Author: wordpressence

  • UK’s Great Escape – Facts4EU.Org looks at the EU’s inexorable takeover of a continent

    The European Union: The World’s most expansionist empire, in maps and charts

    Montage Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Despite the loss of its 2nd-largest member country, the EU’s expansionist march seems relentless

    A Brexit Facts4EU.Org Series

    Part One – The EU’s acquisition of countries, land, and people (this report)

    Part Two – The EU’s acquisition of political and other powers

    Part Three – The EU’s empire compared to the last Western European empire: the Third Reich

    In just 64 years, the EU has expanded beyond recognition. It started quietly as the European Economic Community (EEC) which was founded by six countries in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome.

    Sixteen years passed before its first expansion in 1973 when it increased its number of countries by 50%. Since then its acquisitive nature has gathered pace and become more apparent.

    Today Brexit Facts4EU.Org tells the story of the World’s most expansionist empire, in simple maps, charts, and facts and figures.

    In this three-part series we ask: Is the EU now the most dangerous world threat to individual nationhood, cultural identity, personal freedoms, and the established global order?

    Part one – countries, land, people

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    How much has the EEC/EU expanded so far?

    • Number of countries – Has increased by 4.5 times, from 6 to 27 (+350%)

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    • Land mass – Has increased by 3.5 times, from 1,170,348 sq km to 4,125,107 sq km (+252%)

     

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org (using mapchart.net) – click to enlarge

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    By any measure, and despite the EU’s loss of the United Kingdom, the EEC/EU’s expansion over the past 50 years has been continuous and significant.

    Which new member countries does the EU have in its sights?

    The EU has five candidate countries in process, and there are two potential candidate countries currently listed by the EU Commission. These are:-

    Five official candidate countries in process:

    • Albania
    • Republic of North Macedonia
    • Montenegro
    • Serbia
    • Turkey

    Two potential candidate countries on the list:

    • Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Kosovo

    If these seven countries all join, then our maps above would look like this

     

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org (using mapchart.net) – click to enlarge

    Observations

    Isn’t ’empire’ a dirty word?

    In this series of Facts4EU.Org reports we are looking at the EU as an empire. Given the increasing centralisation of power in Brussels and the large increase in areas of life controlled by the EU Commission, this seems perfectly appropriate.

    In this, Part One, we have focused on the enormous increase in the EU’s control in terms of countries, territory, and people. In less than 50 years since its first enlargement (when the EU was called the European Economic Community or EEC) the number of countries is 4.5 times greater, the amount of territory is 3.5 times greater, and the number of people living under the EU is now 2.85 times greater.

    It is official EU policy to absorb the Balkans countries and Turkey, as the next phase of the EU’s expansion. In our view it doesn’t matter whether a country such as Turkey is likely to join in the next few years or not. The fact is that this is EU policy and Turkish government policy. In any case it seems highly likely that some of the Balkan countries will start joining around 2025.

    In Part Two Facts4EU.Org will look at the EU’s acquisition of political and other powers over the citizens in its empire. We also intend to question the democratic legitimacy of this whole exercise in empire building.

    Facts4EU.Org and you

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above – and the further two parts to come – please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you. We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations. Nor do we ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: EU Commission | World Bank | OECD ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 29 Jul 2021

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    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
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  • EU Erasmus reality – why UK Remain-voting students should back Turing instead

    The UK’s eradication of Erasmus was the right thing to do, and here’s why

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org – The EU’s Erasmus and the UK’s Alan Turing OBE FRS, (codebreaker and inventor of the first stored program computer)

    Facts4EU.Org’s simple explainer of why the UK left the EU’s expensive youth indoctrination plan

    Yesterday we looked at the new Turing Scheme to replace the EU’s Erasmus+. Today we look again at Erasmus+ itself, and why it was never right for the United Kingdom’s needs. This report has been updated with new information since our last reports in January.

    With the UK taking seven out of the ten top places in the Times’ list of “Best universities in Europe 2021”, it is clear that the EU needs the UK far more than the UK needs the EU, when it comes to student exchanges. No wonder the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reports that an astonishing 143,000 students from the EU27 were studying in the UK in the academic year 2018/2019. (Note: All figures for student numbers in this report are for the last year for which data is available – 2018/2019.)

    We present the facts about Erasmus – the EU scheme to indoctrinate the youth of a continent

    In this report we answer the following key questions

    1. Is Erasmus+ a university student exchange programme?
    2. How many UK students have actually benefited?
    3. How much of the Erasmus budget did the EU actually spend on students?
    4. How much has it cost the UK taxpayer?
    5. What is Erasmus+ and why is it dangerous?
    6. How many UK university staff have taken advantage of it?

    Photo right: Former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was rather keen on his youth initiatives. Photo © EU Commission

    1. Is Erasmus+ a university student exchange programme?

    No, it is not. Here is how the EU Commission describes it:

    “Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe.”

    “It is open to school pupils, higher education and vocational education and training students, adult learners, youth exchanges, youth workers and sport coaches.”

    This is not a description of an exchange programme, allowing students at UK universities to spend part of their degree courses at EU universities. It is a far wider programme, involving sport, youth and adult work, and other activities, and it is vastly expensive, costing billions. (See below.)

    2. How many UK university students have benefited from Erasmus+?

    This is the key question. How many students benefited for the billions the UK has spent with the EU on the Erasmus+ programme?

