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George Galloway dismissed suggestions from Nicola Sturgeon over Scotland applying to join the European Union once independent from the United Kingdom. The Scottish First Minister was refused a new independence referendum earlier this year after a campaign in which she claimed Brexit would have a devastating impact on the national economy, calling on Scots to back her plans to become an EU member state in the future. But Mr Galloway pointed out one single EU state could block any Scottish attempt to accede the union because of concerns of a domestic break.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Galloway said: "It only takes one vote to veto it. That vote would most likely come from Spain, but it could come from Italy, too.

"The Spanish would have to think very carefully about voting to allow a breakaway part of Britain to enter the EU because there are plenty of breakaway parts in Spain that would like to do the same thing.

"Moreover, very foolishly the Scottish Government, the SNP, have gotten themselves way too deeply involved in the Catalonia question giving asylum to fugitives from Spanish justice, waving the Catalan flag at every opportunity, both literally and metaphorically.

"They have done everything they could to enrage the Spanish state. You certainly cant rule out Spain would cast a nay vote on that."

JUST IN: Historic moment EU chiefs sign off Brexit deal as UK one week from freedom

Scotland refused Spanish requests to extradite Clara Ponsat, the former Education Councillor of the Generalitat of Catalonia, over the role she played in the disputed independence referendum of October 1, 2017.

The Catalan economist, the former director of the School of Economics and Finance at the University of St Andrews, initially went into exile in Belgium after the Spanish Government threatened her with arrest after the Constitutional Court of Spain declared the referendum to break away from Madrid unconstitutional.

Despite warning Spain would likely veto Scotland's request to become a member state, Mr Galloway suggested Brussels could be willing to accept Ms Sturgeon's request should she secure the independence from the UK.

He continued: "A kind of schadenfreude would guide the European Union to accept Scottish entry into the union, but only on the fiscal rules.

READ MORE: Angela Merkel demands Brussels develop 'stronger' voice as Brexit crisis about to explode

"The EU cannot afford to allow Scotland a deficit of 12 percent because if Scotland can have a deficit of 12 percent, then so could they all. In this case, the European Central Bank and the euro are bankrupt.

"But they might for reasons of discomforting the remaining British state."

Appetite for a second referendum on Scottish independence grew following the Brexit decision, where 62 percent of Scottish voters chose to remain, with 38 percent voting to leave.

Petitioning Boris Johnson, Ms Sturgeon requested that the question of independence once again be put to the Scottish people for a final decision.

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However, in a decisive move, the Prime Minister formally rejected the bid, putting his foot down on the issue.

In a copy of the correspondence to the First Minister posted on Twitter, Mr Johnson told Ms Sturgeon you and your predecessor made a personal promise that the 2014 Independence Referendum was a once in a generation vote.

As a result, the Prime Minister said he could not agree to any request for a transfer of power that would lead to further independence referendums.

Mr Johnson went on to state that another referendum could continue the political stagnation Scotland has seen for the past decade.

He said: It is time that we all worked to bring the whole of the United Kingdom together and unleash the potential of this great country.

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Galloway names the ONE 'enraged' EU state that would destroy Sturgeon's hopes to join EU - Express

George Galloway said the UK now has the advantage in its trade talks with the EU, which he described as scrambling to keep up with us. In a scathing assessment of the European Union and its chief Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Galloway said that they need us more than we need them. He pointed out the European economies were on the edge of recession and could not withstand a disruption in trade with the UK.

This comes after Boris Johnson has signed the Brexit withdrawal agreement in Downing Street.

That paves the way for ratification by the European Parliament next week to ensure a smooth UK departure from the EU under the terms of the withdrawal agreement.

The Prime Minister hailed a "fantastic moment" for the country after he put his name to the historic agreement.

Earlier on Friday, the presidents of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council Charles Michel,signed the document in Brussels, before it was transported to London by train.

JUST IN:Royal fury: Boris Johnson's unusual complaints about Queen exposed

Speaking to RT, Mr Galloway said Brexit was the culmination of a fight he had been involved in since 1975.

He explained: Now we are about to achieve it. We leave the faded and failing economies of the EU behind us and we go into the world.

