At the start of the 21st century Stone Manganese Marine (SMM), owners of the Birkenhead yard that manufactured the propellors for most of the famous British ships of the preceding hundred years, was still a world leader in propellor construction. However in 1999 the Brussels competition commissioner Mario Monti, in clear contravention of the EU's own laws, authorised the payment of such a hefty subsidy to a run down East German firm that it was able to undercut SMM on every contract for which they tendered, causing the company to close its yard, with the loss of employment to its skilled employees, and forcing the company to have its propellors built at a yard built with state subsidies in China.

Under EU procurement rules, the Royal Navy was even forced to buy the screws for its new type 45 destroyers from the same East German firm, while the same rules compel the UK to have the ships themselves built in Sweden.

How our competitors must laugh to see a once great shipbuilding nation reduced to purchasing its warships from overseas and how must the ghosts of the men who lost their lives on the Hood, whose propellors were built by SMM, despise those who, for their own benefit, have so betrayed the nation for whom they died. There is nothing which the politicial and bureaucratic elite will not sacrifice in order that they might ride the Brussels gravy train. They deserve to be consigned to the frozen lake in the innermost circle of Hell reserved for traitors.

30/12/2002

Lord Weatherill, erstwhile Speaker of the House of Commons, has described the drive to European monetary union as the biggest threat to the freedom of the British people since Charles I attempted the arrest of five MPs in the House, but was refused admittance by Speaker Lenthall.

Lord Weatherill said "I am increasingly alarmed by the way in which our constitution today is overridden with a flood of EU directives and regulations which are seldom, if ever, debated in Parliament and yet are binding on us. Monetary union would constitute the greatest handover of national sovereignty in our history. Speakers of the House of Commons are traditionally guardians of the rights and privileges of Parliament achieved for us through the centuries by our forebears. No Speaker should envisage his or her successor becoming in an EU about as important, say, as the Chairman of the Greater London Council, whose former building across the river is now an upmarket hotel. I know it is a breach of convention for a former Speaker to speak out in this way, but sometimes you have to dig in your swords. I shall return to this theme".

Lord Weatherill should not be concerned about speaking out, as he is only following in the footsteps of the late, lamented former Speaker George Thomas, who also berated the political establishment for handing over the freedoms of the British people to the dictators of Brussels. As stated elsewhere on this website, concerning the adoption by the UK of the single European currency "In effect the constitutional result of the English Civil War would have been reversed. The power to raise taxes would have passed from Parliament to the executive, but in this case an executive not even based in this country".

Speakers of the House, with their great knowledge of what constitutes British democracy, can see what is happening. How long will it take the so called opinion formers to wake up to the truth?

22/12/2002

The seasonal offering from "Britain in Europe" is a Christmas card which shows the members of Euroland celebrating in a warm room, while the poor old British pound stands outside in the snow, gazing in at the party goers.

This distortion of reality is worthy of 1984 as the Germans contemplate an economy descending into a depression created by their abandonment of the mark, the Portuguese find the governance of their country usurped by the dictators of Brussels and even the President of the European Commission is driven to describing the rules that underlay the single currency as "stupid".

One must almost feel sorry for "Britain in Europe" as they are forced to live in a fantasy world but, even though it is Christmas, one would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

20/12/2002

Oscar Wilde described homosexuality as "the love that dares not speak its name" and we now have among the British media "the reason that dare not be revealed". Among the major stories which have been to the fore in recent days are the terrible state of fish stocks around our coasts, the dire state of the privatised railway system and the economic depression threatening Germany, yet, with very few exceptions, and those, as ever, not including the BBC, the real reason for these disasters is never mentioned.

The destruction of the British fishing industry is not the result of irresponsibility by British fishermen but because Heath signed away our fishing grounds in his lust to join the European project, come what may. The handing over of our waters to the Spanish and others is the real cause of this disaster. Strike one to the EU.

The dog's breakfast that is the privatised rail network is a direct result of the implementation of an EU directive which insisted upon the insane division between train and track operators. Strike two to the EU.

The German mess, although compounded by other factors such as reunification, is primarily the result of their membership of the Euro and the effects of the Stability and Growth Pact upon their ability to take any corrective action. Soon four and a half million unemployed will become six million, with no end in sight. So much for the mighty mark. Strike three to the EU, and out.

That the British media consistently ignores the fact that it is the very existence of the EU which is the cause of these, and many other, of the ills which afflict our society, must make one wonder they are just stupid or merely so committed to the European project that they suppress all criticism. They like to consider themselves the watchdogs of democracy but, as Sherlock Holmes said "Why did the dog not bark in the night?".

20/12/2002

The federalists have never really been in touch with reality but they now appear to have gone completely mad. Not content with their latest batch of victims, such as Poland and Malta, some are now talking of an EU stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, taking in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, while others seem to think that they are running the Roman Empire, proposing that the Mediterranean should become Mare Nostrum by including the nations which lay along the North African coast.

Quite clearly the architects of the European Empire are, somewhat prematurely, succumbing to megalomania, and no doubt mutter to themselves "Today Europe, tomorrow the world". However all they are doing is ensuring the final downfall of the house of cards which they have built, for there is no way that such an entity could survive. Already the members of Euroland are struggling as the impossibility of setting an interest rate which suits them all becomes apparent. Do these lunatics really believe that they can use the same fiscal parameters to manage the economies of countries as diverse as Morocco and Estonia, that the cultural differences between, for example, Tunisia and Siberia, can just be blithely ignored, or that the legal systems of Western democracies can be reconciled with those in countries which are only just emerging from dictatorship, or which may subscribe to Islamic law?

Eurorealists should encourage these ambitions for it will ensure that the whole rotten edifice collapses even quicker than it is already, as Germany sinks further into economic depression and the people of Portugal, whose economic management offends the dictators of Brussels, see their country being governed, not by their elected representatives, but by the EU institutions.

20/12/2002

The results of a debate held at Reed's School, Cobham, Surrey yesterday were very interesting. Marc Glendening, campaign director of the Democracy Movement, went there at the invitation of the Head of General Studies so that he could oppose the motion "Britain's future must be within the European Union", proposed by the local Conservative MP, Ian Taylor. The audience were the sixth form, most of whom had been studying the issue this term.

Marc made the liberal, progressive case for regarding the EU as the outmoded product of the post war generation who had lost confidence in their own people, and related how corrupt and undemocratic forces were threatening the birthright of those now reaching adulthood. Ian Taylor produced the usual discredited myths about the EU bringing peace and had the effrontery to describe the EU as a union of nation states, denying the federalist agenda.

Many of the schoolchildren took part in the debate and it was gratifying to hear how many had recognized the force of Eurorealist arguments, to the extent that at one point Mr Taylor described himself as 'horrified'. When the vote was taken the motion was defeated by 37 votes to 72, a resounding success for the Eurorealist cause.

This result was heartening for all who believe that young people are not naturally pro EU and shows what can be achieved by emphasising the forward looking nature of Eurorealism, eschewing the pathetic right wing arguments which try to associate a noble cause with an agenda more suited to 1930s nationalism. We can succeed with the young if we show them that the EU's time has past in the global village of the Internet and that it is only of benefit to yesterday's men such as Heath, Hesletine and Patten.

Marc deserves congratulations for making the case for progressive Eurorealism so expertly

14/12/2002

The extent to which Europhiles can twist the truth is sometimes almost unbelievable and, in the last few days, we have seen three prime examples of this.

Firstly the CIB is complaining about the tide of red tape gradually engulfing them and demanding that the government does something about it, completely ignoring the fact that it is largely due to directives from the European Union, the organisation of which they are so fond. It just goes to show that businessmen should stick to what they know and not venture into the political arena, where their naivete can be so damaging when they pontificate about subjects such as the single currency.

Secondly the prime minister of Portugal has decided to lecture the UK on the single currency, telling us that we must join or certain unspecified horrors will be visited upon us. Yet today almost one million Portuguese workers are striking in protest at cuts in government spending imposed by the European Commission. Last year Portugal overshot euroland's public sector deficit limit of three per cent by a full percentage point and narrowly escaped a fine by agreeing to cut back state spending and to privatise some state owned assets. Clearly misery loves company.

