Tel. +44 (0)20 7287 4414
Email. info@brugesgroup.com
Tel. +44 (0)20 7287 4414
Email. info@brugesgroup.com
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
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Bruges Group Blog

Spearheading the intellectual battle against the EU. And for new thinking in international affairs.
businesswoman-617134_128_20240629-171625_1 We are all Waiting

Keynesian Inspired Nightmare

Some years ago, at a Cambridge University event, I talked to a young lady PhD student. She explained that she was hoping for a career in HMRC or the Treasury. To boost her opportunity she was preparing her thesis on the subject 'Flat tax inefficiency and economic damage'. It was a social event and I did not engage her starry eyed subservience to or...

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ai-generated-8842232_1280 Great if you are Wealthy!

SOCIALISM FOR THE WEALTHY

The Labour Party of today came into being as we know it around 1900. Its roots lie in the trade union movement of the 19th century and thanks to such people as Keir Hardy the Labour Party was formed. However, there is an irony in the fact that over a hundred years later, the only people who can afford to vote for the party that was formed to repres...

  156 Hits
EU-Door A Door Not Worth Opening

Get Brexit undone?

Sir Keir Starmer's plans relating to the UK's future relationship with the EU are unclear, but then again, his ever-shifting image and (apparent) political position (embracing Corbynism and Blairism), in an attempt to appeal to both Left and Right, Middle and Working class, the old red wall and staunchly pro-EU constituencies, does rather confuse e...

  226 Hits
Starme_20240628-131731_1 A Future Nightmare?

Opaque not Transparent” or “How to Fool the Electorate Without Lying”

As we move ever closer to the 4th of July, we deserve to hear the plans of those parties most likely to form the next government – the detail, and how any 'wish-list' would be costed. Until detail is supplied, then any manifesto promise, or gimmicky card 'pledge' is meaningless, as there is nothing specific against which to hold a newly-elected gov...

  190 Hits
think-1704831_128_20240627-075840_1 Steady!

Steady As You Go

Back in 1997 I walked the streets locally and knocked on doors with the Conservative candidate in what was regarded as a safe constituency. It was a thankless task, but a worthy one and in spite of a cold response and some derision he was elected with a respectable majority. I remember standing outside a polling station as a Labour van went by blar...

  181 Hits
chest-1293748_128_20240621-154655_1 Treasure for Some

Maxing-Out. The Recklessness of Local Authorities.

Multiple credit cards and a carefree attitude to paying-off bills was at one time the preserve of the more feckless section of society. These days it seems to be a universal ill of local finances and it is a trend that central government has fostered. As local authorities teeter on the brink of insolvency – indeed by any 'normal' accounting assessm...

  277 Hits
middle-finger-149667_128_20240618-072533_1 A Message from your Rulers

Where is the Centre?

Ask a child to tell you where their centre is and they'll point at their belly button. It's obvious. It's in the middle. Politicians of the legacy parties bleat incessantly about the 'Centre'. Apparently, no one ever won an election to anything unless they were precariously perched on a fence. Where has that got us? In reality the 'Centre' is the e...

  298 Hits
people-1602495_128_20240613-100605_1 Just to Many

Immigration a Conversation

ONS projections show a UK population increase of 6.6 million by 2036, of which 6.1 million will be due to immigration. Annual net migration of 315,000 will lead to a projected population increase of nine million people by 2046. That's eight cities the size of Birmingham. According to Migration Watch, "a child born today to an indigenous British cou...

  315 Hits
Sir-Christopher-Chop_20240529-155622_1 Sir Christopher Chope MP

A Conversation with Sir Christopher Chope MP

Transcript of the conversation: the Italicized script is Sir Christopher Chope's responses We are in conversation with Sir Christopher Chope, Conservative Member of Parliament for Southampton, Itchen from 1983 to 1992 and then Christchurch from 1997 onwards. Early in his career he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environmen...

  377 Hits
ai-generated-8411998_128_20240528-153032_1 Five Minutes to Midnight

Success that Can Not Speak. Success Denied.

Words can define eras. Harold Wilson's government was full of people who, like their union paymasters, 'Acquiesced' so they could keep their jobs. Today, all of a sudden, all sorts of politicians, journalists and business people have discovered their contemporaries are guilty of egregious behaviour (not themselves of course). Are they all guilty of...

  377 Hits
ballot-1294935_128_20240524-164618_1 Democracy?

Of Our Hard Won Sovereignty

"Finished", "stuffed", "toast" . These have been the words and worse that many otherwise loyal Conservatives used about their own party recently. However, now that the election has been called in spite of such pessimism, there is hope for the beleaguered Tories.:  A week is a long time in politics, said Harold Wilson, so how much longer a...

  447 Hits
vaccine-6649559_128_20240523-100335_1 Inject the World?

Who's Supporting the WHO?

 The World Health Organisation, with the support of governments, public-private agencies, profit-seeking multinational corporations, academic institutions, charities and foundations, has been allowed to become a medium for the international marketisation of medical tech and vaccines, and, if we are not careful, the use of these may become mand...

