This blog is hosted on Ideas on Europe
Although hard to believe now, for most of the UK’s five decades as a member of the European Union, Britain didn’t want to leave. On the contrary, most Brits wanted us to stay. What’s the proof of that? Well, apart from polling over the years, look at governments and general elections. From 1959 to 2016, every UK government and […]
Brexit politicians have sold to the nation that Britain must have 100% sovereignty – a key reason for leaving the European Union. But wiser politicians know better. Former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was one of them. In a Parliamentary session back in December 1989, about her latest conference with the 11 other leaders of the […]
Believe it or not, Conservatives used to be the party of Europe. Indeed, it was: The Conservatives that joined the UK to the European Community. The Conservatives that advocated and helped to design the EU’s Single Market. The Conservatives that encouraged the former Communist countries to join. It was also one of the Tory party’s […]
This month 59 years ago – on 13 August 1961 – Berliners woke up to find that a wall was being built to split their city in two. To say it was a huge shock is an understatement. It was not until 28 years later – in November 1989 – that Berliners ripped the wall […]
The BBC call them migrants; the Prime Minister and some other media call them illegal; some Tory MPs and Nigel Farage call them ‘invaders’. They are none of those. They are mostly desperate, destitute, stateless men, women and children fleeing from war, torture, oppression and persecution. Nobody risks their lives across treacherous waters in unsuitable and unsafe boats unless they are deeply distressed and determined, with nothing […]
On 20 July 2020, British MPs voted by a majority not to have any say or votes on future UK trade agreements. Can you think of any other professions where you could vote not to do your job but still be paid for it? Postmen and women voting not to deliver letters? Train drivers voting […]
Some people say it was undemocratic for Britain to join the European Community in 1973 because ‘the people’ weren’t asked in a referendum. But that’s not how decisions are made in Britain. In the UK, referendums are usually nothing more than opinion polls. They are not legally binding and therefore not capable of making decisions. […]
Brexit is based on blatant mistruths and lies. You may not believe this now, but we will all believe it next year, when Brexit finally arrives, cold, clammy and callous, naked and exposed. Every reason given to leave was a stinking falsification. When, one day, there is a public inquiry into how our country was […]
The referendum question was unbalanced because it pitched a known outcome with an entirely unknown outcome. The referendum question asked if the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? ▪ REMAIN A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION □ ▪ LEAVE THE EUROPEAN UNION □ We all knew what remaining […]
Hospital cleaner, Hassan Akkad, pulled at the nation’s heartstrings when he Tweeted a video in May with an urgent message to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. In the video, shot in his car wearing his NHS hospital scrubs, an emotional Hassan complained to Mr Johnson that he felt “stabbed in the back”. Why? Because the government had […]
UACES and Ideas on Europe do not take responsibility for opinions expressed in articles on blogs hosted on Ideas on Europe. All opinions are those of the contributing authors.