A group of anti-Europe activists who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union (EU) today unveiled plans for a new Museum of Brexit to commemorate what they have branded as the UK’s “struggle for independence”.
They launched the website museumofbrexit.com as a hub for the British public to dig into their cupboards and attics for items such as drafts of major speeches, campaign memorabilia, photographs, rosettes and pamphlets linked to the June 23, 2016, referendum in favour of Brexit.
“Our plan is to bring together memories, stories and items that can help preserve our nation’s history. Our objective is to bring together a collection that will recall, for future generations, the story of the struggle for the United Kingdom’s independence. This is the website of those working towards creating a new Museum of Sovereignty, the Museum of Brexit,” the website reads.
The exact location for the planned museum is yet to be determined, with the city of Lincoln in the East Midlands region of England as a Brexit stronghold among the top choices. The move has found backing from Nigel Farage, the former leader of the far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) who had campaigned strongly in favour of Brexit.
“Nigel Farage has 15 years of UKIP in his garage. Obviously, there will also be a digital collection,” said Gawain Towler, a former UKIP media spokesperson and one of the key people behind the museum project.
His group plans to collate artefacts, papers and books chronicling not just Brexit but also decades of anti-EU activism that preceded it, going back to 1973 when the UK joined the then European Economic Community (EEC). Towler, along with Lee Rotherham, a veteran Eurosceptic, hope to create what they describe as an academic repository of information over time.
The project mission statement reads: “Our objective is to establish a museum that tells the history of what we know today as Brexit. It’s the story of how the UK – in official terms – ‘pooled’ (or surrendered), and then reclaimed our sovereignty.
“But Brexit didn’t happen overnight. Nor did it happen because of a few months of concentrated campaigning. It was the consequence of decades of events, decisions, debates and controversies.”
Collection centres will be organised and coordinated across the country where the public can donate items, with the museum set to open after three years or more.
