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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.

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 w...
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Jamie Bryson

The Bruges Group calls for a radical change in Conservative Party policy

Thirty years ago, twenty-three Conservative Members of Parliament voted against the Maastricht Treaty. Our main concern was that it opened the door to the abolition of the Pound and its replacement with what became the euro. Some twenty-seven years l...
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Barry Legg

Net Zero Fantasy

British politicians and mainstream media have claimed that Russia is responsible for "turning off" our gas supplies, amid hysteria over Ukraine. That's not the case, the culprit is closer to home. In late 2021, the British government paused the devel...
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Will Podmore

BARONESS THATCHER, THE GREATEST

The day of writing this article is the 16th May, which was the birthday of Bertram Edward Bennett (Bertie Bennett to all who knew him), who was my father. He was Born in the slums of Birmingham in 1915. As a young man and being a devoted socialist, h...
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Derek Bennett

The NI Protocol Bill: Breakdown

The HMS Caroline, a de-commissioner light cruiser docked at Alexandra Dock, near Belfast Harbour The Government's Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, introduced to the House by the Foreign Secretary, is a move to ameliorate the existing issues with the N...
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Christopher Lim

Moving on From EU Law – Good for the Economy, Good for Business!

By Barnabas Reynolds. The Brexit Freedoms Bill aims to end the special legal status of EU law. It will also simplify the removal of retained EU law. Here Barnabas Reynolds explains the advantages for the City – and the economy. The UK has recently be...
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Reynolds

"Tear Down This Wall": How Reagan Changed the World

Today marks 34 years since one of the most memorable and historic speeches ever made by a US President, and one that changed the course of history, it is of course when President Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and told Genera...
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Ethan Thoburn

Why There's No Room for Politics in Sport

There are some things in life that should never mix, pineapple and pizza, baking soda and vinegar, but perhaps more than both of those examples is sport and politics! This last year has emphasised that more than anything, from taking the knee before ...
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Ethan Thoburn

von der Leyen’s Götterdämmerung

Twilight of the Gods" was Richard Wagner's last in the cycle of music dramas called, "The Ring of Nibelung," which is based on old Norse mythology prophesying war among beings and gods that results in the burning and remaking of the world. It is alwa...
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Dr Ted Malloch

What next for the Grand Old Party?

The 2020 Presidential Election, fraught and contested as it was, is over. Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States and commands majorities in both chambers of Congress. At first glance, things look bad for the Republicans - but scratch th...
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James

The EU, Workers' Rights and the Good Old Trade Unions

It's become a mantra, endlessly repeated by remainer unions: "Workers must not pay the price of Brexit." What price would that be? And how about acknowledging the price of staying in the EU? On 6 July 2017 Michel Barnier, the EU Brexit negotiator, addressed the EU's Economic and Social Committee. His words were noted and passed on to unions in Brit...
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Will Podmore

It Isn't the Government's Job to Frighten the Public

The duty of government is to obey the will of the Nation. To paraphrase that which Professor Dicey said, referring to "the grand principle underlying the conventional precepts of the constitution, in "The Law of the Constitution[i]": "… neither the Crown [which I take to mean the Government] nor any servant of the Crown ever refuses obedience ...
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Ian Geering QC

Who Will Save Us From The EU's Climate Alarmist Lunacy?

​It is uncertain whether the UK will leave the EU on 31st October 2019. Even if we do, there is much work to be done to overturn nearly five decades of EU directives, regulations and rulings which have been imposed on the UK. One of the most egregious examples of such a law is the Climate Change Act 2008. (1) The Climate Change Act implements Direc...
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David Kurten AM

A Determined Prime Minister Can Take Us Out

Here is the fantastic Sir John Redwood MP's article first published on Brexit Central (https://brexitcentral.com/a-determined-prime-minister-can-ensure-we-are-out-of-the-eu-by-31st-october/) outlining how the right man can take us out of the EU by 31st October.  For too long we have witnessed this Parliament trying to delay or dilute Brexit. T...
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  3967 Hits
Ethan Thoburn

The EU, Brexit and Employment Market

PDF to full report ​Where Unemployment Really Is Before the referendum in 2016 we were told by George Osborne and the Treasury, among others, that 820,000 jobs alone would be lost as a consequence of a Leave vote, causing "an immediate economic shock" but here we are over three years later and unemployment is at its lowest for over 40 years. Those ...
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Ethan Thoburn

How Maggie Was Right About The EU Decades Ago

As the Conservatives elect their replacement for Theresa May over the summer, it's worth looking back to see how crucial it is for a leader that is in line with grassroots views, and currently Euroscepticism is the overwhelming grassroots position among members. Ever since the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992 there has been a battle for a refer...
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  14953 Hits
Ethan Thoburn

Carillion and Corporate Governance.

