9:e valperioden Bill NEWTON DUNN

I voted against. The Withdrawal Agreement is a terrible deal. It may explode the UK, encouraging Scotland to leave, Northern Ireland to unite Ireland. It detaches us from the Single Market and unfettered free-trade, jeopardising British jobs. It threatens our outstanding universities and scientific research. The reason for this catastrophe is the fantasy culture in which Westminster politicians work. Its ancient decrepit buildings, constructed long ago, make them believe they are still the centre of the world, that other nations listen to them. Perhaps a modern Guy Fawkes is needed. Leaders at Westminster have omitted for forty years to explain the benefits and reasons for uniting Europe into a decentralised federal structure so that our continent can stand up to the emerging super-powers. The British Prime Minister is the ultimate fantasist, with no plan except to enjoy the spoils of high office. He has no intention of modernising how we vote to a fair system, nor replacing the unelected House of Lords. Some want an elected head-of-state so that any citizen can aspire to be president. Humans live according to their inherited cultures. If Britain cannot reform itself, a hard ask, events from outside will force change in unpleasant ways.

Having been here, on and off, since 1979, I want to contribute a few words about this vital conference.
Leaders in the British Parliament at Westminster have never told the truth to the British people. Leaders in the House of Commons from Thatcher onwards have failed to explain ‘Europe’ to the people in the UK. The Brexit MEPs who have spoken here in this debate but have all left the chamber, unwilling to listen to other opinions, are a symptom of that ignorance.
Thirty years ago I wrote and published a pamphlet about The Democratic Deficit. That Deficit remains.
I am afraid that the UK will not return to the Union until leaders in the Commons tell the truth: that they don’t control an empire and that they are just another parliament which is greatly in need of profound reforms. I was asked last autumn: ‘How is it possible for an unelected British Prime Minister to ask the unelected Head of State to suspend a parliament only half of which is elected?’
I fear that not until the British people are taken down to an uneconomic nadir and they learn the truth might we return to the European Union.