Finally, and most shameless of all, is the latest outburst from the laughably named 'grandee' of the Heathite Tories, Heseltine. Once again he attacks a Conservative leader, claiming that his target is not up to the job, and seeking to encourage the party to turn to his partner in Europhilia, Clarke. It has never penetrated through his skull that the Conservative government which was ejected in 1997 was a failure precisely because the Europhile dinosaurs like himself dominated a weak prime minister and led the country into the ERM disaster, from which the Tories have never recovered. He has the gall to accuse his opponents with being obsessed with Europe, when it is he and his friends who have distorted Conservative politics for a generation in pursuit of their dream of a federal Europe, while he shows his disdain for democracy by suggesting that the Tory MPs should override their own constitution and throw out the man elected by a majority of party members. The truth is that Heseltine would only accept a Conservative leader who shares his love of the EU and will attack any who do not. The pity of it is that the media still pays any attention to this embittered man.

10/12/2002

As a result of the rumours emerging from the Constitutional conference, concerning the totally federalist agenda they will propose, a headline in the Daily Telegraph regarding the possible expulsion of the UK from the EU puts one in mind of Brer Rabbit. Could it be that if we beg often enough not to be thrown in the briar patch of being an independent, self governing global nation once again we might actually be consigned to such a fate?

07/12/2002

The Eurorealist's favourite federalist has done it again. While the political class try to conceal their real intentions from their people Romano Prodi shouts the truth from the rooftops. His proposals for the EU include:

• Brussels to be the powerhouse of the European Union

• National leaders to act on their commitment to make Europe a superpower

• the EU's foreign policy to be run by the Commission.

• a strong, federalist constitution to be implemented

• appointment of a European foreign minister, who would be part of the Commission.

"The status quo is not an option, even more so in view of enlargement" Mr Prodi said, also pouring scorn on a British proposal for an EU President, elected by the national governments. He said the post would create more problems than solutions, asking: "What would he do in the 360 days of the year when the European Council is not meeting and George W Bush is not calling?"

Other proposals by Mr Prodi included the extension of majority voting to more areas of EU policy such as justice, home affairs, defence and taxation, taking away the power of veto from national governments and for more legislative and budgetary powers for the European Parliament.

As so often in the past we should be grateful to Mr Prodi. In his artless way he blurts out the plans which his political colleagues wish to implement by deceit and lies. No one should be in any doubt that his ideas coincide with those of the whole European elite but they have no wish to allow the light of day in on their deliberations. We can be certain that, if they have their way, the unelected dictators of Brussels will become the rulers of the EU, allowing the politicians to escape from the need for democratic accountability, and the bureaucrats the opportunity to continue to be as incompetent, arrogant and corrupt as they have been since the EU was created.

07/12/2002

If one wishes to know what kind of people support Eurofederalism one can gain some insight from today's Times. It reports that Andy Meyer, a Liberal Democrat member of the "yes" campaign, who set up the Euro Information network, has written in Liberator magazine a scathing account of the way that Britain in Europe operates. "We still get one depressing horror story a month from well meaning activists who just can't believe the control freakery until they experience it first-hand," he wrote. "Many people who were involved in the campaign because that happened to think Europe was pretty good thing, or even more dangerously had federal tendencies, were either excluded, bullied or generally made to feel so worthless that they got bored and left. Let's be blunt, the BiE briefing more often than not reads like a lost copy of Pravda from the era of the Cold War".

This is how the creatures of the EU behave when they possess no real power. To see how their colleagues, who do hold power within the EU, act one need only read the letter from Rodney Atkinson in the same edition of the Times:

"I have just returned from a book promotion in Poland, where even those MPs who had been in the forefront of opposition to the Communists told me that they found the EU far more oppressive and dismissive of Polish nationhood than their previous Soviet masters.

Laws were being forced through the Polish Parliament, at the behest of the EU, which had never appeared in any party manifesto, with little debate and which were not even law in the existing member states.

Perhaps the most insidious new provision in the Polish Constitution is that a law can be enforced in Poland even if it has not been translated into Polish. There can be no more disgraceful indicator of the true nature of the European Union as it constitutionally imprisons nations which so recently escaped from a different tyranny".

It is heartening that in an article on the opposite page by Rosemary Righter entitled "Schroder is leading Germany to disaster" she relates just how dire is the situation in the so called powerhouse of Europe and states baldly that "The Euro, and, by extension, the EU, is becoming equated with national disaster". As the lemmings who jumped off the single currency cliff begin to hit the bottom so the Euro will start to collapse and will bring the whole EU down with it. In view of the fascists who seek to rule us through this vile organisation we should be thankful that all that Eurorealists said is coming true. The Polish people will be saved by the failures inherent in the whole European project.

04/12/2002

Simon Buckby, campaign director of Britian in Europe, is quoted in today's Sunday Times as saying, when asked about a referendum on the Euro, "It is increasingly clear that if that decision is taken in the national economic interest, then the conclusion can only be positive". The only answer to that must In your dreams. In the same edition of the Sunday Times an article by the economics editor on Euroland is headed Euro gloom will be hard to clear and relates how those who jumped over the Euro cliff are now in a sorry state. He quotes an economist at HSBC saying "Germany is in considerable danger of becoming another Japan" and concludes that it will be hard to be optimistic about euroland's prospects.

This realistic view of Euroland is also taking hold at the Financial Times, a newspaper that has done an enormous amount to promote the EU, and to ridicule those who oppose the federalists. On the 14th November it printed the following:

The irony is that it is only the British who cannot see that their country's status has grown in such impressive ways in the past decade or so. The mantra of decline, the leitmotiv of the British political debate for most of the post war period, has entranced much of the nation's establishment. The self-hating British elites - in the media, academia, the Foreign Office and elsewhere - continue to cling to the delusion that influence is to be had by suppressing British sovereignty and permanently aligning with a European continent that seems increasingly in the throes of terminal economic and demographic decline".

Would it be too much to imagine that Mr Buckby may experience a similar Damascene conversion? Some things are just impossible.

01/12/2002

Today we learn that Mr Blair's declared ambition is for a strengthened European Commission. If this were to be realised then even more of the democratic rights of the British people would be ceded to an unelected, unaccountable and corrupt bureaucratic dictatorship. One might ask why should anyone would believe that economic reform could be achieved by the same people whose own auditors refuse to sign their accounts and who are obliged to indulge in serial persecution of those employees who attempt to highlight the endemic corruption at the heart of the EU.

On the one hand Mr Blair asks for increased power for the federal structures, while on the other he claims to want only "a Europe of sovereign nations" and rejects the idea of a single state. He must either be a fool or a knave, as it has long been clear that the whole European project has only one aim, the creation of a United States of Europe. How much longer are British politicians going to pretend that this nation can survive as an individual entity within the EU, a myth that no other member state even tries to sustain.

If the official opposition were not so distracted by internecine strife they could be leading the fight to save Britain's independence. Instead they are too frightened to even mention Europe. Never since the days of appeasement have the British people been so ill served by their so called elected representatives.

29/11/2002

A report in The Times today on reforms to the Stability and Growth Pact illustrates the self contradictory arguments used by supporters of the European single currency. When it was first launched we were told that we should join because it was going to be a strong currency. Once the weakness of the Euro became clear we were told that we should join because of the relative strength of the pound. The supposed guarantees provided by the Stability Pact were then put forward as reasons to join and now we are told that its obvious failure is a persuasive argument for abandoning the pound.

Advocates of the single currency are too afraid to state the plain truth, that the only way it can hope to succeed is if a single state has the power to raise Europe wide taxes and to transfer large amounts of capital to underperforming areas, as is the case in the USA. This would be to admit that their goal is a single European state, something they know is not wanted by the British people. Europhiles are either fools who cannot see, or knaves who will not see. In either case their arguments are totally illogical and self serving.

It is perhaps fortunate that this debate will shortly be rendered academic, when the straightjacket placed on the German economy by membership of the Euro becomes unbearable and the Germans, a logical people, draw the obvious conclusions.

28/11/2002

Niall Ferguson, Professor of political and financial history at Oxford university, has provided an article for today's Sunday Times which reveals the extent to which the membership of the Euro is devastating the German economy and warns of the dangers inherent in the situation.