The government is in the process of reviewing what needs to be done to prevent such corporate collapses happening again, and is in receipt of substantial petitions on the subject. The prime focus of the protests and review is on whether the auditors could and should have picked up the warning signs and issued a qualified audit report on the basis t...
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  3763 Hits
John Poynton

Why we Should be Focusing on AI post-Brexit

​Artificial Intelligence is certainly an area of focus post Brexit, the sector of AI was worth around $1.2 trillion as of around 2018 with predictions from Zdnet.com estimating the growth of the AI business values to around $3.9 trillion by 2022, that's a huge amount for any sector; this roughly equates to a forecasted prediction of just over £3 tr...
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  5753 Hits
Ethan Thoburn

There is No Such Thing as No Deal

The withdrawal agreement is not only unjustified but also not required. In the event of the UK's departure from the EU without a withdrawal agreement the EU itself has put in place measures to keep trade open. These range from agreeing to equivalence in financial services, access for hauliers, the continuation of flights, and the transport conventi...
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  6384 Hits
Ethan Thoburn

Sovereignty is the issue

The issue at the heart of our contentious relationship with the European Union – and before that the Common Market – was sovereignty, rather than trade. Likewise, the debate over the Withdrawal Agreement: it has little to do with our trading relationship and everything to do with ensuring that sovereignty remains firmly with the EU, although techni...
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Barry Legg

Labour Shortages

The Government's Migration Advisory Committee wants to increase the number of jobs on the list aimed at plugging gaps in the UK labour market. Jobs on the Shortage Occupation List are effectively allowed to jump the queue for workers from outside the European Economic Area. Their review said there should be a big expansion of jobs on the list. Unde...
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John Poynton

We Can Work It Out

 "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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  4967 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

Why Sovereignty Matters

 The evolution of sovereign states around the world has been an uneven process. Some were founded on shared nationhood, language and culture. Some on lines drawn by colonial rulers. Others out of the chaos of war. But sovereign states have this in common: they are all that now stands between the peoples of the world and utter domination by the...
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  4271 Hits
Will Podmore

Just Leave!

 Through the treachery of the government and MPs, Britain is in political and economic limbo. Instead of being free to taking back control, they have handed the future of the country over to the EU… Delay, and more delay. Britain is now going to be denied independence for up to 6 months longer, a total of three-and-a-half years after voting fo...
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  3982 Hits
Will Podmore

Opinion: Secularisation, Individualism and #indyref2

 In 1964, the film Mary Poppins was released. It captured the mind of a generation and epitomised the sentiments of the turn of the century. Mary Poppins was not ultimately about a magical nanny or a singing chimney sweep, but about duty. It was about the duty of man to his family. Mary Poppins is the story of George Banks, who gives up person...
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  3884 Hits
Daniel Mcilhiney

Tell Us What Do You Want!

​I have become increasingly annoyed over the last year by those people who decry the desirability of leaving the EU on WTO terms – commonly referred to as 'no deal'. As I have pointed out on a number of occasions (Swift, 2018a, 2018b, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c), an exit without an agreement would give us numerous advantages when dealing with the EU, in p...
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  3940 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

Another European empire ends at Waterloo

In their positions of power and privilege, Remainers have always assumed that they are right, and that they will win. This is particularly so in London, where the gospel is preached daily by George Osborne's Evening Standard. But since 29th March, when the government failed on its promise to leave the EU as stipulated by Article 50, the mood around...
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  12001 Hits
Dr Niall McCrae

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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  5600 Hits
Robert Oulds

Anne Marie Morris MP & Andrew Bridgen MP and Q&A with Anne 09/04/2019

 Anne Marie Morris MP & Andrew Bridgen MP and Q&A with Anne 09/04/2019. No delay, no capitulation - NO DEAL
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Emma Jane Stockdale

Carry On Democracy? A damning analysis by David Betz & MLR Smith

What is the most apt cultural metaphor with which we can interpret the behaviour of the political classes over Brexit? Reflecting on the parliamentary theatrics of recent weeks, perhaps it is the slapstick bungling of the Carry On films that recommends itself: Theresa May played by Barbara Windsor; Kenneth Williams as Jeremy Corbyn; Sid James as Mi...
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David Betz