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    99.6% of UK students didn’t even use the EU’s youth system, while EU27 students benefited hugely

    © Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    • Erasmus+ was used by only 9,993 UK students in 2019 [Source: EU Commission]
    • That’s less than 10,000 out of a total of 2,383,970 higher education students in the UK [source:HESA]
    • Only 0.4% of UK students in higher education used the EU’s Erasmus+
    • 99.6% of UK students did not even use it at all
    • This alone makes the costs completely unjustifiable

    3. How much of the Erasmus budget did the EU spend on students?

    A full two-thirds of the Erasmus+ budget isn’t for any form of exchanges for young people at all. It’s for “partnerships and reforms of the education and youth sectors.” Only one-third of the budget is for “learning opportunities abroad for young people”.

    © Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    4. How much did it cost UK and EU taxpayers?

    In 2019, the UK received only €87m (£79 million GBP) in grants for higher education students. This is out of a total EU budget for Erasmus+ of €16.4 billion over the period 2014-2020, an average of €2.34bn euros per year or £2 billion pounds per year. This includes the ‘extras’ which the EU spends for Erasmus+ outside the EU.

    These already huge costs have already risen dramatically this year, as the Erasmus budget has just been increased by an eye-watering 74%. The new budget (including the extras) is €28.4bn compared to 16.38bn in the last budget.

    The UK Government has now pledged £110m (GBP) for the new Turing Scheme to replace Erasmus. That is 39% more than the £79 million the UK received back for its students, from its contributions to the EU under Erasmus+.

    The UK taxpayer has been funding Erasmus+ to the tune of approximately £266 million pounds per year.
    Had the UK stayed in the EU, this would now have increased to approximately £463m per year.

    We should also point out that €1.7bn of the EU’s budget went to other countries outside the EU, as part of the EU’s ‘External Action’ programme. This carried on throughout 2020, despite the UK having no say in how the money was spent.

    5. So what really is Erasmus+, and why is it dangerous?

    Erasmus+ is part of the “EU Youth Strategy” and the “European Education Area”. Here is what the EU Commission has to say about these.

    “The EU Youth Strategy should contribute to realising this vision of young people by mobilising EU level policy instruments as well as actions at national, regional and local level by all stakeholders.”

    “Erasmus+ doesn’t just have opportunities for students… it has opportunities for a wide variety of individuals and organisations…. Erasmus+ also aims to promote the sustainable development of its partners in the field of higher education, and contribute to achieving the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy.”

    In October 2020 the EU Commission announced that it will be completing a “European Education Area” by 2025, thereby moving one further step towards the homogenisation of the formerly independent nation states of Europe.

    For years the EU has been achieving its goal by targeting young people with continuous propaganda and ‘initiatives’ as we have reported many times before. Here is what they said about their latest move:-

    “The European Education Area is underpinned by six dimensions: quality, inclusion and gender equality, green and digital transitions, teachers, higher education, a stronger Europe in the world. Initiatives will inter alia look at ways to enhance quality, notably with regard to basic and digital skills and to make school education more inclusive and gender sensitive and improve school success. They will help strengthen understanding of climate change and sustainability, foster the greening of education infrastructure, support the teaching profession, further roll out European Universities and enhance connectivity among education and training institutions.

    “The Communication sets out the means and milestones to achieve the European Education Area by 2025, supported by Europe’s Recovery Plan (NextGenerationEU) and the Erasmus+ Programme.”

    In short, Erasmus+ is not a student exchange programme. It is part of a concerted strategy from the EU Commission to indoctrinate the youth of Europe.

    6. How have the teaching staff done out of Erasmus+?

    Our analysis shows that the pro-EU and anti-Brexit teaching staff who are so in favour of Erasmus+ have benefited rather more than their students.

    According to the EU Commission a total of 3,962 UK teaching staff used Erasmus+ in 2019. With HESA reporting total staff numbers of 217,065 this equates to 1.8% of the teaching body – a take-up of more than four times the proportion of their student population.

    Perhaps this helps to explain the huge proportion of the teaching profession who voted to Remain.

    UK teaching staff are massively anti-Brexit

    • 75% of secondary school teachers backed Remain
    • Nearly 90% of university lecturers backed Remain

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click the chart to enlarge

    Above is how the teaching profession voted in the EU Referendum, according to the Times Educational Supplement survey at the time.

    Observations

    Believing in the young people of the United Kingdom

    The Facts4EU.Org team believe strongly in the importance and power of education. When it comes to student exchanges, we believe these are hugely beneficial – both to the students concerned and to the effect these can have on mutual understanding and good relations between countries in the future.

    In the long campaign we have waged against the EU’s Erasmus+ we have been careful to stress that educational opportunities for British young people to study abroad are vital. We also value very highly the positive impact of large numbers of future world leaders and influencers who came to the UK as part of their studies when they were young.

    To students and young people reading this

    Our criticisms have been solely confined to the EU’s Erasmus scheme: its ideological motives, its inefficient use of resources, and its huge spread into areas which have nothing to do with the basic premise of student exchanges. We would like to think that as the only Brexit organisation which has conducted a consistent campaign to inform MPs about the true nature of Erasmus, we made a difference. Certainly the U-turn by Government on this issue just before Christmas was unexpected by everyone, except perhaps us. It was the right decision.

    It is early days for the Government’s new Turing Scheme and no doubt there will be further announcements coming. We will apply our customary analysis to all of these, if we are still around to do so.

    Yesterday we once again tried many times to speak to the Dept of Education about the new Turing Scheme and once again there was no-one available. All phones went to voicemail. We will make further attempts today but if there is still no response we will comment on this absence of communication from a major government department.

    Can we and should we carry on?

