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Welcome to the News & Views page of the Campaign for an Independent Britain.

2008 Press releases 8

2007 Press releases

Gordon Brown has been accused of trying to push the EU Constitution through Parliament without proper scrutiny or debate.
 
Dr Bob Spink MP, Chairman of the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain, has asked the Prime Minister to give an assurance that the House of Commons is given sufficient time to review the final version of the EU’s Reform Treaty before it is signed on December 14.
 
He has tabled two written questions, which are due to be answered by Mr Brown tomorrow (Thursday November 29).
 
The first asks the PM “if he will make it his policy to ensure that Hon. Members will see the final version of the European Union Reform Treaty in sufficient time for a full and proper review before the Treaty is signed on 14th December”; and the second asks “if he will make a statement on the availability to Hon. Members of the final version of (a) the Treaty on the European Union and (b) the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.”
 
These two Parliamentary Questions follow Dr Spink’s letter to Mr Brown dated October 10 in which he asked:
“(1) Do you consider that the combined effects of successive amending treaties to the Treaty of Rome comprise an effective Constitution of the European Union, or not?
(2) Please list the policy areas covered by the UK Parliament that do not fall within the competence of the judicial authority of the European Union Court of Justice. 
(3) Please quantify the obligation of judicial bodies within member states of the European Union, to abide by judicial decisions of the European Union Court of Justice.
(4) In respect of the proceedings and outcome of the Heads of Government Council meeting of 21/22 June, and pursuant to answers to my questions on this matter set out in Hansard recently, will you state a) by what means and when were these presidential conclusions agreed?  b)  when the presidential conclusions document 1117/07 was received by Her Majesty’s Government?  c)  what proposals were available to you or your predecessor, containing the substance of the decisions taken at the Heads of Government meeting on 21 June which were contained in the presidential conclusions document 11177/07 prior to Thursday 7 June (the date when the Foreign Secretary effectively stated that no proposals were known)? 
(5) Who actually wrote the text of the thirty one pages of the presidential conclusions ‘agreement’ and when was it i) first seen and ii) approved by the UK national representative?
(6) Who was consulted by [EU President] Angela Merkel in defining the text?
(7) What part did the European Commission play in drawing up the text?
(8) What role will be played by UK ministers for the regions in respect of the European Union regulations?
(9) Will you amend the European Communities Act 1972, clause 2:1, to replace its meaning: that all EU regulations must be fully applied in the United Kingdom ‘without further enactment’, to ensure that 'further enactment', by Parliament, is in future required, thereby returning sovereignty to the United Kingdom?”
To date, Dr Spink has received no response to this letter.
Andy Smith, spokesman for the Campaign for an Independent Britain, commented: “The Prime Minister’s failure to respond to our Chairman’s letter is further proof that the Labour government is trying to conceal the true nature of the so-called Reform Treaty, and that it is Mr Brown’s intention to impose this disguised EU Constitution on Britain without allowing proper Parliamentary scrutiny or debate.
“Gordon Brown and his ministers obviously see the EU Constitution as a ‘done deal’. That is why, so far, they have refused to tell us when the final version of the Reform Treaty will be available. All we want is for these matters to be discussed openly and honestly – in Parliament and in the country. But clearly that is not the EU’s way of doing things – or Mr Brown’s.”

27/10/07

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Brown questioned over EU Constitution 'done deal'

Pro-democracy campaigners including MPs, MEPs and councillors from across the political spectrum gathered outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday (Sat Oct 27) to call for a national referendum on the EU Reform Treaty – the revised EU Constitution.
 
Conservative politicians Bob Spink MP, Roger Helmer MEP and Daniel Hannan MEP joined forces with UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage MEP, Liberal Party councillor Steve Radford, ‘Metric Martyr’ Neil Herron, and Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde to call on Gordon Brown to “let the people decide” on the EU Treaty.
 
The Westminster rally, coordinated by the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB), was the first of a series of protest rallies throughout the UK calling for the Prime Minister to honour his party’s manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the draft European Constitution.
 
Over 100 elected representatives – Members of Parliament, Members of the European Parliament, and councillors from around the country – took part in the London rally, together with more than 1,000 grass-roots campaigners from around the UK, casting their votes in a giant ballot box placed outside the House of Commons.
 
Among the protestors in Westminster were the former Conservative MP Sir Teddy Taylor and former Labour MP Nigel Spearing, who have been consistent critics of Britain’s increasingly subservient relationship with Europe.
 
Thousands more “Eurosceptic” campaigners participated in regional rallies later the same day in major British towns and cities, including Edinburgh and Plymouth. Former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard was among the prominent political figures supporting the campaign by joining the local rally in his Folkestone constituency.
 
52 Conservative, Independent and Democratic Unionist MPs were among the elected representatives who signed up to the pro-referendum campaign this weekend and cast ballots on behalf of their constituencies.
 
Every MP is going to have us on their back!
 
Speaking in front of the Palace of Westminster, democracy campaigner Neil Herron said that “MPs are just custodians of our democracy. It belongs to us. It is not theirs to give away.”  He was confident that “we are going to get a referendum, because every MP is going to have us on their back until they give it to us.”
 
Bob Spink MP, chairman of the CIB, said that “without a referendum the treaty can have no democratic legitimacy in the UK. If the Labour Party forces the treaty through Parliament on a whipped vote this would show total contempt for the British people and for democracy.”
 
He added that the Conservative Party had a duty to ensure that voters have their say on this issue. “People yearn for clear and strong leadership from Westminster. It is a question of honesty and transparency in politics, and respect for the British people.”
 
Giving a European perspective, Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde said that everyone in Europe could see that the Reform Treaty was simply the Constitution under another name. “And this EU Constitution is designed to protect the politicians from the voters – normal constitutions protect the voters from the politicians!”
 
Liberal Party chairman Cllr Steve Radford slated the Labour government for its double standards: “We go to war for other people’s self-determination. Well what about our own self-determination? We’re a nation and we want to stay a nation.” 
 
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said that he “couldn’t think of a time when politicians and politics were held in greater contempt than today.” For Gordon Brown to deny the British people the chance to have their say on the treaty would be an act of supreme arrogance.
 
Conservative MEPs Daniel Hannan and Roger Helmer said that Britain had already given up too many powers to Brussels and had begun to lose its sense of nationhood. Hannan quoted the late Enoch Powell: “We were a nation once; we are not now.”  This undermining of the UK’s independence had been carried out without the British people being told the truth about the “European project”, he said.
 
A poll this weekend, undertaken on behalf of the rally organizers, shows an even higher level of support for a referendum than previously thought – 89%. Despite this overwhelming demand for the right to vote, Gordon Brown is still refusing to allow the British people to have their say on the latest treaty, which hands significant new powers to the European Union.
 
The rallies in London and across the UK – the first stage of the CIB’s “rolling thunder” campaign designed to force the government into holding a referendum – aim to highlight the far-reaching new powers that the treaty seeks to give the EU. The treaty makes the European Union a single legal entity for the first time, with an EU Head of State and EU Foreign Minister (known as a “High Representative”) as well as abolishing the UK’s veto on many significant areas of policy.

27/10/07

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Prominent figures from across the political spectrum, including MPs and MEPs from the Conservative and UK Independence parties, will join forces this weekend in a united front to defend the British constitution, democracy and sovereignty. UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP, Liberal Party Chairman Cllr Steve Radford and Conservative Euro-MP Roger Helmer will be among the elected politicians leading a Pro-Referendum Rally outside the Houses of Parliament on Saturday (Oct 27) demanding a referendum on the European Union’s so-called Reform Treaty – the revised European Constitution.
 
They will be joined by people from across the country in a show of force outside the Palace of Westminster, the building which has for centuries been the stronghold of British democracy and a focus for the defence of our historic rights and liberties. In front of “the mother of parliaments”, votes will be cast on behalf of people from parliamentary constituencies and community organizations all over Britain.
 
In addition to the main Pro-Referendum Rally in London, coordinated by the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB), there will be a series of rallies in towns throughout the UK, including Edinburgh, Folkestone and Truro.
 
Pro-Referendum Rally chairman Dr Bob Spink MP said that “millions of British people are demanding the right to vote on this latest European Treaty, which everyone can now see is no more than the discredited and defeated EU Constitution under another name. We challenge the Prime Minister to give us the referendum that his party promised two years ago.”  Dr Spink added that the government’s so-called “red lines” protecting British sovereignty were “nothing but a red herring” and that “the last vestiges of our independence have been signed away by Gordon Brown’s government without the consent of the British people.”
 
CIB spokesman Andy Smith said that Gordon Brown was “running scared - he’s bottled out of a general election and he’s refusing to grant the British people the chance to have their say on the EU Treaty. That’s why, on Saturday October 27, thousands of people all over the country, representing many millions more, will take to the streets to tell Brown what we think of his cowardice and treachery. His acceptance of the EU Treaty puts him in the same bracket as Neville Chamberlain when he acquiesced in Germany’s last attempt to conquer Britain. The issue at stake is nothing less than the future of British democracy and freedom itself.”

24/10/07

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The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB) has congratulated the villagers of East Stoke, Dorset, on the success of their parish poll, in which they voted in favour of a referendum on the European Union’s so-called “Reform Treaty” – the revived European Constitution.
 
CIB spokesman Andy Smith said: “East Stoke has led the way for the nation, putting the Prime Minister to shame for his refusal to let us have a national vote on the European Treaty. The movement for parish polls, which started in the West Country, now looks set to spread right across rural England. This rural rebellion against the government is a wonderful example of ‘People Power’ in action.”
 
Parish polls are not the only opportunity for people to express their views on this subject to Gordon Brown’s government.  CIB is urging community representatives from all over Britain to come to London on Saturday 27 October to cast votes on behalf of their communities in a special ballot that is being held as part of the Pro-Referendum Rally (www.proreferendumrally.co.uk).
 
The Rally, which brings together people from all walks of life and from right across the political spectrum, is backed by a variety of organisations concerned about the Treaty’s implications for the future of British democracy and independence, including CIB, The Bruges Group, The Democracy Movement and The Freedom Association.
 
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) recently voted in favour of a referendum on the Treaty, and opinion polls have shown that between 80 and 90 per cent of the British people agree with them.  Implementation of the Treaty means the transfer of yet more powers to EU institutions, further diminishing the role of the UK parliament.  CIB Chairman, Dr Bob Spink MP, has said that the Prime Minister is “duty-bound” to hold a nationwide referendum on the Treaty, “to give the British people the final say on the EU’s far-reaching plans.”
 
For more information on the campaign for a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty, please visit www.eurosceptic.org.uk/referendum.

21/09/07

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With the Trades Union Congress (TUC) voting strongly in favour of a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty - the revived European Constitution - and the majority of MPs, from all parties, backing the referendum call, the Prime Minister now has "no choice" but to honour the Labour Party's manifesto commitment to give the British people the final say on the EU Treaty. This is the verdict of the Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB), the cross-party campaigning group that seeks to defend the British Constitution, national parliamentary sovereignty, and the rights and liberties of the British people.
 
Welcoming today’s TUC vote, CIB Chairman Dr Bob Spink MP said that Gordon Brown "surely cannot continue to ignore the demands for a referendum coming from both sides of the House of Commons, from the trade union movement and the business community, and from ordinary people in cities, towns and villages the length and breadth of the land."
 
Plans are already well-advanced for a major Pro-Referendum Rally in central London on Saturday 27 October, together with a series of protest rallies and events around the country.
 
Recent opinion polls show that between 80 and 90 per cent of the British people want a chance to vote on the EU Treaty, which they rightly see as virtually identical to the original EU Constitution rejected two years ago by voters in France and Holland. The UK’s three main parties all included an explicit commitment to a referendum among their election pledges in 2005. CIB says that the Labour Party is “breaking its promise to the British people” by reneging on that manifesto commitment.
 
Implementation of the Treaty means the transfer of yet more powers to EU institutions, further diminishing the role of the UK parliament. Under the Treaty, there will be a full-time EU President, an EU Foreign Minister (called a 'High Representative') and an EU diplomatic service to represent all member states including Britain. The powers of the European Commission in Brussels will be extended, and in most policy areas the UK’s right to veto EU decisions will be lost.
 
“This is the old EU Constitution dressed up as something new, but most people have seen through it, even though the Prime Minister has so far refused to admit as much” said Bob Spink. “Pressure is building up on Gordon Brown from inside and outside the Labour movement. He simply cannot ignore the wishes of the people any longer. The British people were promised a referendum – now where is it, Gordon?”

12/09/07

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The cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB) has welcomed the statement by European Union Industry Commissioner Gunter Verheugen that businesses in the United Kingdom can carry on indefinitely using imperial measurements such as pints, pounds and miles. CIB says that the EU’s decision is a vindication of the defiant stand taken by ‘Metric Martyrs’ Neil Herron, the late Steve Thoburn and others who refused to allow the UK Government and local authorities to eradicate traditional British measurements.
 
While celebrating this small victory for British freedom, CIB will also be watching today’s debates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) with great interest, as the RMT and GMB unions seek to persuade the TUC to endorse the campaign for a national referendum on the EU’s so-called Reform Treaty – the revived European Constitution. CIB spokesman Andrew Smith said: “Today is turning out to be a really bad day for Brussels. First they are forced to admit that compulsory metrication is a hopeless cause in the UK and that it has had to be abandoned for good. And now Britain’s trade unions are calling for a referendum on the latest Brussels power grab. I have news for the EU Commission, and the EU’s yes-men in the UK Government: Things can only get worse for you!”
 
Plans are well-advanced for a Pro-Referendum Rally in central London on Saturday 27 October, together with a series of rallies and events around the country. CIB Chairman Dr Bob Spink MP is spearheading plans for the main rally, which will bring together politicians from both sides of the House of Commons and public figures, business and trade union leaders, and community representatives from all over Britain – united in demanding the right to vote on the reborn EU Constitution.

12/09/07

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Gordon Brown's insistence that he won't allow EU leaders to back-track on the British Government's "red lines" was dismissed today by the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB) as "a hollow and meaningless boast".
 
"Those 'red lines' are no more than a red herring", said CIB Chairman, Dr Bob Spink MP. "In reality Tony Blair's supposed 'success' at the Brussels Summit was simply a fudge, to obscure the fact that the EU is engaged in yet another power grab at the expense of British national sovereignty.
 
"Now Gordon Brown is having to defend Tony Blair's deal over the EU Reform Treaty by pretending that it means British Parliamentary sovereignty is secure and British interests are being defended. This couldn't be further from the truth. We've been stitched up.
 
"If Mr Brown thinks that he can use this as an excuse to renege on the Labour Party's manifesto pledge to hold a referendum, he will face big trouble on both sides of the House of Commons, and throughout the country. Eight out of 10 Britons, and at least two thirds of MPs, including many of the Prime Minister's Labour colleagues, want a referendum on the EU Treaty, which is no more than a warmed-up version of the old, discredited EU Constitution.
 
"The Treaty contains almost all the old provisions of the Constitution, including a powerful EU President and an EU Foreign Minister, and the end of British opt-outs on a whole raft of policy areas. The European Union already dictates most of our legislation, and soon, thanks to Blair and Brown's sell-out, there will be no role for the Westminster Parliament at all."
 
The CIB is supporting a series of actions across the country to highlight growing demands for a referendum, including a major rally in London on October 27 at which community representatives, trade union and industry leaders, MPs, MEPs and Peers from across the political spectrum will unite to call for a referendum on the EU Treaty.


04/09/07

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 CIB Chairman Dr Bob Spink MP (Castle Point) said today (Aug 22) that the Pro-Referendum Rally in London on Saturday October 27 would be the launch pad for a nationwide campaign to bring pressure to bear on the Government. At the rally, public figures from across the political spectrum – including prominent Labour and Conservative MPs, business leaders and trade unionists – will unite to call for the British people to be given the final say on ratification of the EU Treaty. 

The Pro-Referendum Rally is the brainchild of Surrey-based management consultant Dr Jonathan Wilson, and is backed by a broad coalition of Eurosceptic groups, including the Bruges Group, the Democracy Movement, the Freedom Association and the UK Independence Party.

According to recent opinion polls, an unprecedented 85% of the public have said they want the right to vote on the EU ‘Reform Treaty’, which they correctly see as a revival of the rejected EU Constitution. The Labour Party promised a referendum on the Constitution but has since reneged on that pledge, claiming that the latest Treaty is different from the original Constitution and that the referendum commitment is no longer binding.

However, lawyers and politicians from across Europe, including the principal supporters of the Treaty, have all acknowledged that it is fundamentally the same document. Even the former French president, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the architect of the draft EU Constitution, has said that the changes are “cosmetic” and “the substance [of the Constitution] has been retained” in the new Treaty. Highlighting the fact that the two documents are virtually identical, Dr Spink accused the Prime Minister of a “shameful betrayal” of the Labour manifesto pledge, during a debate in the House of Commons on the last day before the summer recess.

Calls for a referendum have come from both sides of the House of Commons. Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has called the Treaty “the EU Constitution under another name” and said the Conservatives would campaign “vigorously” for a referendum. Labour MP Gisela Stuart said that Tony Blair had reneged on the Labour Party’s pledge but “there is still time for Gordon Brown to put this right” by holding a national referendum on the Treaty.

Announcing plans for the Rro-Referendum Rally, Dr Spink said: “This campaign is the nation’s opportunity to give a show of force for a referendum – and to remind the Prime Minister of public anger about Brussels’ latest power grab. The London rally is merely the opening shot of our campaign, which will include events and actions across the country.

“With such strong pressure building, the Prime Minister cannot continue to disregard the wishes of the vast majority of the British people. We simply want to be given the opportunity to have our say on the Treaty in a free and fair vote. This is Gordon Brown’s chance to show that he is serious when he talks about strengthening British democracy and restoring trust in politics.”

22/08/07

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown should seize the initiative and announce a national referendum on the EU Reform Treaty now or risk being forced into a referendum later, according to the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB).
 
CIB, which is supported by leading MPs, Peers and MEPs from the Labour, Conservative and UK Independence parties, says that the Reform Treaty is no different from the original Constitutional Treaty that was withdrawn two years ago after its rejection by voters in France and the Netherlands.
 
The architect of the original European Constitution, former French President Valery Giscard D’Estaing, has admitted that the Reform Treaty is substantially the same as the Constitution, on which the Labour Government promised to hold a referendum. The UK’s new Trade Minister, Lord Jones of Birmingham, has acknowledged that the Treaty is simply a constitution under another name.
 
“Gordon Brown has made clear his commitment to strengthening British democracy”, said CIB spokesman Andrew Smith, “yet on this one issue he fails to offer even a hint of democratic accountability. His predecessor Tony Blair made a huge mistake in acquiescing to this appalling Treaty, but Mr Brown does not need to compound this tragic error.
 
“He dismisses calls for a referendum by claiming, as Mr Blair did, that the two treaties are different. But in reality the only noticeable difference between the Constitutional Treaty and the Reform Treaty is that the constitution proposed a European flag and anthem – both of which already exist anyway! On all other points the two treaties are fundamentally the same. The case for a referendum is unanswerable.
 
“Mr Brown could give no better demonstration of his democratic credentials than announcing a nationwide referendum on the EU Reform Treaty now.”

04/08/07

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Africa's starving millions: "EU is the problem, not the solution"

Gordon Brown and David Cameron are right to champion the fight against global poverty, but the UK will be better able to lead this battle if we cut ourselves free from the European Union, according to the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB).
 
CIB praised the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader for seeking to put the problem of extreme poverty and deprivation in the developing world – especially the plight of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa – at the top of the global political agenda.
 
In CIB’s view, among the greatest obstacles to success in alleviating Third World poverty are the unfair trade policies of the EU, which deny trading opportunities to African nations while pouring vast subsidies into Europe’s agricultural sectors. Some 75% of the workforce in sub-Saharan Africa is employed in agriculture, but most of Africa’s produce is effectively excluded from the EU market.
 
If Africa had fair access to sell goods to the European market, the continent could overcome poverty without reliance on Western aid, CIB spokesman Andrew Smith explained. “The EU is the problem, not the solution.”
 
“Gordon Brown’s speech to the United Nations and David Cameron’s recent trip to Rwanda highlight the growing consensus between the leaders of Britain’s main political parties on the urgent need to tackle Third World poverty. We welcome the bipartisan agreement between the Labour and Conservative parties on this vitally important global issue.
 
“The UK, as the fifth largest economy in the world, with strong links to many African countries through the Commonwealth, has a duty and an opportunity to play its part in overcoming Africa’s problems of poverty and deprivation. But the way to do so is through free and fair trade, and this is impossible while we remain shackled to the EU.
 
“Brown and Cameron continue to put their faith in the EU as the means to combat global poverty. This is pure folly.”
 
CIB is calling on the Labour and Conservative leaders to re-open the whole question of Britain’s membership of the EU. “The EU is not about fair trade; it’s about protecting inefficient European economies and keeping Africa down. This is not in Africa’s interests and it’s not in ours. Britain thrives on trade, and we should be seizing the opportunities open to us to trade actively with African nations, especially our Commonwealth partners.
 
“Britain would be better off out of the EU.”'

01/08/07

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Bob Spink elected CIB chairman

Campaign for an Independent Britain has elected Dr Bob Spink MP as our new chairman. Bob succeeds Lord Stoddart who has stepped down after 23 years’ service to the cause of British independence.

'The British people yearn for politicians to listen to them on the EU. They want clear and consistent leadership, from Westminster, which supports the national interest’, said Bob Spink immediately after his election.

'I'm greatly honoured to be elected to help the CIB mobilise public opinion at this crucial time, in the run up the EU and general elections.

'CIB represents the 7 in 10 British people who want an honest, mature and constructive relationship with Europe, but who want end the haemorrhaging of our democracy, money and jobs to the European Union. We want to start the process of regaining the primacy of our Parliament and laws.'

20/06/07

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Is there no end to interference by the EU in our affairs?

The following is reported from Scotland:

The lifeline ferry services to Scottish islands – those shipping services which provide supplies and transport to islands otherwise completely cut off from the mainland – have historically been provided by a Scottish company, Caledonian MacBrayne, which employs local seafarers who understand the islands, their people and needs. Seven years ago, the EU decided that these services should be put out to tender, to be taken by whoever would make the cheapest offer, whether it would be a good service to the islanders or not.

Although there is still some doubt over the final contract for one of the services, the only bidder is now CalMac (as Caledonian MacBrayne is known), and it is once again contracted to run the other services. So what harm has been done, if the situation remains as before? CalMac has been extensively restructured (and is now headquartered in Guernsey), it no longer owns its ships but only operates them, as a separate company was formed as shipowner, and for seven years the Scottish seafarers employed on the island services didn’t know if they would have a job the next week, let alone the next year. The islanders had no idea whether they would continue to be served by the men whom they knew, and who knew them, or whether a new company would bring in cheap foreign seafarers who wouldn’t even understand them, let alone providing the extras which the Scottish crew do – they will turn out and run an extra service if the schoolchildren need it, or take someone home when strictly they should have finished work.

All this stress and expense has been gone through for nothing, on an EU whim. And it will happen again – the EU rules state that the ferry services must be tendered for every six years.

Oh yes, and the EU has decided that the island of Bute is not an island at all. It is separated from the mainland by less than a kilometre. Can they walk on water in Brussels? Because in Scotland they can’t.

All one can wonder is how much longer the people of these islands will tolerate their lives being dictated by these unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. If the old spirit of freedom and independence which once so typified the British is still alive surely the end must be in sight. If not then the old democratic and independent nation into which we were born is all but finished

20/05/2007

Celebrate our heroes and resolve to win the war

Shown below is the press release from the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund relating to today's victory over enforced metrication.

As we congratulate Neil Herron and remember the sacrifice made by Steve Thorburn let us also consider the fact that this fight should never have been necessary, were it not for the fact that our gutless, self interested political class have surrendered control of this nation to a bunch of unelected and arrogant bureaucrats in Brussels. No previous generation of Britons would have believed that, without defeat in war, this country would so bow the knee to a foreign power as to have to beg to be allowed to keep our age old system of measurements.

What right have these people to tell us what to do? None at all! They and their quisling allies in the British establishment must be overthrown if we are ever to see Britain as an independent country again. Truly we live in a Vichy state but that dishonour to France is now but a vile memory and so one day will be the time when we allowed our politicians to betray us for their own ends.

Let this be the first victory in the long fightback which will only end when we leave the European Union and take back democratic control of our own fate
Press release

"Monumental victory for Metric Martyrs as the European Commission and the Government abandon enforced Metrication Programme"

...the pound, ounce, yard, foot, the mile and the pint have been saved!"

The European Commission's Industry Commissioner Gunther Verheugen quietly announced in a meeting on 2nd May 2007 that "dual marking" of goods in imperial and metric will 'continue indefinitely'.

Following intense lobbying by the Metric Martyrs Campaign and excellent work with US business by the British Weights and Measures Association, Commissioner Verheugen agreed that imperial measurements are 'good for business.'

The Metric Martyrs submission to the European Commission's Metrication Consultation can be seen here

We do forgive Conservative MEP Giles Chichester for attempting to claim all the credit for what has undoubtedly been a team effort. The Conservative MEP's press release is copied below at the end of this release. I hope that he will join us with his Conservative colleagues to support the request for a Royal Pardon and a public acknowledgement of the Metric Martyrs' patriotic stand.

Papers also released under the Freedom of Information Act to the Metric Martyrs by the Department for Trade and Industry also indicate that the Government and the DTI have performed a screeching u- turn (quietly behind the scenes!) and abandoned plans to abolish imperial measures after 2009. The papers also reveal how concerned they were about the consequences of losing the case back in 2001.

This result represents a monumental victory for the Metric Martyrs who have campaigned tirelessly from their Sunderland office against enforced metrication since the two Sunderland traders, Steve Thoburn and Neil Herron, were first targeted by the authorities way back in 2000.

It is now apparent that the persecution of Steve Thoburn (and subsequently four other traders whose cases to the High Court were consolidated into the Thoburn appeal) was politically motivated but the resistance that their defiant stand created forced all the other local authorities to back off and they have been held at bay for seven years.

Indeed, further information received from a European Commission insider confirms this. He states:"In fact, the Commission were never that interested in banning dual weight marking - the UK government "gold-plated" the directive and our zealous Trading Standards offices did the rest. But the acknowledgement of imperial measures may be linked to Monday's EU/US summit in Washinton, where both sides agreed to strive for a common transatlantic market, described as the biggest deregulation move in history. Trade is currently worth 2.25-trillion euros a year."

It must be remembered that Steve Thoburn always dual-priced and had metric scales.

The Metric Martyrs saw their convictions upheld at the Court of Appeal when Lord Justice Laws ( who hailed from Easington Lane not far from Sunderland and whose mother and sister bought bananas by the pound from Steve) delivered a 'bizarre constitutional' verdict that established the primacy of EU law.

Tragically, Steve died in his wife's arms of a massive heart attack only days after learning that his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights had been rejected.

He had vowed to continue to defy the `law' and continued serving his customers `the way they wanted to be served.'

Metric Martyrs Campaign Director, and former fishmonger, Neil Herron states:

"This is a monumental victory for the Metric Martyrs and all who have supported the campaign. It has been `People Power' that has forced the European Commission and the Government to abandon the enforced metrication programme.

We have saved the pint, the mile, the yard, the foot as well as pounds and ounces.