  446 Hits
justice-7304992_128_20240509-125538_1 Skewed Justice is not Justice

European Convention & Court of Human Rights

Other reasons for getting out  I have put together some material which I think should help to get the UK out of the ECHR completely and thus, also, enable us to stop the small boats. The failure to achieve this has been given as a major reason for the Tories' forthcoming debacle. There are plenty of people, even in Parliament, who are upset ab...

  697 Hits
ai-generated-8189191_128_20240422-125030_1 You will all do as you are told!

How To Destroy A Country

How to destroy a country may not be an everyday item on the minds of many as they go about their daily lives. Most people living in this country have other things to to think about such as their jobs or juggling the household finances, a big question may be, if they lash out on a treat will they have enough money left to pay the rent or the mortgag...

  899 Hits
to-learn-2387228_128_20240419-134452_1 Simple Arithmetic

Simple Arithmetic

According to the experts, Kier Starmer will be Prime Minister by March next year at the latest. On one level it makes little difference. The Conservative Party is indistinguishable from the Liberal Democrats, they are indistinguishable from Labour. Starmer pretends that Labour has moved right, to the centre ground. The reality is that while Cameron...

  686 Hits
ghost-ship-8306430_1280 Democracy Heading for the Rocks

Democracy on the Rocks?

The Tory party having abandoned Conservatism is now drifting like a metaphorical Marie Celeste. From the Heroic 80 seats to a potential near zero. An updated story of "From Hero to Zero". Rishi Sunak having usurped the leadership plays Captain Ahab uninterested in the calamity he has unleashed. The plan is working he cries while the Tempest rages. ...

  959 Hits
wizard-4417511_128_20240310-133716_1 Fakery not Alchemy

AN IMPOSSIBLE FANTASY

Going back centuries alchemists were convinced they could turn base metals into gold, despite none of them being able achieve this, these days we laugh at them for their obvious foolishness and ignorance. Going forward in time, as machinery and technology advanced, a new breed of people were convinced they could invent a perpetual motion machine, l...

  1095 Hits
lenin-155794_1280 Socialist Nightmare!

It's the Hard Left, Stupid.

 Friday March 1st Rishi Sunak stood at a podium outside ten Downing Street. Like a trainee teacher lacking any form of sanction, he confronted a rebellious class. He did not quite say, "You are all very naughty", but it wasn't far-off. Lots of words, a threat to back the Police if they ever get off their knees. He had harsh words for two group...

  890 Hits
niqab Is this our future?

Another Glorious Revolution, or a Caliphate?

We are in trouble. It started when Ted Heath told lies about the Common Market and its true intention. Since then, a certain type of self-serving politician has lied about everything from expenses to democracy. According to Nick Robinson, Lindsay Hoyle can be forgiven for caving into Starmer because, "he's only human and wants to keep his job". The...

  976 Hits
rescue-phone-98582_128_20240207-105546_1 Forget Emergency Contacts

Digital Persecution

We live in a small village in Kent. Our 'Medical Centre' in the next large village has gone digital. Repeat prescriptions are only accepted if one uses the NHS Ap. It has a box where you can write a message. Oddly it has a notice stating "You can add a note about your prescription here. Your note may not be seen or replied to, so if you have an imp...

  810 Hits
big-broth_20240202-140605_1 Is 1984 here?

War on Freedom: War on the Poor

Straws in the wind   The NHS The NHS is crumbling and cannot continue for much longer in its current form. Free healthcare for all at the point of need was possible in the late 1940s and early 1950s but with ever more costly and complex interventions this is no longer the case. None of the modern imaging equipment had been invented when t...

  767 Hits
BA__20231214-115148_1 Brexit is Working

Brexit is Working

Reproduced with permission of Blue Anchor In this blog I'm going to run through the main economic consequences of Brexit. After the vote to leave The Guardian started a regular tracker to chart its impact on the economy. But as the Remainer predictions relentlessly turned to dust and the good news kept piling up, they quietly dropped this feature. ...

  1046 Hits
Shuttle Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

A year ago, I wrote suggesting that many of the current Conservative MPs would rue the day they ditched Boris. The blog was published in October 2022, and identified three key reasons why people had voted Conservative in the 2019 election: (1) Boris's call to 'get Brexit done' – this reflected the national mood when 'leave' won the referendum in 20...

  932 Hits
technology-3762546_1280 A.I Part 2

A.I. Part 2 - Hidden threats: digital reputation and resilience by Frank Millard

 AI is a direct threat to formerly trustworthy and secure sources of information, image and data. In a recent open letter, AI-expert signatories of which included Elon Musk urged a pause in AI training to reflect and take stock. "AI research and development should be refocused on making today's powerful, state-of-the-art systems more accurate,...

