This whole EU Referendum matter is descending into a farce. Nigel Farage and UKIP have been peddling untruths about the EU for years. Now that there is going to be a Referendum, the Yes people are accentuating negatives and not giving much of a positive case for remaining in the EU. Until advocates of Out or In start to bring some reality and truth to the debate, we will end up with the farce of a large chunk of the British electorate voting on one of the most important issues that could face us without knowing the facts and making their decisions based upon hearsay and half baked myths.
The issue about treason has no basis. We had an election campaign in 1970 in which all three major political parties said that they would seek entry into the European Economic Community. Edward Heath’s Government brought to the Westminster Parliament the terms and conditions it had negotiated to sign the Treaty of Rome which established the European Economic Community and around 300 hours of often very heated debate followed in the Parliament. The Westminster Parliament approved the terms and conditions of EEC membership. The ensuing European Communities Act 1972 was signed by the Queen. In 1975, the EEC Referendum result showed around two thirds of the voters voting to stay in the EEC. There was no treason against the Queen or against the UK.
One of the worst lies is that back in the 1970s we joined a trade market only and that all the rest of what the EU is about now is something that has been done to the British against our will and without our agreement. The truth is that joining the EEC was not just about joining a trade market, it was also about joining a Community to build a better Europe, a community in which the UK was a stakeholder.
The Treaty of Rome was signed by Edward Heath, the British Prime Minister, in Brussels on 22 January 1972. We became full members on 1st January 1973. Three summits of EEC leaders were held between the UK signing the Treaty of Rome and the UK Referendum on EEC membership in 1975. Links to web pages with information about the summits are given below. The subject matter of the summits included economic and monetary and political union and other matters beyond what would be expected of a trade market only, and these were matters that were very much in the public forum of debate in the run up to the 1975 Referendum. This shows very clearly how Nigel Farage has misled the UK electorate with false statements. He is entitled to wish to leave the EU and to encourage other people with the same desire if he so wishes but he should stick to the truth and not make things up.
In October 1972 the first summit of the enlarged European Economic Community was held, part of the extract of the communiqué at the end of the summit being given at:
http://ec.europa.eu/dorie/fileDownlo...&cardId=203015
Other information about the summits can be found as follows.
Paris Summit in October 1972
http://aei.pitt.edu/1919/1/paris_1972_preparations.pdf
Copenhagen Summit in December 1973
http://ec.europa.eu/dorie/fileDownlo...&cardId=203013
Paris Summit in December 1974
http://fc95d419f4478b3b6e5f-3f71d0fe...C0350A12BC.pdf
At this stage in the Referendum proceedings, it is not unrealistic to expect that both the Out and In camps should be able to give the British electorate some idea of the economic impact of Brexit upon companies by company size, industry sector, and so on. Some companies will benefit from Brexit, others will suffer. The British need some idea of the impact on British companies overall. Both Nigel Farage and David Cameron have had years to get such an assessment done so that the British electorate can make informed decisions. I am sure that we all have a better chance of winning one of the National Lottery games than getting sensible information about this from either side. And until they have done such basic work, a lot of their utterances on the economic impact of Brexit will be not much more than hot air.