The wounded leader: a cautionary tale

Theresa May is at the weakest yet most dangerous stage of her miserable leadership. The scheduled European election might not happen if May overcomes resistance to the Withdrawal Agreement, which has hardly changed since first presented. It was at Chequers that the Cabinet was first told of the thin gruel on offer. Brexit secretary David Davis havi...
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  4300 Hits
Dr Niall McCrae

A strong statement of intent

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Robert Oulds

NO DELAY, NO CAPITULATION, NO DEAL. Bruges Group 09.04.2019 MARK FRANCOIS

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Robert Oulds

Brexit betrayal: Tories could lose Peterborough and other local authorities to UKIP

They had one job….Amidst the fury in the Conservative Party at Theresa May's overt betrayal of the Brexit vote, Wayne Fitzgerald, deputy leader of Peterborough council, told the Telegraph of a large number of constituents 'who will not vote for any Labour politician, Conservative politician, anybody other than an anti-EU party'. This is an area tha...
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  6449 Hits
Dr Niall McCrae

The BBC and Brexit: BBC bias by omission

  Leave and the 'left' 2002-2017, 41 pages, News-watch This News-watch study found that left-wing arguments for Britain to leave the EU have scarcely been considered on the BBC's flagship news programmes. Only 1,198 words across the entire 30 surveys came from left-wing speakers making any sort of case for withdrawal, an average of 86 words pe...
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  7943 Hits
Will Podmore

The Will of the Nation

Members of Parliament (with the exception of those who have not rebelled and refuse to renege on the promises made in the manifesto) voted to take "no-deal" off the table thereby revealing Parliament as hard-line remainers, all too ready to reject democracy in an attempt to subvert the will of the nation and to sweep aside legitimate politics. "Har...
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Ian Geering QC

On the march - The European Army

May is signing Britain into involvement with the European Defence Agency, the European Defence Fund, the European Defence Industrial Development Programme and PESCO. The EU describes all these together as the start of its military 'integration' leading to the creation of 'a Common Defence' in five years' time. EU leaders have been telling us they a...
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  26104 Hits
Will Podmore

British Politics – a critical analysis

Brexit is one of the most defining in our history. It is sometimes presented as a political disease, which must be cured by simply preventing its fulfilment or as a political opportunity, which will enable us to become once again a sovereign nation capable of making its own laws. What has transpired however over the last few months is the inability...
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  4788 Hits
Scarlett Spencer

The Long and Winding Road just got a bit longer

So we now know that the leaders of the other EU nations, doubtless pressured by the cabal of Eurocrats, have agreed to an extension of time before we can finally escape from the EU. They have, however, made this extension conditional on MPs accepting the PM's deal. Very clever. As I have consistently pointed out, Brussels does not want us to leave,...
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  4038 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

The sovereignty of the people trumps the sovereignty of Parliament

Labour supporters should ask themselves, what if Labour wins the next election by, say, 1.3 million votes or fewer? Would they mind if the establishment decided that it was not a valid victory, because it was too close, or because Jeremy Corbyn allegedly lied when he said that he might give more money to the NHS, or because there was, allegedly, Ru...
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  7864 Hits
Will Podmore

Welcome to the age of cognitive warfare

The strategy of chaos is in full swing in the United Kingdom! The country has been plunged in a total information warfare, the EU having lost the legal and popular argument when the referendum took place in 2016. They have now resorted to using their weapon of choice: disinformation. The Brexiteers are making a serious mistake by focusing on May wh...
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  4172 Hits
Scarlett Spencer

Democracy or Tyranny: Which will Members of Parliament choose?

There are only two forms of government – government with the consent of the People or government without the consent of the People.  Charles Moore wrote yesterday[1] : "On Thursday, I was interviewed by a mainstream Swiss newspaper. Switzerland, of course, is not a member of the EU. The reporter's first question went something like this: 'My c...
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  5154 Hits
Ian Geering QC

Ritual Humiliation in the New Theocracy

In my article "The Extreme Middle and a New Theocracy," I argued that supporters of the EU worshipped at the altar of a new Theocracy. As the arguments over Brexit grind on, nothing has changed my view. Indeed, I'm more convinced than ever that it is true. Forgive me for repeating familiar facts, but it is necessary. Following David Cameron's reneg...
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  4761 Hits
Michael Wood

