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.

Subcategories from this category:

European Union
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Cultural Marxists don't like being called Cultural Marxists

The phenomenon of fake news has become a major story in itself. CNN constantly dishing the dirt on Donald Trump with no pretence of impartiality; the Guardian blaming Russian interference for Brexit; conspiracy theories abound. Economy of truth and sensationalism are not new, but undoubtedly the problem has worsened with the internet, which has spa...

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Addressing the Revolutions

The politics of Europe is such that we have in past centuries witnessed many revolutions of the kind which lead to conflicts.Today, once more, under the "leadership" of the EU we are witnessing another test.The British in their caution and concern are stepping away from the EU in the hope that Brexit will mitigate the creation of the Grand EU monoc...

  8526 Hits

Address to the Bruges Group by the Rt. Hon. Priti Patel MP to mark the 30th Anniversary of Margaret Thatcher`s Bruges Speech

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Independent-thinking in Poland

One remarkable feature about the EU is the degree to which national governments of the member states obey it almost without question. Ordered by the European Court of Justice to hand over large sums of their taxpayers' money to Brussels as a fine for some technical infringement of the EU treaties, they do so like lambs and virtually without questio...

  7247 Hits

Could Brexit Effect My PPI Claim?

Although the future of Britain after Brexit still remains uncertain, there is plenty that can be done to ensure that you are ahead of the game when it comes to claiming back PPI. Here we are going to go through some of the top tips as to whether or not PPI will be affected by Brexit and how you can prevent it. What Does Brexit Mean For Banking? To ...

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Stop the Sun: the EU is re-issuing Pravda for the proles

Mass media, according to a letter sent to the government of Poland, 'are the property of the whole human family. Everybody has a right to use them'.This was not a complaint to the allegedly dictatorial Law & Justice party of today, but to the bluntly oppressive communist regime in 1978. The bishops of that traditionally Christian land, whose pe...

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Speech by the Bruges Group’s Dr Carl Hunter to the Conservative Foreign & Commonwealth Council

Your Royal Highness, your Excellencies, Chairman, my Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. Good afternoon. I wish to thank the Chairman and Ms Melissa Crawshay-Williams for their kind introduction and to congratulate and thank the members of our Council for their kindness, courtesy and professionalism in arranging this event. I wish to speak of the changing...

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Do you expect us to negotiate?

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Celebrating Margaret Thatcher's Bruges Speech

On 20th September 1988 Lady Thatcher made her seminal Bruges Speech. As Prime Minister famously said to the College of Europe in Bruges; "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level, with a European super state exercising a new dominance from Brussels." This speech revol...

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Perfect timing by the European Union

The way in which the EU goes about producing the laws that bind the rest of us - whether our politicians like them or not - can be difficult to understand. If you're not intimately familiar with it, don't worry. You're in good company. If really interested, you'll find it in Arts.288-299 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a tur...

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Outsourcing and the Death of Democracy

In 1989, events that led to the fall of the USSR overshadowed one that arguably would have an even greater economic, cultural and political impact. According to Poole College of Management, outsourcing was formally identified as a business strategy that year. The collapse of Carillon in January 2018, the loss of thousands of jobs and billions of po...

  8294 Hits

The Brexit Game Changer – Import Excess Tax

 A policy model for a clean Brexit - no queues at Dover, no Irish hard border Membership of the EU Customs Union and the (largely contrived) Irish border issue are once more on the front pages. After success in the Lords, Remainers smell blood and are slavering at the prospect of defeating the Government in forthcoming Commons votes. Given thi...

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Trump should prove his commitment to free trade with a UK-US Free Trade deal

There are several indicators that the US economy is doing very well at the moment. According to a recent BBC report: "The US economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the second quarter, expanding at an annualised rate of 4.1%, official figures show. The gains were driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports"[1] In addi...

  6223 Hits

Prospects of a cheaper post-Brexit pint

The price of a pint is stretching the working man's wallet too far. The results of excessive taxation are plain to see, with more and more pubs closing down and replaced by flats, a convenience store or an Islamic centre. These metamorphoses are a sign of the times: the rising population (with particular growth of largely teetotal Muslim communitie...

