Wednesday 5 October 2022

True Tories were Remainers

 

Conservatives, have you forgotten what your party in power used to stand for regarding Europe?

For most of the past seven decades, Tory governments did more than any other to bring us closer to our continent.

After all:

  • It’s because of the Conservatives that the UK applied to join the European Community in the first place.
  • It’s because of the Conservatives that the UK eventually joined the European Community.
  • It’s because of the Conservatives that support for Britain’s continued membership of the European Community won by a landslide in the first referendum in 1975.
  • It’s because of the Conservatives that, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, the Single Market of Europe came into existence.
  • It’s because of the Conservatives that former Communist countries were encouraged and facilitated to join the European Union.
  • It was the Conservative government that officially supported the UK’s continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 referendum.
  • Most Conservative MPs voted for Remain in that referendum.

Since the European Community was founded in 1957, and until 2016, the passionate resolve of ALL Conservative Prime Ministers was that Britain should join it and remain in it.

Only the three most recent Conservative Prime Ministers – covering just the past six years – veered away from their predecessors’ strong and consistent commitment to the European Community.

And even those three had previously supported Britain being IN the EU.

▪ Liz Truss, today’s Conservative Prime Minister, voted for Remain. During the referendum campaign she said:

“I don’t want my daughters to grow up in a world where they need a visa or permit to work in Europe; or where they are hampered from growing a business because of extortionate call costs and barriers to trade.”

“Every parent wants their children to grow up in a healthy environment with clean water, fresh air and thriving natural wonders. Being part of the EU helps protect these precious resources and spaces.”

▪ Boris Johnson, her predecessor, was also previously a ‘Remainer’.

Back in 2012 he said that the prospect of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU would not “appeal”. The following year he wrote an article for The Telegraph titled,

‘Quitting the EU won’t solve our problems.’

In early 2016, he promised the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, that he would be supporting Remain. He assured him that the Brexit campaign would be “crushed like a toad”.

But minutes later he announced that he was joining Vote Leave.

▪ Theresa May, his predecessor, voted for Remain. She said during the referendum campaign:

“I believe it is clearly in our national interest to remain a member of the European Union.”

It seems that Truss, Johnson, and May – indeed, all of today’s Tory Party – are driven more by the lure of power rather than the best interests of the country, or the combined wisdom on Europe of the six previous Conservative Prime Ministers. *

  • WATCH this 4-minute video of past Conservative Prime Ministers explaining why they supported membership of the European Community:

  • 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢: How Putin fuelled and funded Brexit to undermine the EU to serve his imperialist goals. Don’t think this is relevant? Then please listen again to the words of Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan.

* 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: Harold Macmillan [1957-1963], Alec Douglas-Home [1963-1964], Edward Heath [1970-1974], Margaret Thatcher [1979-1990], John Major [1990-1997] and David Cameron [2010-2016] ALL supported Britain being IN the European Community.

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