Entitled "Return of the German nightmare" Professor Ferguson makes the following points:

• only last week the former finance minister Oskar Lafontaine likened the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder to Heinrich Bruning, the chancellor whose economic policies in the early 1930s wrecked the Weimar Republic. "It is as if Heinrich Bruning has risen again. He caused mass unemployment with his savings measures and prepared the ground for Hitler".

• the historian Arnulf Baring has said "Today's crisis can be compared to the end of the Weimar Republic...the symptoms of economic and political disaster are the same".

• according to the IMF only two of the world's developed economies have performed worse than Germany's in the past decade

• since 1994 per capita gross domestic product in Germany has grown at an average annual rate of 1.5%, compared to Britain's of 2.4%

• unemployment in Germany is at 8.3% (in Britain it is 5.2%) and is forecast to rise to 4.3 million, or one in ten of the workforce.

• the German stock market is a disaster zone, the DAX has lost 50% of its value in the past two years and the once glamorous Neue Markt, set up to trade technology stocks back in the 1990s, has vanished

• German banks and insurance companies are in the doldrums

Professor Ferguson accepts that some of these problems have been caused by the failure of Germany to undertake the sort of reforms which transformed the UK economy in the 1980s and the idiotic decision to convert the East German currency to deutschmarks on a one-to-one basis, which wrecked the economy of the East. However, as he points out, none of these difficulties are insoluble but the ongoing disaster, which is insoluble by the current generation of German politicians, is the fact of Germany's membership of the European single currency. He makes the case by highlighting what German economic policy would be like today if there was no Euro:

• monetary policy would still be in the hands of the Bundesbank, rather than the ECB. As a result German interest rates would be significantly lower, for the simple reason that German inflation is lower than average eurozone inflation

• there would be no European Commission action being taken against Germany for allowing a budget overshoot which breaches the growth and stability pact, the infamous and idiotic measure, ironically insisted upon by Germany, which prevents Germany using fiscal levers to alleviate their problems

Professor Ferguson concludes:

"The crisis that I and others long ago predicted for the euro has now arrived. The conflict we foresaw between a centralised monetary policy and divergent national fiscal policies has arisen. In 1930 Bruning made the mistake of putting international considerations ahead of domestic economic stability. His prime objective was to get rid of post war German reparations. Today's equivalent is a blind faith in the growth and stability pact.

German politicians remain paralysed, incapable of acknowledging that, at the very least, the growth and stability pact needs to be junked, something even Romano Prodi, the president of the European commission, now accepts. But if the history of the Weimar Republic has any lesson for Germany today, it is to beware the wrath of German voters when the fruits of foreign policy are stagnation and instability".

This excellent article on Germany's woes illustrates how damaging the whole European project is becoming to the future of the people of Europe. However Professor Ferguson is too sanguine in his early assessment that Germany's economic problems will not lead to the ascendancy of extremist parties. As the current political class, not just in Germany, but throughout Europe, is committed to the existence of the European Union, because it offers them an enhanced career path and a wider stage upon which to strut their little hour, they will never concede that it is an experiment that has failed. This raises the question of to whom ordinary people can turn, if so called mainstream politicians refuse to recognize the reality. The answer of course is the more radical parties of the right or left.

In view of Germany's troubles the British people should resolve that we shall never join the single currency and should now begin to consider seriously looking for the exit from the whole EU mess, before we suffer a similar fate.

24/11/2002

The latest statements from the EU, backed by their Quisling puppets in the UK, seek to blame the fishermen of Britain for the disastrous state of stocks and calls for the final destruction of their industry. They talk of "Europe's Fish", when in fact what they mean are the fishing grounds which belonged to these islands for centuries, before Heath and his cronies signed them away in their desperation to join the EEC.

The answer to the declining stocks is not to sacrifice the working fishermen of our nation but to leave the EU, reimpose the 200 mile limit and restore the situation to that which existed before Heath's dreadful premiership, preventing the factory ships of Spain, and other so called "partners", stealing the natural resource which sustained whole British communities for hundreds of years.

16/11/2002

A key argument in favour of the single currency was that it would help economic growth, trade and ultimately jobs. This message, indeed, was repeated during the recent referendum on Nice in Ireland, where the Yes campaign said that the treaty was necessary "for jobs". But none of the figures support these claims. As reported in Die Welt on 5th November 2002, Eurostat, which in any case doctors its figures as much as it can get away with, in order to produce statistics which support the policies of Brussels, states that the seasonally adjusted figures for unemployment are the same as they were a year ago, both in the EU 15 and in the 12 countries of the euro zone, where the rate is 8.3%. The lowest level is in the Netherlands (2.5%) and the highest is in Spain (11.2%). But the absolute figures show a rise. In September 2001, the euro zone rate was 8.0%, or 11.5 million people. Youth unemployment in the euro zone is 16.1%.

These figures show how foolish the British people would be to vote for membership of the Euro, or indeed to remain within the EU.

16/11/2002

Somewhat surprisingly the BBC has had the effrontery to tweak New Labour's nose by broadcasting the docu-drama 'The Project'. This traces the fictional lives of a number of young Labour activists from their idealistic youth, when they believed in the principles supposedly espoused by the Labour Party, to the General Election of 2001, when some have retreated disillusioned, while others have betrayed their beliefs in order to advance their own careers. The anti-heroine, elected as an MP in 1997, was shown to have sacrificed her early ideals, and bowed to the demands of the party whips, so that she might obtain a junior ministerial post after the election.

Although this is fiction it really says all we need to know about the political class as, with a few honourable exceptions, this is what they are all like now, whatever political party they claim to represent. Is it surprising that these people, educated in what now pass for universities, lacking any real knowledge of how our democracy has evolved, and looking only to their own self interest, should be prepared to support the undermining of the democratic rights of the British people and see the transfer of all effective power to Brussels bureaucrats, provided that their career path is secure.

As we see the transport system collapsing, the hospitals failing, the school examination system becoming a joke, manufacturing being destroyed, the fishing industry annihilated and a culture of incompetence and corruption overwhelming our nation be in no doubt who to blame. It is the political class, aided and abetted by the pathetic remnants of what was once a proud media, which is creating this disaster, and which cares not one jot, provided that they, and their like minded colleagues in Paris, Brussels, Berlin etc. can ensure their own membership of the European elite, who will rule unaccountable to their electorates, and have more in common with each other than with those they claim to represent.

The characters in 'The Project' bring to mind the spivs of the 1940s and their real life counterparts are in the process of destroying what remains of decent life in this country.

12/11/2002

Kropp, a small town in Schleswig-Holstein, is enjoying a mini-boom following the reintroduction of the mark. More than ninety shops and businesses have started accepting marks again and people have been flocking to the town to show their support. The experiment was due to end on 31st December but has now been extended indefinitely.

The chief financial officer of the local council said "For many people Kropp has become a symbol of resistance to the European Union. They are beginning to ask themselves what they have actually got out of giving up the mark for the euro, and they are finding it hard to come up with an answer".

According to a recent poll by Berlin's Forsa institute 61% of Germans now wish that the euro had never been introduced. Figures released last week showed that the dole queues have grown again to 4.12 million, which is 9.9% of the workforce, with little improvement in sight.

Economists say that Germany's problems are exacerbated by the single currency, which prevents states from setting their own interest rates and limits their ability to run up a deficit to boost demand in a recession. This week the German government is to be censured by Brussels because its budget deficit exceeds the limit of 3% of GDP laid down under the single currency rules.

It is too late for Germany, unless they grasp the nettle and get out of the EU altogether, but it is not too late for the UK. The German experience should be a cautionary tale for us and we should reject membership of the single currency and then head for the exit from the whole sorry mess of the EU.

10/11/2002

A senior Brussels official is taking the European Commission to court for ignoring her attempts to expose fraud and the misuse of public funds.

Dorte Schmidt-Brown, a Danish economist has alleged that contractors were hired by a Luxembourg based arm of the commission on the basis of favouritism and that payments were made for work that was never carried out. She alerted managers but was ignored and later sidelined in her job, although an internal audit inquiry supported her.

She is taking her case to the European Court of Justice, claiming that the commission is in breach of its employment contract by failing to support her in a dispute with the contractor whom you criticised for alleged fraud.

