By Alex Calvo

Given the intense debate on EU membership in the United Kingdom, one would expect European institutions to make a determined effort to show British voters that it is indeed in their interest to remain part of this organization. However, for the Continental elites, EU membership, and what they grandly call “European integration” is not something on which one may have a rational, democratic debate, in order to freely choose whether to take part. Instead, it is more akin to a cult or religion, which one must accept uncritically, without ever questioning any of its tenets or daring to ask for any details allowing one to make an informed choice. In other words, instead of voters we have minors, told not only what to do but also what to think.

This is already quite clear to most people in the United Kingdom, who also tend to have a clear picture of the economic disadvantages that membership entails. The weight of red tape, together with the constant flow of money that leaves our islands never to come back, are in and by themselves reason enough to leave behind this failed experiment. Having escaped the Euro is of course great news, but although the UK may not be party to this scheme for which nobody has yet apologised, its impact is a stark reminder of what faces the country if traditional democracy under our Queen is completely replaced by the rule from Brussels.

What not everybody is still aware of, however, is that the European Union is not only a threat to our economy, but also to our national security. This is particularly poignant because the Eurocrats pride themselves in having brought peace to the old continent and even tour the world offering their advice on how to overcome historical hatreds. Well, let us briefly look at their record with regard to Britain.

First of all, Gibraltar. After three centuries, a treaty whereby Spain ceded the territory in perpetuity, and the clear will of the Rock’s inhabitants to remain British, Madrid is still engaged in a campaign of constant harassment. Hours-long queues in the land border, 200 incidents at sea in just one year, an air and railway blockade, and a stream of lies and smears seeking to tarnish her image. Did Spain’s entry into the then European Economic Community put an end to all this? Not at all. On the contrary, Madrid is pocketing British taxpayers’ money while keeping the pressure on Gibraltar, and Brussels is not only failing to utter a word but it is even aiding this by recognizing a sea protection area falling within British territorial waters. Isn’t the “free movement of people” one of the cornerstones of the single market? How come the European Commission has never lifted a finger against such abuses then?

Second, and this is where recent news prompted the writing of this lines, the Falklands. We are now faced with reports that the head of a European Parliament delegation visiting Argentina claimed that “British sovereignty over the Islands as such, is not accepted”. Instead of supporting democracy and self-determination in the South Atlantic, the delegation called for “dialogue” with the common or garden dictators. The fact that the head of the delegation was Spanish MEP Luis Yanez-Barnuevo Garcia is a reminder that in 1982 Madrid, then holding a temporary seat at the UN Security Council, sided with aggression. A bit later, Spanish authorities failed to hand over a terrorist squad bound for Gibraltar, where it intended to attack British shipping. Unfortunately, the huge financial transfers from British taxpayers have not changed this either, the principle that one should not bite the hand that feeds him seems not to apply within the European Union.

This latest incident involving the persistent Argentine threats against the Falklands, whose population stated once more in the recent referendum that they had no intention of trading British liberties for Argentine totalitarianism and economic chaos, thus shows how the European Union is not only a threat to British traditional freedoms and economic wellbeing but also to our national security. In particular when seen together with the ceaseless harassment campaign against Gibraltar, it shows how Brussels will not lift a finger to protect the security of Britons. The time has therefore come to call Brussels’ bluff, stop listening to the groundless claims that the EU is a force for peace, and draw the only logical conclusion: that the continued membership of the UK must be put to a popular vote. This must be done to preserve our monarchy, our economy, and our national security. It is clear what the result will be. The resulting savings and additional economic growth will allow the rebuilding of our Armed Forces, the only guarantee that all over the world, from the Falklands to Gibraltar, no common or garden dictator will ever be allowed to rule over the Queen's subjects.