I have been a convinced opponent of UK involvement in the European project since it was first mooted, and am not a Eurosceptic, which implies doubt not certainty, but a Eurorealist who believes that the EU is bad for the people of the UK, and indeed those of the rest of Europe. In the 1970s I joined 'Operation Out' and helped deliver leaflets for the No campaign in the 1975 referendum. I spent twenty years on the national committee of the Campaign for an Independent Britain, being Chairman of the Campaigning Secretariat for five of those years (see here for some of the arguments produced then for information), was, as membership secretary, on the first national committee of UKIP for five years, belong to the trade union group the Campaign Against Euro Federalism, support the Labour Euro Safeguards Campaign, which works within the Labour party for major changes to the UK's attitude to the EU, and support the Democracy Movement, manning street stalls and delivering leaflets on their behalf. I also provide articles for the Eurorealist bulletin, produced by long time activist Derek Bennett.
I also contribute articles to the blog run by the Bruges Group, which can be accessed here (Marked with '*' in the list of articles below)
For letters I have had published in the media click here
On a personal note I spent over forty years working in IT, have been a lifelong trade unionist and am a reader at my local church.
I realise that there are some who genuinely believe that the EU is a benign organisation but I feel that the truth of the aphorisms 'by their fruits ye shall know them' and that 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating', when applied to the European project, both confirm me in my belief that it has proved to be a disaster. It is undoubtedly to the great personal advantage of the political class, bureaucrats, big business and banks but very much the opposite for ordinary people being fundamentally undemocratic, irredeemably corrupt, a failure economically and politically damaging. The people of Southern Europe are being stretched on the rack of the Euro while the wishes of the electorates in all nations involved are ignored in favour of those of unelected Commissioners in Brussels.
As far as the rule of law is concerned we know that the Napoleonic system is the antithesis of our common law, yet it is the former which provides the basis of Corpus Juris, which is meant to be the means by which justice will be administrated within the intended single European state. Concepts such as habeas corpus, the presumption of innocence and the right of trial by jury will be ignored if this system is implemented and we have already seen how the European Arrest Warrant, beloved by our own political class, has led to blatant miscarriages of justice as British citizens are kidnapped by the authorities and handed over to foreign jurisdictions whose ideas of the rights of the individual are totally dissimilar to ours.
Some of those who may read the articles below may very much disagree with them but I hope that they will treat them as a sincere expression of belief about the EU, and the current political scene, albeit often expressed in somewhat forthright terms, and not attempt to read into them a hidden agenda, a charge frequently unfairly levelled against those who reject the consensus concerning the benefits of membership of the EU. Contrary to claims by supporters of the EU those like myself are not motivated by any animus against peoples of other nations, but consider that the democracy we have spent so long building is under threat all the time we remain within the organisation. If the British people had ever wished to replace government by their elected representatives, in our own Parliament, with direction from unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, then so be it, but I for one do not believe that they did, and it is certain that they were not given the choice, rather being ushered into the situation by stealth.
When the British people voted to leave the EU we faced a battle with the political establishment to ensure that the decision was implemented. The deplorable attempts by those who voted Remain to overturn a democratic decision showed just why they love the EU so much, as its illiberal and undemocratic nature matches their view of the world.
The result of the General Election on 12th December 2019 finally confirmed what so many of us had known for years, that the British people do not want to be part of the EU. The Remainers have been routed, and we can at last look forward to being an independent, sovereign country once again. Even by 2024 some have still not accepted the result, but they will be saying the same until the EU finally goes into the dustbin of history.
For some quotes that reveal both the undemocratic nature of the EU, and the good sense spoken on the matter by titans of the 20th Century please click here
Since the success of the campaign to leave the EU I have expanded the site to include references to other threats to our democracy, both from extreme environmentalists, and the left liberal elite, particularly the so called woke.
Over the years I have read many thousands of books, watch hundreds of films at the cinema, and followed TV series. I show here a few reviews of those which have impressed me
2013 April | - | Other and better worlds |
2007 September | - | The Genesis of a Masterpiece |
2006 January | - | The Death of Britain |
Campaign for an Independent Britain