Roll of Honour: Defying the Whips to oppose the bad deal

The 28 Leaver Conservative Members of Parliament who voted against Theresa May's 'Withdrawal' Agreement: Adam Afriyie Steve Baker John Baron Peter Bone Suella Braverman Andrew Bridgen Sir Bill Cash Sir Christopher Chope James Duddridge Mark Francois Marcus Fysh Philip Hollobone Adam Holloway Ranil Jayawardena Bernard Jenkin Andrea Jenkyns David Jon...
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Robert Oulds

Suella Braverman is right: cultural Marxism is a real and present danger

Suella Braverman is a brave woman. I have been speaking about the dangers of Cultural Marxism for many years, but she is the first Member of Parliament I have heard to use the expression during a speech for the Bruges Group. It is the right and proper term to explain the corrosive cultural atmosphere which has been generated today in the United Kin...
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  13517 Hits
David Kurten AM

Not fit for purpose: cheating Remainers undermine UK petitions website

Oh, the irony. All that conspiracy theory about Kremlin interference in the EU referendum, and now the desperate Remain campaign cheats our public petitions website by encouraging signatures from anywhere in the world. Russians are aplenty among the millions of petitioners urging revocation of Article 50. Nigel Farage is rightly asking why this for...
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  5467 Hits
Dr Niall McCrae

Esperanto: an ideologically perfect language for the EU

Saluton! The contrived language of Esperanto, thought to have disappeared into the mists of time, is alive and kicking. And it is on the cusp of gaining official recognition by the EU. Devised in 1887 by Ludwig L Zamenhof, an eye doctor and Ashkenazi Jew in the Tsarist empire, Esperanto merged multiple European tongues into one grammatically ration...
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  5445 Hits
Dr Niall McCrae

Export Subsidies vs Refunds of Foreign Import Tariffs

This article is a follow up to my previous post entitled 'Nissan, Felixstowe, Lettuces and Whisky' in which I proposed a system of refunding foreign importers of British exports for the import tariffs they will pay to their own governments after Brexit, thereby allowing our exports to continue unaffected. If nothing is done about this our exports w...
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  4264 Hits
John Poynton

The truth about trade outside the EU

Click here to read the report  Britain was a leader in international trade for centuries, long before the EU was even thought of. As an EU member state, the UK cannot now trade on our own terms with the rest of the world. Decisions are made for us, based on the interests of the EU 28 - not the UK.Today, the UK is still a member in its own righ...
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  5170 Hits
Robert Oulds

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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  5053 Hits
Robert Oulds

‘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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  5396 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

Who Governs and by What Right

Tim Stanley wrote in the Telegraph[1]: "When Mrs May says that she is delivering what the people want – as she reiterated in the House – then by any standard of our democratic tradition, she is lying. No one voted for Chequers; no one voted for either an all-UK indefinite backstop customs union (since "indefinite" is what all backstops by definitio...
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  5591 Hits
Ian Geering QC

The 'Withdrawal' Agreement is a Zombie Bill

Can the same Bill be re-introduced having once before been rejected by the Commons?  This question has profound implications for the future of our exit from the European Union. In normal times, when democracy appeared to be respected, if a Bill has been rejected it could not be reintroduced in the same parliamentary year. The overwhelming reje...
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  6609 Hits
Robert Oulds

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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  20803 Hits
Robert Oulds

Fruit, Fear and Brexit

At the end of January, I was interested to learn how the BBC's news website reported Italy's recession. It was not on their radar. Unsurprisingly, several scare stories were. One, by business editor Simon Jack, was headlined "No-deal Brexit to leave shelves empty warn retailers." My attention was grabbed, however, by a dramatic warning with a state...
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  4955 Hits
Michael Wood

Beware: Brexit is being used to bury bad news

The Alinskyite activist and former Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel, inspired by Machiavelli, coined the phrase 'never let a good crisis go to waste'. In the UK, a similar refrain: 'It's a good day to bury bad news', was utilised by Jo Moore, a government aide who was then working for Transport Secretary Stephen Byers, on the day of the 9/11 terrorist...
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  9114 Hits
David Kurten AM

Ted talks…on the Special Relationship

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Dr Niall McCrae

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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  9328 Hits
Ariane Loening

Less than a month before the deadline, good Brexit news continues

No other issue in recent history has been as divisive as Brexit. And after the historic leave vote in June 2016, the nation has been inundated with one doomsday headline after another — from economic devastation to the loss of trade, and investment. Despite all of these issues, however, Brexit is now closing in on its March 29 deadline day. Of cour...
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  6298 Hits
Robert Oulds