  5737 Hits

Medical provisions post-Brexit

  A report by Victoria Hewson, Senior Counsel of the IEA's International Trade and Competition Unit There are three main factors behind the fears in relation to medical provisions post-Brexit. Here we examine what the potential problems are and the available solutions: 1. New tariffs would raise prices It has been suggested that the prices of ...

  9149 Hits

Jacob Rees-Mogg's letter to the Conservative Party constituent Chairmen with Briefing Note concerning the Chequers Deal

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Genoa and Grenfell disasters: a common thread of guilt

In the aftermath of both the Genoa bridge collapse and the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, left-wing politicians and media were quick to scandalise their political opponents, ranging from sociological critique of callous capitalism to blunt reference to the 'fascist' Italian government or a Tory cull of the poor. Coverage of the Genoa calamity in the ...

  5661 Hits
Boris-hair

An Acute Outbreak of Moralitis

The 'silly season', they call it - when Parliament has closed for the summer holidays, and the newspapers scramble for titbits. Last week the media pounced on a commentary by the recently-resigned Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, the flaxen-haired politician pretending to be an essayist (or is it the other way round?). Don't ban the burqa, Boris wr...

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Political Economics in the USSR and EU

Since the late 1970s, I had been travelling and doing business in the Soviet bloc and USSR. Soon after its collapse, I was working for a German company, responsible for its major interests in Ukraine and development in Central Asia. The fall of the USSR was sudden and to the ill informed, unexpected. Those of us who knew it, had wondered for years ...

  5330 Hits
Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinchaft Conference, Berlin

Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinchaft Conference, Berlin

Gresham was a 17th century banker and trader, after whom Greshams, the North Norfolk Public school is named. Mr Gresham is most famous for 'Gresham's law' which states that, 'Bad money drives out good.' In Gresham's time of coins, it meant that, one would always spend a 'fake' coin or one with less precious metal content and keep the good ones; a b...

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The IEA essay prize is looking at the wrong side of the housing equation.

This week, it was announced to big fanfare that: 'The UK's worsening housing crisis has led the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to set up a £50,000 prize for anyone who can solve it – with Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg as judge.' https://twitter.com/iealondon/status/1021311057426608128 'Competitors are being asked to propose a single policy i...

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EU Militia on British Streets?

Of course the mere idea of armed foreign militias patrolling British streets sounds outlandish and is usually rejected by most Brits as absurd and impossible. However, let us consider the matter more closely. The EU's plan to eventually morph into a single European State was proclaimed openly by the founders, and even later by the likes of Helmut K...

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The Impact Of Brexit On The Finance Industry

As the Brexit talks continue to escalate, so too does the effect that Brexit is having on the finance industry. With many hesitant to take out short and long-term loans, the finance industry has experienced a slight slump that is slowly beginning to improve. Here, we're taking a closer look at the impact of Brexit on the financial sector. Effects O...

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Why the European Arrest Warrant is a threat to our democracy

Two things that are not generally knnow about the European Arrest Warrant, and how it could be struck down... https://savebritishjustice.wordpress.com/2018/06/27/two-things-that-are-not-generally-known-about-the-european-arrest-warrant-and-how-it-could-be-struck-down/ 1. People do not realise how profoundly different the systems of criminal law use...

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Think Tanks and Maginot Lines

EU Strategic Funding of Defence and Security Analysts  This research looks at the EU's strategic funding of defence and security analysts and groups in the UK and more widely across Europe. This has important implications for the debate in the UK over the UK's involvement in the EU's swiftly evolving defence, security and military plans. The a...

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Threatening his Lordship’s lifestyle

When Peter Mandelson was in the Labour Government and later a highly paid EU Commissioner, I was struggling running the small family business my late father had started in 1946. We just about survived the recession of the early nineties caused by the folly of the UK joining the EU exchange rate mechanism, which bankrupted a large number of small bu...

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Representative democracy not bureaucratic dictatorship

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The plea of an Elector to our own House of Commons

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America Retreats - What Next?

America Retreats - What Next?

Theresa May's dismissal of Boris Johnson's suggestion that technology could allow customs checks without physical infrastructure (to solve the Irish border issue) is perverse. Her claim that such systems do not yet exist is not true and one must query if Number 10 talks to anyone other than the Treasury. The UK was a pioneer of electronic clearance...

