Entertainment

This unusual Brexit protest involves driving across 32 countries in a van

Andrew Pardy is writing a message to the world in his van.
Andrew Pardy is writing a message to the world in his van. Andrew Pardy is writing a message to the world in his van.

A man from Essex has embarked on a summer-long quest to spell out the words “stop Brexit” across Europe.

Andrew Pardy, 28, quit his job as a digital transformation consultant to undertake the trip, which involves driving a van with a GPS tracker to spell each letter.

“Having spent time growing up in Germany and working in Spain, I’ve always valued freedom of movement,” he told the Press Association.

“The right to explore as well as live and work in Europe without tiresome red tape is an immense privilege and, although we don’t yet know to what extent this might be affected, I wanted to highlight some of the benefits as they stand.”

Andrew, who goes by the name The Rogue Consultant online, came up with the idea for the challenge while out running and using a tracking app.

“I (like a lot of my friends at home) have been frustrated with the debate and how Brexit has been progressing. I wanted to do something positive and make a personal statement at the same time,” he said.

Writing the message will cover a total of 30,000km and take in 32 European countries. Twenty-six of these are EU member states.

Andrew is currently in Finland, arching over the top of the “P” in “stop”. So far he is relishing the journey.

“I’ve met loads of wonderful people along the way, all of whom have been supportive. I’ve also received offers from kind individuals across the continent who’ve read about the trip and have invited me to come and stay with them.”

He has kept his followers across Europe updated on Twitter and Instagram, posting stunning photography of Scandinavia.

The epic journey will finish in Spain at the end of October. Andrew plans to polish off the trip by finding a way to offset his carbon footprint from the journey.

“My message to people back home in Britain is to stop, and think about Brexit from a progressive stance – acknowledge how leaving the EU is going to impact our personal ability to grow. To the politicians, I would simply say: Stop Brexit.”