The Lib Dems invent absurd figures of how much better off we would be if only we were in the Customs Union of the EU. They clearly do not understand that we are in free trade Agreement with the EU meaning we do not have any tariffs on EU imports or exports already so there is no tariff gain from joining. They do not seem to understand that there would be a substantial tariff loss from joining, as we would have to re impose tariffs on all those imports from non EU where we cancelled the tariffs on leaving the EU. We took tariffs off all the things we cannot grow or make for ourselves, and off things needed for UK manufacturers as raw materials and components for their added value production.
The Lib Dems condemn President Trump for putting tariffs on, so why do they want to put more tariffs on our imports from non EU by joining the Customs Union? Why do they support the ruinous carbon border mechanism, a big EU tariff like charge coming soon to markets near us, and soon to be imposed by an unholy Lib/Lab alliance on UK consumers already suffering from rising prices? The carbon border tax will make many imports dearer.
They claim they want to negotiate fewer border frictions for our tariff free trade with the EU. The EU answers that we need to adopt all the extra rules and costs the EU has imposed on itself since we left, and reverse any repeals or simplifications of EU laws we have so far made to all the older EU law we carried with us into a half hearted Brexit. Far from cutting frictions the EU would ensure there are more.
Some say they want us back in the Single market. That means we would automatically have to adopt all the extra rules and regulations they wish to introduce without a voice or vote over the laws they are making. I remember well as Single Market Minister how excessive those laws can be, and also that even as a voting member the best we could do was delay or dilute a bit. The EU always proceeds by excessive detailed regulation of everything business tries to do, making it a high cost low growth low innovation zone. It seeks to make good new ideas illegal to protect incumbents.
Far from adding to our GDP and to our tax revenues joining the Customs Union comes with a triple cost. More money paid to the EU for administering it. More money paid by consumers in tariffs on non EU imports. Jobs lost as business can no longer import materials and components tariff free from non EU. Less trade with non EU as we have to cancel our free trade Agreements made as an independent country.
Facts4eu published their version of this piece with charts showing how the UK grew faster outside the EU than in it, and has grown faster than Germany, Italy and France since leaving.
December 26, 2025
Expecting Fabian Socialist Remainers to base their arguments on facts is a bit of a stretch Sir John. That socialism has failed every time and in every place where it has been tried is always the fault of others. Next time it will work. Why? Because if it doesn’t it will be your fault, not theirs, because you oppose it. Fabians oppose democracy and the sovereign nation state on which it depends. The nearest they can get to an anti-democratic constitution is to subordinate Britain to the EU, ECHR and global institutions. The EU is a half-way house to the global socialist order ruled by people like Starmer and Hermer, that they want.
December 26, 2025
Spot on. 2TK doesn’t even try to hide his intentions these days, his disdain for democracy, authoritarian crackdown on long enjoyed freedoms, financial support being given to the EU for spurious or undelivered purposes; he truly believes in his cause. This coming year it will even more outrageous, will anybody from his own party stop him?
December 26, 2025
In what way does 2TK believe in his cause! Does Sir Kier really want to destroy the UK and its economy or is he actually so deluded he actually thinks his policies will make the UK or World better? Does Net Zero Milibrain really believe his deluded war on CO2 (which does not even reduce world atmospheric CO2 anyway) is vital!
December 26, 2025
Former EU Commissioner admits that the EU was responsible for the cancellation of the elections in Romania
“We did it in Romania, and we will do it in Germany if necessary.”
– Thierry Breton
December 26, 2025
+1 and Starmer in the UK!
December 26, 2025
Indeed Starmer, Hermer, Miliband, Lammy, Phillipson, Reeves… are truly appalling but we have had essentially the same pro-EU, climate alarmist, anti-democratic socialism since Blair through Brown, Cameron, May, Boris and now Starmer.
See the excellent David Starkey video Blair was worse than two world wars. The 14 years of “conservatives” did nothing to undo this vast damage. This destruction of any real democracy with use of unaccountable Quangos, the BoE, the new supreme court, the college of policing, politicised judiciary and civil service, schools, two tier police, the climate alarmist net zero religion…
December 26, 2025
Expecting Fabian Socialist Remainers to base their arguments on facts is a bit of a stretch Sir John. That socialism has failed every time and in every place where it has been tried is always the fault of others. Next time it will work. Why? Because if it doesn’t it will be your fault, not theirs, because you oppose it. Fabians oppose democracy and the sovereign nation state on which it depends. The nearest they can get to an anti-democratic constitution is to subordinate Britain to the EU, ECHR and global institutions. The EU is a half-way house to the global socialist order ruled by people like Starmer and Hermer, that they want.
