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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.

Statement from Barry Legg, Chairman of The Bruges Group on the Withdrawal Agreement

mayandboris
The Bruges Group is opposed to the acceptance by Parliament of the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration which has been released today. The Bruges Group has always put the highest priority in maintaining the integrity of the United Kingdom. This agreement provides for a different status for Northern Ireland and therefore has the potential ...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Will Podmore
Quite right, thank you.
Friday, 18 October 2019 13:35
Guest — Adam Hiley
if Boris Johnson tries to sneak in Theresa May's nonsensical Withdrawal Deal He will deserve to be thrashed at the inevitable Gene... Read More
Friday, 18 October 2019 20:17
Guest — Heather
So why is Bill Cash saying they will vote for it, very confused?
Saturday, 19 October 2019 19:57
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The Summary of a Judicial Crisis

Supreme-Court
​On 28 August Gina Miller applied for judicial review of the decision to prorogue Parliament, seeking a declaration of the court that the Prime Minister's decision to tender this advice was unlawful. On 6 September, the High Court of England and Wales granted Ms Miller permission to bring the application but then unanimously dismissed the claim. Th...
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Boris' Brexit Options

Boris-and-Cummings-
Initially published on 13th September and updated on 26th September  With the Brexit pea soup not looking any clearer whatsoever, Boris Johnson's hopes of an early general election are fading by the minute as I type this and of course Parliament being prorogued from the evening of Monday 9th September until 14th October. It's interesting to se...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Coram Deo
PUTTING BREXIT OFF - OR BEING PUT OFF BREXIT The proper way to manage Brexit for the UK also will benefit the organisation that re... Read More
Friday, 13 September 2019 22:15
Guest — Coram Deo
GUY VERHOFSTADT - TOASTING TO A PROLONGED BREXIT - LAUGHING AT THE UK video - 30 seconds Video of the main EU federalist Guy Verho... Read More
Friday, 13 September 2019 22:52
Guest — Coram Deo
SPIKED: THIS ROTTEN PARLIAMENT audio - 29 minutes 7 seconds Parliament, legal challenges and No Deal. Brendan O’Neill, Ella Whelan... Read More
Saturday, 14 September 2019 06:50
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Dominic Grieve: The Legal Profession’s Cheerleader

Ken-Clarke-and-Dominic-Grieve
It often thought that lobbying, the professional representation of private interests to governments and subsequent attempts to influence policy, was confined to industrial-like political powerhouses of Washington D.C., the capital of the free world, and Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union. In the US, the currency within lobbying is...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Adam Hiley
binlabour.com bin the Labour Party website
Saturday, 14 September 2019 23:02
Guest — Adam Hiley
Grieve and co must be thrown out of Parliament into the dock of a Parliament and into Prison for their treachery eutruth.org... Read More
Sunday, 20 October 2019 17:00
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Brexit - the moment of truth

Leaving the EU Brexit Hub Monday, 30th September 20191pm until 2.30pm With the speakers; Rt Hon Sir John Redwood MPFormer Secretary of State and serving Privy CounsellorRt Hon. Arlene Foster, MLALeader of the Democratic Unionist PartyRt Hon. Mark Francois MPEuropean Research Group& Martin Howe QCLawyers for BritainAGENDASpeeches and press confe...
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Recent Comments
Suzanne Bhayro
Excellent, but sadly not convenient for travel. Will you be holding further meetings in other parts of the country? I live in Devo... Read More
Thursday, 29 August 2019 15:50
Robert Oulds
Certainly, most of our meetings are usually in London. Thanks for your kind words and support, these are very much appreciated.... Read More
Thursday, 29 August 2019 16:29
Guest — Robb
As usual, in London. Bit of a hike for me from my home in Wiltshire. London seems to be where its at and we folks tend to feel a b... Read More
Thursday, 29 August 2019 22:22
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Interview with Alice Grant: 'Why People Support Brexit Series'

