- This January 31, the United Kingdom is preparing to leave the European Union.
- Today, around 700 British nationals are elected to French municipal councils.
- Among them, Steve Jackson, elected in Albi, who, thanks to his dual nationality, can stand again next March.
His accent does not deceive, nor his mustache "so British". Steve Jackson was born on the other side of the Channel. But it was on this side that he decided to settle almost 40 years ago, by settling down in Albi, in the Tarn. Long before Brexit is on the agenda.
After having worked as a trainer in English at the chamber of commerce, his passion for cycling led him to the benches of the municipal council of the episcopal city.
“I am finishing my second term and if it works I will leave for a third. I campaigned for cycling and I regularly wrote to the mayor on the issue of soft travel, that's how he called on me, ”recalls the elected representative for Road Safety, at the accessibility of roads, people with reduced mobility and the promotion of bicycle trips.
Our file on Brexit
He is one of 700 Britons to hold a local elected office in France. An investment in the life of his city that he finds legitimate, a way to "thank" those who welcomed him. "I was lucky to be able to stay, I always wanted to integrate," insists Steve Jackson. Pushed by his wife, 100% French, he applied for nationality more than six years ago.
Pro-European and proud to remain so
Unlike other city councilors from Great Britain for whom the UK's departure from the European Union on January 31 will change everything, his passport obtained in 2014 will allow him to continue. A sesame that allows him today to be campaigning for a third term again. “For many, Brexit is a leap into the void. Beyond what happens to elected officials, some nationals do not even know if they will receive their retirement. I am totally European. We fought for that, Europe is 75 years of peace ”, assures Steve Jackson.
If he accepts that the outcome of the referendum is respected in a democratic sense, he finds it "a pity" "because we are always stronger united than divided". A feeling that he shares daily with the Albigensians, because in his capacity as “English of the stage”, the subject of Brexit comes up regularly in conversations. "People are shocked, I receive encouragement," says Steve Jackson, the most Tarnais of his Majesty's subjects.
World
Brexit: The new geographic center of the European Union is a small village in Bavaria
Society
Imminent Brexit has boosted British naturalization requests in Occitania
- Albi
- Society
- Brexit
- England
- Britain