  1359 Hits
technology-3762546_1280 Artificial Intelligence

A.I Part I -A dark cloud over tech by Frank Millard

 Far from being located in the sky, cloud data centres are very large and earthbound with real effects on energy security There are differing statistics on the amount of electricity drained by data centres globally, but it is substantial and as cloud expands to and within developing nations, it will increase. There were already around 3.6 bill...

  792 Hits
tin-2535070_1280 The Government is Constipated

Cameron is Not the Tories Suppository

The conservative party is constipated. Bringing back Cameron makes it worse, not better. The One Nation group of MPs led by Damien Green are Europhile. Despite the failing performance of the EU's major economies they still worship the 'project'. It's hard not to believe that their shenanigans are not deliberate sabotage. They have no hope of rejoin...

  701 Hits
Berlin Lessons Learned?

Has Germany Learned from its Past?

Germany is a relatively young country. Created as a 'Customs Union' it quickly became an Empire as Bismark consolidated power through a war with France. In 1871 all members of the Zoll Union became provinces of the Empire, with the exception of Luxembourg whose ruling Duke opted out. Bismarck introduced reforms such as health insurance, but mainly ...

  689 Hits
unhappy-389944_192_20231206-110708_1 What does the future hold?

Fearing the Future

Kids can be very cruel, when I was at the start of my teenage years at school in 1961 the banter we used was often quite cutting. If anyone wanted to wind another lad up they would often use an insult using the abbreviation of a word which inferred the other lad's sexual leaning were not quite what was expected from a member of the male species. Th...

  884 Hits
Bruges-Conference.jpg Bruges-Conference 25th November 2023

Barney Reynolds, Bruges Group Speech
25th November 2023

The UK's national governance is being corroded by a failure to identify and take the steps necessary to re-emerge as a sovereign country after leaving the EU. This is causing lower economic growth and an ungoverned clash of cultures which threatens the credibility of our system itself. The problem is that we are seeking to maintain large elements o...

  2027 Hits
pressure-3026568_128_20231114-115315_1 Contempt for the people

The Blob Triumphant

I have no idea whether Rishi Sunak worships Kali among his pantheon of Hindu Gods. His betrayal of Johnson and coup against Truss and the membership of the Conservative party certainly bear they hallmarks of the Thuggee sect that worshipped her. The word 'Thug' comes from the Hindu word 'Thag' which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Certainly it seem...

  874 Hits
Suella

The straight forward response from Suella Braverman

The termination of Home Secretary Suella Braverman by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is evidently a calculated maneuver aimed at bolstering the stability of the Conservative Party and fortifying its electoral prospects in the imminent election. Braverman's successor, none other than David Cameron, the former leader of the Conservative Party, ousted in ...

  328 Hits
UK-Pictorial Where Has My Country Gone?

Where Has My Country Gone?

By  Dr Jonathan S. Swift On Saturday 14 October, I took my daughter to the Open Day at Manchester University. It is some five years since I have spent any length of time in Manchester, and I was shocked by what had happened to a once-vibrant and beautiful city. The most disturbing part of the whole experience was the seeming acceptance - dare ...

  2350 Hits
businessman-2798560_1280 Five Minutes to Midnight

A Moment so Brief it Never Happened

Women seem to provide us with consistently better common sense leadership than men. Leadership that reflects the values of the majority rather than a self-indulgent minority. Elizabeth 1, Queen Anne, Victoria, Margaret Thatcher all reflected the hopes and wishes of the people. All were proud of their country and their pride was matched by the ...

  943 Hits
celebrating-1297377_1920 Thanks for the € Subsidy!

Danegeld and Cult Crash

The chief executive of Deutsche Bank Christian Sewing told a meeting in Frankfurt "We are not the sick man of Europe. But, it is also true that there are structural weaknesses that hold back our economy and prevent it from developing its great potential. And we will become the sick man of Europe if we do not address these structural issues now." Ac...

  1031 Hits
flag-1040565_1280 The Commonwealth of Nations

North and South in a new geopolitical dichotomy

.What used to be East and West is now the global North and South in a new geopolitical dichotomy. While not strictly ideologically divided, the ascendancy of (southern) BRICS members being largely economic, they and the whole Global South are increasingly defined politically according to their perceived history. Much is spoken about multipolarity b...

  985 Hits
map-1019896_1280 UK - Great Britain & Northern Ireland

Our Nation State its Past, Present and Future. By Bob Lomas

The intellect of mankind has developed down through millennia which has facilitated his progression of understanding. Unfortunately the level of understanding is not, and has never been, universal due to group isolation and environmental limitations. On a world scale it has been and remains a long and very slow learning curve, its progression ...

  1060 Hits
G12 Is Freedom Under Threat?

The Elites: Myth or Reality?

The word 'elites' has come to mean a shorthand for 'the powers that be', which may include or be separate from and above one's elected representatives including international regulators that dictate to and restrict governments. This comprising an embryonic world government for whom and for which no one voted. According to various conspiracy theorie...