    Finally, we are struggling and we need your help. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We rely 100% on public donations from readers like you. Unlike the Remain/Rejoin camp, we do not have foreign billionaires to subsidise our work.

    Covid measures have hit many people’s incomes. The whole Covid thing has certainly hit the level of donations we receive, which were already less than we needed to survive. We are most grateful to readers who have donated in recent days, but we badly need more readers to do the same. We are a not-for-profit group (we make a loss) and unlike the EU Commission all monies go towards our work, not towards the cost of limos, nor lunch expense accounts, nor plush city offices.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you so much if you can help to keep us going in these critical months ahead.

    [ Sources: EU Commission | Higher Education Statistics Agency | Times Educational Supplement | UK Dept of Education ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 05 Aug 2021

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  • Thank you, we really need your help and support!

    This donation page is for CIBUK and Facts4EU’s ‘The Independence Documentary’

    Become a movie producer!

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    You will receive an automated response, and then later you will get a warm and friendly ‘thank you’ email from a member of our team.

    If you would like to support our work more generally too…

    To support Facts4EU’s work more generally, please also make a donation on our main ‘Help Us’ page here.

    Thanks to people like you, we’re still here fighting for a free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom. We’ve done this with your help, and without any assistance from foreign billionaires. Our support has come from ordinary members of the public like you, who voted for a true Brexit.

    Thank you so much

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  • “How the EU and the Republic of Ireland conspired to break up the United Kingdom”

    Facts4EU.Org presents documented evidence of an international scandal

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2022

    Is the PM’s New Year’s resolution to resolve the NI issue and reunite the United Kingdom?
    And with the US President slated to visit in March, does anyone care if he cancels?

    The latest comments out of the White House suggest that US President Joe Biden will not visit the UK and the Republic of Ireland unless the current difficulties over the N.I. Protocol are sorted out.

    Just before Christmas, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak put in a call to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at which the Protocol was discussed.

    Given that the mood music coming out of No.10 reeks of the compromise and weakness of the Theresa May years, Facts4EU.Org felt that both No.10 and the White House should read an excerpt from the second-most popular report we published in 2022.

    We hope this will inform the badly-informed US President, as well as stiffening the sinews of the PM and his Cabinet in talks with the EU.

    How the EU and the Republic of Ireland conspired to break up the United Kingdom
    The basic facts

    In 2017, committees of the Dáil Éireann and the House of Commons were told by the heads of their respective Customs authorities that no border infrastructure would be necessary as a result of Brexit – even in the event of a worst-case ‘no-deal Brexit’. In 2018 the committee of the EU parliament was told the same thing by the expert they commissioned to produce a report.

    The story never told by the BBC

    Five years ago Facts4EU.Org published the testimony of the heads of the Irish Revenue and HMRC, followed up by the testimony of the EU parliament’s expert.

    All of them made it clear there was no need for a “Northern Ireland Protocol”.

    The EU then conspired with the government of Leo Varadkar to prevent the customs services of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom from talking to each other.

    Today, together with CIBUK.Org – of which Facts4EU.Org is an affiliate member – we are placing the facts on record once again.

    The testimonies

    Facts4EU.Org has chapter and verse of the testimonies of the key parties involved in ensuring trade would continue normally across the North-South border in Ireland following Brexit.

    Below we present some key extracts which make it clear that there was never any need for an N.I. Protocol and that Mr Varadkar’s government and the EU Commission did what they did in order to divide the United Kingdom – for their own political ends.

    Back in 2017, testimony to the parliaments was given on the basis that the entire UK (including Northern Ireland) would be OUT of the Single Market, and OUT of the Customs Union. In other words, with no Protocol and what was deemed “the worst case”.

    Ian Paisley MP of the DUP commented exclusively to Facts4EU and CIBUK on our report

    “Lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum. lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum.

    “lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum”

    “lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum.

    “lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum.”

    Ian Paisley MP, Fri 29 Dec 2022

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    Damning evidence against the EU and Irish government over the N.I. Protocol

    1. What HMRC said about there being no need for a Protocol

    Q: “In the event of no deal, would it be possible to achieve no border infrastructure?”

    Sir Jon Thompson, CEO of HMRC, 2017 : “We do not believe we require any infrastructure between Northern Ireland and Ireland under any circumstances.”

    2. On the EU preventing the UK and Irish Customs organisations from implementing solutions

    Q: “Have you had any dealings with the Irish about this?”

    Sir Jon Thompson, Head of HMRC: “There are no formal conversations with either the French or the Irish. We cannot talk to Customs or taxation management organisations in either of those countries. There are only informal conversations with the Belgians and the Dutch.”

    3. What the Irish Revenue said about there being no need for a Protocol

    Liam Irwin (Irish Revenue Commissioner):

    “We are planning for trade facilitation, enabling goods to move. We have absolutely no plans for anything along the Border at this stage.”

    Q: “Revenue has identified several locations where customs posts could be erected in——”

    Mr Liam Irwin (Irish Customs): “That is not true.”

    Q: “That is not true?”

    Mr Liam Irwin (Irish Customs): “That is not true.”

    4. On the EU preventing the UK and Irish Customs organisations from implementing solutions

    Q: “Could Mr. Cody clarify whether there is a legal impediment to negotiations between us and—–”

    Mr Niall Cody (Irish Customs): “Yes.”

    Q: “—–so we can have discussions but not negotiations?”

    Mr Niall Cody (Irish Customs): “The European Union will be negotiating with the United Kingdom in regard to Brexit.”