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EU Commission COM (2018) 556 Final document

On July 19th, the EU Commission published the COM (2018) 556 Final document that sets out advice for the remaining 27 Member States on how to prepare 'for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 30 March 2019' https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-preparing-withdrawal-brexit-preparedness.pdf Many Brexiteer...

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CANZUK – a new alliance for the 21st Century

Seizing the opportunity Speaking in London in April this year, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: '…the reality is all of that; you could not find two countries more close in every respect; family, culture, history and values. You know Australia was the sole country outside of NATO and the EU that expelled Russian diplomats in respons...

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From covert to overt treachery: the Cambridge Spy Ring and pro-EU civil servants

What is meant by treachery, and is it applicable to our establishment's sell-out to the EU? Conservative party members have been using the term about their leader Theresa May. Also implicated is the head civil servant of the Cabinet Office Europe Unit, Olly Robbins. Arguably, Robbins has been entreating to a foreign power, and is thus guilty of mis...

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The Politics of Prestidigitation

Magicians never reveal their secrets, but we all know that magic lies in the distraction of one's attention. This is exactly what the politics of prestidigitation is all about. Since Emmanuel Macron's coronation at the helm of the French state, we have never heard the French make as much noise as now.This former banker has mastered the art of showm...

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Mrs May’s ‘Scrap of Paper’: will it be ‘Peace for our time’?

A 'scrap of paper' was how the German Chancellor famously dismissed the Treaty of London (19th April, 1839), in which Britain, France, Germany, Austria and Russia all agreed to recognise the existence, neutrality and sovereignty of the newly – formed country of Belgium. "Peace for our time" was what PM Neville Chamberlain promised Britain, after me...

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THE CHEQUERS CONCLUSION - Briefing Memo by Martin Howe QC

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Brexit: an urgent appeal to Tory MPs

 A comfort zone gives the comforted a false sense of safety. For now, it would be quite possible to carry on as if nothing significant has changed: assuring messages from Conservative Party HQ; 'crisis – what crisis' coverage on the BBC or comment pages of the Times; social media bubbles where agreeable opinions are heard. But believe us at th...

  6334 Hits

Statement by Barry Legg - Chairman of the Bruges Group

 Contact your Member of Parliament Theresa May has decided to pursue a policy of Brexit in name only (BRINO). This arrangement will be worse than our current membership of the European Union as we will then be a vassal state. If this policy is implemented the electoral consequences for the Conservative Party will be dire. I urge all members of...

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Populism is popular, and will overwhelm the EU

To state that a book is important may seem a cliché, but Frank Furedi's Populism and the European Culture Wars is undoubtedly so. Using Hungary as a case study, no writer has more clearly described the predicament of national culture and identity, set against the progressive EU goal of a borderless, multicultural continent. Yet the message is unlik...

  5722 Hits

There is only one way out of the European Union

We voted to leave the European Union on 23rd June 2016 and technically – even politically - it should be as easy as it was when we first joined what was then called the European Economic Community in 1973. However, the context has evolved and the European Union has no intention to let the United Kingdom leave its superstructure thus relying on an i...

  6579 Hits

Save the Oceans Stop recycling plastic - Executive summary

Save the Oceans Stop recycling plastic by Dr.Mikko Punio is published by  the Global Warming Policy Foundation and can be read in its entirety on the GWPF website. (See below) A marine plastic litter crisis has been declared and the mass media around the world has given their front pages over to the story for a while now. The European Union – ...

  5614 Hits

British government's answer not good enough

The British Government says that the case is closed on Poland's right to war reparations from Germany. This fails to acknowledge the true legal position and fails to do justice to our relationship with Poland. It is my strong belief that the UK's departure from the European Union presents the perfect opportunity for Global Britain to show its stren...

  6154 Hits

Solving the Irish border question

Like a broken clock, remainers are occasionally right. One example of this is the Irish border question which many leavers have ignored or dismissed for too long. While we don't believe this issue is as impossible to solve as remainers insist, it does require an appropriate amount of attention. So far, different proposals have been suggested to avo...

  8480 Hits

Brexit good for business? Robert Oulds debates with New Labour MP Alison McGovern on Sky News

Robert Oulds and Alison McGovern MP debate Brexit and its effects on British business. Robert made it clear that there are many positives which will deliver favourable outcomes to Brexit for businesses, including access to markets around the world which would boost productivity and the economy. For businesses dealing with the EU and experiencing un...

