Campaign for and Independant Britain
Received 20th March 2009
NEWS RELEASE
19 March 2009: Release time immediate
EUROPEAN UNION “DESTROYING DEMOCRACY, WRECKING LIVES”
· Campaigners from throughout Europe and across the political spectrum unite in defence of citizens’ democratic rights
· Public meeting “Freedom and Democracy, not EU Dictatorship”, Euston, London , Sat 4 April 2009
Trade unionists, as well as independent politicians and campaigners from Ireland , Germany and even Nigeria will be among the guest speakers at a public meeting to be held in Euston, London , on Saturday 4 April, organised by the cross-party Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB) to protest against what they see as the growing “dictatorship” of the European Union.
German campaigner against the Lisbon Treaty/EU Constitution, Henry Nitzsche, an independent member of the Bundestag, and veteran Eurosceptic Sir Teddy Taylor, a Conservative MP for over 30 years, will join labour movement activist Brian Denny of the Rail & Maritime Union (RMT), representing Trade Unions against the EU Constitution (TUAEC), Frank Keoghan of the Irish People’s Movement, and Dele Oguntimoju of the Nigerian Movement for National Reformation in denouncing the profoundly undemocratic nature of the EU.
The meeting has been organized by the CIB in response to the recent ComRes opinion poll which showed that the overwhelming majority of the British people want the chance to vote in a national referendum on whether or not the UK stays in the European Union. In the same poll, three quarters of voters said they thought that UK politicians on the whole don’t do enough to stand up for British interests in Europe .
CIB spokesman Andy Smith said: “The tide is turning decisively against the European Union. Despite the millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money that Gordon Brown’s government and the bureaucrats in Brussels have spent on trying to persuade the British people to love the EU, all we really want is to leave it! Poll after poll shows that Britons are overwhelmingly hostile to the EU, they know that Brussels is responsible for taking away our democratic rights and that the UK’s membership of the EU costs us dearly in terms of cuts to our public services, higher taxation, and the destruction of British jobs. There is widespread recognition nowadays that we would be better off out.”
He added that the Campaign for an Independent Britain had organised this major public meeting because “we believe it is important to provide as many opportunities as possible for Eurosceptics to gather together and ‘network’, and to learn new insights into the EU dictatorship from their various different perspectives. We also felt it was extremely important to hear from people from Europe and Africa , so that we can try to understand the motivations of those people who share the British Eurosceptic view. ‘Euroscepticism’ is often seen as purely British – English in fact – and one of the aims of our meeting on 4 April is to create a broadly-based, cross-party event at which participants from throughout the EU (and beyond) and from right across the political spectrum, can meet together to plan the next phrase of our joint campaign.
“The EU wants to extend its powers even further through the Lisbon Treaty – but CIB is fighting hard to block this latest power gab. That’s why we’ve called this meeting: ‘Freedom and democracy, not EU dictatorship’. Anyone interested in attending should go to the CIB website, www.eurosceptic.org.uk.”
-ENDS
Press contact: Andy Smith, Press Officer, Campaign for an Independent Britain , tel: 07737 271676, email: press@eurosceptic.org.uk
Editor’s notes
The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB) is a cross-party pressure-group with a nationwide membership and a network of active local groups. CIB publishes a quarterly tabloid newspaper, Free Britain, with news and views on the EU, plus regular newsletters for its activists and a series of eye-catching public information leaflets. Its website, www.eurosceptic.org.uk, is an authoritative source of information on all aspects of Britain ’s membership of the European Union. Members of CIB include prominent MPs, Peers and MEPs from across the political spectrum, as well as journalists, teachers, trade unionists, civil rights campaigners, lawyers, business leaders and local councillors. Its joint Presidents are Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour) and Sir Richard Body (former Conservative MP).
CIB website: www.eurosceptic.org.uk
- NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING -
Campaign for an
Independent Britain
Saturday 4th April 2009,
2.30pm to 5pm
(FREE ADMISSION)
The Friends Meeting House, 173 Euston
Road , London NW1 28J (opp. Euston
railway station)