AEB
​Over the past three or so years, us Brexiteers have been labelled with all sorts of names such as fascists and racists, among others. There is an ever-growing perception that we are all over 80, own grand estates and are on the far-right wing of the political spectrum; let me tell you we are not! I have spoken to people from all backgrou...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Ed Everett
Good, well written article Ethan- good to hear so much directly from someone who is so active and against stereotype. Somehow it d... Read More
Monday, 05 August 2019 07:11
Guest — Richard
A really dull article - just a standard right-wing viewpoint that's been aired a million time before? If you're ring-wing you'll a... Read More
Thursday, 15 August 2019 16:47
Guest — Adam Hiley
Mrs Thatcher don't get leaders like Her anymore only mediocrities like Corbyn Swinson Starmer Grieve etc
Saturday, 19 October 2019 16:52
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The Brexit Speeches

Brexit-Speeches
PDF to Full Speeches   The following article and above PDF are speeches by Richard Tice MEP for the Brexit Party and also property businessman; Swedish-British billionaire businessman Johan Eliasch who is CEO of sportswear giant Head; Sir John Nott the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry then Defence under Margaret Thatcher; ...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Peter Railton
An excellent series that identifies the real mirage of European integration, but can't we also refer to the demolition of our Moto... Read More
Saturday, 27 July 2019 12:26
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Scottish Independence: SNP Are Just 'Yes Men' For the EU

Sturgeon-and-Juncker
The Scottish National Party's minority administration in Edinburgh is trying to contribute to the attempt to foil Brexit and the struggle to achieve sovereignty and independence for the whole of Britain. But it's not doing well… While efforts in the British parliament to halt our exit from the EU are being roundly defeated, pro-EU fervour has conti...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Adam Hiley
never underestimate the stupidity of Sturgeon & Her boneheaded party there is no chance of Independence that is what My friends in... Read More
Friday, 02 August 2019 13:01
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An Existential Crisis: We Are Threatened by a Parliamentary Coup

Parliament
 Sir Austen Chamberlain, speaking about Germany's violation of the Treaty of Locarno, remarked: "It is not so long ago that a member of the Diplomatic Body in London, who had spent some years of his service in China, told me that there was a Chinese curse which took the form of saying, 'May you live in interesting times.' There is no doubt tha...
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We Can Work It Out

Screenshot_20190530-104240_Google
 "Life is very short, and there's no time, for fussing and fighting, my friend." (John Lennon and Paul McCartney – 1965 "We Can Work It Out")We had one deadline - 29th March – for leaving the EU, which was inexplicably lost in the mists of political time. (Political time is like real time, but without reality, adherence to deadlines, or t...
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John Redwood's letter to the Attorney General about the Withdrawal Agreement

Below is John Redwood's letter to Geoffrey Cox. The Attorney General has not yet replied, and he needs to.Given the government's difficulty in replying to this, John Redwood is re-issuing it and encourage all to circulate it more widely. The conventional media refuse to ask these questions of the government and supporters of the Agreement.  De...
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Guest — Adam Hiley
now the disastrous May is going whoever takes over e.g Boris Johnson needs to completely clear out the Cabinet of Remainers Hammo... Read More
Monday, 27 May 2019 18:07
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Nothing has changed

Click here to read the legal advice   As Geoffrey Cox, Attorney General, advises: there is no internationally legal means of escaping the Backstop. 'The legal risk remains unchanged that if through no such demonstrable failure of either party, but simply because of intractable differences, that situation does arise, the United Kingdom wou...
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Guest — Adam Hiley
and May has the temerity to force it through Parliament the 3rd time aided & abetted by Remoaners She has to go davidmur... Read More
Saturday, 16 March 2019 19:07
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‘No deal’ is our only remaining negotiating weapon; don’t decommission it.