  5656 Hits

Is the Euro going to collapse?

The Euro is a currency. That would seem blindingly obvious, but it means that there are two ways in which the Euro could collapse and one way in which it could get massively stronger. A currency is not just a means of exchange for goods and services within a country, it is also an asset that has a shifting value against other currencies, that is, t...

  10868 Hits

Robert Oulds discusses Airbus and BMW's Brexit warnings, the economy and whether or not there should be another EU referendum

On the second anniversary of the successful Leave vote, Robert Oulds condemns Airbus, in receipt of £16 billion from the EU, and BMW, for choosing this day to advise the UK to stay in the single market and customs union. While the eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis, the UK has its highest rate of employment in history and we should look forward...

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Robert Oulds discusses immigration, Brexit and the EU on Sky News

 On the day preceding the second anniversary of the pro-Brexit vote, Robert Oulds discusses why the Leave vote was successful, one reason being voters knew the UK needs to have control over its borders but being part of the EU denies this.Powerful EU leaders, in particular Chancellor Merkel of Germany, encouraged immigration from outside the E...

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Two years on from the EU referendum victory

Robert Oulds of the Bruges Group in conversation with Dr Niall McCrae of Kings College London on the second anniversary of the EU referendum victory.  Discussing how the people's majority decision to leave the European Union is being carried out by our elected representatives, Robert Oulds predicts increasing disillusionment with politics by p...

  6244 Hits
An Unholy Alliance

An Unholy Alliance

1. Introduction Despite Phillip Lee's last minute betrayal of the government, the House of Lord's amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill was defeated by twenty-six votes on 12th June. Whilst there is doubtless some celebrating, Mrs May is still not out of danger – in fact, the dissention amongst a number of Conservatives would appear to be growing. Th...

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The EU’s influence on UK energy policy

The demand to reduce carbon dioxide emissions imposed by UK and Scottish climate legislation has resulted in crazy energy policies, damage to industrial production and increased fuel bills, and as the EU Withdrawal Bill works its way through Parliament, it would be useful to unravel and analyse some of the historical influence of the EU prior to th...

  6162 Hits

Dragi doesn’t understand how the bond markets are dangerous

Author:CATHERINE BLAIKLOCK Would you like to lend to the German government and get paid a grand total of 0.43% a year for 10 years? Or how about lending to the French government and getting 0.73% or to the Spanish government at 1.35%? An annual yield of 1.35% a year, lending to Spain and you are invested for 10 years. Doesn't sound very good, does ...

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Brexit: Same goals; different paths - Managing divergence

On the 5th of December 2017 the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis MP (speaking in a House of Commons debate) said: "She [The Prime Minister] said that there are areas in which we want to achieve the same outcomes, but by different regulatory methods. We want to maintain safety, food standards, animal welfare and employme...

  7041 Hits

A test of your EU compliance

 Two rallies in London couldn't more starkly contrast the class divide in Britain. I was at the #FreeTommy demonstration on 9th June, a massive gathering in support of the jailed campaigner against child rape gangs. Legions of mostly white working-class blokes with a cause celebre. Inevitably a boorish element provided the material for damning...

  5811 Hits
DUP MLA: Joe Biden's Unwelcome Intervention in Northern Irish Politics

DUP MLA: Joe Biden's Unwelcome Intervention in Northern Irish Politics

The first thing we must do in examining the weakness of our government's current negotiating strategy is to look at the reality of the strength of our position as a nation. The first thing that everyone in Britain should know is the reason for this figure of 40 billion that we have agreed to pay to the EU. We do not owe them this money, in fact, we...

  4891 Hits
Live Gaming Platforms Guarantee Complete Transparency

Live Gaming Platforms Guarantee Complete Transparency

It may have come to the attention of some people that a recent tweet of mine created something of a heated debate. The tweet in question concerned the Foreign Office waiving war compensation rights following the reunification of Germany. I have also raised this issue in Parliament in the form of a written question and was shocked to find that Great...