"I feel very let down by the Commission and by Kinnock", she told friends. "I have tried to safeguard public money but it seems the commission would rather turn a blind eye for the sake of a quiet life than challenge corruption".

This case is very similar to that of Marta Andreasen, who was suspended for speaking out after refusing to sign off accounts. Neil Kinnock's response to both women was to dismiss their claims of unfair treatment but Freddy Blak, a Danish member of the European parliament wrote to Prodi, the commission president, regarding the case of Schmidt-Brown. "She spoke out and was rewarded with the cold shoulder. She was bullied and marginalised to the extent that she had to leave, whereas the fraudulent company is now one of the commission's top contractors and the people who let it happen have faced no consequences".

Prodi's reply is that Schmidt-Brown's claims were being studied by the commission's anti-fraud unit.

So once again the central bodies of the EU chose to attack those who try to expose corruption, not those who commit it. This organisation is rotten through and through and British taxpayers should wake up to the fact that their money is being poured into the bottomless pit of incompetence and corruption run from Brussels.

10/11/2002

A report in today's Sunday Times makes clear how irrelevant the parliament at Westminster has become, since most of its powers have been, or are being, transferred to Brussels.

"When Robin Cook pushed through his malingerer's charter last week to allow fellow MPs to spend more time with other peoples's families, he curiously forgot to mention two crucial additional 'reforms': from Wednesday mornings through to the end of the week, most votes are now likely to be just one-line whips (where attendance is thought optional).

Then, in a further licence to laziness, the weekly meeting of the parliamentary Labour party is to be shunted from Wednesday morning to Tuesday, a tacit admission that many honourable members will be able to slip off home the next day.

Those with an ambitious eye may wish to turn up for prime minister's questions on Wednesday for group worship. But that will be moved from its 3 p.m. slot to before lunch to allow an early getaway.

The house does not work weekends and MPs are not asked to amble in until pre-lunch drinks on Monday, so this amounts to at most two whole days, a working week that not even Ted Heath, architect of the three day week during the miners' strike in 1974, managed to achieve.

Of course the irony is that it is Ted Heath who is the true creator of this situation. His obsession with joining the European project has led directly to the destruction of British parliamentary democracy, as power has leached to the bureaucrats of Brussels, and now the pathetic heirs of our great traditions just take their money for acting as part time lap dogs to the dictators of the European Union.

03/11/2002

The government will not give the British people a say on whether or not they want the new EU constitution being currently drawn up by a Constitutional Convention in Brussels, including the new Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain. This will be ratified in 2004.

Neill Sharp, replying on behalf of the Foreign Office to a letter from the all-party Eurosceptic Democracy Movement requesting to know whether there would be a referendum, confirmed there would not be. In his response Mr Sharp of the FCOs European Union Department said that an EU constitution will not fundamentally change the relationship between the EU and its citizens, nor alter the position of nation states as the fundamental basis of the European Union. Using this as a justification for not holding a referendum he then went on to say: A new structured treaty would need to be ratified according to the individual constitutional arrangements in each of the Member States. In the UK, the Government is committed to the existing system of Parliamentary democracy, rather than public referenda.

This is disingenuous on two counts. First, under proposals put forward by both Valerie Giscard dEstaing and the British government over the past ten days, the EU constitution would give the Union a legal personality and would result in the member states losing their capacity to negotiate and sign international treaties. Under both sets of proposals there would be a loyalty oath incorporated into the treaty. The British government proposes that this would commit the member states to refrain from any action which is contrary to the interests of the Union or likely to impair its effectiveness. Such an article, if included, could be used by the European Court of Justice when reaching its legally binding judgements.

Second, for the FCO to say that the current government is opposed on principle to the holding of referenda is simply untrue. It has held more referenda then any other government in British history.

Marc Glendening, DM campaign director comments: It is clear that Tony Blair wants to ratify the EU constitution, which will make Brussels the principal decision making body for all European citizens, without the voters being able to give or withhold their consent. New Labour has no mandate to ratify the next EU treaty in 2004 since at no time during the last election campaign did it reveal that it intended to sign the British people up to an EU constitution.

In fact the situation is even worse than that stated by Marc. Under the proposals for the new constitution all referendums would be banned so our long promised vote on joining the Euro would be forgotten and the political class would then take us in against our wishes. These people are so blatantly committed to their own self interests the desires of the British electorate will be treated with contempt.

03/11/2002

The President of Honda Europe, Minoru Harada, said this week that his company is working on the assumption that Britain will not join the euro.

He said that although he wanted Britain to join, "we have already made the assumption that it will not, and are already prepared" (Telegraph, 31 October). Mr Harada also criticised those who want to join the euro at the current exchange rate: "if the UK did join at greater than 1.5 euros to the pound, it would make UK manufacturing much tougher."

This came after similar comments this week by Kevin Wale, Managing Director of Vauxhall, who said, "Membership of the euro would make life less complex. But the biggest deals for us are still the fundamental skills of the workforce, the cost base, and labour flexibility" (Sunday Times, 27 October).

The most important thing for British manufacturers is that Britain has a stable economy, rather than just currency stability. During our membership of the ERM between 1990 and 1992, Britain had currency stability with European countries but unemployment doubled and we lost 100,000 businesses. The best way of maintaining economic stability is by keeping control of our interest rates and taxation by keeping the pound. Those who claim that we must join the Euro or we will lose vast amounts of inward investment are just liars.

03/11/2002

The initial report from the Convention on the EuropeanConstitution has confirmed all the warnings that the Eurorealist movement have been voicing for decades. At last the federalists have come fully into the open and called for the "United States of Europe", and no evasions by the British government can conceal that fact.

All that we in CIB and the rest of the movement need say is WE TOLD YOU SO

As the political continues to congratulate themselves on deceiving the Irish people into supporting the political gravy train, otherwise known as the European Union, it is interesting to read the leader in the Daily Telegraph entitled "Victory for Europe's elites":

"One wonders whether any of the European leaders rushing to hail Ireland's Yes to Nice has actually read the treaty. Across the Continent, commentators have described the result as a vote in favour of enlargement. Yet Nice barely mentions enlargement. It is true that a small part of the text deals with the number of MEPs and Commissioners which each applicant country would get, but these clauses will in any case have to be rewritten as part of the accession treaties when the new states join.

Three previous EU enlargement rounds were agreed without triggering an Irish referendum. The reason that Nice had to be put to the people was that it involved a further transfer of sovereignty from the republic to Brussels. Nice abolishes the national veto in 39 areas, creates a mechanism for the most federalist countries to push ahead without the support of the less enthusiastic members, provides for more harmonisation in the field of justice and home affairs, allows for recalcitrant states to have their voting rights suspended and calls for more pan-European political parties. The Nice summit also agreed on more moves towards EU armed forces and a European constitution.

It is simply inaccurate to describe Nice, as the BBC invariably does, as a 'treaty on enlargement'. The best one can say is that it sets out one particular model of EU expansion, whereby widening is accompanied by simultaneous deepening. It represents a power grab by Brussels, aimed at ensuring that the applicants are presented with political union as a fait accompli. Under the circumstances, it is a little odd that these states should be so militant in their support for the Yes campaign: 10 of their ambassadors appealed jointly for a Yes vote, and barely a week passed without some Eastern European minister pleading his case in Dublin. It may simply be, of course, that politicians and diplomats in the applicant states, like those in the West, have become disconnected from their electorates on the European issue.

Saturday's vote was truly a victory for the elites over the people. Bertie Ahern was determined to overturn the verdict of the first referendum. He did so by sneakily changing the rules on referendums so as to advantage the Yes campaign, rushing the Bill through all its Dail readings in a single day, just before the Christmas recess. Not content with this, he also rigged the question, rolling in the vote on Nice with a vote on non-participation in an EU army, so pushing many neutralists into voting Yes. Tony Blair will have been watching all this closely. He, too, has passed a referendums law which is potentially advantageous to the Yes campaign; and he, too, may be tempted to fix the phrasing of the question. Above all, Ireland's experience will have taught him that, where European integration is concerned, the people's verdict need not be final. 'No' campaigners need to win every time; 'Yes' campaigners need only win once.