    5. What the EU Parliament’s independent expert said about there being no need for a Protocol

    Lars Karlsson, author of the EU parliament’s ‘Brexit Border/Customs Report’ and the EU parliament’s chosen expert, former Director of the World Customs Organization, speaking to the Exiting The EU Committee in Mar 2018:

    “There would not need to be any necessary infrastructure and not need to be either CCTV cameras or number plate readers.”

    Question: “But the technology proposed in this report is untested, that’s correct isn’t it?” asked Joanna Cherry MP (SNP). “The proposal you’ve put here hasn’t actually been tested at any location anywhere in the world.”

    Karlsson: “No that’s not correct. It actually has.”

    Observations

    Our evidence above makes it clear. This is an international scandal.

    The heads of both the UK’s and the Republic of Ireland’s Customs bodies were adamant that no hard border would be required between Northern Ireland and the Republic as a result of Brexit. It could all be taken care of between them.

    The independent expert commissioned by the EU Parliament came up with the same conclusion.

    Despite this expert testimony, the EU Commission and the Irish government of Leo Varadkar stepped in. They stopped the dialogue between the two professional bodies, and then politicised and weaponised the hard-won peace process which had resulted in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

    [More to come, depending on quotes.]

    We must get reports like this out there – to MPs and to Washington

    Reports like the one above take far longer to research, write and produce than many people realise. If they were easy, readers would see other organisations also producing these daily.

    However, there’s little point in the Facts4EU.Org team working long hours, seven days-a-week, if we lack the resources to promote them effectively – to the public, to MPs, and to the media. This is where you come in, dear reader.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any payment goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to become members, to support this work. Could this be you, today? It’s quick and easy, we give you a choice of two highly secure payment providers, and we do NOT ask you for further support if you pay once. We just hope you keep supporting us. Your membership stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us? We rely 100% on public contributions from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please join now by clicking on one of the links below or you can use our Support page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you.

    [ Sources: UK Parliament | Irish parliament | EU Commission | EU Parliament ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 29 Dec 2022

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    We think facts matter.
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  • NEW ‘GO WTO’ ARTICLES

    • On a pc? ‘Go WTO’ new articles are in the menu to the right
    • On a mobile? click on the red menu link above

    PLEASE NOTE: This was written in 2018 / early 2019 but the same principles apply today. To see the latest factsheets which you may wish to incorporate, please click here.

    The only thing that now matters is deluging MPs with letters,
    telling them to respect democracy and to respect the result of the EU Referendum.

    All information on how to do this is below.

    This is a serious campaign, backed by politicians, pro-Brexit groups, and ordinary voters in their thousands.

    What is the ‘Go WTO’ campaign?

    MPs backing Go WTO   

    MEPs backing Go WTO   

    Pro-Brexit organisations backing Go WTO

    Objectives

    • To present the positive case of the clean Brexit opportunity represented by an exit on WTO terms
    • To provide a means for the public to express their support for this to their MPs
    • To ensure that the UK exits the EU according to the decision of the British people – NOW

    The simple idea is for the public to make clear to the Remain-dominated Parliament that the Referendum vote must be respected in full and that the UK must leave the EU – NOW.

    Given the failure of the Government to negotiate a Withdrawal Deal which is remotely acceptable to the vast majority of people – or MPs – this means leaving the EU on WTO terms, which is the default position in Article 50 and the default position in the legislation passed by the UK Parliament last year.

    What can you do to help?

    Without you this campaign is nothing. Unless you do something, all the many hundreds of hours put in by many people will be in vain.

    There is one major, incontrovertible priority for all those who voted to leave the European Union in the Referendum and who wish to see this implemented NOW.

    This is the ONLY thing that matters in the entire Brexit debate. It is the ONLY thing that has a fighting chance of influencing events now – when anti-democratic MPs are once again trying to bring down Brexit by overturning centuries of Parliamentary tradition.

    Forget rallies preaching to the converted, forget protests outside Parliament, forget tweeting, forget posting on Facebook… you can even forget talking back angrily to the BBC or Sky News whilst watching their anti-Brexit coverage.

    Put all these things on hold and do one thing.

    We are now entering the final Battle for Brexit

    Quite simply, there is nothing you can do which is more important than threatening the livelihood of your MP. This is the only thing which might influence some of these anti-democratic and arrogant MPs, and convince them of the strength of feeling around the country.

    Appeals to them to read some actual facts about Brexit won’t work on their own. So many of them stand up in the Commons day after day and repeat what they’re been told, despite not having the barest acquaintance with any of the official facts we’ve been churning out daily for three years.

    Our advice is to hit them where it matters to them : their majorities, and the vote share of their parties.

    Letters, surgery visits, calls, and (only in the last resort) emails

    Once again we must stress that sending an email to your MP is of limited value. They already receive thousands and it’s mostly their assistants who deal with them. Thousands of letters are much more difficult to overlook.

    Below are some options and ideas which you could use. These come from our library of letters and flyers. The best thing of all of course is to go to your MP’s surgery and tell them in person. Or call their constituency office or their number in Parliament. Failing that, please send them one of our letters, or much better still write one of your own.

    Some of our latest one-page flyers are below

    (“Is the EU a trading bloc or political project?”, “EU Defence Union Pt 1”, “EU Defence Union Pt 1”, “Brexit is economic equivalent of 18 member states leaving at once”)

    You can download any of these as a PDF by just clicking on it. Please then send it to your MP today.

    All the advice has been available in our ‘Brexit Battle Pack’ since last summer. It’s full of information on how you can act to achieve the best possible effect. It even includes advice on how to contact the media when they produce biased reports.