Probably worth pointing out that although not high by international standards UK’s GDP per capita has also risen by approx 20% since Brexit.
December 26, 2025
Good morning.
Hope everyone had a nice Christmas Day, I know I did.
The EU as a proportion of global trade is falling. This is due to many factors, energy being one, making their products expensive to produce. Why shackle ourselves to a dying horse ?
Being in a Customs Union only makes things more expensive as the payer of the tariff is the consumer with the likes of the EU picking up the money. Another sort of Stealth Tax. The only advantage being a member is if you sell mostly to other EU countries, such as Turkey, who are in the Custom’s Union even though they are not an EU member.
The standard of politician these days is very poor, hence why they need the EU to tell them what to do and to blame when things go wrong.
December 26, 2025
My Lord,
I wonder what part of leave they don’t understand?
With the way the EU behaved towards us after we decided to not be a member of their cozy club, demonstrated to me, that they are not our friends.
December 26, 2025
The UK voted to free ourselves from that sticky EU nonsense. Idiots in the current government who seek to subjugate us again to that worthless burden of EU rule will find themselves ousted from power at the next opportunity. Good riddance to them all.
December 26, 2025
Spot on JR.
“how the UK grew faster outside the EU than in it, and has grown faster than Germany, Italy and France since leaving.” this despite sticking to so much of the EU red tape lunacy, net zero lunacy, vast unskilled net costs immigration levels, vastly over taxing everything, the dire NHS and the endless government waste everywhere you look. Much of it spend doing nothing useful and often vast net harms.
December 26, 2025
Yes, it would destroy us as a free trading nation, and all the tools of government would become instantly undemocratic. It is the route for losers which is why Labour and their fellow travellers find it so attractive.
December 26, 2025
Rip off, net zero religious energy is destroying us as a free trading nation too.
December 26, 2025
Teacher ‘likened to terrorist’ after showing Trump videos to students
Safeguarding officials seek Prevent referral after films of US president shown to A-level pupils. In the Telegraph today.
“The long march through the institutions” a political strategy, coined by German activist Rudi Dutschke in the 1960s, based on Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci’s ideas, aiming for radical societal change not by violent revolution but by gradually infiltrating and influencing key cultural and intellectual institutions like universities, media, unions, and schools to transform societal consciousness and values from within. This top-down, “cultural revolution” approach shifts focus from seizing industrial power to controlling knowledge production, reshaping culture and challenging existing norms by embedding leftist thought into the very structures that shape public perceptions.
December 26, 2025
Ideology John, 2TK is a Fabian communist who wants state control and to extinguisher private wealth (excluding himself and fellow travellers of course).
Signing up to the EU electricity market is another nail in our destruction. We are already net importers of power so nothing to gain only a fee to join plus accelerated net stupid. Of course this will be selective as the EU has effectively binned the EV mandate but milibrains will carry on regardless .
No doubt the EU will encourage this so car production will move to Europe as there will be no market for ice vehicles in the uk.
Toyota have already said they will move production to Japan or Thailand.
With Starmergeddon it’s slash and burn all the way, they know there is no hope of getting ready elected so as much damage as possible must be done. All according to the WEF playbook
December 26, 2025
I do not suppose he will be giving up his personal act of parliament the one that just to protects his large personal state sector pension. One law for him another for you plebs. Such is Sir TTKier’s socialism.
December 26, 2025
The Lib Dems invent absurd figures of how much better off we would be if only we were in the Customs Union of the EU.
It’s not just the undemocratic Lib Dem’s but also Liebour Greens and a ( a few unnamed? ed)Tories would want us back under the control of the dreaded EU, then there’s the fact we would be going back under the EU terms with no discount and we would have to adopt the Euro as our main currency, what a total bunch of anti British these MPs are, the sooner they are all gone into the archives of the Westminster bubble the better and replaced with a political party that believes in democracy and it’s people
December 26, 2025
You’d have to be mad or severely socialist to imagine that a failing entity like the EU has anything to offer us but more institutionalized lack of freedoms and even worse prospects in life.
It’s a dream world they live in, with big always being better – Why are so many in love with the idea of a global government, because that is where this is all going to?
The strained socialist mind needs someone above them to direct them – they don’t believe in God so anything big and beautiful in their eyes will do. It all comes down to differences in many respects because again it is the socialist that requires everything to be the same, in the same broken and impoverished state as everything, and everybody else.
December 26, 2025
John, You are never going to change a Lib/Lab MP’s mind with logic. These people are wedded to the ideology of regulation, control and protectionism espoused by the EU. And, it gives them an excuse to impose it without taking blame or responsibility.