As a summary of the undemocratic farce which has just taken place in Ireland the above can hardly be bettered. The only thing to say is that, as the Irish were allowed a vote on Nice, they have made their bed. The rest of us are obliged to lay in a bed made by the political class for their own selfish benefit.

27/10/2002

CIB activists have reported that, during a meeting on regional assemblies in Cambridge, one of the city's Liberal Democrat councillors stated that "England is an artifical nonsense". Of course this is the sort of comment one can expect from Liberal Democrats but it is a shame that their supporters can never get it into their heads that their party is gung ho for a single European state and will not allow little things like a thousand years of history or the wishes of the people stand in the way of their self interest as members of the political class.

27/10/2002

The Anti-Maastricht Alliance and the Alliance Pour La Souverainete de la France have signed an agreement to work together against the plans of the European federalists to extinguish the independent nation states of Europe

As the results of the Irish referendum on Nice come in we can see that, yet again, the fascists who run the European Union have had their way. The citizens of Eire voted 'No' last year so, of course, they must be asked the same question time and again until they get the answer right.

The anti democratic nature of the European elites is now so blatant that one would think even the most apolitical could see it for what it is, but this would be to underestimate the extent to which so many can imitate the ostrich and think that ignoring facts will make them go away. What a surprise the knock on the door in the night will be for those who think their democracy can be destroyed without it affecting their lives.

What of Ireland? The Irish people had their chance and threw it away, despite those, like Sinn Fein, who pointed out that the sovereignty of their nation was at stake. As the Irish Free State recedes from the stage of history, to be replaced by a small province of the United States of Europe, one is left wondering why the Irish bothered to fight against English occupation for centuries and what those who died in the Easter rising would think of their descendants. If the Irish thought that the English were hard taskmasters they will have an awakening when the bureaucratic dictators of Brussels use German or Eastern European troops against those who defy the USE in the future. Still, they did have the chance to vote on Nice, which is more than the British were allowed. Shame they allowed themselves to be bullied into voting 'Yes'.

20/10/2002

It is ironic that, on the same day that a spokesman for Britain in Europe uses the letters column of The Times to defend the EU Growth and Stability Pact, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, should describe the pact as both stupid and rigid. In addition, earlier this week, senior politicians in France and Germany attempted to apply political pressure to the European Central Bank, something which they are expressly forbidden to do by the terms of the Maastricht treaty.

The warnings given by the Eurorealist movement about the absurdity of the project to impose a single currency across the whole of the EU are coming true one by one. Is it not time to recognize that the experiment is doomed to failure and that Britain would indeed be insane to contemplate joining something which will inevitably end in tears.

18/10/2002

Eurorealists, who are confident of winning any fair referendum on joining the Euro, should be aware that plots are afoot to circumvent any such vote. The Convention on the Constitution for Europe is considering suggestions that all referendums should be outlawed in their brave new world and it now looks likely that the implementation of their report may occur before any referendum in the UK.

At a stroke the political class would remove the last opportunity for the ordinary people to control events and ensure that their beloved single currency would be imposed, whatever the wishes of the electorate.

The arrogance and anti democratic instincts of the rulers of the EU know no bounds and no one should be surprised if they seize the opportunity to refuse to hold a Euro referendum, thus leaving the decision to the morons and self interested politicians who now constitute the majority of the political class.

Europhiles will deride this, claiming that nothing is further from their thoughts. Wait and see.

11/10/2002

Yet again the European Commission is preparing a directive which, in the name of harmonisation, will undermine the rights of British consumers.

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, British users of credit cards have the right to seek compensation from the card providers if they have problems with goods or services purchased.

However, under a directive prepared by the Irish commissioner for health and consumer affairs, David Byrne, this right will be abolished. The EU spokesman, Torston Muench, said "The UK is unusual in offering this type of consumer protection. The commission was aware at the time of drafting that the UK did this. But it is inevitable that, where harmonisation takes place, certain legal privileges in individual countries have to go".

The Consumer's Association describe Section 75 as "a key consumer right", the Financial Ombudsman Service called it "an extremely valuable consumer right" and the Department of Trade and Industry says "We would not support any removal of existing and valuable UK consumer protection measures".

However, none of these statements will mean a thing once our EU masters decide to impose another of their arrogant directives upon this country. How much longer are we going to put up with this ridiculous state of affairs where we pay billions of pounds each year to Brussels in order that they may produce directives to undermine us?

One might as well ask how long is a piece of string. Our political class will swallow anything, as long as they can continue to benefit from the Brussels gravy train. British consumers can wave goodbye to credit card protection thanks to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.

06/10/2002

A report in today's Sunday Times highlights the crisis for economic policy in Euroland. Surveys last week showed manufacturing and service sector output falling in every member state of Euroland, pointing to a renewed downturn in activity, and the financial markets are agreed that unless European interest rates are reduced very shortly there will soon be an economic slump.

France is under criticism from the European Commission for ignoring the guidelines of the stability pact when unveiling its recent budget, while the Commission itself is being attacked for shifting the date by which countries should aim for balance budgets from 2004 to 2006.

Even earlier than expected the rush to monetary union is creating tensions which will tear first Euroland, and then the EU, apart. We in this country should steer well clear of the whole mad idea and should now be preparing to leave the EU train before it hits the buffers. There is no reason, beyond the self interest of our political class, why the UK should jump off the cliff with the rest of the lemmings.

06/10/2002

Yet again we hear the cry of the Tory "grandees", as they seek to undermine Duncan Smith as leader of the Conservative Party, ostensibly because they doubt his abilities, but in reality because he is an opponent of their beloved European Union. That men such as Clarke and Heseltine should now criticise the Conservative leadership is unbelievable hypocrisy, given the results of their actions in the early 1990s. It was they who engineered the ousting of Margaret Thatcher and who then, together with John Major led the Tory government to disaster, insisting on the merits of the ERM until they were finally defeated by economic reality, and who slanted every policy towards the goal of 'ever closer union' with the rest of the EU, regardless of the effect on British interests.

Politicians private lives are of no interest here but when Mr Major speaks of being ashamed of the betrayal of his wife perhaps he should be equally ashamed of the ERM debacle and the manner in which he forced the Maastricht treaty through parliament. Clearly, for so many modern politicians, egotism and a selfish concern for one's own interests takes precedence over the interests of other people, or of one's country.

However the hypocrisy of these Europhiles does not disguise the fact that the Conservative party, having, over the last three decades, betrayed its most fundamental duty of preserving the very existence of an independent Britain, is in danger of becoming a total irrelevance. Even now, instead of fearlessly proclaiming that the EU represents a real and present danger to the nation, they are afraid to make a stand on anything, seeking to be all things to all people and adopting policies which avoid any danger of provoking criticism from the metropolitan liberal elite. If they go on like this they will soon be the third force in British politics and there will be no major party advocating independence for this nation. What a sad end to a once great party.

06/10/2002

It is sad that the mass media takes so long to catch up with those realities of the European Union, which we in the Eurorealist movement have been proclaiming to any who would listen for years.

The latest example of this is the presence of armed foreign police on British soil. The Sunday Times reports that a six strong French unit, equipped with handguns, batons and CS gas, is now vetting passengers in the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo. All passengers destined for France are required to show their passports or identity documents to the officers from the Police aux Frontieres, part of France's national police force, and may be refused permission to board the train.

This unit is said to be carrying out checks on behalf of all the European countries belonging to the Schengen agreement, and the scheme is shortly to be extended to passengers bound for Belgium.

Lord MacKenzie, a Home Office adviser on crime control, questioned whether the French officers should be armed. As he asks "What would happen if a French officer was forced to draw his weapon and shoot?".

So, once again, the warnings we gave, and which were dismissed as paranoid ravings, have been shown to be completely accurate. Perhaps the doubting Thomases should now heed some of those warnings which have not yet come true but which will assuredly do so in the years to come. The use of the European Arrest Warrant to silence the political opponents of the European Union, and the garrisoning of Britain by foreign troops, who will be prepared to fire on British civilians, are pleasures to which we can look forward if we remain within the EU.

06/10/2002

A recent article by Brian Denny of CAEF and Marc Glendenning of the Democracy Movement reveals the extent to which the EU is being transformed into a police state, within which no opposition to the political elite will be tolerated.