    “I’ve received 3 times as many letters from pro-Remain constituents”

    – A Remain MP who thinks we must delay Brexit

    Who is backing it?

    We have 4 lead MPs, 3 lead MEPs, and 15 pro-Brexit organisations all supporting this public campaign. It was initiated by us, Brexit Facts4EU.Org, but this is your campaign – for ordinary voters.

    It is important for any public campaign like this to have the support of MPs who respect the vote to leave the European Union. All four have made themselves available for interviews with the BBC, Sky News, and ITN, as well as to the press.

    Headline politicians and pro-Brexit organisations backing the #GoWTO public campaign:-

    • The Rt Hon David Jones MP (Con)
      Formerly Minister of State for Exiting the European Union and formerly Secretary of State for Wales
    • Andrea Jenkyns MP (Con)
      MP for Morley and Outwood, who famously defeated Ed Balls in 2015. Member of the Exiting the European Union Select Committee
    • Graham Stringer MP (Lab)
      Member of Parliament for Blackley and Broughton, a consistent and prominent Eurosceptic in the Parliamentary Labour Party
    • Anne Marie Morris MP (Con)
      Member of Parliament for Newton Abbot, an increasingly popular Eurosceptic in her constituency and in the ERG

    MPs backing Go WTO

    MEPs backing Go WTO

    Pro-Brexit organisations backing Go WTO

    On behalf of our readers we would like to thank our supporting MPs and MEPs for putting aside their political differences in the national interest.

    What does the ‘Go WTO’ campaign consist of?

    • PDF summaries of the “Go WTO” solution, to send to MPs
    • Press release and PR team in place, to get supporting MPs onto TV and in the papers
    • Widespread, paid social media campaign
    • Specially-created tiles (images with text embedded with punchy messages) for social media
    • Summary articles on aspects of WTO exit, with a dedicated WTO section
    • This newly-revamped, user-friendly website

    The only thing that can now make a difference

    Parliament has shown itself to be full of people who don’t respect democracy, despite using it to gain their current employment. Specifically they don’t respect the result of the EU Referendum.

    They must now be told to respect the Referendum result, and vote to allow the UK to leave NOW on WTO terms with some sensible side agreements on things like citizens’ rights. They must be told that if they do not, you will never vote for them again.

    Remember…

    Remain groups have been active in the last two and a half years, while most Leave groups slept. (Brexit Facts4EU.Org were the only group which carried on researching and publishing on 24 June 2016 and every day since.)

    Please donate to our clean, World Trade Brexit, ‘Go WTO’ campaign

    We’re presenting a simple, positive, and factual case for a true Brexit NOW.

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    Sadly, MPs have been allowed to gain the view that the majority who voted for Leave will not kick up a fuss. Please help us to prove them wrong.

    We rely on the public’s support to continue. Please give something today if you can and you’ll also get access to our Brexit Index. We badly need your help to carry on.

    Last update: 17 Apr 2019

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  • The Brexit Fightback Initiative

    For MPs and members of the public who need the Brexit basics – fast

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org

    Summary of factsheets to date

    The Brexit Fightback Initiative is a superb series of one-pagers on all aspects of Brexit. Every few days we add a new one, until we run out of money. Here we condense our years of research of official EU information into easily-digestible chunks. One topic per one-pager.

    Naturally we can’t include all the facts on each subject or these one-pagers would become 10-pagers and no-one would read them. Instead we have picked some key facts for each topic.

    Below are the factsheets available to date. We will update this page each time we produce a new factsheet.

    Produced by Brexit Facts4EU.Org, each factsheet is endorsed by some or all of the following Brexit organisations, acting independently

    © Logos are the copyright of each organisation

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    Brexit Fightback Initiative

    On the PDF one-pagers there is a link at the bottom to the article about that subject, with more information.

    Factsheet no.1 was produced in September 2018. All others were produced in October and November 2019.

    Factsheet No.12
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    Factsheet No.13
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    Factsheet No.14
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    Factsheet No.15
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    Factsheet No.16
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    Factsheet No.17
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    Factsheet No.18
    TBC
    Needs sponsors

    We would like to thank the following readers for their specific support of the Brexit Fightback Initiative:-

    VIP Sponsors (£100 donation or more): Geoffrey Burwood, Barbara Jell, David Hurlbut, Jon from Wales, Patrick Ford, Michael Garland, Sydney Ashurst, Keith Hartrick, Michael Donnan, Ann Donnan, Philip Jackson, John M, Edinburgh

    Gold Sponsors (From £50 donation): Linda Thorpe, Margaret Dennis, David Warren, Jean Shaw, Frank Wilman,

    Sponsors (From £10 donation): Nigel Wright, Jennifer Sayer, Ian Etheridge, Christine Baxendale, Mick Davies, Mel, Kevin Burrell, DM Hedley, Elaine Grant, Patrick Lane, Maureen Cooper, Rob Dilly, Geoffrey Bastin, Elizabeth Ford, Gary Bruce, R Livingstone, Peter Richardson, Peter Agate, Steve Hutchinson, Michael Wood, Phillip Bater, Paul Musgrove, Raymond Beerling, Rod Pudney, Chris Walmsley, Julian Eagle, David Lucas, Catherine Gandolfi, Patricia Bailey, Paul Gladwin, Tim Groves, Stuart Cooper, Stuart Andrews, Melissa Campbell, Paul Nevard, Chris Magness

    P.S. If we have inadvertently missed you off the list, please let us know!

