet you could be affected by it most. So it’s important we get children and young people involved in this.
“There’s a real urgency now. Things are progressing quite quickly and we’re only just starting these conversations.”
Adamson says he plans to hold a similar Scottish meeting soon.
An Ipsos Mori poll of 2000 young people for the British Council, said many feel “angry and emotional” about last year’s vote to leave the EU.
Of those polled, six in 10 said they would vote to remain if another referendum was held now.
The report said: “While there are certainly those who see leaving the EU as a great opportunity, many participants in our focus groups were worried about impacts on their lives, prospects and future plans.
“This included constraining opportunities to work and study in other countries.
“Furthermore, there was some concern that, internationally, the UK will be seen as a country looking inwards at a time when global co-operation has never been more important.”
Ian Wybron, who worked on the poll and the report said: “Young adults want reassurances that government will work to maintain and grow opportunities for young people to connect abroad and not just for the usual suspects who do so already.”
A spokesman for the UK Government’s Department for Education said: “We have been clear that Britain should always remain a truly outward looking, global nation.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel