Brexit The Movie

As he says the EU is not as Americans seem to think a United States of Europe, but is more like the old Soviet Union.

 
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Tony Benn was a great man, didn't agree with a lot of his politics, but he was a veritable soothsayer on the question of the EU still known as the EEC in 1975.

This letter from Tony Benn to his constituents was written in 1975 and published in The Spectator.

In 1975 you will each have the responsibility of deciding by vote whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Common Market: or whether we should withdraw completely, and remain an independent self-governing nation. That decision, once taken will almost certainly be irreversible.

In both the 1974 general elections I fully supported our manifesto commitment on the handling of the Common Market question. The present Government is now engaged in renegotiating the terms of entry along the lines set out in those Manifestos and is solemnly pledged, whatever the Outcome of those negotiations, to see to it that the final decision will be taken by the British people.

But we must recognise that the European Community has now set itself the objectives of developing a common foreign policy, a form of common nationality expressed through a common passport, a directly elected assembly and an economic and monetary union which, taken together, would in effect make the United Kingdom into one province of a Western European state.

Britain’s continuing membership of the Community would mean the end of Britain as a completely self-governing nation and the end of our democratically elected parliament as the supreme law-making body in the United Kingdom.

I am writing, not to argue a case, but to explain — as best I can — what effect British membership of the Common Market has had upon the constitutional relationship between a member of Parliament and his constituents. The Parliamentary democracy we have developed and established in Britain is based, not upon the sovereignty of Parliament, but upon the sovereignty of the People, who, by exercising their vote lend their sovereign powers to Members of Parliament, to use on their behalf, for the duration of a single Parliament only — Powers that must be returned intact to the electorate to whom they belong, to lend again to the Members of Parliament they elect in each subsequent general election. Five basic democratic rights derive from this relationship, and each of them is fundamentally altered by Britain’s membership of the European Community,

First: Parliamentary Democracy means that every man and woman over eighteen is entitled to vote to elect his or her Member of Parliament to serve in the House of Commons; and the consent of the House of Commons is necessary fore Parliament can pass any act laying down new laws or imposing new taxation on the people. British Membership of the Community subjects us all to laws and taxes which your Members of Parliament do not enact, such laws and taxes being enacted by Authorities you do not directly elect, and cannot dismiss through the ballot box.

Second: Parliamentary Democracy means that Members of Parliament who derive their power directly from the British people, can change any law and any tax by majority vote, British Membership of the Community means that community laws and taxes cannot be changed or repealed by the British Parliament, but only by Community authorities not directly elected by the British People.

Third: Parliamentary Democracy means that British Courts and Judges must Uphold all laws passed by Parliament; and if Parliament changes any law the courts must enforce the new law because it has been passed by Parliament Which has been directly elected by the people. British Membership of the Community requires the British Courts to uphold and enforce community laws that have not been passed by Parliament, and that Parliament cannot change or amend, even when such laws conflict with laws passed by Parliament, since Community law over-rides British Law.

Fourth: Parliamentary Democracy means that all British governments, ministers and the civil servants under their control can only act within the laws of Britain and are accountable to Parliament for everything they do, and hence, through Parliament to the electors as a whole. British Membership of the Community imposes duties and constraints upon British governments not deriving from the British Parliament; and thus, in discharging those duties Ministers are not accountable to Parliament or to the British people who elect them.

Fifth: Parliamentary Democracy because it entrenches the rights of the people to elect and dismiss Members of Parliament, also secures the continuing accountability of Members of Parliament to the electorate, obliging Members of .Parliament to listen to the expression of the British people’s views at all times, between, as well as during, general elections, and thus offers a continuing possibility of peaceful change through Parliament to meet the people’s needs. British Membership of the Community by permanently transferring sovereign legislative and financial powers to Community authorities, who are not directly elected by the British people, also permanently insulates those authorities from direct control by the British electors who cannot dismiss them and whose views, therefore, need carry no weight with them and whose grievances they cannot be compelled to remedy.

In short, the power of the electors of Britain, through their direct representatives in Parliament to make laws, levy taxes, change laws which the courts must uphold, and control the conduct of public affairs has• been substantially ceded to the European Community whose Council of Ministers and Commission are neither collectively elected, nor collectively dismissed by the British people nor even by the peoples a all the Community countries put together.

These five rights have protected us in Britain from the worst abuse of power by government; safeguarded us against the excesses of bureaucracy; defended our . basic liberties; offered us the prospect of peaceful change; reduced the risk of civil strife; and bound us together by creating a national framework of consent for all the laws under which we were governed. We have promised a ballot box decision because all these rights are important, and none should be abandoned without the explicit consent of the people.

I am, of course, not here addressing myself to the general political or economic arguments for or against entry, nor commenting on the view that the advantages of membership might outweigh the loss of democratic rights that I have described. But no one who votes in the ballot box should be in any doubt as to the effect British membership has had, and will increasingly continue to have, in removing the power the British people once enjoyed to govern themselves.
Having campaigned so long to win for you the right to have a referendum I am proud to serve in a government that has promised that the final decision will be made by all the electors through the ballot box. The whole nation, and all political parties, are divided on the Common Market question. We must respect the sincerity of those who take a different view from our own. We should all accept the verdict of the British people whatever it is, and I shall certainly do so.

But from now, until that decision is taken, we all have a responsibility to discuss the issues openly, calmly and seriously, and it is in this spirit that I am writing to you as your Member of Parliament over the last twenty-four years.

This article first appeared in The Spectator on 18 January 1975
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http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/a-lesson-from-the-1975-referendum/
 
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$6.6 TRILLION PER DAY.
This is the daily turnover of global foreign exchange markets for 2013.
Source: Bank for International Settlements Triennial Review of the World Foreign Exchange Market.
AND LOOK AT WHO IS WAY AHEAD WITH 41% of the market - the UK.
More than all the other European countries put together.
France has 2.8% and Germany only 1.7%.
We will be stronger OUT of the EU than we ever were before.
 
Plutarch’s advice to Greek rulers suggests he would understand today’s politics to a T

Peter Jones

28 May 2016

Boris Johnson argues that the current European Union is yet another failed attempt to replicate the golden age of a Europe united under the Romans. But how golden was it? The Greek biographer Plutarch (c. AD 100) thought it brought ‘peace, freedom, prosperity, population growth and concord’ but agreed that there was a price to be paid.

In his essay on statecraft, he advised the Greek politician ‘not to have too much pride or confidence in your crown, since you can see the boots of Roman soldiers just above your head. So you should imitate an actor, who puts his own emotion, personality and reputation into a play but obeys the prompter and does not go beyond what he allows. For on your stage, the result of failure is not just hissing, hooting and stamping feet — it’s your neck that is on the line.’

Further, Plutarch went on, while it was amusing to see small children trying on their fathers’ boots, it was not advisable for politicians to rouse the instincts of the mob by recalling the mighty but currently ‘unhelpful’ deeds of their ancestors. That way lay consequences ‘which are not amusing in the slightest’.

Likewise, ‘Not only should you and your city remain blameless in the eyes of our Roman rulers, but you should also have a friend among the great and good at the top table. They will prop you up very securely. Romans are very keen to promote the political interest of their friends. A man can reap a fine harvest from the friendship of the great… .’

At the same time, Plutarch went on, ‘While our legs may be fettered, we must not submit our neck as well to the yoke by referring all decisions, great and small, to our masters, reducing us to terrified impotence.’ So Plutarch would disapprove of banana regulations.

He concluded: ‘As for freedom, the people have as much as Rome allows. It is perhaps best that they have no more,’ and urged the politician to ‘settle for a quiet life: fortune has left us no other prize to fight for’.

Bananas apart, then, Plutarch understood the EU to a T.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/.../the-best-guide-to-being.../
 
If you don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Here is the EU put simply.
A son goes to his Dad having saved up some money from his weekend job.
Son “ Dad I’ve saved up £350 pounds to buy the new laptop I need for my college course”
Dad “Well done son, give the money to me and I’ll help you”
Son “Ok now what?”
Dad “I will allow you £185 pounds back less my handling fee of £5 so £180 which you may only spend on a new phone”
Son “But I need a laptop!”
Dad “No, we’ve decided you can only buy a phone and you may only buy a phone from Germany and it must be pink. You must also source the phone within 2 days otherwise I will not release the money”
Son “But it’s my money!”
Dad “I’m afraid you are a member of this family and you must contribute to everyone else’s needs. I will decide how the money is spent”
Son “So what happens to the £165?”
Dad “Well your sister needs a new dress”
Son “She has already had many new dresses”
Dad “We’ve put it to the vote and I’m afraid you’re outvoted”
Son “But I need a laptop to continue my course!”
Dad “My decision is final”
Son “But that’s not fair, will I ever have a say in how my money is spent”
Dad “No, and by the way we’ve got a couple more people moving into your room and you’ll have to pay for their keep”
Son “Well I’m leaving then”
Dad “Don’t be like that lad, we need your money. And if you leave you won’t be able to buy a pink phone from Germany you’ll have to buy one here instead”
Son “I NEED A LAPTOP!”
Simples
 
The German iron fist is smashing Europe apart: Merkel's brutal treatment of Greece means a peaceful and prosperous EU is a pipe dream

By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail
Published: 01:24, 3 June 2016 | Updated: 07:40, 3 June 2016

Amid the tumult over Brexit, an annual ritual is being played out which demolishes the notion that Angela Merkel’s Germany is a benign power working for the greater good of its partners in the European Union and the eurozone. Berlin is demanding its pound of flesh from the government of Greece, which is beset by high debts, economic desolation, broken banks — and the flood of migrants that resulted from Merkel’s catastrophically mistaken open invitation to refugees from Syria. June and July are when repayments on Greece’s loans are due, and when future repayment arrangements are negotiated. And Germany, as Greece’s main creditor, is playing hardball — as it has every year for the past five years.


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On Tuesday, the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis warned that Chancellor Merkel’s relentless insistence on keeping to strict repayment agreements was a ‘loop of doom’ for his country, in which the only flourishing industry today is soup kitchens. ‘The German [repayment] condition amounts to imposing permanently escalating austerity on Greece,’ he said, adding that it was spreading new misery through a nation that is already Europe’s most depressed economy.

No one can doubt that Merkel, together with Germany’s hard-line finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble and the Bundesbank (the German central bank), rule the EU and the 19 countries of the eurozone with an iron fist. The German Chancellor even issued an ominous warning to Britain yesterday about leaving the European Union. Speaking in Berlin, she said the UK was ‘part and parcel of the EU’, before adding: ‘You can have a much better influence on the debate when you sit at the bargaining table . . . the result will invariably be better than being outside the room.’

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Shock 10 point lead for Brexit just 13 days out sends David Cameron's Remain campaign into full panic mode


  • Leave camp ahead on 55 per cent, while Remain trailing on 45 per cent
  • It is the biggest poll lead for Brexit so far and fourth poll showing it in the lead this week
  • In a sign of panic, Cameron admits: 'I've got a lot more people to convince'
  • A confident Nigel Farage declares: 'I think we are going to win'

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The survey of 2,000 people found the Leave campaign is winning on 55 per cent, compared with 45 per cent of voters who believe the UK should stay in the EU
 
Milagro said:
Shock 10 point lead for Brexit just 13 days out sends David Cameron's Remain campaign into full panic mode


  • Leave camp ahead on 55 per cent, while Remain trailing on 45 per cent
  • It is the biggest poll lead for Brexit so far and fourth poll showing it in the lead this week
  • In a sign of panic, Cameron admits: 'I've got a lot more people to convince'
  • A confident Nigel Farage declares: 'I think we are going to win'

3522D5AA00000578-0-image-a-1_1465583819898.jpg

The survey of 2,000 people found the Leave campaign is winning on 55 per cent, compared with 45 per cent of voters who believe the UK should stay in the EU
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Cherry picking. The polls are mixed at best:

https://ig.ft.com/sites/brexit-polling/
 
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