What are we doing to stop our beloved Britain being taken over?

If we don't want to become a neglected outstation of the European Superstate, stripped of our nationhood, powerless to decide who lives here, controlled by laws we don't make and can't change, ruled by a government we cannot throw out, we have rather a short time in which to do something about it.

You may think none of this matters to you, but the trouble is that it does, whether you think so or not.

The European Union is interested in you, your liberty and your money, even if you don't care about it.

When I point out that local councils are changing rubbish collections because of EU laws, people don't believe me.

They rightly think it ridiculous that such things should be affected by what is supposed to be a Free Trade partnership. But they are.

A huge number of our laws have been drawn up in Brussels and hurried through Parliament without anybody really understanding what they were doing.

A lot of us still don't even grasp why it is that we can no longer have nice blue British passports.

They also don't grasp why they have to queue for ages to get back into the country after a holiday.

They aren't paying attention. That passport you have isn't British. It's European. It gives you no more right to enter this country than if you were a Lithuanian.

The border you are crossing is the border of the EU, not Britain. If the Government set up a special channel for UK passport holders it would be breaking EU law. There is no longer any such thing as a British passport.

This has another grim meaning. We cannot control two-thirds of the immigration now revolutionising this country because it comes from EU states.

British people have a way of ignoring the Continent then finding out just in time that what happens there matters – Dunkirk being the most recent example of this complacent folly. We probably won't get another Dunkirk to warn us.

Look at the row we are having, a rather lukewarm row in my view, about the European Constitution, dressed up as the Treaty of Lisbon but still what it always was – the official foundation document of the European Superstate.

At first it looks as if there are two sides, those for a referendum, and those against.

But what use would a referendum be? Who seriously believes that, if Britain said "No", the EU would say: "Oh, sorry to have troubled you with our silly, over-ambitious idea. We'll give it up for good."?

No, they would threaten and suborn the British Government into holding the vote again.

Or they would have yet another summit in which the thing would be adjusted a tiny bit and presented as if it were new. Or they would say: "Very well then, if you don't like it, why not leave?"

Gordon Brown might hold a referendum on that very subject. At this point we would badly need a major political figure to stand up and say: "Yes, please, let's leave."

He could add: "After all, if Norway and Switzerland can cope outside, we certainly can. And I defy anyone to tell me one single way in which this country has benefited from its long entanglement with this horrible organisation."

But this will not happen. Our entire political elite, in all parties, love the EU, not because it is good for the country, but because it is good for them.

They love its regular service of gravy trains, carrying failed Ministers off to a life of high salaries, big expenses and huge pensions, plus an almost total absence of responsibility.

They don't mind at all that it deprives them of the power to do very much. They are, for the most part, short of ideas and lazy, and happy to be able to pass the buck to Brussels while enjoying their pay and perks. Note, specially, the behaviour of the Tory Party. People sometimes ask why I call them 'useless'. Well, here's an example. You get a lot of something called 'Euroscepticism' from Tories. It's a stupid word and it describes a worthless thing.

They act as if they are against the EU grabbing our power and money, and talk sternly about how they disapprove.

But David Cameron, William Hague and Malcolm Rifkind are clear that, if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified, that will be that. In the (highly unlikely) event of them coming to power, they won't hold a referendum because, oh dear, it will be too late.

In doing this, they are part of a great tradition. Harold Macmillan first sought British entry to the Common Market in 1962. Then Ted Heath succeeded in getting it, ramming our membership through Parliament with characteristic ruthlessness and sacrificing Britain's fisheries industry for his ambition.

When, in 1975, Harold Wilson held a referendum on staying in, Margaret Thatcher campaigned vigorously for Britain to remain in the Market, sporting a jumper bearing the flags of member states.

When she came to office, she pushed through the Single European Act, a huge surrender of British vetoes. Then she was bludgeoned by Cabinet colleagues into entering the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

By the end of her premiership, she had begun to realise what was at stake. But it was precisely because of this that the Tory Party then threw her out of office.

John Major went on to browbeat and bully his MPs into voting for the Maastricht Treaty, yet another huge surrender of independence.

Mr Cameron represents a firm return to the Europhile days before Lady Thatcher's rebellion.

When it comes to action, the Tory Party will continue to support the EU because they have been committed to it since the Sixties, and cannot admit that this was a mistake.

But they also recognise how unpopular it is, which is why they pretend to be hostile and invented 'Euroscepticism' to console disgruntled voters.

The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to unscramble. My advice is not to be diverted by campaigns for a referendum that will get us nowhere.

It is to consider, very carefully, whether you will be able to look your children and grandchildren in the face when, 20 years hence, they ask: "What did you do to stop the country being taken over by a foreign power?"

I shall continue, week by week, to suggest ways in which you might be able to ensure that they never need to ask that question.

I was told by international students that america is bland...fast food, drive through banks, chain grocery stores, and quickie marts. It sounds to me like they got a point.

Frankly, I would be shocked to hear anything other than that come out of the mouths of "international" students. That is how these yahoos always justify their feeling of superiority over Americans despite the weak nature of whichever country they came from. Did you actually expect any of them to say "Oh, the US truly is the superior country, full of wonderful culture and people." ? A sense of superiority to Americans is ingrained in them since birth.

Second, how much of American life is really represented by the strip malls and the fast food joints? If that is all these students took the time to see, then they only got the tourist version of the US. That is to be expected from them, but what is your excuse?

Oh, the US truly is the superior country
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Actually, many of them did say this. THey also convinced me that americans are not lazy. THey convinced me that americans are actually working themselves to death and that is why america leads the world in technology, military, and economy. THey also convinced me that an american degree in a technical field is the most valuable thing in the world. It is obvious that the rest of the world beleives this too because just look at the numbers of foreign students in american universities studying engineering and medicine. Several post doc students from foreign countries told me that if they went back to their country, the degrees they had would guarantee them a cushy position for life with their government but that they would rather stay in america even though it means a much more difficult life because they said “at least here I can actually use my knowledge for something purposful, back home it would go to waste”

Almost like Islam: The religious kudzu that sleeps, creeps, and before you know it has completely taken over.

Yes; and for sure; and was in truth, including the implications of the evils of radical Islam in my response and it's impact now reverberating in England and across Europe. The 'super will' that resonates between these two 'isms' clears the path for the advance of Leftism and by consequence, radical Islam.

The dynamics of both, here at home, are having the same consequences. We just have some 'catching up' to do; and should a Demrat take the White House; we can be sure that we will be doing just that.

Hi, indylindy, I agree with everything you wrote except for this one thing:

"FReepers are informed"

Some FReepers are informed, and I most sincerely apologize for having mistaken you for one who isn't.

Keep up the good work!

I assumed your use of the word “nation” was in the old fashioned sense. That is that a nation is a groupe of genetically similar people, not a political boundary on a map. In that sense, americans are not a nation and our culture is not a culture. It is a hodgepodge of non-culture.

No. The United Stated is a nation, perhaps the 1st nation, to be formed upon principles instead of heredity or boundary, and who's citizens are not restricted by petty racial, genetic or ancestral similarities.

All cultures trace the features and components of their culture to other sources. The American Culture is no different in this respect. One can also argue that the American Culture is the most influential culture in the world right now and has been for several years. No culture? I don't think so. The influence of American Culture is everywhere.

If you want to adhere to the concept that nations can only exist among people who are genetically coupled and who's ancestry never cross some artificial boundary, be my guest. I think you're wrong.

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