Members of Parliament should be careful what they wish for

As we grind inexorably to the Brexit finishing line, we should remember what happened just under three years ago, since it is becoming increasingly obvious that many - in particular our MPs - have either very short or very selective memories. In June 2016, there was a nation-wide referendum when the then government asked the people whether they wan...
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  7358 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

What a Parliament of pusillanimists / Our topsy-turvy politics of obfuscation and delay

You knew this was coming, but you couldn't make it up. A Prime Minister repudiates postponement but permits the Commons, no longer representing commoners, to defer departure. A Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition denies a second plebiscite, but announces that his party backs another ballot. An apoplectic electorate, at least beyond the M2...
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  5100 Hits
George Gordon

Discontent

The alternative to May's deal is not no Brexit but no deal. Britain could leave the EU on 29 March without a deal and trade with EU member countries on World Trade Organisation terms. These are the terms on which we trade with non-EU countries already, without falling off any cliff. No deal is Brexit. Her deal is no Brexit. 'No deal' merely means t...
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  5334 Hits
Will Podmore

Regionalisation

Some EU enthusiasts claim that our decision in 2016 was an aberration. In fact, whenever we have been given the chance to vote against EU policies, we have rejected those policies. Referendums across Europe showed that the EU was increasingly unpopular. In 2005 French voters rejected the European Constitution by 55 per cent to 45. Enthusiasm for th...
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  5082 Hits
Will Podmore

Political game play

There is no appetite to repeat arguments set out in a previous article presenting a four-partite political system based on the splintering of traditional parties. Seven Labour MPs resigned on 18 February 2019 to form an independent group focused on opposing Brexit. It is difficult not to draw parallels with the Labour split in 1981, but the impact ...
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  4010 Hits
Scarlett Spencer

As the Attorney General explores solutions to the backstop, how potent will Cox’s codpiece be?

By Christopher Howarth The Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, has been tasked with coming up with a legal solution to the 'backstop' that the Government hope will persuade or bamboozle the DUP and Conservative backbench MPs into backing the Prime Minister's EU deal largely as it is. We do not know what he will come up with, but there is a range of opt...
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  4217 Hits
George Gordon

Brexit is divisive – and all the better for it

'Politics is broken', boomed the Times, after a series of defections from both Tory and Labour parties. Angela Smith, one of the Labour breakaways, said that 'the level of alienation from the political process is at a record high'. Fair point, but false analysis. Opinion polls indeed show increasing distrust of our parliamentarians, but arguably th...
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  4260 Hits
Dr Niall McCrae

The Great Betrayal of UK Democracy

Whilst I would be the first to concede that everyone (including MPs) has the right to voice their personal opinion, those Members of Parliament who were elected to represent their constituents, must do so regardless of their own opinions when it comes to major issues of national importance such as Brexit. In other words, where an MP represents a co...
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  5651 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

United States of Europe

The EU is not a market, it is a political project of becoming a single European state, the United States of Europe, as the powers-that-be in the EU have always wanted it to become. The three founding fathers of European union all called for a single European state. Konrad Adenauer said, "My dream is that one day we might be able to applaud a United...
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  7492 Hits
Will Podmore

Leaving on WTO terms

Published on 7 January 2019, the Rt Hon Lord Peter Lilley and Cllr Brendan Chilton, Global Britain and Labour Leave outline the huge advantages to trade gained by leaving the EU on World Trade Organization terms. Far from 'crashing out' we will be 'cashing in'. We will keep our £39 billion. Even the House of Lords' heavily pro-Remain EU Financ...
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  5487 Hits
Will Podmore

Two-Stage Withdrawal

Disaster is just around the corner. Payroll problems will prevent us receiving our salaries, banking systems will fail leading to a meltdown in financial markets, hospitals services will collapse and aircraft will fall out of the sky. Because of a no-deal Brexit? No.This was the original Project Fear, in the late nineties, as the world woke up...
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  4356 Hits
Marcus Watney

Post-Brexit EU control over UK Defence

This article by JOHN PETLEY was published on February 13th 2019 by the Campaign for an Independent Britain The Norway model in defence integration Norway essentially has sub-contracted its security to the European Union. As the EU's defence integration programme has developed over the last two years, the rules for participation by non-member states...
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  8400 Hits
John Petley

The People are sovereign

May is still pushing her so-called Withdrawal Agreement, even though MPs voted it down by 432 to 202 on 24 January. She is demanding that MPs vote again on it, still using No-Deal as a threat not an opportunity. Her chief adviser Oliver Robbins said, in a staged leak, that she will give MPs a choice - her deal, or a 'long' postponement of Brexit. B...
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  8474 Hits
Will Podmore

