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The UK has a long history of independence and self governing democracy. We voted decisively to leave the EU in 2016 to take back control of our taxes and laws. Only a new referendum could overturn that decision of the people. There is no sign people wish to surrender control again.
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The UK growth rate halved over our 48 years in the EU compared to the 20 years before we joined. People do not want to lock back into a low growth high tax system.
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Rejoining would mean imposing a new EU tax to pay for membership. The cost would be considerably more than when we were in, as we would lose the rebate Mrs Thatcher secured, and the EU budget is now much bigger.
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The UK state has too much debt of our own, but we would become jointly liable for £ 750 bn of EU debt as well, where our share would be around £110 bn.
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The UK would be expected to scrap the pound and join the Euro. When we last had to join the European Exchange Rate scheme we helped undermine it and fell into a nasty recession.
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The UK would have to rejoin the Customs Union, impose a lot of tariffs to make goods dearer for business and consumers, and lose our trade Agreements with many other countries including TPP, Australia, India and New Zealand.
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The UK would lose its voice and vote on important international bodies like the WTO and would have to accept EU foreign policies, diminishing our global influence.
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The EU based on the Draghi Report knows it is losing competitiveness and falling way behind the US owing to costly and damaging regulation. We would have to adopt all those laws that hold the EU back.
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The UK would be expected to allow freedom of movement which could mean many more people coming to the UK adding to the housing shortage and the pressures on the NHS and other public services.
- Accepting the full net zero and common energy policy would mean even dearer UK energy, worsening the cost of living problems and closing down more industry.
October 5, 2026
All good reasons but surely the main reason is that it that it further destroys UK democracy (what little we have in the UK). What is the point of electing MP if they have given virtually all their powers away to the EU, Quangos, the BoE, Ofcom, the dire lefty judiciary, the WHO, English Nature, the Blob…
October 5, 2026
@Lifelogic – those short sentences sum up the problems in the UK, the mission creap that infests
our society. Do we elect MPs as the Manager’s or as Dictating Rulers?
Should the HoC be the effective ‘board’ of UK.plc selected and answerable, and at all times open to challenge from the shareholders, or are they order taking disciples for some unelected unaccountable cabal that allows them to sit on thier hands and take the money?
It would appear those against the former are the lazy Muppets that now infest our once great institutions that thought being appointed by a Gang Boss was them made for life.
We need an effective responsible HoC, not a pseudo local council
October 5, 2026
Ideology not common sense is what drives people like Burnham. I often wonder why politicians we elect do everything counter to UK interests. Last night we witnessed what can only be described as a military operation off the South Coast when boat loads of invaders were greeted and made welcome by the Home Office stooges.
Rejoining the EU will mean every new arrival to the EU with travel documents will be free to travel to the UK for a lifetime of benefits. Surely we are reaching a tipping point but hey ho the bus fares are only £2.
October 5, 2026
I thought you didn’t like ‘important international bodies’ like the UN.
Reply I did not cite the UN. I talked about the WTO where the EU stops its members having their own voice and vote. I have never said I dislike the UN.
October 5, 2026
@Reply – in the same manner as so many things the UN suffers the decrease of mission creep so much so they actually appear to believe they are ‘The World Government ‘
October 5, 2026
hundreds of invaders helped in yesterday by the state. old locals stopped at checkpoints by police and not allowed back to their own homes unless they can provide papers proving their address. lots of coaches, police, ambulances facilitating out of control immigration. the British state is not legitimate, and neither is the European one, or the French and German ones. we are at war, and the British state is on the side of the enemy.
October 5, 2026
I thought the King was visiting. That level of security for our new British.
October 5, 2026
@Iain Gill – comes things up well. Those leant powers and paid to do a job are abusing those whose powers they are and those that pay the bills.
