Last weekend was the two year anniversary of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. It should have been a celebration – our very own independence day. But what is there to celebrate? Two years on, we still remain firmly in the EU’s tentacles. Wales and the UK face an open-ended transition period, providing more time for EU fanatics to sabotage the Brexit process and prevent Britain from leaving in any meaningful way.
During the referendum campaign, the political Establishment in Cardiff Bay and Westminster inflicted a tidal wave of exaggerated pessimism on the British public. Project Fear, as it came to be known, first appeared in David Cameron’s 16 page glossy propaganda booklet which, at the taxpayer’s expense, was delivered to every house in the country. Buoyed by Cameron’s countless speeches throughout the UK, Project Fear forecast the world would end if the British people had the temerity to vote for Brexit. The entire business and media Establishment, Government and the civil service devoted themselves to browbeating the British people into submission to the EU. Yet, 17.4 million people – the largest democratic mandate in our electoral history – routed the Establishment by voting to leave.
Since the referendum result, the defeated political class have regrouped. Now, more cunningly, they are trying to undermine the democratic wishes of the British people through the return of Project Fear on the airwaves, mischievous amendments in the unelected House of Lords and months of shambolic negotiations by the Government.
Theresa May’s pathetic attempt to negotiate Britain’s departure from the EU makes John Major look like a paragon of decisiveness. Daniel Hannan, a eurosceptic MEP, accurately analysed our current situation when he wrote: “The UK is inching towards an open-ended transition period that will leave almost everything as it is. Brussels will continue to run our agriculture, our fisheries, our overseas trade and our employment laws. We shall continue to pump squillions across the Channel. Our laws will remain subject to Euro-judges. Only one significant thing will change: we shall lose our representation in EU institutions and, with it, our ability to block harmful laws”.
Personally, I am not surprised. Theresa May was a Remainer and so were two thirds of her Cabinet. So why should we expect the Brexit we voted for when our exit from the EU is in the hands of those who don’t believe in it?
At the onset of her premiership, the Prime Minister said “no deal was better than a bad deal”. Sadly, we are faced with the stark reality of a bad deal, to all intents, leaving us under EU control in all but name. Is it any wonder that people are returning to UKIP each and every day?
The EU conducted the Brexit negotiations as a hostile power, whose main aim is to stop other EU countries following our example. Such hostility has been counter-productive. It has fuelled euroscepticism on the European continent, as recent election results have demonstrated. At home, it is painfully apparent that no faith can be placed in the Conservative Government in Westminster or the Brexit-denying Labour Government in Cardiff.
As the UK enters the final months of negotiations, I urge the political establishment to accept and act on the referendum result. We must leave the single market, regain control of our borders, restore sovereignty to parliament and ensure British law is supreme. Anything short of this is a betrayal of the British people.
Please also watch this video, Neil Hamilton’s speech on the two-year anniversary of the EU Referendum in the Welsh Assembly:
Appalling immigration figures were released in the last 24 hours.
UK’s population rose by 392,000 to hit 66million last year, official figures show
59% of this rise was due to NET immigration. Remember Liar May’s “down to tens of thousands”?
The other 41% is due to birth rates. Given that very large sections of the population, including those people who self-identify as White British, Hindu, Chinese and Sikh are reproducing either well below, or at, the maintenance rate (i.e., steady rate), and there’s no change in longevity, the conclusion from this component is inevitable.
I will publish them in London Region. But this really, really needs national UKIP coverage.
Neil Hamilton continues to be one of the most eloquent and informed speakers on Brexit.
Where do we start in countering the ‘Brexit in name only’ that he expounds on?
The Conservative and Labour Party must be under no other illusion than that UKIP is back and means business.
We are where we are because the poltical establishment are fearing the Remainers more than the Brexiteers.
The first step is to get back on that campaign trail following Gerard Batten’s red alert for Branches to prepare for a snap GE. It is urgent that where possible a good constituency candidate is put in place – particularly important is to action this in marginal constituencies of Remainer MPs.
Branches must look to themselves to get cracking not wait for help from Region and HO. We must not be floundering around at the last minute. Lib/Lab/Con must be left in no doubt that we are selecting our candidates and not only mean business but importantly be seen to mean business.
Good to see Neil Hamilton posting here – but the difficult question is this: how can UKIP best advance a full and complete Brexit? UKIP needs to decide whether it wishes to continue its heritage as a right-of-centre, libertarian political party or adapt into a radical, broad-based, populist UK independence movement drawing support from across the traditional left-right political divide.
UKIp just needs to stick to promoting straightforward policies and should become a broad based populist movement.
Brexit
border controls and a sensible immigration policy
freedom of speech
stopping soldiers being repeatedly prosecuted and investigated
protecting the environment including the UK’s territorial waters.
eg just the normal makes sense policies that gives people jobs, encourages industry and stops the government bleeding money everywhere except on its own whilst borrowing against the future
I know this doesn’t address the political theory aspect of your comment.