Dull but desperate days

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." PM Winston Churchill Speech at Lord Mayor's Banquet, Mansion House, London (10th November, 1942)  Despite having said only three days ago that she would not postpone the vote in the House of Commons on her proposed bill (Maidm...
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  3994 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

Fundamental issues and the financial need for a clean Brexit

Fundamental issues and Post-Brexit vision The United Kingdom is at a crossroad, one which will define its future for generations to come. Parliamentarian Brexiteers are playing a pivotal role in bringing about this change of paradigm by making sure the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.Brexiteers' avant-garde mindsets make them the architect...
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  4573 Hits
Scarlett Spencer

EU directives and the expression of opinion

The economic arguments for leaving the European Union are obvious, but there is also an overwhelming cultural case for Brexit which is discussed less often. Over the last couple of decades, there has been a noticeable increase in what is known as 'political correctness', which has accelerated in the last five or so years. It used to be the case tha...
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  9647 Hits
David Kurten AM

Time to go on the offensive

People who have voted to leave the European Union have recently woken up to the reality that several political/economic figures in the United Kingdom and abroad are intent on stealing the referendum to ensure we remain in the customs union and abide by laws made in Brussels. Campaigns targeting MPs who are openly defying their party manifesto and t...
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  4072 Hits
Scarlett Spencer

No deal – an opportunity not a problem

A Second Referendum? I find it ironic that the basis on which the EU Fifth Column (the anti-democratic 'remoaners') have been waging war since the result of the referendum was announced is broadly that the public were not told all the facts that would come into play if they voted 'leave' in 2016.Their convoluted logic goes: we need another referend...
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  5002 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

A Dangerous Legacy

In 20th century Continental Europe, democracy had a rotten time. Russia's attempt to frame a liberal constitution, described by W. E. Mosse as "the only time in modern Russian history when the Russian people were able to play a significant part in the shaping of their destinies," was snuffed out by the Bolshevik revolution. At first, the attempt to...
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  4668 Hits
Michael Wood

The Remainer's Revenge

As with a party conference, a lot of the interest in the Brexit circus lies in the supporting acts and side-shows. A recent instance of the latter arose from a spat between the Government and the Justice Subcommittee of the Lords' European Union select committee. This is worth a look, if only because a serious point of principle turns on it. When w...
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  4943 Hits
Andrew Tettenborn

Is there a ‘special place in hell’ reserved for Donald Tusk?

Having listened to the ravings of the men from Brussels as they become increasingly afraid of a 'no deal' scenario, it is heartening to hear the latest outburst from a man who is supposed to show responsible leadership to the EU and the rest of Europe. I am outraged (but rather pleased) by the highly inflammatory comments that Donald Tusk made. I a...
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  4210 Hits
Dr Jonathan Swift

The Brexit Party: worrying the Westminster sheep? Interview with party leader Catherine Blaiklock

A new pro-Brexit party, approved by the Electoral Commission, has been founded in response to the reluctance of Parliament to honour the verdict of the EU referendum. Nigel Farage, former leader of UKIP, declared in the Daily Telegraph that if Britain's exit from the EU is delayed, he will stand as candidate in the European Parliament elections: 'I...
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Dr Niall McCrae

Nissan, Felixstowe, Lettuces and Whisky

I am sure we all understand the situation Nissan and other companies which export a majority of their UK production to the Eurozone will find themselves in after Brexit. They will face 10% tariffs by the EU on these exports, and it stands to commercial reason they would then be better off re-locating their production into the Eurozone, where they w...
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John Poynton

Smart Border 2.0

In November 2017, the EU Parliament commissioned the EU's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs to study the Irish border issue and the result is Smart Border 2.0 for Avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland for Customs control and the free movement of persons.  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/Re...
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Ariane Loening

Global realists versus rootless globalists

We're all global now. In our use of the internet, in the clothes and food we buy, and in our increasingly multicultural society. But that doesn't make us globalists. Boundaries are important in all walks of life, from the professional register that confirms the status of a doctor or lawyer to the catchment area of eligibility for services. Otherwis...
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Dr Niall McCrae

A backstop for Slough? Mars Bars warning is another Project Fear dud

Cheekily, Remainers try to co-opt revered British historical figures to bolster their cause. For example, in the week of the EU referendum a poster of Winston Churchill was fixed to every lamppost on Waterloo Bridge, with the slogan 'Brits don't quit' (swiftly removed and ripped by yours truly). Any prominent people from the past may be deployed, i...
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Dr Niall McCrae

