Bin lorries raising awareness of EU citizens’ rights after Brexit tell them ‘this is your home’ | Politics News

By Aubrey Allegretti, political reporter

A London council has sparked debate over its ad campaign offering information to EU citizens on their rights after Brexit.

Tower Hamlets is displaying posters on 11 bin lorries around the borough, signposting people to its website and encouraging them to “secure your right to stay here”.

One was snapped on a vehicle travelling through Whitechapel, east London, by comedian Milo Edwards.

The message read: “Are you one of the 41,000 EU citizens who live in Tower Hamlets? This is your home too.”

It was accompanied by an arrow pointing to the back of the lorry.

Edwards took a photo of the ad and wrote on Twitter: “Now, call me crazy, but maybe the garbage trucks weren’t the best place for the ‘EU citizens, this is your home!’ ads.”

One person commented below: “But the garbage truck isn’t on fire, so this is an imperfect metaphor for life in the UK.”

Meanwhile, another wrote: “It’s the helpful arrows pointing to the business end of the truck that really make this sing.”

A council spokesperson told Sky News the posters were part of a “this is your home too” campaign, and were being trialled for the next three months.

They added: “By using our own assets to deliver our campaigns, we reduce the need to rely on costly third party advertising sites.

“A major billboard provider recently quoted us £3,500 for the use of 10 billboards for just a 2-4 week period and in the context of local government funding cuts, that sort of spending is not realistic.”

The 3million campaign, which supports the three million EU citizens living in the UK, told Sky News that Tower Hamlets council has been “at the forefront of supporting EU citizens”.

“We wished other councils would take similar steps of informing EU citizens – no matter where they advertise as long as it is visible,” it said.

“Central government has provided little support to councils.”