  4528 Hits
Habeas Corpus Rights Now Reclaimed - Govt. Reverses its Position on Extraditions with the 'Deal'

Habeas Corpus Rights Now Reclaimed - Govt. Reverses its Position on Extraditions with the 'Deal'

Today Great Britain stands at a crossroads; it is here where we must decide whether we will stand strong and boldly go forward or whether we will cower before a group of unelected bureaucrats thrust out from power in their home countries. Our Brexit negotiations have featured heavily in the news recently over the Government's supposed plan to stay ...

  6644 Hits
The Case Against Government Regulation of Social Media and Tech

The Case Against Government Regulation of Social Media and Tech

In a particular scene from one of Britain's most beloved sitcoms 'Fawlty Towers,' the main character, Basil Fawlty, spends considerable time attempting to not insult a German family but ends up doing so in spectacular fashion. This moment was forever immortalised when Basil remarks 'You started it!' to which a German guest replies 'No we did not!' ...

  5904 Hits
Poland

Strengthening Alliances: How Poland should look to an Atlantic partnership with the US and the UK

As geopolitical stability in Europe is threatened by an increasingly belligerent Russia, Poland must look to strengthen her economic and regional security. While the current Polish government is already working towards this goal, it will need important strategic partners with converging interests to achieve this objective. Two longstanding allies t...

  6694 Hits

Day for Freedom: reclaiming the right to free speech

The Day for Freedom, in London on 6th May, was a showcase of characters I have followed and featured in my articles: for example, Milo and Sargon of Akkad. So I didn't want to miss it. Sadly, this invigorating and necessary event was either ignored by the mainstream media, or described by the contemptuous Guardian as a 'far-right rally'. Certainly ...

  6078 Hits

‘Peak Guardian’: banish the uneducated from the polling stations

Never underestimate the talent of Remain in scoring own-goals. Tony Blair claiming to be the rebel with a cause; Lord Adonis accusing the BBC of Brexit bias (cough, splutter); and Ian McEwan urging a second referendum because the stubborn oldies will soon be dead. These anti-democrats pollute the airwaves with their verbal farts, but as opinion pol...

  6350 Hits

Threat of Transition Period to UK Fishing Industry

When all is said and done, the Brexit negotiations can and should leave Britain in a favorable position. Britons voted to leave so that British policy could reflect its own interests, rather than that of Brussels and the European Union. Specifically, Britain's departure from the EU had the potential to enable a regaining of control of precious...

  6392 Hits
eurozonemap

The Euro’s Battle for Survival

 Entering the Red Zone In this paper, Bob Lyddon explores the various caveats and consequences of the Eurozone's survival and continuation, and discusses the UK's role in or alongside the Eurosystem post-Brexit. As an expert in international banking, Lyddon works through his own consultancy company, Lyddon Consulting Services, and has written ...

  6727 Hits

Brexit and Beyond

John Kerr set about penning Article 50 in the early 2000's. The initial draft was subsequently changed due to elections in France and elsewhere providing a curved ball that Brussels had not anticipated. However, in 2009 – 7 long years before the EU referendum vote in the UK – The Lisbon Treaty was signed and Article 50 was brought into European law...

  6553 Hits

Sargon of Akkad: crusading for liberty from EU group-think

How can the younger generations be enticed away from the group-think that defines the EU as a paragon of virtue? They won't be persuaded by Leave-supporting politicians or mainstream media, but they might listen to Sargon of Akkad. This is the YouTuber from Swindon, real name Carl Benjamin, who has taken his cyber-sword to the stifling so-called 'p...

  5722 Hits
Play Smart Play Safe

Play Smart Play Safe

​ The recent Hungarian elections on 8 April found incumbent Viktor Orban of the Fidesz party in office for a third consecutive term. He has served as Prime Minister since 2010, as well as from 1998 to 2002. Fidesz is a nationalist party, and Orban's relationship with Brussels and the European Union is historically strained, as many of his policies ...

  5957 Hits
Obituary: Jens-Peter Bonde (March 27th 1948 - April 4th 2021)

Obituary: Jens-Peter Bonde (March 27th 1948 - April 4th 2021)

At one year out from Brexit, Bruges Group Director Robert Oulds discussed UK economics, the Northern Ireland border, and trade with Chief Economic Advisor of the Centre for Economics and Business Research Vicky Pryce on TRT World. Interviewer Mobin Nasir highlighted the uncertainty in these areas, and suggested that economic statistics are signs of...