December 26, 2025
The single market would make sense if the EU was absolutely our main market with little opportunity elsewhere, and we were a net exporter into it. Even Switzerland is finding it now a stretch to endure all the baggage, and it is by far a net seller into the EU. So to be a net BUYER from the EU and still have to put up with their rules and impose none of our own is frankly nuts. It should be the other way round. Nobody questions the fact that they’re willing to make RHD cars for our market, so why not other UK rules where it suits us as buyer?
As for the Customs Union.. again the answer is for us to develop some niche products here and make it as difficult for them as they make it for us to import. Joining a Union which protects other countries” products with no say on how it protects our own would be one capitulation too far for the majority who voted to leave this stitch up.
December 26, 2025
Even then it would not make sense – as it comes with huge and misguided regulatory negatives, a loss of democracy plus vast costs. Regulations which have to obeyed even if goods are just for the home market & not exported.
December 26, 2025
Those who say being outside the EU cost us so much in growth need to explain why our membership would make us so much better than Germany, France or Italy.
December 26, 2025
The Luddites were around in 1820 but today are only a historical footnote in the happenings of things just like Brexit will be in another few years, then consider overshadowing this is the new geopolitical order shaping Europe at present time, a change we find ourselves caught up in with UK already under attack from Russia on different fronts – we also find that we can no longer rely on the US for defense or anything else – shocked to hear this morning that ‘He’ has taken his eye off Venezeula and gone and bombed Muslim extremists in northern Nigeria claiming that he is fighting for Christianiy but supposedly trying to boost his home ratings – stupud man- here’s someone looking for the Nobel Peace prize, someone that a lot of people in this country were looking up to and hoping to align themselves with. Going forward I think we had better have another think about defence, trade, and relationships in general and what we’re about because ideological preferences for or against EU alone won’t do it.
December 26, 2025
The people voted to leave the EU by a clear majority. Ever since political elites and some of the judiciary have done their utmost to reverse the decision. Davey and Starmer are practicing wilful arrogance on British people imposing additional costs and pernicious control in their deranged pursuit of flawed EU ideology. This Sir John is nothing short of an outrage and a depressing issue to end the year.
December 26, 2025
The Labour Party packed with rejoiner MPs and the Lib Dems (likewise) want to creep back into the EU. The other day, they won a meaningless vote in Parliament thanks to Labour’s huge majority. Big deal. Anything else we couldn’t actually have predicted?
December 26, 2025
Bad idea or not. Starmers obvious intention is to rejoin the EU by stealth. Who will stand up to him?
December 26, 2025
It took Osborne 10 years of half-hearted Conservatism to partly undo Labour’s last damaging administration.
The next Farage-led Reform-Con coalition is going to find it much harder, with every other political party, the unions, and the civil service resolutely against them, plus all the benefit claimants up and down the country.
Even if they do gain enough seats to thwart a Lib/Lab/Green/SNP/Plaid nightmare coalition, can they succeed in creating a genuine right of Centre government and a far smaller State ?
It’s by no means certain, such will be the forces lined up against them, together with the uncertain quality of Candidates Nigel and Richard can assemble. Every day we are seeing what a really poor quality Labour government is doing to our Country. The ability of its MPs is far worse than the Blair and Brown administrationsn, let alone the Thatcher regime. Even Major’s had to be better than this lot !
December 26, 2025
John, appealing to the LibDems to be sensible about anything has proven pointless effort over the past fifty years. They are incapable of understanding economics or anything that has a positive impact on U.K. economics.
Anything more complicated than falling into the sea is beyond their leader’s skill set.
The constant LibDem demand we should return to the EU’s absurd totalitarian policies will ensure they never get close to political critical mass…thankfully.
December 26, 2025
Forget that its a bad idea, it shouldn’t even be mentioned …the people have spoken; to leave the EU and all its institutions …..if they want to return, state it clearly in manifesto, win a general election and hold a peoples referendum
December 26, 2025
Starmer and Miliband have been plotting to tie us in to EU rules on progress to net zero and how to run our electricity system, subject to the EU’s jurisdiction. The briefing note admits that the UK would never be permitted to have an advantage compared with any EU member, guaranteeing that our economy would be locked into a permanent disadvantage. The excuse is that under the bad exit agreement the UK has disadvantaged access to trading on interconnectors, said to cost over £300m a year – a trivial sum alongside the tens of billions a year their plan would impose.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/694922851a2e540ccd8a5454/20251222_Outcome_of_exploratory_discussion_FINAL.docx.pdf
This agreement must be resisted, and if implemented, cancelled at the first opportunity: careful reading of the Vienna Convention of the Law on Treaties may help. It is yet another attempt to bypass Parliament using international obligations and to damage the nation.