Approaching the Wire at the Eleventh Hour I have written about Brexit for a number of months now and basically my message has been the same: keep our collective nerve and hold out for a good deal. By a 'good deal' I mean one that allows us free trade with the EU – nothing more. No shady 'backstops', no mealy-mouthed words that allow the 'reject pol...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Adam Hiley
May has to go and a clearout of Parliament of Remoaners needs to happen No deal is still likely britishconstitutiongroup.co... Read More
Saturday, 16 March 2019 19:11
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How the "Backstop" breaches international treaties

The backstop is illegal. When speaking with international lawyers they mention a number of difficulties that the EU will discover if they actually try to implement the backstop.   The competence of the 'Withdrawal' Agreement to establish the backstop exceeds its lawful ability, it is Ultra Vires.Given indications from the President of the...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Adam Hiley
May has to go and soon completely incompetent the Conservative Party removed their most successful 27 years ago after Mrs Thatcher... Read More
Friday, 08 March 2019 23:45
Guest — Ben
Lisbon Treaty and Mays deal are illegal under the VIenna Convention on the law of treaties of 1969. Treaties made in conflict agai... Read More
Sunday, 10 March 2019 03:20
Guest — CJ
This is but the tip of the iceberg. The proposed Withdrawal Agreement is unbalanced over its lopsided commitment to EU trade agre... Read More
Monday, 11 March 2019 22:54
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John Redwood MP's Letter to Geoffrey Cox about the draft Withdrawal Agreement - published March 4 2019

Dear Geoffrey, I am glad you are seeking to replace the unacceptable Irish backstop which is written into the Withdrawal Agreement which was vetoed in the recent Commons vote. There are other features of the Withdrawal Agreement which I and other MPs cannot accept which also need attention in the national interest. Under the draft Withdrawal Agreem...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Ditherywig
What about fisheries ? I presume the WA recovers all our stolen fishing waters and rights?
Tuesday, 05 March 2019 14:18
Guest — Iconoclast
Good letter. Sound points. Very pleased to see them being made public.
Wednesday, 06 March 2019 10:51
Guest — Andy Sloan
What about our continued ties to EU military?
Wednesday, 06 March 2019 20:51
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Perspectives on Reforming the European Union

A paper for the ECR Group of the European Parliament Brussels, Belgium by Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Malloch This commissioned paper for the ECR Group considers perspectives on European Union reform. It starts with the Treaty of Rome and considers the basis and foundation for cooperation. It then inspects the nature and challenge of reform at this time...
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The Draft Withdrawal Agreement: an analysis

Analysis of Theresa May's Brexit proposal.  Can the UK claim to be an independent state? Introduction The current draft of the agreement "on Withdrawal of the UK from the EU and EURATOM" (the "Agreement") can be found here... https://ec.europa.eu/commission/files/draft-agreement-withdrawal-united-kingdom-great-britain-and-northern-ireland-euro...
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Recent Comments
Guest — John Hennessey
This is absurd, what exactly did she 'negotiate'?
Friday, 16 November 2018 11:13
Ariane Loening
The EU has regarded the United Kingdom as a 'third country' since July 19th with its publication of COM (2018) 556 Final Document.... Read More
Sunday, 18 November 2018 14:50
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Brexit update videos

Steve Baker MP presents five videos updating Brexit and explaining its significance:  1 - Self-government and trade 2 - The Withdrawal Agreement 3 - What is possible: the internal market vs a Free Trade Agreement  4 - What's wrong with Chequers, the Government's plan?  5 - It is time to make an advanced FTA work for the who...
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Jacob Rees-Mogg's letter to the Conservative Party constituent Chairmen with Briefing Note concerning the Chequers Deal

Letter to Conservative Party Constituency Chairmen House of Commons Westminster London SWlA 0AA 22 August 2018 Dear Chairmen, When the British people voted to leave the EU over two years ago it was an act of great political courage against the prophets of doom. 17 million people voted to leave because they believed in better. They believe in Britai...
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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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Recent Comments
Guest — clive Sinclair
I have written to my MP as I frequently do and you are absolutely right indeed, please do all in your power to help any uprising i... Read More
Tuesday, 10 July 2018 16:05
Guest — #StopBrexit
Hard brexit is not the will of the people either. How many voted for hard brexit? How many voted for BRINO? Much less than those w... Read More
Tuesday, 10 July 2018 17:05
Guest — thomas hall
I was surprised that our PM Theresa May decided to go to Angela Merkel before she sat down with her cabinet. I personally feel th... Read More
Tuesday, 10 July 2018 17:27
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Why we must remain steadfast in our Brexit negotiations