  1037 Hits
Derek-Bennett-1960s-passport-photo Off on an adventure!

Stealing Freedom of Movement

 The photo of me is from 1968 when I was young, beardless and fresh faced, it was one taken for my very first passport. In those days our British passports were wonderful things, they were dark blue with a hard cover and inside were the instructions from our Monarch to let the holder of the passport pass without let or hinderance. As I used th...

  1027 Hits
thumb-440352_1920-1 84 Wasted Years

Were all our tomorrows yesterday?

'Thirteen Wasted Years' is the war cry of Starmer's Labour party. To those who remember, it simply demonstrates that they have not got a new idea - on anything. The slogan was used by Wilson for the 1964 General Election. I suggest that the truth is that, apart from Thatcher, we have had 84 wasted years, well 79 if one deducts WW2. Neville Chamberl...

  974 Hits
china-3303411_1280

Censorship is deadly

The danger of suppressing information and alternative views in matters of public interest is that it will likely lead to costly and lethal policy errors. Alastair Campbell says it is a shame that the UK does not jail politicians for misleading Parliament. Can he have forgotten that Blair assured the Commons that he knew - rather than was personally...

  954 Hits
RO-Book World War II The First Culture War

World War II The First Culture War

Robert Oulds new book, 'World War II The First Culture War', is a remarkable literary accomplishment. This is history of a different sort. It looks in detail at nations, cultures and people and examines the reasons for events. Rather than a catalogue, with endless references, of events, it examines the reason for the event(s). When the events thems...

  1254 Hits
person-41402_1920 Panic

Predictable Panic and Populism

The by-election results have had a predictable effect on MPs of the two main parties. The real story is that because there is not a Conservative party to vote for, Tories stayed at home. With the exception of a minority of democrats still fighting to implement Brexit, the conservative party is now Labour-lite. The real Labour party in full throated...

  1016 Hits
world A World of Opportunity

Brexit is Working - Part TWO

We are pleased to publish this analysis by Sebastian James based on his blog at The Blue Anchor. PART TWO In part two we look at GDP growth. The dataset is here. Here is the graph:  Below is the section from 1956 when records began up to the 1975 referendum vote to remain:  I see a line going up from bottom left to top right. GDP grew fro...

  1091 Hits
Noose Strangled to Death

Inquisition Resurgent

As Cayetano Ripoll slowly choked to death on the Spanish scaffold, he would have been unaware that he was the last to suffer that fate at the hands of the Inquisition. They had demanded he be burned at the stake. As a compromise he was hanged, a slow death compared with the recently mandated garrote. Ripoll's crime was to have taught Deism, that th...

  876 Hits
world A World of Opportunity

Brexit is Working

We are pleased to publish this analysis by Sebastian James based on his blog at The Blue Anchor.  PART ONE After the vote to leave The Guardian started a regular tracker to chart its impact on the economy. But as the Remainer predictions turned to dust and the good news kept piling up the Guardian quietly dropped this feature. So I'm reviving ...

  1342 Hits
crying EU Loser Tantrum

The Seven Year Tantrum

Two weeks ago I wrote an article about the show trial of Boris Johnson. It attracted attention and comment on twitter. I have never looked at comments on the Bruges Twitter feed and it was a revelation. The level of spite and childish name calling was staggering. Since the removal of Boris the antics of EU acolytes and their rejoiner friends has be...

  968 Hits
Boot Treading on Justice

An Attack on Law and Democracy

The hatred of Brexit is so great that it seems its opponents are happy to destroy not just the rule of law, but democracy itself in their quest for vengeance. Those who deny this, should read the Guardian newspaper Opinion piece 13th June 2023 Titled "Brexit was Johnson and Johnson was Brexit. Now that he has gone, Britain must think again" Its sub...

  2084 Hits
wolves-924358_1920 The Wolves (now Blooded) Circle…

Call to arms

The Conservative Party killed the golden goose and got a lame duck. The wolves (now blooded) circle… A former prime minister has not only been pushed from office, but chased out of Parliament as well. Did that happen to Neville Chamberlain? Did it happen to Edward Heath? These days, however, former leaders need to be extinguished as well as removed...

  994 Hits
Ukraine_and_Great_Britain_will_continue_to_strengthen_anti-war_coalition_-_Volodymyr_Zelenskyy_after_meeting_with_Boris_Johnson_in_Kyiv._51994994336 Like the Terminator he will be back

Boris is playing 8D Chess

'It is very sad to be leaving parliament - at least for now - but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias.' This resignation of Bojo first starting point was the kangaroo court that was image  of the modern po...

  1323 Hits
convento-do-carmo-g57a2b2603_1280

Boris and the divided house

Boris Johnson's letter of resignation wonders how Harriet Harman's panel could have come to its conclusion: I have received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear - much to my amazement - that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament. That sense of injustice is reminiscent of Sir Thomas Mor...