October 5, 2026
In the Telegraph today by JR “Labour War on Pensioners Must End”. Indeed it should but it is also an insane war on the hard working, private school users, landlords, employers, non doms, road users, energy users, down sizers, and people who want free speech, real and fair non two tier justice and a sound non doom loop economy.
The Tories started this war by freezing income tax thresholds, CGT and IHT allowance and ratting on Osborne £1m IHT promise of circa 19 years back – it is still £325k now worth more like £200k.
October 5, 2026
Mr Griffith will pledge to abolish two “dysfunctional” quangos (only two), the National England and Environment Agency, which have been accused of subjecting farmers and developers to needless red tape.
Natural England is accused of stopping 160,000 homes being built by insisting that developers abide by strict nutrient neutrality regulations, which are designed to lower river pollution.
They also imposed a £700 million “fish disco” acoustic deterrent system on Hinkley Point C, which will save one salmon every 12 years. Plus the HS2 bat tunnel lunacy.
FINE but why would we trust you this time after the Cameron through to Sunak record of doing the exact reverse Mr Griffiths?
Reply there will be more quango reductions to come. Yes this will happen once a Conservative government takes office.
October 5, 2026
Is this the same as the bonfire of Quangos talked about by Cameron 16 years ago.
Reply No. This will be a real fire come a Conservative government.
October 5, 2026
@Lifelogic – the mission creap that has no checks and balances. Starts well meaning, then is distorted through Parliaments ‘refusal’ to manage because that is to much like work, like them doing the job they have been empowered and paid to do
October 5, 2026
tell us about Kemi’s announcement to abolish the Financial ombudsman service? although that is something I have wanted for a long time, what it gets replaced with will be critical. why are the justifications all about how bad the FOS is for the banks, and not how bad it is for consumers?
October 5, 2026
Sir, you have lost. Move on. No one in UK political life is trying to defend Brexit. Ten years on, we have the receipts – it’s been a monumental failure. We will re-join.
Reply You lost and produce no good reason to rejoin. All the terms you will be offered by EU will make us poorer.
October 5, 2026
No one rational and informed wants to rejoin it would be economic and immigration insanity and totally anti-democratic.
October 5, 2026
@JiK: Kemi Badenoch says she doesn’t want to reopen the Brexit issue, and Reform are definitely pro-Brexit. So when you say no politician defends Brexit, that means the only politicians you are willing to recognise are on the left. A nice example of left-wing totalitarianism.
October 5, 2026
My point exactly – Badenoch wants to talk about anything except Brexit because she knows Brexit has failed and talking about it is a voteloser. As for Reform, when did you last hear Farage telling us how great Brexit is? 2016? – he knows it’s failed and he too would rather talk about anything else
Reply Stop the lies. Kemi’s deputy set out the Conservative view on EU Re Set clearly and well yesterday.
October 5, 2026
Dear John in Kent, almost no one in political life supported Brexit.
That was and is irrelevant. The POLITICAL CLASS IS OUR SERVANT.
In a democracy the People are the true Sovereigns.
We gave direct instructions.
If you make us repeat those instructions, or try to gerrymander in ANY WAY, the instructions we give, including ‘stop the illegal and gerrymandered legal immigration’ you will find that it is unwise to oppose 66 million Britons.
October 5, 2026
@John in Kent – how can something be lost, when it never existed. The only loss is democracy, the refusal of Parliament to act on the wishes of the people. We have a lazy incompetent Parliament that has refused what they are paid to do, manage the UK
October 5, 2026
rather predictably the BBC is pushing a pack of lies about yesterdays massive import of illegal immigrants by the British state. don’t the bbc realise we can all see the truth online now? the bbc needs shutting down as part of the anti British enemy.
October 5, 2026
The BBC propoganda outfit (on immigration, net zero, energy, Covid Origens, Covid “ vaccines” and lockdowns on Trump, supporting of the doom loop economic agenda, anti semitism…) is appalling an enemy of the people who are forced to fund it – to endlessly lie to them.