The tone of the article is set by the opening quote from Peter Mandelson: (who, as well as being an architect of a style of politics which is all style and not substance, is also a leading light in the Europhile organisations 'Britain in Europe' and the European Movement) "The age of pure representative democracy is coming to an end".

This quote encapsulates the arrogance and undemocratic instincts of those, from all the main political parties, who have corrupted our democracy in the last thirty years. No longer are we, the people, to decide our own fate, but we must allow those, like Mandelson, who think they know better, to rule our lives. Their ambition is close to being realised, thanks to the construction of the European Union, which is deliberately undemocractic and ensures that only the powerful will have a say in the way Europe is run.

Civil liberties group Statewatch has warned of EU plans to create one database to target 'suspected' protestors and bar them from entering a country where a protest is planned, while a second will be of all 'foreigners', allowing their removal within a 'prescribed time frame'.

If this were not enough the British Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has gone further, demanding the removal of rights that can be traced back to Magna Carta of 1215 and the Habeas Corpus Act of 1640. His proposals will allow the single legal code of Corpus Juris to be imposed on the UK via the Brussels doctrine of acquis communautaire, thus ending the following:

• the right of a trial by jury

• the right of habeas corpus

• the right to be presumed innocent

and instituting:

• an automatic EU arrest warrant

• the immediate freezing of assets

The effect of this would be that an anti EU campaigner could be removed from the UK, without charge, or the right to appear before a British judge, taken to a foreign country and held there, for an indefinite period of time, before possibly appearing in a court for a trial conducted in a foreign language and with a presumption of guilt, perhaps accused of something which is not even a crime in the UK. Any chance they might have would be further compromised by the seizure of their assets, thus preventing them effectively defending themselves. The spirit of the Nazi 'People's Court' clearly walks again in Europe.

Brian and Marc make many important points including:

• The European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Central Bank have no electoral mandate and meet in secret

• The European Commission has the monopoly right to propose new EU laws, which the Council of Ministers then decides whether to approve. In reality the vast majority of these decisions are taken by the permanent civil servants in Brussels

• The European Parliament is a joke, a figleaf to cover the lack of democracy in the EU. Its members are elected on party lists, supposedly represent constituencies of a million electors, may not propose legislation and can speak for only 90 seconds in debate. No self respecting democrat would take part in such a farce, but of course you don't find many of them in the New Europe.

• The European Central Bank is unelected and, under article 107 of the EU treaty, it is an offence for any elected politician to even write to the ECB requesting a change of policy. In other words the people are to have no say in the economic policies which shape their lives and all such decisions are to be in the hands of bankers.

• The EU's Court of First Instance in Brussels has ruled that criticism of the EU was tantamount to blasphemy and that this would not be tolerated once the EU became a criminal jurisdiction. Clearly the Nazi party is not a sufficient parallel - we should be looking to the Holy Inquisition.

• The European Commission has drawn up proposals for a new law against 'xenophobia'. As their own Committee for the Monitoring of Racism and Xenophobia has officially stated that opposition to the single currency constitutes 'monetary xenophobia' then presumably even Eurosceptics such as Tony Benn and the Green Party are in the firing line. The Nazis and the Inquisition will have to stand in line - we are now up to the 'Inner Party' of 1984.

  EuroPol, the EU's answer to the FBI, is only accountable to its management board and its officers enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution. They have already been given the right to keep individuals and groups alleged to be xenophobic under surveillance. One must assume this includes those who dare to defy the EU such as CIB, UKIP, the Democracy Movement, perhaps even the Conservative Party. What damnable arrogance!

• Under proposed new laws any 'act of intimidation' with the intention of 'seriously altering political, economic or social structures', will attract long prison sentences. So much for the Chartists, the Trade Union movement, the Suffragettes and anyone else prepared to take to the streets to defend basic rights.

• Political parties within the European parliament will have their right to speak, or obtain funding, removed, if they do not fulfill a duty to 'promote European consciousness'. So much for the Greens, UKIP or any other party which opposes a federal Europe.

• Article 7 of the Nice treaty allows the suspension of the voting rights of entire governments within the Council of Ministers. This was used against the Austrians when they elected an anti EU party but not against the Italians when they elected the fascists as the latter support the concept of a federal Europe

So there you have it. The masters of the EU do not take their place beside the democrats who fought so long to create and defend Western democracy but instead stand four square with the Nazis, the Soviets, the Inquisition and the nightmare 'Inner Party' of Orwell's masterpiece. In case the faint hearted still do not believe this here are a few quotes to illustrate the truth:

• We shall never make Europe until we take the plunge into the water and that plunge is the making of European government. Oswald Mosley, leader of the fascist union movement, June 1958

• Europe may once again grasp the helm of world civilisation if it can develop a modicum of political unity. Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, November 1933

• Our Europe, a National Europe, will befounded on the deepest sense of patriotism embracing brothers and sisters of the same stock and a 3,000 years tradition of European culture. We invite all to join in this struggle for the future of our common race and nation League of St George, Summer 2000

• We now declare with pride our European communion of blood and of spirit that Europe a nation shall forthwith be made a fact. This means that Europe shall have a common government for the purpose of foreign policy, defence, economic policy, finance and scientific development National Party of Europe, a grouping of European fascists, March 1962

• The euro was not just a banker's decision or a technical decision. It was a decision which completely changed the nature of te nation states. The pillars of the nation state are the sword and the curency, and we changed that Romano Prodi, EU President, April 1999

• Are we all clear that we want to build something that can aspire to be a world power? In other words, not just a trading bloc but a political entity. Do we realise that our nation states, taken individually, would find it more difficult to assert their existence and their identity on the world stage? Romano Prodi, EU President, April 2000

Europhiles should not fool themselves they they are engaged in some great moral crusade. Their project would have received approval from the main inhabitant of the Berlin Bunker in April 1945. The British will be fools if they remain inside until the trap shuts

29/09/2002

Three new polls out this week showed support for the euro dropping to its lowest level so far this year.

A GFK poll commissioned by investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston found that opposition to joining any time in the next two to three years had risen from 55 percent in July to 57 percent in September, up from, 46 percent in January.

An NOP poll for Barclays Capital found marginally the most anti-euro result this year, with voters 48-36 against joining, even if the Government says the five tests are met. Asked a straight question about whether they want to replace the pound with the euro NOP found voters 60-26 against.

A MORI poll for Schroeder Salomon Smith Barney found 56 percent against entry and 29 percent in favour - a swing of 3 percent against joining since July. SSSB pointed out growing support for the Bank of England. The proportion of voters saying they are satisfied with the Bank has risen from 40 percent at the start of 2000 to around 60 percent today.

SSSB also highlighted the repeated failure of events to shift opinion, while pro-euro campaigners have continued to clutch at straws. "On many occasions over the past few years, advocates of EMU entry have argued that some upcoming event would shift public sentiment and act as the launchpad for a decisive pro-EMU campaign. Examples of expected catalysts have been:

1. Blair's speech to the Labour party conference (autumn every year)

2. EMU's launch (January 1999)

3. Labour's second election victory (June 2001)

4. the introduction of euro notes and coin (January 2002)

5. the use of euro notes and coins on summer holidays (mid-2002)

Each time, once the supposed catalyst has passed, any rise in popular support for EMU entry has proved elusive or short-lived. The pro-EMU campaign then point to another possible catalyst a few months ahead.

The different results found by the polls show the importance of how the question is asked. Of these polls NOP is the most anti-euro because it explicitly mentions having to replace the pound with the euro. The Government will be desperate to avoid any mention of the pound in a referendum question. But given that 27 percent of voters do not yet realise that joining the euro means replacing the pound (ICM poll, July 2002), it will be difficult for the Government to convince the Electoral Commission that that this would be fair. (It is difficult to know whether the fact that 27 per cent of voters do not realise what is meant by joining the single currency is a failure of education or a pointer to the level of stupidity in the country at large. It may be that all the reasonable arguments put forward by the anti EU movement will be wasted as so many seem incapable of grasping the facts. If so then these people will no doubt be surprised should the Europhiles get their way and one day they find that they have not merely lost their currency but their independence, their democracy and their prosperity.)