  941 Hits
propaganda-3543257_1920 Ignore Facts

Answer the Question

Seven years after the Brexit referendum and three years since we actually left the EU project fear has intensified. Those who could never, and still cannot, explain why they want to be ruled by an unelected and democratically unaccountable president and 27 person commission, daily attack democracy. According to Osborne, Soros, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP...

  970 Hits
comic-g77c4043b5_1280

Tories: The Party's Over

It's time to call it a day. I'm not the only one saying it - ask Dominic Cummings, for another. The Party is moribund and we need to put it out of our misery. As for the Labour Party, that died a long time ago. New Labour gave a new meaning to the word 'New': 'Not.' Now it is a soft-handed version of revolutionary Communism, dedicated to the overth...

  1032 Hits
ascension-g6cd243249_1280

The Persistence Of Memory

The Jewish Museum in Thessaloniki is carefully guarded. The man who let us in the outer door asked where we were from; it may have been more than polite interest. The inner door was electronically operated by another watchman in a shadowy cubbyhole. The first room held stone fragments from the centuries-old 80-acre Jewish cemetery outside the city'...

  884 Hits
squid-game-g1a0413f87_1280

Greece's Vampire Squid Rings

In 2010 journalist Matt Taibbi shot to a new level of prominence with his 'vampire squid' label for Goldman Sachs '… relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.' Greece's Establishment has chosen to use that as a model. In a moment, we will look at the official scam known as 'Hercules'. As with the concentration of p...

  939 Hits
face-4908263_1280 See Behind the Mask

The Conservative Party is Mr. Hyde

The Conservative party is in trouble. The problem is that most of its supporters and a few of its MPs don't understand its ethos. During most of the last century, fear of a rabid socialist party (Atlee's 1945 party was really communist) has conspired to keep the wool pulled over most voter's eyes. If Brexit had never happened this situation may hav...

  1069 Hits
acropolis-ge0841e931_1280

Greece's New Democracy

From Our Man In Thessaloniki Greeks go to the polls on Sunday to elect their national legislature. Voting is compulsory, even for Greeks abroad (as so many are, since the economy crashed), but the obligation is not enforced and the turnout in 2019 was less than 58%. Foreigners who are permanently resident may also take part (something that our Sir ...

  903 Hits
Sir-John-Redwood Rt Hon Sir John Redwood PC MP

The great western inflation should lead to changes at the Central Banks

John Redwood's Lecture, All Souls College, Oxford  Rt Hon Sir John Redwood will be giving a lecture on the great western inflation of the last two years. He will examine the role of the Central banks, explain how they could have avoided the general price rises, and ask how the Bank of Japan, the Swiss Central Bank and the People's Bank of Chin...

  1490 Hits
Ten The Government are Not Listening

European Scrutiny Committee Letter To Rishi Sunak

European Scrutiny CommitteeHouse of Commons London SW1A 0AATel (020) 7219 3292 Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.parliament.uk/escom From: Sir William Cash MP 15 May 2023 Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak MP Prime Minister10 Downing StreetLondon SW1A 2AA Change in Government policy on Retained EU Law and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill Dear P...

  1238 Hits
change-671376_1920 Change is Overdue

Reforming the House Of Lords

It was often said about the anatomy of a bumble bee, when looked at its shape and size of wings, that they should not be able to fly, but do. There are lots of things like bumble bees that should not work but do, the House of Lords in the days before Tony Blair got his meddling mitts on it worked reasonably well. In those days the majority of membe...

  1045 Hits
What did we learn about the Conservative Democratic Organisation and Moggmentum Refreshing and something we needed to hear

What did we learn about the Conservative Democratic Organisation and Moggmentum

This Saturday, grassroot conservatives across the nation nestled in the city of Bournemouth to enlighten themselves with the refreshing back to basic Tory rhetoric. While enemies of Traditional Conservatives tried to thwart this event  as 4D Chess moves from Johnsonites (although repeatedly stated not a Pro-Johnson movement from the ...

  1243 Hits
broken Broken Promises

Broken Promises

Rishi Sunak's government is consistent in one thing. It makes promises to implement policies clearly aimed at public support, only to, within a short period, to unfailing announce that it will not after all go ahead, or that oi might, but only at some indeterminate point in the future. Far from providing a reason to vote Conservative it is generati...

  1116 Hits
The Woke Triumvirate Prime Minister: Keir Starmer (Left) Deputy Prime Minister: Ed Davey (Right)

The Woke Triumvirate

  He [Caesar] declared in Greek with a loud voice to those who were present 'Let a die be cast' and led the army across. — Plutarch, Life of Pompey, 60.2.9 The meaning of this quote from Plutarch describes the start of the Roman Civil War, Julius Caesar articularly describes that things have happened that can't be changed back. This was s...

  1295 Hits
time-g4ae00e013_1920

Out pops the cloven hoof

Yesterday (Thursday 11 May) was a wonderful demonstration of why we are blessed to have a sovereign Parliament. The Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch had informed the Press before telling Parliament about the decision to remove the deadline for abolishing hampering EU legislation. Coming to the House to explain, she began with an unfortunate turn of...