    Observations

    One-pagers like this take far more time to produce than they look. Perhaps this is why they are so rare. They ARE, however, very effective in getting the key messages to the public and to MPs.

    Naturally the various Brexit organisations have to review our drafts and comment, before the final version is agreed. We hope readers feel the effort is worth it.

    Our intention is to have an entire suite of one-pagers on all the key topics, as soon as possible. These will include subjects such as Defence and several more fundamental areas where we have powerful arguments to make. Many will contain official facts and figures, and simple charts, to illustrate the points at a glance.

    We are very grateful to readers who have supported the Brexit Fightback Initiative. We need more readers to become Sponsors if we are to complete this essential task urgently.

    We are inviting readers to help by becoming a Sponsor (£10 donation), a Gold Sponsor (£50 donation), or a VIP Sponsor (£100 and above). We will not publish your name unless you give express permission, naturally, and your contact details are never used.

    To become a Sponsor, please just use the quick and secure payment methods below this article. Thank you.

    Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org. Latest update: 05 November 2019

    Click here to go to our news headlines

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  • German equivalent of BBC World leads with anti-Brexit propaganda

    No food on the shelves, thousands of animals being slaughtered, petrol pumps empty: what Europeans are being told

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Who will counter this if Facts4EU.Org doesn’t?

    Once again, Germany’s state-funded international broadcaster has published a headline article which presents a one-sided view of Brexit, quoting Remainers and the pro-Remain Guardian.

    For years Facts4EU.Org has argued that the British government should counter the relentless anti-Brexit (and often anti-British) rhetoric pouring out of the EU Commission and from so much of the media across the EU27. Below we present another example of this – from yesterday.

    Deutsche Welle is akin to BBC World, broadcasting to the World but from a German perspective. It is funded by the German federal tax budget, and as such might be expected to attempt some impartiality in its reporting. Unfortunately, as with the BBC, this is often sadly lacking.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    German state broadcaster’s top story yesterday


    © Deutsche Welle – click the image to read

    It has been widely reported that the fuel shortages mentioned in the above article were caused by a statement by a logistics organisation which was always pro-Remain. This resulted in unnecessary panic buying.

    In regard to HGV driver shortages, these have occurred across the EU, including Germany, and we reported on this previously. Our most recent report (10 Dec 2021) on the subject showed a 22% increase in the number EU HGV drivers. Readers might wish to remind themselves of this report: “EU drivers in Brexit Britain have risen by 22% in the last quarter”.

    Deutsche Welle’s story yesterday is the latest example from many others

    Two years ago we wrote on this same subject, illustrating the point with an article by Deutsche Welle’s senior Brussels correspondent. Readers can view this here.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    Example of DW article before Christmas in 2019

    Key points in article from German state broadcaster’s senior Brussels correspondent

    • Almost all of what Brexiteers said were lies
    • Boris Johnson “is trying to effectively brainwash the people
    • The PM “is inspired by the right-wing populist playbook
    • Boris “has peddled countless lies, deliberately misrepresented reality, persistently employed hyperbole and clouded peoples’ minds through propaganda”
    • He “cannot be trusted, and neither can his Brexit negotiator, Michael Gove”
    • “The [EU27] bloc will have to treat Britain like an adversary

    We must make it clear that this appeared in the opinion section in 2019. Nevertheless it was written (in English) by the senior Brussels correspondent of this international media organisation, which is funded by the German federal government.

    As such it gives an insight into some of the thinking of the continental media regarding Brexit, and about the UK’s government.

    Observations

    A common thread in pieces like the ones we have shown above is the tendency for the EU Commission and the media in EU27 countries to cite only pro-Remain British media outlets, such as the Guardian, the Financial Times, and the BBC. They also quote pro-EU sources, such as the professor quoted liberally in the above story.

    In so doing, they provide an element of ‘legitimacy’ to their stories. It is exceedingly rate to find any articles in the EU media or by the Brussels autocracy citing the Daily Telegraph or the Express.

    As a result, balance is lost and a completely distorted impression of Brexit is given to the citizens of the EU and those across the World.

    The fight is far from over

    One of the problems with the propaganda from the EU Commission and the EU media is that it is relentless, and that it feeds back into pro-Remain media outlets in the UK. The narrative then penetrates the British public’s consciousness.

    Facts4EU.Org is one of the very few organisations which attempts to counter this narrative with official facts. As we go into another year, we really hope you will help to fund our efforts. We can’t do this without you. If you read us, please send us into 2022 with some funds so we can continue our work. Thank you.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: Deutsche Welle ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, New Year’s Eve, 31 Dec 2021

    Click here to go to our news headlines

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  • One year on – what is your favourite Brexit Bonus?

    Nominate your choice by replying and we will rank the most popular in a special report early next year

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    It has been almost a year since the legal exit for most (but not all) of the UK became reality – what do you think has been the best outcome of Brexit that we could not have enjoyed without leaving the EU?

    Merry Christmas! We thought while you are hopefully relaxing and before the New Year we’d ask you a question – what’s your favourite Brexit Bonus?

    It is of course entirely your choice, but to kick things off we’ve suggested five possible nominations that might be up there with the rest. Feel free to nominate these as part of your own list.

