UK Independence Party on EU: 'It isn't their business, it's ours'

In a speech to congress in 1917, Woodrow Wilson said “the world must be made safe for democracy.” This was the attitude which took place after the end of the Second World War, when leaders in Europe wanted to make sure they did not fight again. 60 years on, and the people of Europe are now facing a new crisis, not of war, but of that democracy which Wilson spoke about 90 years before.

The new EU Treaty, ostensibly the 'Reform Treaty' but in reality the EU Constitution, is a fight for the survival of nation states which those of us opposed to the EU have been expecting for many years. It is a document which will make the EU a legal entity in its own right, capable of signing laws on behalf of the 27 members without the need for the individual signatures.

This is an affront to democracy not just for the way the political elite are trying to bulldoze it through, but because it reinforces and strengthens the undemocratic elements of the EU. For example, most people in the UK are unaware that the EU Commissioners, people they have never elected, who they cannot sack and who are completely unaccountable make 75% of the laws which govern them? That most pieces of legislation which need approval by national parliaments, for example the harmful legislation on age discrimination, was not voted on by Parliament but simply debated for 45 minutes in a committee?

And there are so many reasons why this democratic deficit is so dangerous, namely because the policies of the EU are harmful to the British economy and way of life. When enlargement took place in 2004, UKIP were the only British party to vote against it in the European Parliament. Our reason for doing so is that whilst it is a good idea to have free movement of goods and services, to have the free movement of peoples from countries with vastly differing GDPs is irresponsible. We were shouted down when we said that hundreds of thousands of migrants would come to the UK, and yet we have been proved right.

The results? In a quiet, sleepy town in Kent there are the beginnings of race riots. The head of Cambridgeshire police is calling for more money because the surge in immigrants has resulted in more crime and higher costs in solving those crimes. People are outraged that immigrants can claim benefits when they have only just arrived in this country. This has seen the rise in parties of the far-left such as the British National Party who do not want migration based on a need for skilled works, or work permits, but one based on colour, which is damaging for everyone.

It has been calculated that the combined direct and indirect costs of EU membership costs every man, women and child in Britain over £1,000 per year. And for what? It certainly does not help the developing world, however many all-expenses paid trips MEPs have, and cocktail parties they throw. In fact, I would go further and say that the EU actively harms the development of these countries. Why else would they impose strict rules on products which stop these countries taking advantage of the one resource they have in abundance, or impose tariffs on countries for making products we in the EU used to make before we started drowning in legislation? Why would they buy the fishing rights of African states to stop them building up an industry which could help them out of poverty? And at the same time, we in Britain pay for farmers throughout the EU not to produce food, and for our fish stocks to be depleted by fishermen from other countries whilst our own fishing villages go bankrupt.

Even the floods in Britain are not free from EU interference. The costs of cleaning up after the devastation caused by the flooding are being increased because of the EU's landfill directive. Charges levied on waste which is buried are adding to the spiralling cost of the disaster, because the EU have placed pointless limits on how much waste we are allowed to bury. But what business is it of theirs? What business is it of theirs how many hours someone works, or if someone sells a pound of bananas, or a cucumber which is slightly curved.

It isn't their business, it's ours. It's the voters of this country and it's certainly not the decision of people who we do not elect, cannot fire and who do not have the decency to tell us the truth.

Annabelle Fuller, UK Independence Party

This article was published in Politeia Newsletter 46 - October 2007