  936 Hits
democracy-gf6dfc3800_1920

Voting: the numbers game

The requirement for ID in Thursday's local elections has caused upset - Richard Murphy calls it 'a reversal of the right to vote.' At least he (correctly) thinks it's important. So does the EU, which is why it is post-democratic by design: its Parliament is nothing more than a talking shop. Moreover, the individual's ballot is swamped by sheer numb...

  831 Hits
westminster-g3fd54627c_1920

Fatal Traction: How Bad Ideas Gain Currency In Government

Three years ago today (2nd May) my MP wanted to demonstrate her responsivity to her constituents, which makes a welcome difference from the types that have allegedly represented me in the past. Unfortunately, we have locally an equivalent to Theodore Roosevelt's 'hyphenated Americans': some people who wish to embroil us in foreign matters beca...

  979 Hits
word-cloud-ged0462796_1280

What democracy?

We're still cutting the Lilliputian threads, but if we can prevent Remainer sabotage we shall be able to say that we're fully out of the EU. But then, so is North Korea. Rather than define our destiny negatively as against the puppet-empire in Europe, what positive vision should we have of Britain and our future? We talk of ourselves as a democracy...

  871 Hits
brexit-gf1d6f5082_1280

What is the EU for?

The EU has never quite decided on its mission statement and this has caused difficulties for itself and for us, even after our withdrawal. Its deepest roots lie in the desire to prevent a repeat of World War One. At the fateful Versailles peace conference in 1919 the French minister of commerce and industry, assisted by Jean Monnet, was seeking Eur...

  858 Hits
houses-of-parliament-4444870_1920 Royal Republic

The Struggle for Liberty

As we approach the Coronation we can expect much malign and ill-informed comment from people who do not understand our political system. One reason for their ignorance will be the deplatforming of speakers who could put them right, such as the redoubtable David Starkey, shunned by the woke for their misrepresentation of an impatient and infelicitou...

  1061 Hits
DS Civil Service Replace Elected Government

An Anonymous Tyranny

Adam Tolley's report on the behaviour of Dominic Raab is flawed. The accusations were plainly coordinated between departments and were 'afterthought' accusations that would have been dismissed by an employment tribunal. Of the accusers "Only some of those individuals had any direct experience of the DPM (Deputy Prime Minister - Raab); some had neve...

  1105 Hits
face-5478733_1920 Tyranny

The Tyrants of the Future

Cecil Rhodes once said: "to be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life". As a baby boomer growing up and going to school in the 1950's and early sixties, being taught to be proud of my country, our history, empire and its development into the Commonwealth, I always felt extremely privileged to be born British and fully agreed with...

  1308 Hits
2474152_1920 A Divided Country

The Windsor Framework is dangerous

The delicate balance of the Good Friday Agreement should be protected  By Derrick Berthelsen Reprinted by permission of the Critic Magazine There are many reasons to vote against the Windsor Framework changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Several excellent articles have been published outlining why — in this and other periodicals — but tod...

  1307 Hits
rejected-5250678_1920__20230330-144103_1 The Blob Rejects Democracy

The EU Lobby’s Repudiation of UK Independence

The repudiation of the sovereignty of the UK's people by a pro EU elite has always been a puzzle. It is a puzzle because not one of them was able to explain their reason. In the absence of a cogent argument, independence opponents resorted to 'Project Fear' during the referendum campaign on leaving the EU. Blood curdling threats were rolled out exp...

  961 Hits
The-assassination-of-Julius-Caesar Democracy in Danger

Where Have All the Tories Gone?

Politicians should have a vision. George H. W. Bush's perceived lack of one probably cost him a second term. Atlee's vision of a British Socialist Commonwealth condemned the UK to a painful exodus from the privation of WW2. Its legacy hampered our development. The Reagan - Thatcher vision was a time of hope, a vision of a renewal for the world demo...

  1136 Hits
ULEZ_2 Freedom under threat

London's Proposed ULEZ Expansion...Basic Freedoms Under Threat

With little discussion most of the world (the democratic west at least) is in a race to a net zero bottom. Scientific evidence is manipulated to 'prove' carbon damage. Normal climate variations that have existed since the world began are now labelled a 'Climate emergency'. Scientists who disagree are silenced by withdrawal of funding and or loss of...

  1341 Hits
book-4373283_1920 The Ministry of Truth is awaiting its moment to be born.

Orwell Saw the Future Clearly

Seventy five years ago George Orwell, in my view the greatest political thinker of the 20th Century, wrote the novel 1984. This was one of the most prescient books ever written, eclipsing most science fiction stories, in that it is so true to the age in which we now live, while, as a horror story it puts fantasies such as Dracula in the shade. Not ...

  4867 Hits
New-Horizon The World is more important than the end piece of Eurasia.

A True, Tried and Tested Horizon

Whatever the choreography we have a clog dance not a ballet. Sunak's 'deal' is yet another fudge. Involving the King in politics and the manipulation, copied from the EU, demonstrate a cynical disregard for probity. The Northern Ireland Protocol is a travesty. No Independent nation can agree to be ruled by a political court (The ECJ) whose sole rem...