    In no particular order of merit:

    • Full democratic control of decisions that affect us
      It is now up to us; we cannot keep passing the blame on to other countries and institutions when in the past we have been ‘Gilding the Brussels Lilly’, but must now hold our politicians to account for not using the freedoms and powers that they have to make the changes we demand, or hiding behind others’ skirts…
    • Freeports
      Maybe watered down by the Treasury but potentially with the ability to be a game-changer in the locations where they have been ‘licensed’. Already there’s evidence of investment decisions being made into the country that would not have otherwise have happened, including some projects that would have gone to ‘Brexit free’ Scotland but instead went south to England because of Freeports. If ever there was a message to Scots about Brexit, that should be it.
    • Trade deals tailored to fit our export markets

      Ignore the doom-sayers. Of course most of the deals so far were ‘roll-overs’ – the need was to keep the current deals alive – but even those were previously said to be impossible by critics of Brexit. Yet the Japanese deal had additions that were new and the New Zealand and Australia deals are fresh. The media tries its best to look at the impact on British vested interests while ignoring the benefits to British consumers and exporters. More of these deals will in time become the norm…

    • The freedom to introduce our own Covid vaccine before the rest of the EU

      Whatever you think of the vaccines – and we do not publish our views about them as that’s not our job – the reality is that the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine would not have gained approval in time to be delivered by December 2020 had the UK Government not taken the decision to go with British drug approval (MHRA) without the EU agency oversight. Yes, that power always existed, but never would have a UK government have had the cojones to go it alone while inside the EU.

    • Escaping the development of an EU military force to support EU Foreign Policy

      Well, we kept telling people and those like Nick Clegg kept denying it, but there has always been a very complicated and deceptive route – rather like Mao’s Long March – which looked like a Remainer retreat but was in fact destined to be the way to obtain control. That is the ability to have a military force that would add heft to EU Foreign Policy. Up until Theresa May fell from power this was still included the UK Government’s agenda. It no longer is, but there are still sleepers in the bureaucracy and parliament that we must guard against – is this the most important Brexit Bonus we never expected?

    Brexit Bonus List

    Here’s how to submit your suggestions

    1. You can email us here, or
    2. You can put your suggestions in the comments section below this article.

    Observations

    There are of course many others, some of which have maybe not been delivered as well as we all might like, but remain hugely important and would no doubt be recognised as more popular if delivered properly, such as:

    1. Effective control of our borders as a sovereign nation
    2. The power NOW to determine who fishes for what in our own seas
    3. The ability to avoid new EU taxes and regulations that burden our country’s businesses, and
    4. The avoidance of paying the annual membership fee for a club that took advantage of us and benefited far fewer than it claimed…

    There are no doubt many benefits we have not mentioned. Actually we know there are but thought it fun to let you suggest them. So, send us some messages or comments telling us what you think… We’ll publish the best and compile a report you can read here. There are of course more than a hundred reasons we could list – but this is about what you think is the most important – it’s now over to you.

    The Facts4EU team

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, 30 Dec 2021

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  • EU Commission uses cover of Christmas to “cruise” to £320bn tax hike

    UK narrowly escapes two new climate change taxes and a new business tax – massive increase in EU’s budget

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    A Facts4EU.Org analysis reveals the extent of the tax raid by Brussels

    Just before Christmas, the EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen revealed its plans to raise enormous sums indirectly from EU citizens and directly from companies via a series of new taxes.

    The Commission will get its 27 member countries to raise the taxes and will then take a proportion of them for its own budget in Brussels.

    This plan flows from the huge indebtedness incurred by the EU itself, as a result of the various measures it announced last year, which it calls “NextGenerationEU”.

    As the Commission itself stated on 22 Dec 2021:

    “the European Union agreed in 2020 on a record stimulus package of more than €2 trillion – boosting the long-term budget with more than €800 billion firepower of the temporary recovery instrument NextGenerationEU (in current prices).”

    Christmas present for Ursula von der Leyen and her fellow Brussels bureaucrats

    Facts4EU.Org has analysed the details released by the Commission in an effort to summarise the staggering tax increases which now lie ahead for the EU – taxes which the UK population would have borne a disproportionately high share of, had the UK not voted to leave the EU in 2016.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    New taxes to be imposed by EU, all amounts in billions

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Source: EU Commission documents, 22 Dec 2021

    Christmas, Covid-19…. but above all ‘climate change’

    On 22 Dec 2021 the EU Commission issued a series of announcements, just as UK and EU citizens were making last minute preparations for Christmas and also trying to understand the latest COVID-19 restrictions on their freedoms which were being imposed by governments across the EU and in the UK.

    The key pre-Christmas announcements from the Commission involve three new taxes which will bolster EU finances to the tune of some £320bn over five years, and which will continue after that. Two of the three new taxes relate to the ‘climate change’ policies of the EU Commission.

    The top policy priority set out by the EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen was and remains her ‘Green Deal’. This goes ahead of all other priorities for the EU Commission’s programme until 2027. It is therefore not surprising that the lion’s share (76.5%) of the new taxes for the Commission will come from the two new ‘carbon taxes’.

    But… but… Doesn’t the EU Commission have to have a balanced budget?

    Until last year, in broad terms the EU’s expenditure had to be matched by its receipts. Its budget for the seven-year accounting period for 2021-2027 was agreed at more than €1 trillion (€1,074.3 billion). Last year, however, the Commission proposed a massive increase to enable it to distribute hundreds of billions of euros in response to the Covid crisis. This money all has to be borrowed.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    Dramatic increase in EU budget

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Source: EU Commission documents, 22 Dec 2021

    The EU27 governments agreed that in response to Covid the EU should be allowed to borrow substantial sums of money on the international bond market. The result has been a massive indebtedness for the EU as an entity, which now affects all member countries. The EU Commission states:-

    “NextGenerationEU – the temporary recovery instrument of around €800 billion in current prices – is at the heart of the EU response to the coronavirus crisis. To finance the recovery, the European Commission – on behalf of the EU – is borrowing on the capital markets.”