We have stood toe to toe with the Council, Government and the EU and won _ and shown others that you can stop the tide of EU legislation.

Steve Thoburn was the man who drew the line in the sand.

All that remains now for the campaign is to insist on a Royal Pardon to quash the criminal conviction that Steve took with him to the grave.

He should never have been prosecuted and ALL the authorities knew that it should never have happened.

The public had never wanted or asked for imperial measures to be abolished and no political party had ever put it in their manifesto that they intended to criminalise the use of imperial measures.

The name of Steve Thoburn will be chiselled into the pages of the history books.

The day they seized his scales was the beginning of the end of the EU."

09/05/2007

Not a day to remember

This weekend the Europhiles will be 'celebrating' the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the treaty or Rome. While it is understandable that bureaucrats who resent democratic interference in their schemes, and politicians who enjoy an enhanced career structure with massive payments for doing almost nothing, have cause to be pleased, for the rest of us it is just another grim milestone on the road to total domination by an undemocratic and unaccountable single European state.

Although the iniquities of the EU are too many to list in anything short of a large book it is instructive to look at just a few from this month alone, as described by 'Open Europe', a pressure group which reveals the truth about the EU:

* Disabled people won't be able to go on holiday because new aspects of the Working Time Directive forbids their carers to work the time necessary. Let nothing stand in the way of obedience to the Brussels bureaucrats

* Margaret Beckett says that Britain will 'rise above' demands for a referendum on the new treaty by which the dictators of the EU seek to impose the EU constitution by other means. Amazing how our politicians believe that consulting the people they are supposed to serve is somehow wrong

* The European Parliament considers a proposal to regulate all football in the EU. Goodbye to the game of the masses then

* A British farmer had his entire herd destroyed because the fascists of DEFRA used powers granted them by the fascists of Brussels to override justice and get their way regardless of commonsense. A story that Kafka would have recognized

* The EU attempts to ban incandescent light bulbs. Perhaps they would cast too much light in the dark corners of Brussels

* EU foreign ministers refuse to agree sanctions against Khartoum for the massacre and expropriation being visited on the peoples of Darfur. If Neville Chamberlain were alive he would find a happy home with these gutless appeasers

* The BBC produce a report stating that the EU now has a standing army. How soon will British soldiers be sent to die at the behest of unelected commissioners

* Forty four per cent of all Europeans and fifty two per cent of the British tell an FT poll that their life has been worsened by joining the EU. Fifty three per cent of Europeans think that Britain has the biggest say in international affairs of any member state. Only nine per cent think this is true of Germany, six per cent of France. A spokesman for the European Commission blames the results on 'nostalgia and insecurity'. Perhaps he is right - nostalgia for lost independence and insecurity brought on by the destruction of democracy

* Plans for a centralised European database of fingerprints, biometric information and criminal records are set out. Those who believe that the imposition of ID cards in the UK has nothing to do with the EU please take note

* The Commissioner for Monetary Affairs confesses that trade within the EU has remianed static since the imposition of the Euro. Those who celebrated when this ridiculous currency was created must be feeling pretty silly now

* The European Commission is demanding that the Crown stamp be removed from British pint glasses. Today the glasses, tomorrow the throne

* The European Commission (yes, them again) wants to set up a 'House of Europe' in London, costing one million pounds every year

* Eurochambers produce a report showing that EU productivity is twenty years behind the USA. So much for the thrusting superpower beloved by Europhiles

* The head of the European Commission saysthat it would be illegal for any country to opt out of the Social Chapter. Clearly the law is what unelected bureaucrats say it is, within the EU at any rate

* A magazine in Brussels notes that 100,000 of the 170,000 pages of regulations hobbling businesses within the EU have been produced within the last 10 years. A certain recipe for disaster in a competitive world

Need we go on? The peoples of Europe are in the grip of a selfish elite who are destroying their hopes for the future. Ignore the rubbish about celebrating 50 years of this vile organisation - there is only one solution - we must leave and help the other peoples of Europe end this disastrous experiment with their democracy and prosperity

24/03/2007

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