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 ...
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Recent Comments
Guest — Paul
Why do you feel a need to negotiate an exit strategy from the EU when it is clear that it is based on void treaties which breach B... Read More
Thursday, 24 May 2018 11:09
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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...
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Bad faith in Brussels: A warning to the UK’s Brexit negotiators

Michel Barnier, the EU’s Chief Negotiator for Brexit.
Photograph: DG EMPL, Flickr

British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her government’s vision for Brexit in a speech delivered in Florence on September 22. In a bid to breathe new life into ongoing UK-EU negotiations, she presented proposals regarding the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, the length of a “transition period” after 2019, and the sum Britain might pay during that period. Rather than inspiring counterproposals or constructive criticism from EU leaders, May’s speech generated little more than the same refrain repeated from Brussels since negotiations began: that more “clarity” was needed, and that “sufficient progress” would have to be made before talks could advance. This lacklustre, somewhat apathetic EU position does not look like the result of sincere consideration of May’s proposals, or a constructive attitude towards the talks. Rather, it looks a lot more like a deliberate tactic to either prevent Brexit, or punish Britain.


Some might find this approach perplexing. After all, is it not in both parties’ interests to negotiate a mutually-beneficial outcome? Not necessarily…


To better understand Brussels’ foot-dragging in Brexit talks, it helps to understand the incentives driving it. First and foremost, the EU is a political union. Economic, social, or environmental considerations may all have contributed to the appeal of ever-closer union, but they remain secondary to the very political objective of federal statehood. Indeed, from the days of Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman at the dawn of European integration, to more the more recent mandates of José Manuel Barroso, Viviane Reding, or Guy Verhofstadt, the goal of a pan-European nation state is no secret.


Grasping that European statehood is the EU’s ultimate objective is essential for the UK government’s Brexit Secretary David Davis and his team of negotiators as they engage with their counterparts. It means that, no matter how amenable the UK is to facilitating trade or subsidizing the EU’s budget, the bottom line in Brussels remains the preservation of their political project. The win-win economic gains desired by the UK are not necessarily desired by the EU, for whom a successful Britain would signal there is no longer any economic appeal to remaining in the bloc. A strong UK economy poses an existential threat to European integration.


This explains why trade negotiations have not even begun, despite both parties already sharing near-identical norms and regulations. It is also why the EU seems in no rush to maintain access to the UK’s large consumer market, with Britons buying more from the EU than the other way around. In order to preserve the union, the EU’s only options are to ensure the UK remains inside, or fails outside.

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Guest — CJ
As ever, a reasoned and thought-provoking analysis. If you look at the joint EU Presidency plans to end-2018 (Estonia, Bulgaria ... Read More
Monday, 16 October 2017 08:25
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Brexit under threat

The Union Jack flies over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
Photograph: Rian (Ree) Saunders, Flickr

With Article 50 triggered and Brexit negotiations well underway, the UK government looks like it’s carrying out the instructions it received from 17.4 million voters last summer. At best, Britain and the continent will establish a mutually advantageous trade relationship; at worst, the UK and EU will revert to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, including minor tariffs on the exchange of goods and services. In either case, it seems, the UK will regain control over its finances, its borders, and its laws –all of which are necessary to fulfill the mandate given by voters.

Nevertheless, a growing threat hangs over Brexit Britain.

In hopes of consolidating power, Prime Minister Theresa May called an election in June. Rather than expand her mandate with a comfortable majority in Parliament, May’s Conservatives lost their majority, necessitating the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist MPs to govern.

Emboldened by the election result, opposition parties have redoubled efforts to undermine the government’s position in Brexit negotiations. By seeking guarantees that single market access is maintained at all costs, or that, if by March 2019 (the date by which the UK has notified the EU it will leave) negotiations have not born fruit Britain’s current relationship with the EU should be maintained, MPs from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and even some Conservatives are undermining the primary objective of last year’s referendum: to leave the EU.

Beyond Westminster, a growing number of voices have added themselves to the anti-Brexit bandwagon.

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The deals that may be worse than no deal

How a compromise agreement may keep Britain subject to aspects of the EU.

2nd June 2017

Introduction

Here we answer your questions on the Article 50 UK/EU Withdrawal Agreement.

 

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