Brexit Britain politicians react strongly to our report on EU’s failed flagship project
From a former UK Brexit Minister to former British MEPs, Facts4EU.Org’s report provoked comments
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We publish reactions of politicians and show how EU is scrambling to fix crumbling edifice
Yesterday (Sun 15 Aug 2021) Facts4EU.Org published its latest research into the collapse of one of the EU’s most vaunted ‘achievements’: the creation of a border-free zone within the EU, known as the Schengen Zone.
As ever, our report was heavily criticised by the (minority) unreformed Remainer-Rejoiner rump who still populate social media in small but highly vocal numbers. Equally expected was the fact that most of those who commented had clearly not read our report. This report was of course evidenced using the EU Commission’s own official information and it was extensively covered by the Daily Express yesterday.
In today’s edition of Facts4EU.Org we provide further proof of the repeated and long-term failures of this flagship EU project. In addition we are publishing the comments to us from three politicians regarding our research.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
The EU's Schengen breakdown - Politicians were quick to back our report
1. Former Brexit Minister, the Rt Hon David Jones MP
David Jones has been the Deputy Chairman of the European Research Group in Parliament since March 2020 and has served as Member of Parliament for Clwyd West since 2005. He held several ministerial roles in Government over the years and importantly he was the Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union from July 2016 until June 2017.
Mr Jones was replaced by Theresa May in her reshuffle that month and she chose the Remain-supporting Baroness Anelay as his successor – perhaps a harbinger of what was to follow during her tenure as Prime Minister.
Yesterday afternoon David Jones gave Facts4EU.Org his typically thoughtful, knowledgeable, and measured comments.
“This excellent piece of analysis highlights what many of us have known for a long time: the EU is a rules-based organisation only when it suits it.
“In a sense, however, this is encouraging news. The Schengen area was created as part of Brussels’s push to create a superstate: a single country called Europe. Now we see individual member states seeking to recover at least part of their lost sovereignty by taking back control of their own borders, even if only temporarily. For anyone who believes in a Europe of independent nations, this must be a good thing.”
The Rt Hon David Jones MP, commenting to Facts4EU.Org, 15 Aug 2021
2. Former British MEP David Campbell Bannerman
The highly-experienced Mr Campbell Bannerman spent over 10 years in the EU Parliament and for most of it he sat on the EU Parliament’s influential International Trade Committee. He is now an independent international trade and public affairs consultant for organisations and companies, and is Chairman of The Freedom Association.
DCB added his thoughts on Facts4EU.Org’s report, telling us:-
“The Schengen Zone has always had opt-outs - what they call safeguards - right from the start. But now the opt-outs outweigh those following the rules. Quite simply the whole notion of free movement across the EU is breaking down - another setback for the Superstate project which it was designed to assist.”
David Campbell Bannerman commenting to Facts4EU.Org, Sun 15 Aug 2021
3. Former Brexit Party MEP and CEO of a major property company, Ben Habib
Finally, we have the comments of the tough-talking former MEP, Ben Habib. Mr Habib is the CEO of First Property Group plc and founded the Internet channel ‘Unlocked’. He told Facts4EU.Org:-
“If the Schengen zone is truly broken we should all rejoice in Europe. It was designed to weaken member state sovereignty. In practice it has made all member states vulnerable to crime and terrorism.
“Borders were developed in Europe over centuries for good reason. They define our nations and act as a break on the uncontrolled inflow of undesirables. Doing away with them is typically EU and like most of its political policies, deeply damaging.”
Ben Habib commenting to Facts4EU.Org, Sun 15 Aug 2021
The EU Commission scrambles to fix its broken project
In June of this year (2021) the EU Commission announced a new ‘EU Strategy’ to fix the severe problems of the supposedly borderless Schengen Zone. In its statements there is no doubt just how important this project is to the Commission’s ambitions to create one superstate.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said:
"…we cannot take Schengen for granted. Today, we are presenting a way forward that makes sure that Schengen can bear the test of time, one that will ensure the free flow of people, goods and services whatever the circumstances to rebuild our economies and for us to emerge stronger together.”
The press statement from the Commission went further
“The Schengen area is home to more than 420 million people across 26 countries. The removal of internal border controls between Schengen States is an integral part of the European way of life…… People have built their lives around the freedoms offered by the Schengen area…”
– EU Commission, 02 June 2021
And the Executive Vice President of the EU Commission, Margaritis Schinas, reinforced the message in the same statement issued just two months ago:
"Unfettered movement within the Schengen area is essential to our European way of life.”
Observations
Firstly, we are grateful to David Jones, David Campbell Bannerman, and Ben Habib for their comments, reinforcing our report yesterday. They represent different streams of Brexit thinking but all agree on the significance of the EU’s failures over its flagship Schengen Zone.
Why is this important to British people?
A common refrain on social media from the extremist Remainer-Rejoiners who are still out there is: “The UK left. What do you care? Why go on about it?”
The first answer to this is simple. If the extremist Remainer-Rejoiners who post these messages (almost always without reading our reports) were not hell-bent on overturning Brexit we would not have to educate them about the state of their precious EU project. And for the general public if we did not publish official information like this, we would leave a vacuum that would be filled by those who have never accepted the largest democratic mandate in British history – to leave the European Union.
Our second answer is that British people deserve to know the truth about the EU’s ‘border-less society’. For years the EU has been a keen supporter of the UN’s ‘International Organisation for Migration’, which advocates a border-less world. We believe that the majority of British people hold the traditional view that an independent and sovereign nation can only exist if it is a discrete entity with its own borders. Take those away and what do you have? A free-for-all, turning into one global, conglomerated world.
Our final answer is more specific. The EU’s failures to control its own borders – external and internal – is one of the many reasons why tens of thousands of illegal migrants are able to land on the South Coast of England. Increasingly this is becoming a major problem for the United Kingdom. With the EU’s borders in what can only be called a state of disarray, we have a right to question our nearest neighbours.
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[ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 16 Aug 2021
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