  5412 Hits

'Protectionism': an elitist meme to silence the plebs

A humiliation worse than Suez, warns Jacob Rees Mogg. He was referring to the transition deal with the EU, which does not return a single power to Britain as we officially leave the EU in March next year. He could have used the same phrase for the passport fiasco, as our leaders have awarded the contract to a Dutch-French company instead of a respe...

  6015 Hits
New Year, same old Border Farce

New Year, same old Border Farce

On 20th March 2018, Member of the Estonian Parliament Igor Gräzin addressed the Bruges Group in the House of Commons. Born 27th June 1952 in Tartu, Gräzin is an Estonian politician. He is serving as a Member of Parliament in Riigikogu, the Estonian Parliament, and won another term in the 2011 parliamentary election. Gräzin is a charter member ...

  5667 Hits

The impact of Brexit on online poker

Should the people have the final say on the Brexit deal?​ Three leave campaigners, Chloe Westley of TaxPayers' Alliance, Tom Slater of Spiked, and Bruges Group Director Robert Oulds debated the question of a second referendum on BBC's The Big Questions with Nicky Campell on Sunday 18 March. Advocating for a second referendum was Eloise Todd of Best...

  5772 Hits

Brexit the Opera: Gutted in Grimsby

On a grey winter day in 1972, Air Force One touched down on Chinese soil. Although little tangible benefit came of President Nixon's surprise visit to Chairman Mao and the impenetrable communist state, it was one of the most theatrical acts of diplomacy in modern history. And it was recognised in the opera 'Nixon in China' by John Adams. Perhaps Ad...

  5302 Hits

Ireland and EU Defence Integration

There's been a lot of talk about something called PESCO and whether it breaches the Irish constitution or the concept of neutrality. What is Irish neutrality and what does the Irish constitution say about it? First there's whether Ireland takes part in activity outside of its own territory and second there's whether Ireland permits other countries ...

  7164 Hits
UK Government in chaos as it caves to EU again

UK Government in chaos as it caves to EU again

​Author: Marcus Watney ​Source: The feasibility of using technology to avoid a hard Irish border has been confirmed by Lars Karlsson in his excellent study for the European Parliament Smart Border 2.0, published in November 2017. It is available here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/596828/IPOL_STU%282017%29596828_EN.pdf Reso...

  7209 Hits

Ways To Make European Travel Easier After Brexit

In the midst of Brexit uncertainty, booking a European holiday has become even more confusing for Brits. As if planning and booking a holiday wasn't stressful enough, UK residents now have to completely revise their usual holiday strategy in order to ensure it doesn't collide with new Brexit negotiations. While Brexit has already proved to affect m...

  5879 Hits
Brexit Compared: Estonia regains independence and USSR falls

Brexit Compared: Estonia regains independence and USSR falls

Tuesday 20th March 2018, from 1pm - 3pm How the Brexit negotiations should be handled.The man who delivered the Estonian Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1991 to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Head of the Soviet Union, advises the UK on Brexit.  Location: Committee Room 20The House of CommonsWestminster London SW1A 0AA(via the Cromwell Entran...

  7838 Hits

Remainers cannot remain: they must persuade Brits to rejoin

Leavers often wonder whether a Remain win would have aroused anything like the rancour and resistance we are experiencing today. So here's another scenario, as a thought experiment. After a 52-48 verdict to stay in the EU, Cameron's government is riven with internal conflict. A snap election is called, UKIP gets enough votes to hand dozens of seats...

  5576 Hits

Labour won't win the next election by turning its back on Brexit

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn recently laid out his party's official stance on Brexit. Notably, he announced Labour's commitment for the UK to join the EU in a customs union following the Brexit implementation period. Not only does this stance contravene important aspects of Brexit, but it means the party is turning its back on millions...

  5530 Hits

Martin Selmayr – the EU’s puppet master secures his future

Jean-Claude Juncker's most senior henchman, Martin Selmayr, has secured his post-Juncker future as the head of the EU Commission's civil service. This is not promotion, only continuity: he has long been the EU Commission's most powerful figure, as well as the link to German policymakers and the real puppet-master of the Brexit talks. A rare spotlig...