He attacked European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council Charles Michel as those two nameless individuals" before boasting that "they will only be ruling us until the end of the month.

Mr Galloway continued: They were amongst the people telling us there would never be a Brexit deal. Now they are a scrambling to get a deal done!

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George Galloway PERFECTLY tears apart von der Leyen and reveals EU 'scrambling' on Brexit - Express

European Commission set out its ideas for shaping the Conference on the Future of Europe, which should be launched on Europe Day, 9 May 2020 and run for two years. The Communication adopted is the Commissions contribution to the already lively debate around the Conference on the Future of Europe a project announced by President Ursula von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines, to give Europeans a greater say on what the European Union does and how it works for them. The Conference will build on past experiences, such as citizens dialogues, while introducing a wide range of new elements to increase outreach and strengthen ways for people to shape future EU action. The Conference will allow for an open, inclusive, transparent and structured debate with citizens of diverse backgrounds and from all walks of life. The Commission is committed to follow up on the outcome.

The Commission proposes two parallel work strands for the debates. The first should focus on EU priorities and what the Union should seek to achieve: including on the fight against climate change and environmental challenges, an economy that works for people, social fairness and equality, Europes digital transformation, promoting our European values, strengthening the EUs voice in the world, as well as shoring up the Unions democratic foundations. The second strand should focus on addressing topics specifically related to democratic processes and institutional matters: notably the lead candidate system and transnational lists for elections to the European Parliament.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, commented: People need to be at the very centre of all our policies. My wish is therefore that all Europeans will actively contribute to the Conference on the Future of Europe and play a leading role in setting the European Unions priorities. It is only together that we can build our Union of tomorrow.

Dubravka uica, Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, stated: We must seize the momentum of the high turnout at the last European elections and the call for action which that brings. The Conference on the Future of Europe is a unique opportunity to reflect with citizens, listen to them, engage, answer and explain. We will strengthen trust and confidence between the EU institutions and the people we serve. This is our chance to show people that their voice counts in Europe.

A new public forum for an open, inclusive andtransparent debate

The Commission sees the Conference as a bottom-upforum accessible to people well beyond Europes capitals, from all corners ofthe Union. Other EU institutions, national Parliaments, social partners,regional and local authorities and civil society are invited to join. Amultilingual online platform will ensure transparency of debate and supportwider participation. The Commission is committed to taking the most effectiveactions, with the other EU institutions, to integrate citizens ideas andfeedback into EU policy-making.

Background

All Members of the College will play their part in helping to make the Conference a success, with Vice-President uica leading the Commissions work on the Conference, supported by Vice-President Jourov on the institutional strand, as well as Vice-President efovi on the foresight and inter-institutional side.

The European Parliament and the Council are alsoworking on their contributions to the Conference on the Future of Europe. The European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2020 called for an open and transparentprocess which takes an inclusive, participatory and well-balanced approachtowards citizens and stakeholders. Meanwhile, the European Council conclusions of 12December 2019 called on the CroatianPresidency to begin work on the Councils position. The Croatian Presidency hasitself listed the Conference among its Presidency Priorities.

After this, it is of crucial importance that the three institutions work together towards a Joint Declaration to define the concept, structure, scope and timing of the Conference on the Future of Europe, as well as setting down its jointly agreed principles and objectives. This Declaration will later be open to other signatories including institutions, organisations and stakeholders. National and regional Parliaments and actors have an important role to play in the Conference and should be encouraged to hold Conference-related events The Commission underlines in its contribution today that it is commited to follow up on the outcomes and recommendations of the different debates.

The Commission proposes to officially launch theConference on Europe Day, 9 May 2020 70 years after the signing of theSchuman Declaration and 75 years after the end of the Second World War.