The British road to Dirty War: analysis by David Betz & MLR Smith

What do you get when you have a Conservative party that doesn't conserve, a Labour party that doesn't represent the interests of the working class, and a Liberal Democrat Party that is neither liberal nor democratic? The answer is, a pretty accurate description of the current British political landscape. Here are different kinds of political ice cr...
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David Betz

The ageist hatred of Polly Toynbee

Okay, we know Hampstead champagne socialist Polly Toynbee is an incorrigible Remainer. No news there. But her latest tweet about a so-called People's Vote (the losing side's determined effort to reverse the 2016 referendum result) has gone beyond the pale - even for many of her fellow Remain followers. Here is her dehumanising tweet, celebrating th...
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Dr Niall McCrae

Now this is not the end...

'Now this is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.'  Prime Minister Winston Churchill November 10th 1942 The Betrayal Despite having said that she would not postpone the vote in the House of Commons on her proposed Brexit bill, Theresa May eventually accepted that the gov...
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Dr Jonathan Swift

It’s time to stop defying democracy: a rebuttal to Sam Gyimah

 'It's time to think the unthinkable on Brexit' argues pro-EU Tory MP Sam Gyimah. 'It is no exaggeration to say we face the greatest political and constitutional emergency we've had in peacetime. This is not in response to any external threat or challenge. The tragedy is we have done this to ourselves. But because of that, we can step back fro...
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Dr Niall McCrae

Politicians are in power to serve the people

Since Anglo-Saxon times, the Monarch has been required to rule for the benefit of the people. As with our law, our democracy is based on consent and has been evolutionary. Its genius is that as individual sovereignty replaced that of the monarch, the monarchy became the repository of the people's sovereignty. The people are sovereign and lend their...
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Michael Wood

The strategy of chaos

Did you call me nebulous? The end of year festive cheer was in full swing as politicians exchanged pleasantries.Many pondered whether the leader of opposition called Theresa May a 'stupid woman' and Jean-Claude Juncker may have had equally kind words for our PM. It was rather a turbulent week in British politics - a vote of no confidence in Theresa...
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Scarlett Spencer

Brexit timeline

By JOHN EAST 23 June 2016: The UK held a referendum on its membership of the EU, with the majority of voters choosing to leave (51.9% of the vote versus 48.1% voting to remain). 24 June 2016: Prime Minister David Cameron announced his intention to resign. 13 July 2016: Theresa May became Prime Minister. To fulfil the referendum Article 50 should ha...
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Ariane Loening

Swiss know-how

The European Union is playing brinkmanship. It is making an offer of a 34-page composite "framework agreement", covering such matters as immigration, state aid, mutual recognition of industrial standards, agricultural products, air transport and land transport, where local rules would automatically adapt to be in line with EU law. The treaty would ...
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Andrew Tettenborn

Yellow vests for Brexit

Quelle difference! The tremendously effective protests throughout France against the arrogant and aloof president Emmanuel Macron began as a reaction to higher diesel taxes. For the gilded elite in Versailles to impose an environmental policy that would impoverish an already struggling populace was the straw that broke the camel's back. Macron was ...
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Dr Niall McCrae

Sabotage or just a bit of mischief?

Dr.Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MP for Totnes Constituency, has launched the following as a Private Members' Bill.It has started its journey through Parliament and the 2nd reading is on 25th January. European Union (Revocation of Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017 – 2019 Type of Bill: Private Members' Bill (Presentation Bill) Sponsor: Dr.Sarah ...
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Ariane Loening

A Brexit cuckoo in a Remain nest

'If there is a no-deal Brexit it will be the worst thing that has happened to British universities in modern history'. So said Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at Oxford University, in a Guardian report on a letter by academic leaders three months before the withdrawal date. The EU represents progress, and Britain the past of empire a...
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Dr Niall McCrae

A truly open Britain in an increasingly open world

The media is trumpeting a very scary tune about a 'no deal' Brexit. Perhaps it's the swansong in their dark and gloomy concert. There will be hurdles, but we in Britain, will use our initiative and people are always at our best when we have to use our initiative. For those who would like to rename 'no deal', the Bruges Group is welcoming suggestion...
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Ariane Loening

An email to Joanna Cherry - my MP

1.Why are you plotting to thwart the democratically mandated instruction of the majority in the United Kingdom - to leave the European Union – its customs union, single market, court and ECB dictates? You lost the 2014 referendum. Scotland's people voted to remain part of the UK. You have a dictator's attitude to the people: twist their arm, nag an...
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Ariane Loening