  10703 Hits
Politicking is Not the OBR’s Job

Politicking is Not the OBR’s Job

​The UK has continued to enter defence agreements with the European Union following the 2016 referendum, ensuring that the UK will remain closely bound to the EU. The EU, in fact, has been pursuing the establishment of an 'EU Defence Union' to include the UK even after Britain leaves the EU. Send an email to your MP to call for a full Brexit for de...

  7443 Hits

Remain professor 2, Leave lecturer 1 (but a moral victory for Brexit)

For a Brexit-supporting minority in academe, here is an illustration of what we're up against. Last year I was invited by the editor of International Journal of Nursing Studies to write a commentary on Brexit and the NHS. This would be published alongside a staunchly anti-Brexit argument, by Professor Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene &a...

  7047 Hits

May, Munich, and Military Structures

Theresa May's Munich speech suggests UK's continued involvement in EU security structures post-Brexit Author: David Wilkinson Never mind the £350m on the NHS, the fundamental promises of Leave have just been betrayed. Saturday 17th February 2018 will be remembered as the date when all hope, all pretence, that Theresa May had any intention, let alon...

  6492 Hits
Robert Oulds vs Eloise Todd: A Brexit Debate

Robert Oulds vs Eloise Todd: A Brexit Debate

Bruges Group Director Robert Oulds appeared on Sky News today during the All Out Politics programme with Adam Boulton. In light of Boris Johnson's speech yesterday, 14th February, Mr Oulds debated Eloise Todd of Best for Britain on the economics of Brexit and the legitimacy of a second referendum. Describing Todd's warnings of a jobs exodus as "Pro...

  6094 Hits
Britain's Standing up for Bombardier

Britain's Standing up for Bombardier

A post-Brexit industrial strategy: putting employment in Britain at the heart of economic policy. Boeing's threats to jobs in the UK The US International Trade Commission's recent unexpectedly 4-0 unanimous decision against Boeing has put all eyes on the aerospace giant's next steps.1 Boeing, however, has suspended taking action pending the ITC's r...

  5909 Hits

Peace In Our Time

Author: John Griffing The readily visible collapse of Brexit negotiations echoes the most significant foreign policy blunders in British history, episodes characterized by the misplaced worship of process over principle and a pathological pattern of "surrender." Such was the case with Neville Chamberlain, a man who genuinely believed a "piece of pa...

  7312 Hits
The EU's 'Punishment Period' Is An Affront To Our Most Fundamental Democratic & Constitutional Foundations

The EU's 'Punishment Period' Is An Affront To Our Most Fundamental Democratic & Constitutional Foundations

It is widely regarded as a sincere sign of immaturity for one to antagonise & hinder their victor - whether that be in football by accusing the referee of bias, in chess by refusing to shake their opponent's hand or indeed by frustrating the democratic will of a people by political and institutional means. In other words; being a sore loser suc...

  11228 Hits

Common law versus continental drift

Back in the early days of my mental health career, I first came across common law in the form of two handles on a door. To leave the psychogeriatric ward, both the lower and upper handle (the latter at head height) were operated simultaneously. This ploy was to prevent confused residents from going out and possibly getting chilled to the bone, lost...

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The Art of the Possible

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There’s nothing open-minded about reversing Brexit

European Council President Donald Tusk has suggested Britons could have a "change of heart" about Brexit.Photograph: European People's Party, Wikimedia Commons In a recent speech to the European Parliament, European Council President Donald Tusk claimed that Brexit would become a reality unless Britons have a "change of heart". His words echo persi...

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British Involvement in EU Security Structures

British Involvement in EU Security Structures

This short video introduces the series, which discusses various scenarios for defence and security post-Brexit, and the implications not only for Britain, but for the remaining EU member states as well. It provides context on the history of Britain's role as a "friend among nations," recalling specifically Britain's assistance in the Estonian war o...

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No Green Light For RED

How Conservative MEPs can stop the EU Parliament breaking its own legal rules. It's easy to forget while the UK Government is engaged in fulfilling the democratic will of the British people – removing us from the European Union – our representative MEPs in Brussels continue to have a seat at the table when and where decisions are made. There are 73...

