During my time in UKIP, one of my duties was as the Chairman of my local branch in Walsall, one of our members, living locally, was, at the time, from New Zealand and was living in the town. He has since returned to his antipodean home and these days we keep in touch by e-mail.
He is quite an active and very likeable character and often includes several of us in his e-mail missives which often cover a whole range of things. Recently one of those e-mails covered the matter of Brexit and one respondent, who by living down under in N.Z., was detached and not really knowing much about why we voted in 2016 as we did. He made the usual comment that Brexit was not working. I responded in my all included reply to put him right that the reason Brexit was not working was due to the fact that those who have the task of making it work, i.e. politicians and civil servants, were the ones deliberately sabotaging Brexit and then having the nerve to say it was not working. Which then prompted him to send the e-mail below, he wrote:
"Hi Derek - I am an admirer of folks who campaign for an idea. Not any idea, of course, but those that are likely to improve the lot of most people. Like better education or the development of a climate change strategy before it's too late. Quite possibly you've been campaigning for decades for these causes also, and all strength to your arm.
But in relation to Brexit, I wonder if you would share something else. I'm well aware of the putative reasons for Brexit of course. Sovereignty, trade relations, border control and less bureaucracy for example, and I understand your frustration that Brexit hasn't apparently done much to change any of these things. Ineffective execution, as you say, may have been the fly.
However, what does interest me is learning about personal experience. Thinking back over those 30 years, how would you describe the adverse impact on your life, of Britain's EU membership? On you, personally. Rather than in the general. In concrete terms and maybe even from day-to-day, how would your life have been better if Britain had never joined?
For example, if I think about climate change and our apparent unwillingness to accept the science if not the evidence of our own eyes, I can point to personal, adverse impacts stemming from both the change, and our collective inertia. For example, the increased severity of storms have uprooted trees on my property. As a lifelong sailor, I am finding that once regular coastal passages are now difficult. The more widespread damage has led directly to higher rates as our local council struggles to repair damage to infrastructure. Climate change is affecting me personally, but compared to the millions subject to starvation, floods and even bushfire incineration, to a very minor degree. I believe that anyone's efforts to campaign for government leadership to reverse these ill-effects, are essential and to be lauded. I'm sure you will agree.
But this is about Brexit. I very much look forward to hearing about your own experience with the EU. I also wonder, if you put on your green hat, is there anything about EU membership that you would think desirable? Personally and from a national perspective?"
After reading this my old campaigning zeal returned as I began to recap my many arguments as to why, when we were enslaved to the EU, we should leave, My reply to him was the following:
"During the run up to the election when Blair was elected in 1997, he made a promise to reduce V.A.T. on domestic energy which had been set at zero until the hopeless Major Government added it at 8%, which brings me to the crux of the most important reason I wanted us to leave the EU. In order for Blair to honour an election manifesto promise to cut V.A.T. on domestic energy, after winning a massive landslide victory given to him by the British electorate, he had to go cap in hand to the EU and get permission to honour a manifesto promise from people no one in the UK had ever voted for. If we had been a sovereign nation he could have just got on with it without asking those, who have no duty to the British electorate who in turn have no democratic control over those in the EU. The unelected EU Commissioners graciously allowed Blair to reduce V.A.T. on domestic energy to 5% - and no lower. Proof that within the EU we were no longer sovereign or democratic.
The euro, which just like the ERM, has also created problems for the poorer club Med countries, like us within the ERM, they lost control over their interest and exchange rates which gave them massive problems and virtually bankrupted Greece.
When on holiday in 1998 in Desenzano on Lake Garda I purchased a silk tie, at that time it was priced in both lira and euro's, although the euro was not then legal tender. As I paid I mentioned I liked the lira but not the euro. The reply was that the euro would be good and the person selling me the tie was enthusiastic. The euro was imposed on the people of Europe, mostly without any democratic say over the loss of their traditional currencies and control of their economies. On a return holiday to Lido di Jesolo, when buying a cold beer at a beachside bar, I mentioned the same thing that I liked the lira and not the euro. This time the answer was different and I was told the euro had put the price of everything up and the person serving me was far from enthusiastic about it.
The big problem with the EU is that it is accountable to no one, an elite run it and like the members of the USSR politburo have great privileges not available to mere mortals such as you or I. It is also in hock and in league to global corporations, as I found out when trying to help a medium sized business when I was working for my second MEP. He sold various gases used used for all sorts of things from welding to the gas used in vehicle air conditioning. He had found a supplier in Asia which sold vehicle air conditioning gas at a very competitive price, which meant he could undercut the four big multinational suppliers - they were not amused. First they tried to buy him out and when that did not work they leant on their pals in the EU Commission, who then set limits of how much of this gas could be imported by those such as the business we were trying to help. The EU aided and abetted a cartel who had their inflated prices stitched up. We lobbied and campaigned to no avail and he lost a major part of his income as well as his customers being forced to return to purchasing air conditioning gas at inflated prices.
The only reason MEPs are there is to give the false impression the EU is democratic, which it is not. MEPs turn up at the parliaments in Brussels and Strasburg and their only real duty is to vote through all the laws and amendments the EU Commission force through, which they do in these sham parliaments en-masse and at speed by voting with a show of hands despite the fact they all have three voting buttons in front of them. I have sat in both parliaments watching the show put on, it is truly frightening that within an hour and a half around up to 200 pieces of legislation can be rammed through before the MEPs swan off for lunch and to clam their daily expenses. The President of the parliament, who in the House of Commons is Mr Speaker, announces an amendment or an item of legislation, then in rapid succession says: "For, against, abstentions". Hands fly up in the air at speed and then the President announces "Pass", no one seems to count the votes and they are seldom questioned, then its on to the next vote and it's "Pass, pass" all the way. This then became law across all the EU, including us poor saps when we were members. If this is democracy then I'm a Dutchman, as we used to say in less politically correct days.
Who in their right mind would want to be governed by this antidemocratic mob?"
His final words of reply were: "Hi Derek - that certainly makes for dismal reading. And underscores your perspective. Thanks again for taking the time!"
We must remember these things lest we forget the real reason we voted to leave the EU. Those betrayer who want us back in will force all this, and even more, upon us if we are foolish enough to re-join.