December 26, 2025
The Lib Dems, do not have polices other than saying what they think the audience at that moment in time wants to here.
To many people are under the impression that the Liberal Democrats are some how related to the Liberal Party of Palmerstone, Gladstone and not what it is a break faction from Labour Jenkins, Owen & Williams.
There is nothing liberal or Democratic in today set up, as shown by their desire to override democracy, join 2TK in the removal of justice and elections. They seemingly flip flop, they are one thing to one audience and another to others but they intricately labour. The traditional home of protest against the other parties
The crowd calling themselves the Conservative Party, the real Liberals, keep missing the point they keep focusing on Reform when in actual seat terms if not poll terms it is the LibDems that are taking their seats.
LibDem MPs 72
Reform MPs 4
Local Counsellors England
Labour 5,282
Conservative 4,036
Liberal Democrats 3,050
Reform UK 841
Labour & Tories 2 parties no one want to see again, focusing on Reform, means the party of protest the LibDems are the winners
December 26, 2025
Remember when we joined the EU the first thing we were ordered to do was ditch our old trading partners Australia, New Zealand etc. Closer ties would mean those bridges we have been trying to repair will once more have to be torn up.
The EU is a rules based protectionist cabal especially when it comes to the UK, deeper trade with them means the more control they have over the UK.
The hypocrisy is that the likes of China, India, the USA and even Russia do not have the EU interfering in their internal structures, laws and rules in the way the EU does in the UK, but there is an enormous amount of trade going on between them.
December 26, 2025
Time to reflect and be honest with ourselves, we have a lazy free-loading bunch calling themselves MP’s they want nothing more than to act like a local council and just carry out orders given to them not by the electorate, but the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in foreign lands.
As an example there is a thing that seems to override democracy, our right to create laws, commonsense, and the well being of the nation, called the ECHR. The UK Electorate appoints, empowers and the taxpayer pays one body to legislate, create, amend and repeal laws and rules to guide the UK – no on else, but they refuse. ‘English law’ no longer the Law in England but the law in the ‘free world’ is especially adept in creating more than competent direction for a proper orderly society. English law using UK Legislators could if it wanted create the right framework, a more honest framework for today that covered the thing that transpired were needed in the laws from the ECHR without the abuse to the human right of the majority that that court passes down. But no, our lazy free-loading Parliament wants none of that, they are order takers.
Most of us wouldn’t want them to take our orders for drinks at a bar, they are simply not up to the job
December 26, 2025
The only question to ask is just how stupid are Labour, the Lib Dems, and Green MPs? If ever you need a case study in how to mismanage a country, study this abysmal Government. Of course, the previous Conservative Government should have made rejoining the EU impossible by doing a proper Brexit.
The Conservatives and Reform ( who I think already have ) should make it crystal clear to the EU that any agreement they make with this Labour Government will be immediately nullified or suspended by them when they win the next General Election.
Meanwhile, there is an offence of Malfeasance in public office, which all Labour Government Ministers should be reminded of now. As well as any local councillors who vote to delay local elections!
December 26, 2025
The women of the EU have destroyed the European economy. Completely. The situation is irrecoverable.
Search YouTube The 2AM Call That Exposed Europe’s $105 Billion Mistake
I don’t know what sort of blockhead would want to get aboard this calamity. Probably Mr Gold and Mr Hefner of the comments on this blog.
The Breton Woods dispensation is done. Once the panic gold buying settles, it will be the new BRICS international payment arrangements that will dominate. Britain will have to join.
December 26, 2025
I know my time is running out.I was born in late 1944.For the greater part of my existence since I was comforted
that our elected folk(local and constituency) had reasonably common goals.I did my bit to help candidates.
Forget the party listen to the candidate.My local MP doesn’t even respond to a reasonable question.
December 26, 2025
They are not known as the Lib Dumbs for no reason.
December 26, 2025
Lib Dems are socialists and socialism depends upon making and keeping people poor. Hence they will be advocating giving away our sovereignty to the unaccaountable, unelectable and uinremoval EU bureaucrats as well as pursuing the economy sabotaging and national security destroying Net Zero Strategy.
December 26, 2025
the replies to Starmer’s Christmas message on social media are hilarious
the true British spirit there for all to see
December 26, 2025
Why would the Lib Dems want us to join a CU/SM with the EU when we had a £100bn/YEAR trading deficit with the EU when we were EU members? Anything to do with socialism depending upon making and keeping people poor?