Lesson video

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to this unit of work exploring how does the UK still have a meaningful role in the international community? I hope you've enjoyed our lesson so far, and that you are ready to begin learning today.

Today, we're going to explore a really exciting topic of what the UK's role still is in Europe.

So, please make sure you're somewhere quiet and you are ready to begin today's lesson.

Okay, so for today's lesson you will need exercise book or some paper, and if you are completing the series of these lessons, your notes kind of from the previous lessons will also be really useful.

You also need a black or blue pen, and preferably, a different coloured pen so you can self-assess your work.

So, we will be exploring three key questions in today's lesson.

We will be looking at the different ways in which the UK relates to Europe.

We will be looking at what is the European Union, and what were the arguments used on both sides of the Brexit debate? And we will be looking at what is the Council of Europe, and how do they support human rights in the UK? Okay, so our first question of the lesson, of what are the different ways the UK relates to Europe? So, here's a map of Europe that you can see on your screen, and what I would like to think about are the different ways in which the UK may be related to Europe.

And you may want to break these down into social reasons, or you might think kind of economic rates, so to do with money, or you might want to think politically.

Okay, and you can either kind of make a list, or just jot down a little mind map at the top of your notes, and then resume the video once you are ready.

So, here are some of my ideas, and kind of socially, we might go on holiday to Europe.

So, you to France, Belgium, kind of Italy.

You might be learning a European language, so you might be learning German, or Spanish, or French as part of your kind of GSSE courses.

Then kind of economically, many UK companies import and export goods to and from Europe.

So, we have a trading link with Europe, and we were once tied with Europe in a political association, known as European Union.

Brexit means that we are no longer kind of in this union.

But we are still, of course, part of Europe, and we will explore this a bit later on in the lesson.

So, these are the two ways in which we're going to explore the relationship, and how the UK's relationship is changing with Europe in the lesson today.

We're going to look at the European Union, and we're going to look at Council of Europe.

And the European Union is the joining together of a number of European countries who agree to work together economically and politically.

This now has 27 members since the UK has left.

And the Council of Europe is Europe's leading human rights organisation, which works with members to ensure their citizens have access to that human rights, and this has 47 members, and the UK is a member of the Council of Europe.

And would strongly recommend that you pause the video now and make a note of those two definitions, as they will be very useful for the lesson today, and if you are doing they will be very useful for your course notes.

So, our second question of today is what is the European Union, and what were the arguments used on both sides of the Brexit debate? And I'm just going to say that the Brexit debate was very complex.

There were a lot of arguments on both sides used, and we're just going to look at a little kind of snippet of these arguments today.

But it might be an area that you might want to consult your teacher about, to have a chat with them in more detail.

So, just to remind ourselves, the European Union is where the joining together of a number of European countries who agreed to work together economically and politically.

And economically is typically to do with trade, and politically is to do with the sharing of laws, agreements, and there is an element of joint governance across all countries.

So, there are kind of leading European kind of union, kind of governance, what controls aspects of a country, and this has 27 members.

And as you can see, there's another map on your screen, and we have the grey is not European Union member, and we have the blue as European Union members.

This is a topic which has been in the news a lot recently, due to Brexit, so one definitely worth watching out for.

So, Brexit, just in case you're not too sure.

I've said that word a lot.

In June, 2016, a referendum.

So, a referendum is a type of vote which the public gets a say on kind of on a single issue.

And this was to decide if the UK should leave the European Union.

The Leave Vote, so the vote to leave the European Union won by 52% to 48%.

And since then, negotiations have been taking place between the EU and the UK to devise a deal which allows the relationship to continue, because it's important that both sides still work together.

So, to have some kind of relationship.

Now, if you're not quite sure what Brexit is, or you think you might forget, I recommend pausing the video and just making a note of that in your notes to have it for future reference.

Okay, so what I would like you to do is access the worksheet which go alongside this lesson, and then devise a little table kind of like this.

On one side, you're going to make note of the arguments used to support the kind of UK kind of leaving the EU.

So, for Brexit.

And on the opposite side, you're going to have arguments against leaving the EU.

So, kind of for the UK staying in the European Union, and these arguments, which were used in the referendum debate, they were arguments used in campaign by both sides.

And once you have completed that task, please do return to your lesson, and we will go through the answers.

