Oxford for Europe virtual meeting with Dominic Grieve and Michael Dougan
It is now clear that the transition period is likely to end on 1st January. So there are six months left to achieve the most complex deal in history against the background of the worst health crisis for at least a century. Even if a deal can be achieved, will it save the UK from disaster? Do we have to look on in horror as the ruin brought by coronavirus is even further compounded by a no-deal exit? What can we as ordinary citizens do? What does the future hold? Can there be such a thing as ‘Global Britain’? How will our relationship with the EU look in years to come?
These are some of the questions foremost in our minds now. On 9 July Oxford for Europe was joined by two eminent legal minds who gave their views and answered questions.
Rt Hon Dominic Grieve played a historic role during the 2017 to 2019 parliament as co-leader of a daring cross-party revolt to capture control of the Commons and prevent a no-deal Brexit. A barrister by background, he was Conservative MP for Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, from 1997 to 2019. He served as Attorney General from 2010 to 2014 and later as Chair of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, responsible for the Russia report. After leaving the Conservative party and standing unsuccessfully in the 2019 election for his own seat against a Tory candidate, he has continued to fight the good fight. He is now on the European Movement’s National Council. He is Chair of the Conservative Group for Europe. He is President of the Franco-British Society, and among his many distinctions he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French Government.
Professor Michael Dougan holds the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law at the University of Liverpool. Coming from Northern Ireland, he has an unrivalled understanding of the complexities of the UK’s relations with the rest of Europe and particularly with Ireland. He first rose to prominence during the 2016 Referendum campaign, in which a video of his dissection of the Leave operation went viral. He has frequently given evidence to parliamentary committees and has acted as an adviser to several UK government departments. He has also worked as a consultant and fact-checker for the BBC.