    – EU Commission website, extracted 27 Dec 2021

    It doesn’t end there

    The number of ‘financial instruments’ being deployed by the EU Commission and the ECB is now so extensive it is beyond our means to summarise them effectively for the average reader. For example in its statement the EU Commission says:

    “Furthermore, the Commission will present a proposal for a second basket of new own resources by the end of 2023. This second package will build on the ‘Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT)’ proposal foreseen for 2023.”

    – EU Commission statement, 22 Dec 2021

    Above we have shown the latest demands which are now being proposed by the EU Commission, to be inflicted on businesses and on the prices which EU citizens will have to pay for certain goods. As further information becomes available we will endeavour to report it to readers.

    Observations

    ‘Dear Santa, can we have £320bn for Christmas?’

    Issued just two days before Christmas Eve when most normal people were preparing for the Christmas festivities, buying presents, and following the latest COVID-19 measures put in place by UK and EU governments in response to the ‘Omicron variant’, the EU Commission of Ursula von der Leyen wrote what in effect was a ‘Dear Santa’ letter.

    She and her Commissioners are asking for a £320bn Christmas present from EU citizens and businesses.

    The element which will be allocated to the EU Commission’s own budget in Brussels amounts to a ‘mere’ £85bn, but this is only a part of the overall bill which EU citizens and businesses will incur – directly or indirectly. Facts4EU.Org has tallied up the various elements of the new taxes and the total comes to €380bn (approx £320bn GDP). This sum is scheduled to be collected over five years, from 2026-2030, and will carry on from there.

    We believe that some elements will in fact come into force by 2023, but the opacity of the EU’s statements makes this impossible to confirm during the festive season.

    “At cruising speed”

    In its statement the Commission twice used an expression we do not recall it using before: “At cruising speed”. We can only imagine this is a new verbal construction designed to obscure the ramp-up of the Commission’s tax take, ahead of the full siphoning from member countries in 2026.

    “At cruising speed, in the years 2026-2030, these new sources of revenue are expected to generate on average a total of up to €17 billion annually for the EU budget.”

    One of the key aspects of these new proposals is not only the taxes themselves, but the large percentages of them which member countries will be required to hand over to Brussels. Ranging from 15% to 75%, these are unprecedented proportions which EU27 governments will have to collect, only to pass them to Mrs von der Leyen and her Commission.

    It will be interesting to see how EU27 governments respond – particularly those which are currently the subject of EU Commission legal action.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 28 Dec 2021

    Click here to go to our news headlines

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  • “Ver are your Covid papers?” The EU marches on towards an authoritarian superstate

    New Covid passport rules will override member states’ own laws

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Minimum of two vaccines and the ‘booster’ to be required for movement between ‘countries’ – and Member States cannot disallow entry

    The EU Commission has announced that from 1st February 2022 anyone travelling between member states or entering the EU will be required to have a Covid Passport for both of the first two vaccines and the booster too.

    Any EU citizen with a passport for both vaccines that does not include the booster will find it has expired – thus limiting their ability to travel within the EU to other member states from where they are at that time.

    It will not be enough to have had only the vaccines and there will be no dispensation possible by showing a negative PCR or Lateral Flow test instead of the correct paperwork. It is the Vaccine Passport and nothing else.

    Valid Vacine Passports will be time-limited to last exactly 270 days (essentially nine months) from the last dose, meaning that even valid vaccines or boosters will eventually need to be supplemented to stay active.

    The EU27 ‘countries’ will be powerless in the face of Brussels’ rules

    The new rules go further than before for they also prevent member states from making rules that are more or less onerous than the EU Commission’s. An individual member state will not be able to offer any relaxations for entry but also will not be able to deny entry to anyone who meets the EU’s own required standards.

    In typical fashion the EU claims its Vaccine Passport is an unrivalled success without acknowledging that it creates a two tier authoritarian society – you either have the vaccine passport or you don’t – and it conveniently elevates the ‘booster’ to the same status as the vaccine.

    Observations

    If anyone had any doubts about the direction of travel of the EU project towards a single centralised and homogenised superstate under the – now authoritarian – command of unelected technocrats, then the latest announcement on the proof of paperwork required for people moving between ‘countries’ must surely extinguish them.

    Our inverted commas used to define the term ‘countries’ are intentional, for in losing the determination of not just who can’t, but also who CAN enter a jurisdiction, the member states are fast becoming unrecognisable as countries.

    In regard to the relationship of the UK to the EU, it is for each to make its own rules but there is a complicating factor. To what extent will the new laws to be imposed by the EU impact on the Common Travel Agreement that exists between the UK and the Republic of Ireland?

    Will there be a need for a physical border in the island of Ireland to identify if the many thousands of British citizens who work in the Republic, traversing the border daily – and also the thousands who cross the border in the other direction by leaving the Republic and effectively leaving the EU – but then re-enter it when coming home have the correct papers? Will those entering the EU by entering the Republic from the UK have to show they have Covid passports and the Booster? And if not, is the restriction not a complete joke?

    If it is acceptable for people to travel between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland without having to show papers proving they have met the EU’s latest imposition on Covid passports, why is it necessary for all the paperwork for animals to travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland – including guide dogs?

    We have not heard the last of these new restrictions causing problems. Another Brexit bonus for the UK being outside the accelerating, centralised EU superstate.

    We shall probably revisit this issue once further clarification is available.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

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