Chris, those are all excellent policy proposals you make: but I think there is divide between the majority in UKIP, who primarily want it to be a party with a full range of policies to rival the Tories and Labour, and those like me who want it to be primarily about delivering the Referendum result and getting UK independence from the EU. A national independence movement should be happy to unite socialists and business people under the same banner as “fellow-travellers” towards independence.
There is room for a national movement over issues like Brexit and UKIP should play a major role in harnessing allies like the old left George Galloway types and others to achieve independence.
UKIP will only make headway when it eats into the political vote share at elections local and national. To do that it needs basic policies. Am not sure we are going to agree on this.
To my mind this article speaks the simple truth.
Before the Great Referendum information was put out with a fervour that was necessary, an almost involuntary spasm of patriots who saw their opportunity, their only opportunity to release the country from enslavement.
People took to the streets and pumped the information out. Yes there were some good speakers and the debate was broadcast on MSM giving those good speakers an opportunity. Yes we had a leader who was charismatic could hold his own and more with anyone and spearheaded the campaign. Yes we had the MEPs who gave some authority to the argument, but these factors were not the main cause of the result.
I believe the main driver of the final result of the Great Referendum was the continual pumping out of information by the foot soldiers of Nigel’s Peoples’ Army. The trillions of miles in every part of the country putting information through doors. The slog, the ground work. Through that onslaught of information the drugged, brainwashed and semi-comatose population opened their eyes, just a little, and thought what! We’re not having any of that!
That foot work has to be done again and again and again. Many rightfully say it should never have stopped.
Information direct to the public is the only way we are going to raise the publics awareness and concern. Don’t rely on MSM, social media, charismatic celebrities or UKIP!! Don’t misinterpret that, UKIP is 100% necessary and should continue as a political force when all this is over. No. what I mean is one group, one party, one organisation is not enough.
Everyone, that is, everyone must pull together using every means they can. For example Russel Hick’s poster truck was the sort of thing that can be done with a little imagination and drive, so effective. But the real work will the slog, getting out there and putting pamphlets and leaflets through doors, this is unsolicited, the internet is not!
We may not be fighting on the beaches but we will certainly be fighting in the streets, and to quote the great man ‘You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be.’
I deliverd leaflets in the referendum; I’ll do it again when required. The EU is now threatening the Internet, so it may well be back to old-fashioned leafletting to get the information across.
Delivering leaflets in referendums such as the one in 2016 might work, but general elections and local elections certainly not. The majority of leaflest going through a residential letterbox ends being deposited in a ‘green’ recycling bin without being read. So that in itself is a waste of time, effort and money. The way to win elections is by canvassing at the doorstep, recording the information gathered on the electoral roll, telling at polling stations, and getting the vote out on polling day. There is simply no other way and anyone who tells you that a leaflet is sufficient is living in cloud cuckoo land and hasn’t a clue. However in order to run an efficient election campaign, one has to have manpower and a lot of it, and they have to be flexible and committed. Unfortunately most UKIP branches do not have sufficient activists to run a proper campaign any longer, and I count my own branch in Kent in that number. Our activist base has dropped from a high of 20 to no more than 5 members. However UKIP has to grasp the concept of running professional election campaigns in the future, to do otherwise is wasted effort. Also, absolutely no point whatsoever, requiring branch to select a parliamentary candidate. Far far better to target seats that we have a possibility of winning and then directing all available manpower to those constituencies. This is common sense. Unfortunately quite a lot of the time common sense doesn’t go hand in hand with politics.
Colin
I heartily agree that the way to win elections is canvassing on the doorstep. Good local candidates too, rather than parachuting someone in. Also, as you say campaigns have to be run professionally to win. If you have a Branch covering say four constituencies then it makes sense to put one candidate in the most favourable seat to safe energy, time and money.
What would your advice be for those Branches that represent one constituency within a hisorically safe Conservative seat?
We rightly or wrongly consider that our Branch membership need to see an active Branch and be able to vote UKIP at local and GE’s or otherwise what is the point of joining a party that they cannot excercise their vote.
Colin, I think you are too dismissive of leafletting. Yes, canvassing is better but it is much more time-consuming and difficult for the activist. Depending on the nature of the housing in the neighbourhood, leaflets can be delivered at 50-100 an hour. It helps of course if they are good quality factual leaflets. Yes, 95% end up in the bin but householders have to look at the leaflet on the way to the bin – so as to make sure it is not something important they are throwing away: that gives you 2 or 3 seconds of their time to A) tell them UKIP is active in their area and B) get your message across – this why it is helpful if it is something sensible like “No Deal is the Best Deal” rather than e.g. “Brexit Means Brexit”.
On the assumption you are leafletting in a pro-Leave area you may get as many as 5% of householders actually reading the leaflet in full – if it is a good, easy to read leaflet, That is between 2 to 5 members of the public per hour that you are communicating with – well worth doing IMO.