For the moment the Eurorealist movement can be pleased that the Europhiles have not persuaded the British people to turn away from theit instinctive opposition to the prospect of adopting the Euro. However we must not underestimate the extent to which the political establishment will use every dirty trick in the book to get their way. They will lie, lie and lie again rather than see their beloved European project defied and, should they still fail, do not be surprised if they seek to join without a referendum. There is nothing these people would not do to protect their own self interest.

29/09/2002

The Irish employers' group IBEC plans to spend E500,000 promoting a Yes-side in a poll on Nice Treaty and has sent explanatory booklets to all 7,000 member-organisations, who were being encouraged to discuss the issue with their employees .

The employer's body argues that it is of national interest that a "yes" vote comes through in October and a second rejection of the Treaty would have negative results for the country as a whole. This is an unprecedented move by the employer's body.

Their director-general, Turlough O'Sullivan, said that a poster and billboard campaign would begin in about a week's time.

"Our information programme will be up-front in every sense. You will know why Irish business is calling for a 'Yes' vote. You will know how it has raised money for our information programme, and you will know how it spends that money," he told a news conference.

Meanwhile, the Irish Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche, accused No campaigners of playing with fire and displaying "extraordinary arrogance" on the economic consequences of voting down the Nice treaty.

Just as in the UK the self interested alliance of big business and the political class is trying to fool the people into voting for the end of their democracy, and their nation. Let us hope that the Irish people stick to their guns and tell the dictators of Brussels where to put their treaty.

22/09/2002

A new poll by ICM for the 'No' campaign this week showed that two-thirds of British businesses want to keep the pound.

The main findings of the poll were:

• 66 percent believe that Britain should keep the pound and only 31 percent want to join the euro.

• Only 20 percent want to join the euro in this Parliament. 12 percent believe we should join at some stage but not in this Parliament. 39 percent think we should probably not join but keep our options open and 29 percent believe we should rule out membership altogether.

• Only 26 percent said that they thought the euro would be good for the economy compared with 56 percent who thought it would be bad. 78 percent are confident that Britain can prosper outside the euro.

• Only 7 percent named the euro as something the Government could do to help their business, placing it last out of a list of 8 business priorities. It even scored lower than "encouraging e-commerce and the internet".

• Only 17 percent believe that the Government will base its decision to call a referendum on the 5 economic tests. 36 percent believe the tests will be a factor but that there will only be a referendum if the Government believes it can win. 39 percent believe that public opinion is the only issue the Government will consider.

• Attitudes towards the Government have hardened. 40 percent said that the Government has become less friendly to business over the last 12 months, while only 6 percent said it had become more friendly.

• By 71-19 percent, business leaders said that stable British interest rates were more important to their business than a fixed exchange rate between the pound and the euro.

The Government has always hoped that a pro-euro campaign would have the support of British business. But this poll shows that the majority are opposed to the euro, with the biggest firms split down the middle. The pro-euro campaign is looking increasingly like a campaign made up of self interested members of the political class, while the 'No' campaign is forming a broad coalition which includes business people, Greens, trade unionists, celebrities and people from every background and across the political spectrum.

22/09/2002

Members of CIB and a specially invited audience of city workers, gathered outside the Bank of England on the16th September for a celebration of the tenth anniversary of Britain's escape from the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

Speakers at the rally, which included Marc Glendenning, Campaign Director of the Democracy Movement, Brian Prime, Chairman of the Federation of Small Business's International Affairs Committee, Dr Alan Sked, academic and leading eurorealist, and Lord Stoddart of Swindon, our chairman, were keen to point out the dangerous similarities between the ERM and the European single currency.

Lord Stoddart attacked the Prime Minister for eulogising on the great success of the British economy, which has prospered independently, but then in the same breath saying we should give it all away by joining the single currency because otherwise we will be 'marginalised'. He also produced a written answer to a question he had put to the Government, in which confirmation was given that 'the EC Treaty contains no provision for a Member State to withdraw from EMU'. Lord Stoddart said this was 'straight from the horse's mouth' that the euro is a permanent economic straitjacket with no escape.

Mr Glendenning pointed out the euro was not just bad for Britain but for all the nations of the EU. He believes that every member state has a right to democratic self-government, which is taken away by membership of the euro.

Brian Prime spoke out for small businesses whom, he said, would suffer greatly under Economic and Monetary Union. He also expressed concern about the constitutional implications.

Dr Alan Sked pointed out that the economic case against membership of the euro is overwhelming in that the Continental countries have much high unemployment, much higher inflation and much lower growth. He also produced statistics to demonstrate how much Britain has benefited from its escape from the ERM and pointed out how the euro is exactly the same sort of economic straitjacket as the ERM i.e. one policy fits all.

As usual the media were too idle to show up but the CIB made sure that the this tenth anniversary did not go umarked

22/09/2002

A degree of incredulity is evident in reports in today's press and radio concerning the acceptance by the Green Party of funds from the anti Euro 'No' campaign, this clearly being the result of the casual assumption by much of the media that opposition to the Euro, and to EU membership itself, is the prerogative of those on the right of the political spectrum.

On Tuesday a CIB / CAEF fringe meeting at the TUC conference, convened to express opposition to joining the single currency, was addressed by Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary of the Community and Youth Workers Union and John Haylett, Editor of the Morning Star. These gentlemen made clear that there is a perfectly valid left wing case for opposing the European project, as the inherent dangers to our democracy, consequent upon continuing down the road of European integration, are as much a concern of those on the left, as of those on the right.

The Greens should be congratulated on having the courage to make clear their principled position on the matter of handing control of our economy to unelected bankers and bureaucrats, not criticised for their open acceptance of support from like minded democratic organisations.

13/09/2002

A report in the Sunday Telegraph reveals that the government is prepared to risk exposing British ships to attack by refusing to authorise the necessary air cover to protect them, merely in order to save £109 million. This sum is less than the amount the UK pays in membership fees to the EU in ONE WEEK.

Clearly the Europhiles regard their membership of the cosy European elite to be worth more than the lives of British servicemen and women. They have no shame.

27/08/2002

The following report is from EU Observer of today's date:

UK foreign secretary to back EU Constitution

He will again spell out how the UK wants to see that the Convention supports greater powers for the EU's central authorities "in areas where it is manifestly in the national interest to do so, such as in the fight against crime and immigration." Mr Straw is also set to call for reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy

So, after declaring only last year that there was no chance of the British accepting an EU constitution, the Europhiles have revealed their true intentions and expect the British people to believe their new set of lies. If they were to be so foolish as to do so then it would be another, and one of the last necessary, nails in the coffin of British democracy. Jack Straw speaks of limiting the powers of the EU when in fact a constitution will set them in stone. There is no limit to what the political class will do to ensure that they retain their tickets to the EU gravy train.

27/08/2002

Shown below is the letter published in today's Times from Bob Crow, general Secretary of the RMT Union.

This letter is the authentic voice of the real trade union movement, not that of those union leaders who have sold out to 'New' Labour's vision of a corporatist state centred on Brussels, a state akin to that created by Mussolini in the 1920s.

CIB is proud that Bob Crow has agreed to speak at our fringe meeting arranged for the TUC fringe in Blackpool and look forward to him nailing the lie that the true left in this country supports the European Union.

Sir,

It comes as no surprise to read in Andrew Pierce's column (People, August 22) that the newly elected Amicus leader, Derek Simpson, is seeking an audit into the huge handouts by the former leadership to Britain in Europe to fund euro propaganda.

This reflects growing opposition within the trade union movement to campaigning for the unpopular single currency while our public services are in chronic need of extra funding and our rail network is crumbling.

The deflationary policies enshrined within the European Union's mis-named Stability and Growth Pact, which governs economic policy within the eurozone, has led to ballooning unemployment and negligible growth levels < unemployment in Germany alone has hit over four million. Portugal, one of the EU's poorest countries, also faces the possibility of fines from the European Commission of over £5 billion next month for failing to make severe spending cuts demanded by the draconian pact.

Euro membership also demands handing over most of this country's gold reserves to the European Central Bank, and there is no mechanism for any country to leave once it is locked into the single currency. Millions of ordinary people share such concerns and oppose this country being reduced to a rate-capped county council ruled from Brussels.

The RMT union intends to raise these issues at the TUC conference next month.