Okay, so this is where you might want to get out your different coloured pen, if you have one, so you can self-assess your answers.

Kind of well done for having a go at that task.

So, firstly, we're going to look at some arguments used for Brexit, so arguments say that the UK should leave the EU.

So, this political and economic union.

So, argument number one is that some people argued that because, if the UK stayed a member, it has to abide, so follow, the EU's trade policy, which means that the EU takes a leading role in negotiating many of the UK's trade deals.

And this kind of, some argued, places limits on what the UK could do in terms of trade.

So, in order to take full control of our trade, we should leave the European Union.

And this meant also that the UK must abide by EU standards on traded goods, and this had an effect on what it could and couldn't trade.

Another argument is that the EU, if UK must contribute towards EU's budget, and this was quite a sizeable proportion of money, and some people argued that, that money could be spent within the UK.

The UK was known as a net contributor, which means kind of in simple kind of monetary value, it gave more than it got back.

So, in 2018, it received 4.

3 million back, therefore contributing 8.

9 billion total sum, which that money could be spent here in the UK, is what the people who used this argument were saying.

Another argument is that the freedom of movement, which is a inherent element of the EU kind of agreement, is that people can move from one EU country to another EU country, and this meant the EU had power over the border.

And this, according to some, took the power away from the UK, and the issue of migration is an issue that's caused much the debate and tension within society.

And so, that is another argument used.

Okay, so looking at some arguments on the other side, so basically, arguments used to argue that the UK should stay part of the EU.

And they're basically the reverse of the arguments that we have just looked at.

So, although the kind of argument was that the UK had to give up kind of some control over borders, it gave EU member state citizens the right to move from any equally EU country to live, work, and study, to look for a job, or retire.

And EU citizens can stay in another EU country for three months without registering.

So, it just gives people that level of freedom, and people were arguing EU members can access financial support the European Union to help development projects.

So, it might be that they help build kind of buildings, it might be that they build infrastructures like trains or trams, or they might use the money to run a project.

So, for example, the Erasmus plus scheme allows schools from across Europe to work together to complete a project, with much of the cost being funded by EU bodies.

If you ever have a wander around your local area, you may see some stickers which says kind of, "Funded by the EU," or your school itself may also have been part of some EU projects.

Some other arguments used against Brexit.

So, why we should stay part of the EU.

So, the EU gives members access to a customs union.

This means that no customs duties like fees are paid on goods moving between EU member states.

This means that goods which have been imported can circulate through the EU with no further customs checks, and some argue that this makes trade cheaper and more efficient.

I should just say that at this point of recording this lesson, lots of discussion, lots of debates are still being had about what's going to happen post-Brexit.

How we're going to trade.

So, we don't quite know all the details as of yet.

So, there are some kind of other things which might happen.

Like I just said we don't quite know yet 'cause things haven't been finalised.

But this freedom of movement will end, so there will be kind of systems in place to have odds register kind of in the EU, and EU citizens register in the UK, if they come for any extended period of time.

There are talks of a 90-day limit kind of at the moment before registration, but that is to be confirmed.

But your passport is going to need to be valid for longer.

So, it's going to need to have about six months on it.

We're going to have some kind of immigration rules change.

So, it won't be a simple, just to go to another EU country, or EU citizen to come here.

Can't just get a job.

You'll have to apply for permits, and possibly visas, and trade rules will be different on goods trading between the UK and the EU, and the EU and the UK.

But again, all this is still to be confirmed.

And as with any citizenship topic, it's well worth watching the news to keep yourself up-to-date with everything that's happening.

So, our final question for today's lesson is what is the Council of Europe, and how does it support human rights in the UK? So, just to remind you again, then, so the Council of Europe is your leading human rights kind of organisation, and this works with members to ensure their citizens have access to human rights.

It has 47 members, including the UK.

The UK is not leaving the Council of Europe.

And all members of the EU are also members of the Council of Europe, but not all members of the Council of Europe are EU members, e.

g.

the UK.

So, how has the Council of Europe membership impacted the UK? So, as a member of the Council of Europe, the UK is a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights.

So, this was a kind of, a really important document that the UK signed to basically mean that the UK government has agreed to meet a set of standards of behaviour and protect the basic rights and freedom of citizens.

