Britannia Radio

FUTURE OF THE EU CONFERENCE

The Bruges Group spearheads the intellectual battle against the notion of "ever–closer Union" in Europe and, above all, against British involvement in a single European state. BRUGES GROUP CONFERENCE The Future of the EU... Can it Survive? Saturday, 21st November 2009 EU leaders have decided behind closed-doors who will become the European Union President and who will be the Foreign Minister. The Presidency is a key element in the Lisbon Treaty and is intended to be the capstone on the project to build an EU super-state. This is historic, but far from welcome. The French and the Dutch, and the Irish first time around, rejected such a development but were ignored. With the EU’s drive for power over our democracy and everyday life continuing unabated the Bruges Group holds this conference to oppose the surrendering of our freedoms to Brussels. ADMISSION: £20 payable on the door or in advance Including lunch, coffee, wine, orange juice, mineral water, tea and cheese and biscuits CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE QUOTES FROM THE SPEAKERS Gerard Batten MEP is an expert on the costs of EU membership. He is a member of the European Parliament’s Security & Defence Committee, and is a candidate for the leadership of the UK Independence Party. Gerard Batten will be discussing the issue of immigration. Gerard Batten MEP will say; “Thanks largely to the EU immigration to the UK is uncontrolled and effectively unlimited. We are adding another one million people to the population every four years – equivalent to building a new town the size of Birmingham. This is unsustainable from any perspective. “None of the economic arguments for mass immigration stack up, and recent revelations by a Labour Government advisor show that unlimited immigration was a deliberate ideological policy to create a 'multicultural and diverse society'. “We now have to end the age of mass immigration and multiculturalism. We must integrate the migrants we have, expel illegal immigrants, and reduce any further immigration to a trickle of appropriately qualified people. “We must abandon multiculturalism. Anyone who wants to live under Sharia law should be invited to go and live somewhere else where it applies. The doctrines of 6th Century Arabia have no place in modern Britain.” Dr Lee Rotherham is an adviser to the Bruges Group. After working for the Westminster Group of Eight rebels, he became adviser to three successive Shadow Foreign Secretaries. Lee Rotherham has also served with the armed forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been a Conservative Parliamentary candidate in the 2001 and 2005 elections. He has widely written on European issues. He is the author of EMU Understood and All At Sea; and co-authored the Bluffers Guide to the EU. Lee will talk on, Ten Years On — Britain without the European Union. Lee Rotherham will say; "Brussels is about 'ever-closer union' and closing ranks when things go horribly wrong, which these days unfortunately is a perennial event. But there is a spark of hope. Britain doesn't need to be a part of it, and would positively thrive as a friend and trading associate rather than a partner in crime." Professor Kenneth Minogue is a frequent commentator for radio and television on European issues, he was Chairman of the Bruges Group 1991-1993; he remains a member of the Group’s Academic Advisory Council. Professor Minogue will discuss, The implications of the vote on the Lisbon Treaty and what this means for Britain and Europe. Ken Minogue will say; "Democracy is dying in Britain because we have been stitched up by Westminster folly and international bureaucrats. The last time we got stitched up by law was at the end of the Middle Ages, and we solved it by inventing the sovereign state. We need to get that back." Bruno Waterfield has been Brussels correspondent for The Daily Telegraph since December 2006. He has been reporting on the EU and European affairs since 2000, first from Westminster and then from January 2003 he has been based in Brussels. He is also a regular contributor to www.spiked-online.com Bruno Waterfield will say; “The European Union has emerged as the institutions and practice of a unique form of twenty-first century statecraft based on cooperation between national elites and the active exclusion, and hostility, to European publics. The defining feature of European-level politics and decision making is secrecy. “The structure of EU decision-making has evolved to provide maximum privacy for political elites and maximum insulation from public pressure and scrutiny – it is a public-free zone. “The EU’s mission to evade popular vote on the Lisbon Treaty and hostile responses to referendums in France, the Netherlands and Ireland, reveals that it is a Union of rulers united in mistrust of the people, not a Union of leaders prepared to make a case and to take their people with them.” John Mills is the Secretary of the Labour Euro-Safeguards Campaign and the Labour Economic Policy Group. He is also the Chairman of one of the fastest growing companies in the UK, JML, which has extensive trading relations with much of the world. John Mills is the author of Europe’s Economic Dilemma. John Mills will say; “The euro is the EU's weakest link. Currency unions without full political union have almost invariably failed in the past. “EU elites will do all they can to hold the eurozone together and it will be very difficult for any country to leave the euro. The crucial issue, nevertheless, is whether the problems involved in holding the eurozone together turn out to be overwhelmed by economic failure and unmanageable unemployment and social stress in the weaker EU economies.” Ian Milne is the author of an analysis of the net economic costs and benefits for the UK of EU membership, titled; A Cost Too Far?. Ian Milne has had a forty-year career in industry and merchant banking in the UK, France and Belgium. He is the author of the Bruges Group publication; Lost Illusions: British Foreign Policy. Ian Milne will discuss, Who Needs the Single Market? Ian Milne will say; "British exports to the world OUTSIDE the EU have grown by almost 40% faster than British exports TO the EU since the turn of the century. Consequently, the share of worldwide British exports going to the EU is shrinking, and will be down to a third by 2020, which means that in 2020, for every pound of British exports going to the EU, two pounds of British exports will be going OUTSIDE the EU. "You don't have to belong to the EU to export to the EU. The USA, not an EU member, with zero votes in the EU Council of Ministers, having to export over the EU tariff barrier, sells more to the EU than does the UK, without paying a cent to Brussels or imposing one iota of EU regulation on the domestic US economy." Christopher Booker is a columnist for The Sunday Telegraph. He is the author of the Bruges Group paper Britain and Europe: The Culture of Deceit. And also co-wrote Scared To Death: From BSE To Global Warming, Why Scares Are Costing Us The Earth. Peter Davies, the Mayor of Doncaster, is dedicated to slashing costs and ditching political correctness. He is the first English Democrat to be elected to a key council position. His youngest son, Philip, is the Conservative MP for Shipley. Peter Davies is a member of the Campaign for an Independent Britain and will talk on; The European Union and British politics. Richard Conquest is an economist, hedge fund consultant and author whose research focuses on economic history, market developments and crises. Richard has also authored a number of publications on Eastern Europe and Russia. He has also served as the Chief Economist for a number of City institutions. LOCATION: The Great Hall, King's College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS AGENDA: Registration and Coffee: 10.30am Morning Session: 11am – 1pm Lunch: 1pm – 2pm Afternoon Session: 2pm – 4pm Refreshments: 4pm - 4.15pm Evening Session: 4.15pm – 6.15pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For further information contact: Robert Oulds Director The Bruges Group 227 Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street, London W1B 5TB UK Tel: +44(0) 20 7287 4414 Mobile: 07740 029787 E-mail: info@brugesgroup.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honorary President: The Rt Hon. the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, LG, OM, FRS Vice-President: The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick, Co-Chairmen: Dr Brian Hindley & Barry Legg Director: Robert Oulds MA, Head of Research: Dr Helen Szamuely Washington D.C. Representative: John O'Sullivan, CBE Founder Chairman: Lord Harris of High Cross, Former Chairmen: Dr Martin Holmes & Professor Kenneth Minogue --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------