“World Peace”. Those are the opening words of the Schumann Declaration – the founding document of what is now the European Union. So that is what it is all about. Peace between member states. And peace in the face of external threat by offering political support to the NATO military alliance. The EU has helped […]
The EU is more democratic than the UK – It’s the pot calling the kettle black.
Brexiters swear that the EU is undemocratic, complaining that “We can’t throw them out’”, as if the EU were a Federal State like the USA – by the way, even there the President is elected indirectly through an electoral ‘college’ of votes from its states – not directly. But the EU is not a federal […]
EU Referendum: Four cemeteries and a EU trip
My Twitter feed today shows a poster from the 1975 referendum campaign: “Forty million people died in two European wars this century. Better to lose a little national sovereignty than a son or daughter. Vote Yes to keep the peace. Keep Britain in Europe.” Although we pool sovereignty, rather than lose it, I accept the […]
EU Referendum: Dispelling the myth of lack of democracy in the European Union (EU)
This blog looks at some of the myths being peddled by BREXIT supporters about how undemocratic the EU is, and how, according to Nigel Farage, EU laws make up 75% of all our laws. The House of Commons Library calculates that from 2009-2014, 6.8% of primary legislation (statutes) and 14.1% of secondary legislation (statutory instruments) […]
EU Referendum: Countryside matters
In this, the latest in the series of advice blogs for campaigners, we look at the countryside. Most of you who read these blogs will be campaigning in London, but country matters do come up. The BBC’s Countryfile magazine has run a piece on its website about how the EU influences so much of what […]