October 5, 2026
When the question of rejoining the EU comes up, we simply have to look at the collective in Europe and ask is it greater than the sum of its members? Does the EU impart some form of security not available to member nations individually? The answer is clearly no as there is no EU defence forces though the Commission would like to have them to control the members.
Does the EU reduce the cost of living, No because it is an additional level of bureaucracy sitting on top of an already bureaucratic collection of parish councils, town councils, Mayors, district councils, regional authorities devolved assemblies and National government. We do not need yet another layer of authority over us.
Does the EU provide a recipe for wealth creation? Clearly not as the whole of Europe has fallen back in terms of world trade ranking/provision and income per person has been falling compared with the other major Western power block the USA.
Does the EU have a solution to the uncontrolled migrant problem. Clearly not when we look at France with its culture riots, Spain where invasions of tens of thousands of North Africans invaded Ceuta recently shows what is waiting in the wings. The free movement across the continent allows the incoming migrants to travel freely to wherever they choose. That would be to the UK where benefits availability act as a magnet.
There is no even a trade gain if we rejoined the EU. The 43 years we were member prior to the referendum was the steepest decline in UK manufactures ever.
There is no positive aspect associated with rejoining the failing EU.
October 5, 2026
police officers openly saying on camera ‘I think this is absolutely disgusting but I have a job to do and a family to provide for’ you wont see that on the BBC
the government and serco who are organising this for them need to fall soon
October 5, 2026
INDEED very little BBC or other MSM coverage of the French riots either.
October 5, 2026
The only reason that a lot of the so called new and some older MPs want back into the EU is so they have a fall back by saying it’s EU policy and we have to follow there protocol, also most schools are pumping our kids with the EU being utopia for them, well it isn’t Europe is a very nice place to visit but not to be run by them , so let’s get the word out that we are better off out and a very good starting point to start is for a General Election to get this bunch of spineless pond life out of office for good
October 5, 2026
All EU citizens will be available for conscription to ight whatever war the EU wants to fight. That means your sons and maybe daughters too, going to fight on the front line in Ukraine.
That is what surrendering citizenship of a country where we can sack Governments and even unseat Kings means – you crawl and die because Ursula says so.
There would have to be a referendum, and if you vote for that you deserve all you get.
The young have most to enjoy…or endure.
October 5, 2026
50% of all HIV in the UK is in migrants. In 3 years, migration alone doubled the rate of HIV in the UK. From a situation where is was steadily dropping pre Covid we are now accelerating up in numbers.
TB will be similar.
Show me where this is costed into the cost/benefit charts for migration?
October 5, 2026
The British state is no longer working in the interests of the British people. We are being forced to pay for policies that demonstrably endanger the public.
October 5, 2026
Good morning.
The reason why I voted LEAVE is the same reason why I believe we should not re-join the ‘Stupid Club’. Namely, our system of law (English Common Law) is totally different to that of the EU which is based on the Napoleonic Code. Hence why the EU is stuffed full of regulation.
October 5, 2026
John as your dairy note suggests today, we dont have in the UK Parmiament people that wish to manage for a better future for the UK. My interpretation is we have a load of freeloaders that could barely survive on a local council. To conditioned to taking orders and implementing directions given to them by others.
We dont have a UK Parmiament, we have a coffee shop chattering cabal of non-achievers
October 5, 2026
The main reason for pro EU is psychological not political.
Some just see sovereignty (and to a degree, patriotism) as something right-wing and ‘patriarchal’
This could be down to lots of psychological issues – overbearing father, overbearing authority figures in their lives, dislike of people at school and neighbours and fellow countryman in general. Etc
Until we fix the psychology, this problem will persist!
It’s first and foremost about psychology – not politics.
It’s a shame we don’t promote more the psychology of Carl Jung at school and university and in general. He’s a genius. His psychology is key to a healthy conservative culture and civilisation, overlapping with Christianity and European arts, philosophy, culture over the ages.