Yours faithfully,

Bob Crow

General Secretary

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers

Thank God for honest men (and women) who place the interests of their members, and of the ordinary people of this country, above membership of that cosy club of the 'great and the good' (Great fools and good for nothing) whose pursuit of self interest is all consuming.

24/08/2002

The No campaign limits itself to opposition to the UK adopting the Euro, and is not therefore in agreement with the CIB's aim of withdrawal from the EU. However the results of its research into the truth about the EU are well worth repeating and a regular synopsis of the findings will appear on the CIB site. The following is for the period 9 August - 15 August 2002

No campaign publishes new research on trade - Trade and the euro

The no campaign this week published new research showing that since the launch of the euro, Britain's exports to the Eurozone have grown faster than the euromembers' exports to each other. Over the three years since the launch of the euro, Britain's exports to the Eurozone grew 23.5 percent. On average euro members' exports to the rest of the Eurozone grew only 19 percent over the same period. These figures reflect growth of underlying volumes, rather than simply movements in the exchange rate. OECD figures show that over the first three years of the euro, trade volumes increased 16 percent for Italy, 17 percent for France, 23 percent for the UK and 29 percent for Germany. Most academic studies have found no relationship between trade patterns and exchange rate volatility. The Swedish Government's Commission on the issue in 1997 concluded "many empirical studies have been done on the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on the volume of foreign trade. The somewhat surprising, but fairly unanimous, conclusion is that these fluctuations seem to influence foreign trade very little, if at all."

The UK economy has been cushioned by a tendency for movements in the pound-euro and pound-dollar rates to be mutually offsetting. Recent work on the increased "polarisation" of the euro-dollar exchange rate suggests that instead of reducing exchange rate volatility, euro entry could actually increase UK exposure to exchange rate volatility. Recent research for NIESR concluded that "membership of an enlarged euro area which included the UK would be likely to result in the UK experiencing twice as much volatility against the dollar as it does at present".

Customs and Excise figures show that 32 per cent of UK goods trade is denominated in dollars compared to just 20 per cent in euros, so entry into the euro could actually increase UK exposure to exchange rate volatility.

In today's Sunday Telegraph Christopher Booker reveals the extent to which our so called political masters have abdicated responsibility for British foreign policy and handed effective control to Brussels:

A year ago, when I asked the Foreign Office about British policy on Zimbabwe, I was told that this now came under the EU as part of its Common Foreign policy. It was not thought advisable that Britain should have its own policy, because this looked like the former colonial power trying to interfere. Next time Prince Charles wants to write a personal plea on behalf of Mr Mugabe's victims, he had better address it to Professor Prodi.

The deeper the noses of the British political class get into the Brussels trough the less they expect to have to do on behalf of the nation they are supposed to represent. Why on earth are we paying all these politicians when every decision of importance is being ceded to Brussels? Before long the House of Commons can extend its holidays to 365 days a year, as they will no longer have anything worth doing.

18/08/2002

The European Investment Bank describes itself as "an autonomous body set up to finance capital investment furthering European integration by promoting EU policies" and implicit in its conditions for lending is that the recipients must not be critical of the EU.

This overt propaganda machine has now lent £25 million to BBC Worldwide in order that the latter may finance "new productions" in news, entertainment and children's programmes.

Those who recall the BBC as the voice of the nation during World War II should be disgusted that the national broadcaster is now the tame mouthpiece of Brussels and seeks at every turn to undermine the existence of the UK as an independent nation state. Once we hung Lord Haw-Haw. Now the BBC would probably make him their expert on the European Union.

11/08/2002

The following is a report printed today in the London Evening Standard:

A whistleblower who exposed lax financial controls at the European Commission today said former Labour leader Neil Kinnock tried to silence her.

Marta Andreasen spoke out after a leaked report by internal auditors revealed the £63 billion a year European budget is wide open to fraud and abuse. She was sidelined on full pay from her job as the Commission's chief accountant in May. She faces disciplinary proceedings.

Today she claimed she had been followed by unknown men, had her emails hacked into, and Mr Kinnock, Commission vice-president, tried to stop her giving evidence to Euro-MPs. Tory spokesman David Davis said "If what she says is true, the Government ought to recall Mr Kinnock and talk to him".

The auditors' report, leaked to the Financial Times, says EU accounts suffer "lack of security" and "obvious risks as regards reliability" while "failures abound and are a waste of public money. It is impossible to put a figure on the amount involved".

The paper was written by Colin Maynard, a director of the EU Court of Auditors. Commission officials said it may never be published because it "contained inaccuracies and the tone of the language was inappropriate".

Ms Andreasen said: "I was asked to contradict regulations by signing off accounts despite knowing them to be untrue. I was threatened with dismissal if I failed to sign. There was a cover-up".

The Commission said Ms Andreasen was moved after her accusations against colleagues generated "extreme ill-feeling" and a "total breakdown in relationships".

Clearly nothing fundamental has changed since the last Commission was forced to resign. The fraud continues and those who try to warn about it are victimised. This is precisely what happens when organisations escape from accountability and where democratic control is absent. The corruption in the EU is endemic and will never be eradicated as it is based upon the political and bureaucratic culture which exists throughout Continental Europe and which now bids fair to fatally infect that of the UK.

Unless we recover our senses soon we face a future in which the old virtues of honesty, loyalty and a sense of honour are dead and this nation will be dominated by a group of spivs, whether they be crooked CEOS, their accountant accomplices, corrupt politicians or arrogant bureaucrats. Time is running out.

01/08/2002

Charles Kennedy is an affable man and more human than most politicians but in his infamous interview by Jeremy Paxman he let slip the real reason why the political class is so keen on remaining within the European Union. As quoted in The Sunday Times he said "Career-wise, British politics is becoming more continental. You might be mayor of a major city, then be in the cabinet, then go off to the European Parliament". There you have it - it is not a genuine concern for the future well being of the British people which motivates those who are so keen on UK membership of the European Union, elected mayors and increased regional government, but a desire to extend their options as career politicians. Never have the interests of so many been sacrificed to the selfish interests of so few.

21/07/2002

It is truly frightening to see how we move nearer and nearer to Orwell's nightmare, when Peace is War and Truth is Lies. In the reaction to the 'No' campaign's cinema advert the Europhiles have chosen to concentrate on that section which implies that Hitler would have supported the Euro. Indeed, the Yes side's main celebrity, the comic Eddie Izzard, was quoted as saying 'If Hitler would have supported the Euro, why do those like Haider oppose it".

That this statement met with little criticism in the media shows how far we have come towards accepting the opposite of the truth as truth. In fact, and one does not expect a show business personality to be aware of this, the Nazis were enthusiastic supporters of the idea of European Economic Union, as they knew only too well that forcing the conquered territories to sacrifice their currencies to the mark would ensure that they become the economic serfs of Greater Germany. That evil dwarf Joseph Goebbels constantly advocated the idea and there is no doubt that, had the Third Reich won the war, it would have come to pass.

The Nazis were not alone on the far right in their espousal of the single European state as Sir Oswald Mosley was also very much in favour and the fact that modern versions of these parties claim to oppose it is more a function of their desire to gain votes from those who oppose the EU than of any principled beliefs. It is those who love democracy across the political spectrum who loath the EU, while the authoritarians of whatever ilk love it.

If the political class in this country had not so undermined the teaching of history they would not now be able to make such statements of untruth without being immediately laughed out of court. A people that does not know where its freedoms arose, not understand how they have evolved, are unable to perceive when those freedoms are being taken away from them, until it is too late, and the situation is obvious even to the most self absorbed.

It seems incredible that so many intelligent people, brought up in a free country, can conspire together, whether consciously or unconsciously, to destroy that very freedom, but that is what is happening. The Prime Minister is not alone in his devotion to the European project but he is currently one of those most active in furthering its aims. He is an intelligent man, a good family man, even a sincere religious man, but he is also too intelligent not to recognize the truth constantly put before him by those who see the EU for what it really is and one is left to ruminate with Hamlet that "One can smile and smile and be a villain". His ambitions to become the head of the European political class, or to leave a legacy which will not be forgotten, have led him to follow a path which can only led to the destruction of British democratic freedoms. In the end however whether these people are fools or knaves is immaterial as the result will be the same for the British people.

06/07/2002