  1216 Hits
tact-3036245_1920 Wake Up to the Woke Threat.

Wake Up!

 The values that have nurtured our law and democracy are increasingly under attack. Keir Starmer endorsing the move to enable people to declare that they are not the sex they were when born. He claims women can have a penis. He also, unsurprisingly was unable to define a 'Woman'. Supporting this idiocy, media reports of a rapist who claims he ...

  1749 Hits
funny-3459623_1920 Stupid is as Stupid Does

As Thick As Two Short Planks

 For many years I have pondered the cunning, deceitfulness and often seemingly sinister actions of our elected Members of Parliament and Governments, I have tried to understand why they were so happy to surrender our country to rule from the European Union and why they are all so besotted with 'Net Zero' and spout a lot of nonsense about globa...

  1628 Hits
stop-1001138_1920 Time for honesty and courage

Has Anyone the Courage to Lead?

Since the referendum governments have squandered opportunity. We should be in a strong position, but a combination of Pro EU Tories, the Blob and the Civil Service has put democracy at risk. The daily attacks on Brexit citing idiotic opinion polls, demonstrate a determination by the opponents of democracy to take us back into the EU whatever the co...

  1751 Hits
europe-3256079_1920 EU Laws are Holding Back British Growth

Rishi Sunak Must Rip Up EU Laws Immediately to Deliver on Brexit’s Promise

The Bruges Group is pleased to republish this article by Barnabas Reynolds  Brussels' rules are prescriptive and controlling, and are holding back British growth The Prime Minister must restore Britain's sovereignty over our laws The Government is seeking the power to remove some of the vast swathes of EU-inherited law by the end of 2023 in it...

  1846 Hits
big-ben-2007165_1920 Freedom

PATRIOTISM AND FREEDOM
A libertarian defence of national sovereignty

Three quarters of a century ago, when Britain was fighting for her life and the freedom of Europe, no important body of opinion would have questioned the value of patriotism or the importance of preserving and cherishing our nationhood as a focus of resistance to Nazi totalitarianism. Pride in our heritage, our sense of connection with the past and...

  2652 Hits
signpost-5274077_1920 Our future destroyed?

The End of The Road

For over a century the UK has struggled with political realism and to an extent, its identity. In 1918 the Labour Parties pamphlet 'Labour and the New Social Order' set out an essentially communist agenda. Beatrice and Sidney Webb's 1920 book ' Constitution For The Socialist Commonwealth Of Great Britain' fleshed it out. Many were taken in by talk ...

  1345 Hits
death-5770668 The Grim Reaper

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Democracy, It Tolls for Thee

The short-lived Truss government came to power with a mandate to change Britain. She fought her campaign clearly stating her policy. She was lawfully elected according to the rules. Her policy was designed to produce growth. Cutting taxes was a part of the program. The respected US Tax Foundation in its 2020 report on UK tax wrote: "All things bein...

  1842 Hits
Janus-Building Janus Building Burns

Can the Turncoats Turn Back?

The UK faces problems, problems that to a great degree are the fault of the political and financial establishment. There is no point in blaming every ill on Covid and Ukraine indeed it is only to the latter crisis that the establishment response has been sure footed. Otherwise, the failures are legion. Brexit has not been fully implemente...

  1577 Hits
propaganda-7287298 Thought Police & Surveillance

The Thought Police are Here

I was raised to consider the police to be the friends of ordinary people, there to protect us from criminals and thugs. As a youngster I found this to be true and later, as an adult I met many policemen, when playing in teams against them, at various sports, such as golf, tennis, squash, football etc. Now retired I know a number of retired officers...

  2865 Hits
Margaret Thatcher & Boris Johnson

Don’t Kill the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg

One of the less-endearing qualities of the Conservative and Unionist Party (and I speak as a life-long Conservative voter), is the lemming-like compulsion to immediate change leader if things appear not to be going their way. 'Throwing out the baby with the bathwater' appears to be the inevitable jerk reaction by some MPs, regardless of the value o...

  1507 Hits
Vote Is Democracy Fair?

CHANGING POLITICS

The great war time leader, Winston Churchill, once said: "democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried". he was seldom wrong in his political thinking, a sound working democracy ensures tyrants and despots do not have the chance to come to power. Sadly, through history and events today, there have been ...

  1504 Hits
big-ben-450819_1920 Churchill Led the Fight to Preserve Democracy

Democracy Under Threat

Democracy is in serious trouble. Before Trump was sworn in, many Democrats took to the streets to protest. 'He is not my president' was their battle cry. The American people were presented with a choice between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. They had to elect one of them and the majority chose Trump. For democracy to function there must be loser ...

