Brexit Britain; 10 Years On

On Thursday 15th January, our Headteacher Mr Kelly had the privilege of welcoming and opening our conference ‘Brexit Britain 10 years on’, chaired by Mr John Carroll, an international security and investigations consultant and sponsored by Team Global and Institute of Economic Affairs.

Attending students from a number of schools including Mulberry School, Raynes Park, Ricards Lodge, St Philomena's and Wimbledon College, and our sister school Ursuline Academy Ilford were asked to reflect on the face of Politics, its changing forum from discussion on the doorstep to debates on social media, the rise of far right politics both here and globally, the Economic case for and against Brexit, the legacy of Brexit on Britain today and how to address some of the issues which first brought Euroscepticism to the foreground (questions over sovereignty, national identity, immigration, and the Economy).

To share their own reflections, we were joined by a group of speakers, including Siobhain McDonagh MP (Mitcham and Morden), Quentin Peel, journalist, formerly with the Financial Times, Alfred Quantrill from the Young European Movement, Darius Nasimi from the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association and Alka Seghal Cuthbert who stood for the Brexit Party. Finally, Jonathan Gifford, a media, crisis and strategic communications expert in the UK Government lead the students in an activity of crisis management.

The Conference closed with a debate on whether the UK should have a referendum on rejoining the EU.

A huge thanks to all our students for their engagement, to our esteemed speakers for giving their time, to our Chair John Carroll, and TEAM Global and the IEA for their generous support of the day.