UK researchers mobilise against hard Brexit

Researchers joined more than 700,000 people who gathered in London on Saturday to march against a no-deal Brexit and demand a referendum on any deal setting out the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

The demonstration on 20 October, which according to some estimates was the second largest in British history, focused on the damage that severing EU ties could inflict on the UK economy and sectors including research. Marchers spoke out against an ongoing UK crackdown on immigration that is slowing down scholarly exchange. A hard Brexit with weak ties, they warned, could impose visa restrictions on visiting Europeans and threaten the residence rights of British researchers working in continental Europe.

After the event, the Wellcome Trust charity called attention to the travel problems that some researchers are already facing. A medical summit on psychiatric genetics held in Glasgow from 11 to 15 October was marred by the British government’s position on immigration, which the trust said prevented speakers and delegates from entering the UK.