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Gina Miller says negative Brexit press has "changed her life forever"
The entrepreneur and philanthropist spoke at a packed World Jewish Relief lunch last week
May 22, 2017 16:11
The entrepreneur and philanthropist spoke at a packed World Jewish Relief lunch last week
May 22, 2017 16:11Gina Miller has described the damaging impact on her family of her battle against the government’s Brexit policy.
Speaking at a fundraising event for World Jewish Relief (WJR), Ms Miller said the negative press coverage of her High Court challenge against the government's plans to trigger Article 50 has “changed her life forever”.
In January the entrepreneur and philanthropist, who co-founded investment fund SCM Private, forced the government to get its “Brexit bill” voted through Parliament before it could trigger Article 50.
Ms Miller said: “I can’t really go out at the weekends. I didn’t really realise – I thought my children were coping but it really makes you, as a mother, think.
“On a Sunday afternoon I went to the supermarket and my youngest, who is 10, thought I was gone too long. And she was in such a state she actually blacked out. She thought someone had got mummy.
“That’s when it makes you think. The fact she could pass out in such fear and worry about me is very difficult.”
Ms Miller was interviewed during the annual women’s lunch organised by WJR’s Pomegranate committee. Previous guest speakers have included Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis and Baroness Gail Rebuck, the chair of Penguin Random House UK.
The committee’s Livelihood Development Programme has been set up to assist Jewish women who are victims of conflict, such as the civil war in Ukraine.
A video was screened, which showed how WJR had assisted a woman named Elena, who fled her war-torn home town of Donetsk, to rebuild her life.
Ms Miller, who in a previous relationship was a victim of domestic abuse, praised the charity’s work, saying: “Women are the backbone of so many societies and disenfranchised women around the world is something that is actually growing.
"The work you’re doing is phenomenal, absolutely spot on. It’s about the dispossessed women. Domestic violence is on the increase. I worry the mood of populism around the world will impact most on women.”
A WJR spokeswoman said: “We are thrilled that Gina Miller was the guest speaker at our 10th Anniversary Pomegranate Lunch. Ms Miller spoke about the disproportionate impact on women when there are dire circumstances in societies and how that in turn impacts their families.
“Addressing those challenges by encouraging women into work is something that is incredibly important to World Jewish Relief – we want to enable future generations to support themselves and not experience the debilitating poverty that older Jewish people in Eastern Europe currently endure.”
Ms Miller, who is now married to well-known hedge fund manager Alan Miller, helped WJR raise £75,000 through Tuesday’s lunch alone.
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