We Must Get Off Our Hands

The constant deprivation of power of Westminster by Brussels is not about the sovereignty of nations; as one is elected and accountable, and the other is not, it is about the sovereignty of individuals. It is not just our independence as a collective that is at stake; it is our right to hold those who make decisions that affect every aspect of our lives to account, as individuals. A system where twenty-seven people who never have to face the prospect of a public vote hold ultimate executive and legislative power is not an acceptable way to run a state. Why should it be seen as an acceptable way to run a continent? The former head of those twenty-seven people, the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, once claimed that he, personally, had powers that could only be described as government. The former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, even recommended a name change to ‘the European Government.’

Yet no-one in Britain had ever voted for him. In fact, no-one in Europe had ever voted for him. Not to be in that position, anyway. No popular vote was ever held. His Vice President was right when he pointed out that he saw no reason for European officials to take public opinion into account; there simply isn’t one. We do not vote them into office, and we cannot vote them out of office. Yet this body fulfils the roles of executive, legislature, and a quasi-judicial government. It is not only the authority that implements the laws; it is also the authority that proposes the laws. For an entirely unelected cabinet, the Commission has more than its fair share of power over each and every one of us. This power must be resisted at any cost. If we want to call ourselves a democratic nation - if we want to be a democratic nation - the people, and the people alone, must be the source of the law, of policy, and of authority. No group can be allowed to dictate laws, to implement policy, or claim authority without the approval of the people. That holds true regardless of their national origin - I couldn’t care less if they were European or British, they are still unelected, unaccountable, and anonymous, and should have no control over me or anyone else, in this country, until they stand for election, in this country.

It was possible to tolerate the autocratic nature of the European Union for years, perhaps even decades, whilst it had little impact. But our net contribution - the amount of money that we pay in when the money we are given back is taken into account - has soared by 74% to over nine billion pounds last year. That is money that we desperately need. Our government has recently announced unprecedented cuts in national defence and then committed our armed forces to a third deployment; they claim that the cuts are in the national interest, that there is no other way to solve the budget deficit other than slashing military expenditure. That is false. The money that we give to the European Union in the net contribution alone could pay for any of the three branches of the armed forces; it is three times the annual expenditure on the war in Afghanistan. How many more soldiers would return from active service, if we left the EU and the military equipment that they desperately need suddenly became affordable? How many more helicopters would we be able to deploy? How many more armoured vehicles could we afford? Not only could we save our soldiers from being sacked whilst on active service, denied compensation, and having to buy their own kit, but we could also put millions of people in employment; hundreds of thousands of soldiers, policemen, firemen, and teachers could be hired, hundreds of new schools built, and university fees scrapped.

That may not be a good thing to do when there is an economic crisis, but it shows the true cost of EU membership. Hundreds of thousands of workers are being sacked due to lack of funds, and millions of people deprived of their livelihoods, because the money that could have been used to pay for them is being handed over to the European Union. And that’s not even going into the trade deficit of £46 billion. Europe is the only continent which we buy more from than we sell more to, and has been ever since we joined the European Union. Not only that, but its own share of world GDP has been steadily declining, as that of our former trading partners and new regional powers such as India and China rises. But due to protectionist trade rules, we are banned from making up this spectacular loss of income - the entire education budget - with trade deals with other countries, and are chained to a sinking ship. We must cut ourselves free from this ship by any means necessary, as long as they are not violent.

This is not to be achieved on blogs or websites or even by writing letters; watch how each of the petitions, with hundreds of thousands of signatures, we simply ignored. Watch how each of the major parties have said they’d hold a referendum once they were in power, and how each have gone back on their pledge. Watch how the EU continues to take powers from our elected government on a daily basis, and we do nothing about it. We must force the government to take action, and, to do that, we need to get out and make our voices heard. Take to the streets. Do not worry about public support; we have it. No poll, whether done by the BBC, YouGov, or even Eurobarometer, has ever returned a sample where the supporters of the EU were in the majority. They say that we are irrelevant, a tiny minority of extremists, but why would they deny us a vote if that were true? Half of the electorate is made up of Nazis and Communists? I don’t think so. The EU officials and their British supporters are living in an alternative universe where the luxurious lifestyle of unelected Commissioners - each earning six-figure salaries - are more important than the basic comforts of serving soldiers - things like body armour and ammunition. Britain’s net contribution doubles when its public spending is cut back. Such an inversion of the moral principles of a nation, such an assault on the pillars of democratic government, and such a high social and economic price at a time of austerity cannot be tolerated. The true cost of Britain's membership of the European Union is now beyond endurance. We need to speak out now.

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I'd like to apologise for the inconsistent updates to this blog. I've been touring the southern Meditteranean - Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, etc. - and have only had time to write updates, not to actually upload them. The normal daily updates will resume shortly. There's a few articles on domestic European affairs coming up - the BBC and the True Finns, and the left's obsession with the use of the term 'far-right.'