Open Britain

Open Britain is British pro-European Union campaign group set up in the aftermath of the 2016 European Union referendum.[7]

Open Britain

Motto	Keep Britain in the European Union Single market
Predecessor	Britain Stronger in Europe
Headquarters	Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, England, SW1P 4QP
Owner	PV Campain Ltd (aka: Baybridge 2019 Limited) (75%)[1]
Executive Director	James McGrory (until October 2019)[2][3][4] Roland Rudd (November 2019-)[5]
Chairperson	Roland Rudd[2]
Directors	Joseph Carberry (?-2019), Trevor Phillips (?-2019), Richard Reed, Lord Peter Mandelson(?-2019), Roland Rudd, June Sarpong (?-2019), William Straw (?-2019), Daniel Gieve (?-2019), Sir Michael Rake (?-2019) [6]
Affiliations	People's Vote
Website	www.open-britain.co.uk

Background

Following the referendum, the official remain group in the 2016 EU referendum, Britain Stronger in Europe, changed its name on 25 August 2016 to Open Britain.[8]

Open Britain defines itself as campaigning for the United Kingdom to be open and inclusive, open for business, open to trade and investment, open to talent and hard work, open to Europe and to the world.[9] It is originally campaigned for Britain to remain in the Single Market as part of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.[10]

In October 2016, Open Britain launched a 'Write to Remain' letter-writing campaign directed at Theresa May asking her to guarantee the right of EU nationals to stay in the UK.[11]

The individuals involved in the campaign group include former Ministers Pat McFadden (Labour) and Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat).[12] Conservatives Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan, and Dominic Grieve cut their ties with Open Britain in April 2017 after it began to campaign against the re-election of anti-EU members of parliament, mostly Conservatives.[13]

Open Britain continues to campaign in collaboration with other major pro-European campaign groups such as Britain for Europe and European Movement UK. It launched and promotes People's Vote in April 2018 to campaign for a second referendum.[14][15]

In October 2019, shortly before the 2019 UK General Election, CEO James McGrory was forced out[2] of People's Vote and Open Britain. Almost all the directors resigned. As the lead organisation behind the People's Vote campaign, this led to a major staff walk out in protest of Roland Rudd, the Chairperson's, actions.

Further reading

• McGrory, James (14 June 2018). "No one voted for a bad deal on Brexit - People's Vote gives us a chance to do something about it". HuffPost.

References

1. "Open Britain: Persons with significant control". Companies House. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
2. Rowena Mason, Peter Walker (28 Oct 2019). "People's Vote staff walk out over sacking of senior figures". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2020.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
3. "Open Britain Limited: People". Companies House. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
4. Prynn, Jonathan (26 October 2017). "Outer London families hit by Brexit squeeze as pay rises just 1.2 per cent". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
5. "Open Britain Limited: Filing History". 26 Nov 2019: Resolution of alteration of Articles of Association. Companies House. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
6. Companies House https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09641190/officers
7. Dallison, Paul (2 September 2016). "Remain MPs launch pro-Europe campaign group". Politico. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
8. Straw, Will. "Special Resolution - Change of company name on 25 August 2016". Companies House. Companies House.
9. Open Britain. "About". open-britain.co.uk. Open Britain. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
10. Asthana, Anushka; Mason, Rowena; Syal, Rajeev (11 October 2016). "Brexit adviser: leaving EU customs union will cost UK £25bn a year". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
11. Mason, Rowena (13 October 2016). "Letter-writing campaign urges Theresa May to let EU nationals stay in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
12. Open Britain. "New campaign group, Open Britain, launches to fight for best possible EU deal for Britain". open-britain.co.uk. Open Britain. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
13. Walker, Peter (25 April 2017). "Pro-EU Tories quit Open Britain over plans to oust Brexit-backing MPs". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
14. Porritt, Richard (15 April 2018). "Campaign launched to push for People's Vote". The New European. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
15. Staff writer (15 April 2018). "Launch of the new national People's Vote campaign". open-britain.co.uk. Open Britain. Retrieved 17 April 2018.

External links

• Official website