Event Videos

Brexit - Our Future!  With Rt Hon. Lord Lilley PC, Rt Hon. Sammy Wilson MP and Daniel Kawczynski MP  Bruges Group Conference  Morning Session - with Shanker Singham, Martin Howe QC, Andrew Bridgen MP and Ewen Stewart Afternoon Session - with Rt Hon. Mark Francois MP, Dr Gerard Lyons and Professor Patrick Minford  Evening Session...
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Robert Oulds

On comfort blankets

 Hysteria is a taboo word nowadays. Derided for its original concept of female volatility wreaked by hormones, it also offends the postmodern elevation of emotional truth. Yet the feminist #MeToo movement, a moral panic of gender grievance, is becoming a case study of mass hysteria. Consider the reaction to the appointment of judge Brett Kavan...
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Dr Niall McCrae

EU definitions of ordinary words

There was, in the offices of the Daily Beast in Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, frequent use of the phrase "Up to a point, Lord Copper". As alert readers will remember, it actually meant "No". The EU and its supporters have a good deal in common with the Beast, when it comes to taking ordinary words and saying they mean something new and unexpected. Think "c...
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Andrew Tettenborn

The EU, Spain, and Gibraltar

Before the official signing of Mrs May's attempt at 'peace for our time' (Swift, 2018a), the Spanish government decided to throw an unwelcome spanner into the Brexit negotiations by stating that it would scupper any Brexit deal that did not include 'concessions' from the UK over the status of Gibraltar. Unfortunately, as if in confirmation of suppo...
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Dr Jonathan Swift

Dangers to National Security and Individual Freedom in Mrs May’s “withdrawal” Agreement

Warning! If voted through, this agreement will be irreversible. Parliament will have bound its successors to the EU, possibly into the next century.   Click here to read the full research  The Outline Political Declaration prefacing this "deal" says we share basic values with other EU nations and reaffirms our commitment to the ECHR. This...
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Torquil Dick-Erikson

Legal aspects of Brexit as the Brexit deadline of 29th March 2019 draws near

A no deal scenario is by no means a legal or economic vacuum. After the UK leaves as seems increasingly likely it will be in a similar relationship with the EU as is any country outside of the EU (referred to in the EU Treaties as 'third States' or 'third countries').  Click here to read the full research  This research addresses some leg...
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Dr Gerard Conway

The Withdrawal Agreement's Protocol is neither a 'backstop' nor temporary

MARTIN HOWE QC This article dated November 22nd 2018 appeared in Brexit Central. https://brexitcentral.com/withdrawal-agreements-northern-ireland-protocol-neither-backstop-temporary/ Within the draft Withdrawal Agreement ("WA"), 175 pages consists of a Protocol whose formal title is "Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland", together with 10 detailed ...
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Ariane Loening

How Matters Now Stand

Parliament is not allowed to surrender law making to a foreign jurisdiction. Theresa May's withdrawal agreement seeks to hand our right to self-government to the European Union.     Click here to read the full research  The foundation of our democracy lies in the answer to the question: where is the origin of power? The answer is tha...
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Ian Geering QC

Bismarck's Ghost

The spectre of Charlemagne (Karl der Große) has tantalised demagogues in the western part of Eurasia for centuries. The dream of recreating his short-lived empire has cost countless millions of lives. European history is littered with the shades of failed empires. The result of personal egos, they were bound to fail when the egos dimmed. The latest...
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Michael Wood

The New Imperialists

Bright blue flags with the circle of yellow stars, hoisted with the hubris of progressive post-nationalism. The colours don't seem quite right, do they? In London, foreign tourists flock to our historic buildings, where the theme is red, white and royal blue. However, stand across the road from the Remain vigil at Westminster, defiantly waving your...
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Dr Niall McCrae

Economic Impact of UK Trade with the EU and Non EU Countries 2000 - 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY by Roger Kendrick As the negotiations with the EU approach the October 2018 decision point, the Chequers proposals are being promoted on the generally accepted premise that the UK economy, and manufacturing industry in particular, has benefited from access to the Single Market. For this contention to be valid, the UK economy ...
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Roger Kendrick

It’s time to call the Irish bluff

Amidst the political fallout in the UK following the government's controversial draft Brexit deal, an equally important development in Ireland went relatively unnoticed. During the ruling Fine Gael party's annual conference, foreign minister Simon Coveney confirmed that Ireland has no plans to prepare infrastructure for a hard border with the UK, e...
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Robert Oulds
       
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