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European Defence after Brexit - a conversation with Ants Laaneots

European Defence after Brexit - a conversation with Ants Laaneots

Ants Laaneots was commander of the Estonian Defence Forces and is now a member of the Riigikogu, the Estonian Parliament. Theresa May's visit to Poland just before Christmas reminded us of the big realities of Brexit and the EU, realities which are often strenuously ignored.Some of the reporting has, maybe, been wishful of an adoption by HMG of a m...

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EU Defence and Military: An Analysis of PESCO and Other EU Security Initiatives

.       In November 2017 25 leaders signed up to the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). For the last few years the EU has been building up to a fully operative EU military and realigning member states funding of core projects to permit that to happen through the European Defence Fund (EDF). This is not a new con...

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How the EU and Brexit Is Changing Education

It's been one and a half years since Brexit was confirmed by the British vote, but only now are we really seeing the true colours of the bill. While Brexit is predicted to cause a stir in many industries, including trade and even flight, there are now apparent effects on the education system, although these appear both positive and negative. For st...

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Will The UK Get A Visa Process Like The American ESTA?

Will The UK Get A Visa Process Like The American ESTA?

Brexit negotiations are underway, and the future of travel and working in the United Kingdom is a difficult and complex entity. There are numerous news sources and reports suggesting various different factors, and with this uncertainty, many people are left wondering about how they are going to travel to the UK in the future, on business and for pl...

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Campaigning for a Clean Brexit

Andrew Roberts asks you to support the Bruges Group Brexit is under threat. Every day an anti-democratic alliance orchestrated by Tony Blair, senior Labour figures, the Lib Dems, together with their cheerleaders in big business and the media, are working to block delivery of what you, I and 17.4 million others voted for on 23rd June 2016. Every day...

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Open letter to the British government: Keep calm and walk away from Brexit negotiations

Dear members of Her Majesty's Government, In your efforts to ensure the UK's smooth transition away from EU membership, you have met more than one stumbling block. It's still unclear whether the European Court of Justice will maintain jurisdiction in Britain. The amount of money on offer to the EU to "settle your accounts" has only increased, and d...

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Brexit, Ireland, and the EU

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The New European: an undiluted Remain hatefest

The tentacles of the Stop Funding Hate campaign reach far and wide. En route to the station, I would sometimes stop at a nearby café, reading their copies of the Sun and Daily Mail over a coffee. The cafe gets most of its trade from mums on the school run, and you wouldn't think this quintessentially suburban setting would be fertile soil for polit...

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EU Sock Puppets in the UK Act Out Brussels Agenda

In the months leading up to United Kingdom's 2016 European Union membership referendum, many "independent" think tanks espoused studies against Brexit. However, these UK-based, pro EU campaigners and their research remain closely linked to Brussels through financial funding. The European Commission's tactic of shelling out millions to pro-EU lobby ...

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The European Deadline Diktat and Other Issues

Donald Tusk gave Theresa May ten days (with less than a week remaining) to offer him much more money and also give him a solution that he likes to the Irish border problem. We should be relaxed about this and either give what is legally due the EU or nothing and sort it out after Brexit. This dictatorial deadline that conflates both the Irish borde...

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How To Dress Up For A Night At The Casino

​Contrary to the mainstream point of view, a post Brexit Britain is an open Britain. While Brexit is portrayed as a very isolationist, nationalist vote, Sir Desmond Swayne MP said it's a very much outward-looking event. "United Kingdom is going to re-establish its place in the world and it's an attempt to actually maximize that," Swayne said. "Reme...

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Sex education of teenagers

Sex education of teenagers

The thing that first drew me to being opposed to our membership of the EU in 1991 was the realisation my elected Government was not in control of our country, that authority had passed to an offshore, unelected and unaccountable body.  My awakening came through a letter written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer during the terrible recession o...

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Contact us

Director : Robert Oulds
Tel: 020 7287 4414
Chairman: Barry Legg
 
The Bruges Group
246 Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street
London W1B 5TB
United Kingdom
KEY PERSONNEL
 
Founder President :
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven LG, OM, FRS 
Vice-President : The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick,
Chairman: Barry Legg
Director : Robert Oulds MA, FRSA
Washington D.C. Representative : John O'Sullivan CBE
Founder Chairman : Lord Harris of High Cross
Head of Media: Jack Soames