National Self-Government

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Of the many compelling reasons in favour of our withdrawal from the European Union, one stood above all and provided the foundation for everything else – democracy.

Laws should not be made nor taxes raised by anyone except our own elected representatives.

Never again must major decision-making about the governance of our country be made by individuals whom the British people cannot vote for, or vote to remove.

Democracy is not a bargaining chip for (debatable) economic advantage, it is the bedrock of a prosperous and free society. It has been shocking to witness so many of our politicians adopt such a casual attitude towards this principle. They have refused to defend our hard-fought democracy and indeed have actively encouraged the further dilution of it.

After a 43 year experiment as members of the European Union, we the British people insist that our democracy and right to self-government are paramount, and they must never be traded away ever again.

Exiting the European Union was right, and we should never re-join

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
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Some people genuinely believe that we shall never get social justice from the British Government, but we shall get it from Jacques Delors [then EU Commission President]. They believe that a good king is better than a bad Parliament. I have never taken that view.
Tony Benn (1925-2014) British Member of Parliament

MPs’ power is merely borrowed, lent by their constituents – it’s not theirs to give away

Then Prime Minister Gordon Brown signing the Lisbon Treaty in December 2007, which resulted in the significant empowerment of the European Union at the expense of nation state sovereignty – without consulting the British people first.
We need to establish a new British Constitution that stipulates that any major change regarding our independence or capacity for self-government, must first be put to a referendum for approval, or rejection, by the British people.

Governments and Parliaments since 1973 have been complicit in the gradual transfer of decision-making powers from the United Kingdom to what is now called the European Union, without the explicit permission of the British people, and it has been morally wrong throughout.

Our recent history has shown, in relation to our EU membership especially, that government ministers elected for a relatively short period will prioritise paternalism and self-interest ahead of democracy. They seek personal political achievement as they see it and will volunteer as few of their ideas for public approval beforehand as possible.

Now that we are leaving the European Union to once again become a free, independent and self-governing nation, determined by the democratic collective view of the people, this hard-won status must now be protected by a new British Constitution, safeguarded by the British Supreme Court.

Should a future government wish to render our country less independent or less self-governing, they must only be able to do so with an explicit mandate from the British people expressed via a referendum.

No citizen of our country, of all countries, should be led to believe that we cannot prosper without membership of an overseas support group such as the European Union. While timid politicians cry “isolation”, we recognise that we will always co-operate with friends and allies – but we want to be a truly internationalist and leading country again rather than a servile one.
We have given so much to the world that we can be proud of, and if there is to be any genuine optimism and ambition within our politics today, it should be geared towards the aim of giving more. Having now, in full view of the world, rejected protectionist inward-looking, elitist, liberty-encroaching regional government, vis-à-vis the European Union, Britain should now lead the charge towards openness and substantially increased worldwide free trade. Free trade, the freedom for private citizens and businesses to trade without government-installed barriers, is an effective mechanism for poverty alleviation, conflict resolution and social justice. If the world’s poorest countries had access to the world’s richest markets, their economies would grow and the livelihoods of their people would improve, and at a much faster rate than overseas aid alone can achieve. Henceforth, Britain should show international leadership and argue the case for wealth-creating and poverty-alleviating global free trade.

Britain has been an independent world leading nation for centuries

The Industrial Revolution, one of our many historical achievements as an independent self-governing nation.

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