Initiativtakerne til nettstedet « Briefings for Brexit» er historiker Robert Tombs og økonom Graham Grudgin. Begge er tilknyttet University of Cambridge. Ifølge avisa The Sun tar de nå sikte på å bevise at de som vil ut av EU ikke er dummere enn dem som støtter EU-medlemskap.
- Ser på tilhengerne som dumme
Til Sunday Times sier Robert Tombs at de ønsker å ta til motmæle mot den voldsomme propagandaen om hvor ille Brexit er, og hvor ille det vil bli utenfor EU.
På nettstedet «Briefings for Brexit» slutter en rekke akademikere seg til kampanjen. Der skriver de at det er en rådende oppfatning i media at alle fornuftige og informerte folk er mot Brexit. De mener det også er vanlig å se på Brexit-tilhengerne som dumme og lite utdannet, og som vil skifte mening bare de får nok informasjon.
«Our aim is to provide a platform for informed analysis and for the expression of opinion which believes that the future welfare of Britain and Europe require that the choice made in the Referendum should be fully and positively carried out», skriver de om lag 40 akademikerne som har skrevet under på oppropet og som har sagt seg villig til å skrive for nettstedet. (Se lista over hvem som deltar nedenfor).
LES OGSÅ: Forskningsmiljø bak opprop om styrket Europa-forskning
LES OGSÅ: Samfunnsviteres rolle i en tid med Trump og Brexit
Tror ikke på økonomisk krise
De skriver videre at flesteparten av bidragsyterne til «Briefings for Brexit» stemte for å forlate EU under folkeavstemninga i juni 2016, at de har ulik politisk tilknytning og ulike begrunnelser for hvorfor de mener England er tjent med å ikke være med i EU.
Ifølge The Sun er Robert Tombs internasjonalt anerkjent for sin ekspertise på fransk historie. Den andre initiativtakeren, økonomen Graham Grudgin, sier han følte behov for å engasjere seg da han hørte det han karakteriserer som tvilsomme spådommer fra Finansdepartementet om hvor skadelidende økonomien vil bli på grunn av Brexit.
I oppropet skriver akademikerne også: «After a considerable amount of economic analysis we also do not feel that leaving the EU will be economically damaging, even though a degree of short-term disruption may well be involved.»
Følg UA på Facebook, Twitter og Instagram.
Redaktører og bidragsytere for nettstedet er:
Editors
Dr Graham Gudgin Economist, Centre for Business Research, Judge Business School University of Cambridge
Professor Robert Tombs Emeritus Professor of French History, University of Cambridge
Contributors:
Lawyers:
Sir Richard Aikens , QC, is a former member of the Court of Appeal, and has served as Vice President of the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council of European Judges
Baroness (Ruth) Deech , former chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and former Principal of St Anne’s College, Oxford
Dr. Richard Ekins , Associate Professor in Law, St. Johns College, University of Oxford.
Professor Carol Harlow , QC, FBA, Emeritus Professor of Law at the London School of Economics.
Professor Guglielmo Verdirame , Professor of International Law King’s College, London
Business, Finance and Economics:
Mr. Alexander Darwall , Jupiter Fund Management.
Sir Paul Marshall , Marshall Wace, Chairman of ARK Schools
Mr Rory Maw , Bursar, Magdalen College, Oxford
Dame Helena Morrissey . Head of Personal Investing. Legal and General Investment Management. Formerly Chief Executive, Newton Investment Management.
Professor Paul Ormerod , economist at Volterra Partners, a Visiting Professor at the UCL Centre for Decision Making Uncertainty.
Mr.Edmond Truell, Disruptive Capital Finance, London
Philosophers/theorists:
Professor Nigel Biggar , Regius Prof of Moral and Pastoral Theology, and Canon of Christ Church, University of Oxford
Professor Paul Elbourne, Professor of the Philosophy of Language, Magdalen College, Oxford University
Dr James Orr McDonald Post-Doctoral Fellow in Theology, Ethics and Public Life, Christchurch College, University of Oxford
Dr. Tom Simpson, philosophy of public policy, Blavatnik School, University of Oxford
Professor John Tasioulas , Director of the Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy, and Law, King’s College, London
Foreign policy/diplomacy/defence:
Dr Philip Cunliffe , Senior Lecturer in International Conflict, University of Kent
Sir Richard Dearlove , former head of the Secret Intelliegence Service, former master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Chair of the Trustees, University of London
Mr John Forsyth, former member of the Council of the Royal Institute for International Affairs and Centre of International Studies, Cambridge
Dr Lee Jones, Reader in International Politics, Queen Mary, University of London
Sir Peter Marshall , retired FCO, former Assistant Sec-Gen of Commonwealth
Professor Gwythian Prins , Emeritus Research Professor, London School of Economics, visiting academic professor, École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
Dr Philip Towle , Emeritus Reader in International Relations, and former Director of the Centre of International Studies, Cambridge
Sir Andrew Wood , former UK Ambassador to Yugoslavia and to Russia, and currently Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House.
Political and Social Sciences:
Lord (Maurice) Glasman is a Labour Peer and political theorist and Director of the Common Good Foundation
Professor Robert J. Jackson is Distinguished Professor at Carleton University Ottawa and Emeritus Fletcher Jones Professor of International Relations at the University of Redlands, California.
Jonathan Rutherford , writer and political adviser, is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, Middlesex University
Professor Richard Tuck, FBA, Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government at Harvard
Historians:
Professor David Abulafia , FBA, is Professor of Mediterranean History, Cambridge
Professor Robert Colls, Professor of Cultural History at De Montfort University
Sir Noel Malcolm , FBA, is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls’ College, Oxford
Andrew Roberts , Historian and biographer. Lehrman Institute Distinguished Fellow at the New York Historical Society and Visiting professor at the War Studies Department, Kings College London
Dr. Daniel Robinson , international history, Fellow of Magdalen College, University of Oxford, formerly Senior Policy Adviser to the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the Union and Devolution in the aftermath of Brexit.
Professor Jonathan Rutherford , writer, political adviser and Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, Middlesex University and co-founder of Blue Labour
Dr Peter Sarris Reader in Late Roman, Medieval and Byzantine History, Cambridge
Demography and Social Policy:
Prof David Coleman , Professor of Demography, University of Oxford Institute of Population Aging.
Pamela Dow , formerly director of strategy at the Ministry of Justice, now chief reform officer, Catch22
Dr Joanna Williams , , author and academic. Education Editor of Spiked magazine. Author of Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity (Palgrave/McMillan)
Natural Sciences:
Dr Ian Winter is a senior lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Cambridge