  1621 Hits
crisis-5238323_1920 Crisis. What Crisis?

Déjà Vu and a Confected Crisis

An energy crisis hit world economies and after almost three years the pain exploded in most countries. The exception was the USA. Acting pro-actively President Reagan slashed regulation to free the economy. He fired over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. Breaking the strike. An action Paul Volcker saw as a 'watershed' moment in the battle ag...

  1578 Hits
Chris-Heaton-Harris

HeatON-Harris to Deliver on Protocol - The Union is Under Threat

The appointment of Chris-Heaton Harris as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was greeted warmly by unionists, ever hopeful that at long last we would have a Secretary of State who cared as much about protecting the rights of unionists as those of nationalists. Moreover, there was a great hope that this UK Government would break with the sy...

  2918 Hits
coin-5095417_1920 Queen of Democracy

Service Leadership

 The best way to honor the queen would be to take up her form of leadership—as service. She was vivacious and regal up until her final passing. But the queen exuded something even more profound—a surety in the way she led. The entire world watched (an estimated 4.4 billion, making it the most viewed event in history) and wept over the recent l...

  1479 Hits
Union-Jack-bunting-on-Shankhill-Road

The Northern Irish Protocol Must Go Now

The Acts of Union is the present constitutional foundation of the United Kingdom. As the late Lord Trimble, the unionist architecture of the Belfast Agreement, said: The Acts of Union is the Union. The Northern Ireland Protocol "subjugates" (in the words of the Court of Appeal) Article VI of the Acts of Union, and therefore it follows that it subju...

  2881 Hits
astronaut-4106766_1920 Looking for reality

Liz, Land on Our Planet

There is a disconnect between the media, politicians and the people of the UK. We are fed a daily diet of gloom. Hysterical millionaire 'experts' rant with messianic fervour. A plethora of experts, who helped cause the problem, seek to out do each other in their apoplectic zeal to blame others. It is as if they seek to reprise the late Jack Hawkins...

  1492 Hits
windmills Minds?

The Windmills of Their Minds

It is time to reset our expectation of democracy. We have drifted into a situation where people vote for politicians who, mostly, ignore their duty. That duty is to protect the nation and its people. To create an environment where, in security, hard work is rewarded and people can flourish peacefully under the law. Perversely, politicians have adap...

  1992 Hits
the-statue-of-liberty-2602636_1920 Liberty under attack

Libertarians Are Not Our Friends

In a very revealing article many years ago called "Why I am Not a Conservative," a very famous libertarian let the cat out of the bag. He loudly denounced the argument for tradition and custom by calling for a form of anything goes liberalism and atheism. Some go even further, coming close to anarchy with their complete opposition to the state and ...

  1631 Hits
Green Destruction Green Anarchy and the Illeberal Elite

Green Anarchy and the Illeberal Elite

Democracy, liberty and the continuation of western civilisation is under threat. It is threatened by those we have elected to protect and nurture our society. A small number of self entitled politicians and bureaucrats take decisions without reference to their electorate. Sunak's decision to raise Corporation tax to 25% next year has everything to ...

  2854 Hits
chaos-485491_1920 Ordo Ab Chao.

‘Ordo Ab Chao' Do Tory MPs have the Courage?

Boris Johnson's fall is due to a combination of factors. The man who was London's Mayor for eight years seems to have forgotten the reason for that success. He chose able lieutenants to implement his policy. As Prime Minister he desperately needed them. Without them, everything from BREXIT to Tax Cuts stalled and it seemed increasingly that the gov...

  1547 Hits
janus Duplicity

We are being hoodwinked (again) by the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

 The following analysis by Ben Habib is reprinted from: https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/ben-habib-we-are-being-hoodwinked-again-by-the-northern-ireland-protocol-bill-3750685 Ben Habib is a Newspaper Columnist and former Brexit Party MEP I am having a profound sense of déjà vu. In 2019 I said the Prime Minister's oven ready deal was a...

  7339 Hits
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door-1587863_1920 Bolted Door

KNOCKING AT THE EU’s DOOR

 Nicola Sturgeon, Scotlands first Minister, has been banging on, yet again, about holding another referendum on Scottish independence and is proposing to hold a plebiscite during October 2023. This is despite the fact she lost the so-called 'once in a lifetime' independence referendum in 2014. If the people of Scotland go mad and vote to break...

  1582 Hits
london-453099 Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

REPORT BY LEGAL STAR CHAMBER ON NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL BILL

Sir William Cash MPRt Hon David Jones MPMartin Howe QCBarnabas Reynolds The constitutional and legal position of the United Kingdom in relation to the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland (the "Protocol") is founded on Section 38 of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 ("EUWAA 2020"). There are also pertinent issues relating to international ...

  1647 Hits

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Director : Robert Oulds
Tel: 020 7287 4414
Chairman: Barry Legg
 
The Bruges Group
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Founder President :
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Vice-President : The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick,
Chairman: Barry Legg
Director : Robert Oulds MA, FRSA
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Founder Chairman : Lord Harris of High Cross
Head of Media: Jack Soames