As a result of this convention, the European Court of Human Rights were established in 1959, in Strasbourg, based in France.

And this court allows people who believe their rights kind of have been denied to have that case heard.

Judgments made by the court are legally binding in Council of Europe countries, so that all countries must accept and implement the court's ruling and judgments.

And up until 1998, the court was the only way UK citizens could have a case heard, which involved a denial of the hearing, which involved the denial of the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, this convention also had huge implications for the UK and its legal system, too.

Because in 1998, the UK introduced a new piece of legislation, the Human Rights Act 1998, and again, maybe you've already got to this in another part of your citizenship course.

And this piece of legislation, so this piece of law guaranteed that the European Convention on Human Rights was enforced in the UK courts, which meant that UK citizens now had to travel to France to get their case heard, and this improved access to rights and justice within the UK, which is obviously extremely important.

And so, it brought the European Convention of Human Rights into British law, meaning that judges could make decisions on human rights cases within the UK.

So, what I would like to do is I would like to add a subtitle to your notes.

I'll have how have the Council of Europe membership impacted the UK? And then, we're going to have a look about another task.

So, what I would like you to do is leave this video, access the worksheet, and on the worksheet you will find a task to complete.

This is typically, a paragraph, answering the question, how has the Council of Europe membership impacted the UK? And you will have to fill in the missing words of your paragraph.

So, pause the video now, access the worksheet, and come back once you have finished.

Okay, so hopefully, that task was kind of okay to do, and well done for giving it a go.

Kind of go through some answers.

So, again, having that different coloured pen at the ready would be really, really useful.

So, the Council of Europe is Europe's leading human rights organisation.

In 1950, it introduced the European Convention on Human Rights, which gave all member states, including the UK, access to and protection of fundamental rights.

So, hopefully, you got those two words in that paragraph it allowed citizens access justice if they rights were denied or removed, by taking that case to the European Court on Human Rights.

In 1998, the UK introduced the Human Rights Act.

This put the European Convention of Human Rights into UK law, making access to justice easier for all UK citizens.

Today, this means that all new laws and all organisations carrying out a public function must respect and uphold human rights.

If not, a court case could be launched.

So, well done for getting those answers correct, which I'm sure you all did.

So, the council of Europe also brings kind of members together to do lots of older projects, and kind of one of them is to develop educational resources and share expertise about teaching and learning.

And there are many pan-European groups connected to the Council of Europe.

There, for example, there's a group who look at citizenship kind of education, and how we can get young people kind of like you involved in change and making society a better place.

And recently, it's been exploring how COVID-19 has impacted education, and what lessons can be learned if lockdown ever happened again, which hopefully, it won't, but there are groups which are working on how things can be improved because of this connection and these relationships within bring expertise together, which is kind of only a good thing.

Okay, so the final task of today's lesson is I would like you to kind of exit the lesson, and kind of go to the worksheet, and watch the clip on the European Convention on Human Rights, and note down any examples of rights that the clip talks about, which are given by the European Convention on Human Rights.

And then, once you've watched that clip, pop back to your lesson, and we will go through the answers.

So, pause your video now and go and complete that task, please.

Okay, so hopefully, you enjoyed that clip, and you found it informative, and you now have some examples of the rights can be given by the European Convention to the systems of the Council of Europe.

So, you should have noted down there, the freedom of expression.

You should have noted down how it gives citizens privacy, and how it ensures prisoners have the right to vote, especially in the UK.

Some kind of other right which it gives, which weren't mentioned in the clip, include the prohibition of slavery and forced labour, the right to a fair trial, and the right to assembly and association.

And you just might want to add those three to your notes so you have the examples for the future.

So, that brings the lesson to an end, and hopefully, you found it informative and useful, and you can now do the following things.

You can describe two ways that the UK and Europe are related.

You can define the European Union and you can give arguments used both for and against the Brexit debate.

And you can explain how the Council of Europe has impacted life in the UK.

So, you can link that back to the European Convention on Human Rights, and say how this led to the Human Rights Act 1998 kind of in the UK.

And then you can give some kind of concrete examples of the rights given by this.

Okay, so kind of thank you very much for your hard work in today's lesson, and please don't forget to complete the exit quiz as you leave, so you can have a look at how much you've learned today.

I hope I see you again for the next lesson.

Thank you very much.

Bye.