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EU and 16 WTO members agree to work together on an interim appeal arbitration arrangement - Modern Diplomacy

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The Syrian Refugee crisis has become a devasting disaster in the recent memory resulting in the death of Innocent Civilians, including Women, children, elderly and other vulnerable people. The available data suggest that the Syrian crisis has taken the lives of around 200,000 people and out of which an approximate 8000 documented killings of Children who have not attained the age of 18. The Population of Syria is approximately 22 million, of which the crisis has resulted in 7.6 million Internally Displaced Person, and additionally 3.2 million refugees. Moreover, the crisis has put a population of around 12.2 million in the immediate need for humanitarian assistance.[1]

Most of the Refugees from the Syrian flee to their neighbouring countries like Jordan, Lebanon, and turkey, and the number of Refugees reaching these countries are 600,000,1.14 million, and 1.6 million, respectively. Besides this, Syrians are also seeking shelter in Egypt, Iraq and some of the EU union nations like Greece, Italy and Germany. The Influx of refugees in these countries has propped up new challenges like physical protection, shelter, health, education, employment of these incoming people.[2]

The plight of these people has become increasingly dangerous as countries like Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon has no obligation to treat Syrians as refugees because they are not Signatories to the refugee convention of 1951 and its associated optional protocol. Hence the international responsibility of these countries to protect these people are legally absent. Another country that hosts most of these Syrians is turkey, and it is a signatory to the refugee convention 1951. But turkey has a geographical limitation on the Refugee convention of 1951 by making its obligation only applicable to the refugees from European Union Area who were affected by the events before January 1951. Hence the responsibility of Turkey concerning Syrian Refugees have been Negated by this Limitation.

However, Turkeys Obligation is different from other countries by being a member of the European Union. Besides Turkey, other European Union nations have also taken some of the burdens of the Syrian Population like Greece, Italy and Germany. Hence it becomes the Response of the EU to Syrian crisis becomes paramount in reducing the pain and degradation suffered by the Syrian Population. Besides Refugee Convention some of the Instruments that apply to Refugees in the area of European Union Includes association agreement in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership more famously known as Beijing declaration, European Neighbourhood policy instrument, Global Approach to Migration

and Mobility. In the backdrop of these legal instruments, it is vital to analyse the Response of the European Union to the Syrian crisis. This paper will trace the Syrian crisis from its origin and the Response of the European Union Nations to this conflict from the refugee law perspective.

The Syrian crisis started with the peaceful uprising against the president as a pro-democratic movement during the Arab spring in 2011. Even before the crisis began, there has been massive disenchantment with Syrian people against its president due to massive unemployment, corruption, and oppression. The Arab spring in the neighbouring countries gave a considerable impetus to the social, economic and political injustice felt by the Syrian People. Soon the peaceful uprising turned violent, and a large-scale civil war broke between the government and opposition supporters whose aim was to overthrow Dictatorship of the President.

Syria is a vast plural country comprising of the various ethnic groups like Sunnis, Shias, Alawis and Kurds. This plurality and diversity of opinion have given catalyst to the uprising and has been a source of exploitation for the international players to take sides based on their self-interest. Moreover, The Syrian Crisis has slowly transformed into a sectarian religious war between the majority Sunni Muslim community against the Shias Alawite sect of the president. The Religious Sectarianism has led to the further mushrooming of the fundamentalist jihadist groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaida to flourish. Another key player in this struggle is the Syrian Kurds who demand the right of self-government.[3]

Kurds are the ethnic minority people living in countries like Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Alongside Arabs, they form a critical ethnic group in the Syrian Region. The Kurds live mostly in the northern part of Syria bordering turkey. The Kurds got involved in the Syrian crisis to protect their territory from the chaos of the Syrian civil war. The warring factions in Syria to the following groups

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Countries like Russian and Iran support the pro-government militias. On the other hand, Countries like Turkey, USA, and several other gulf states who subscribe to the Sunni ideology of Islam have supported the forces fighting the ruling party. Additionally, the government had the backing of Lebanons Hezbollah and other militias from Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Each International power has different interests and motivations to be involved in the conflict. For, Example, one of the motivating factors for the turkey to support the rebel is to contain the spread of Kurdish forces in the north, whom the turkey believes may affect their internal security.[4]

The international Legal Refugee Protection has two Fundamental Principles namely the Principle of Burden Sharing and The Principle of Non-Refoulment

The modern Refugee law has origins from the mid of the twentieth century after the second world war. The International Legal Refugee Protection has a crucial concept called the Burden Sharing. According to this concept, it is the responsibility of the international community to offer protection and shelter to the refugees. According to this Principle, the refugee problem is the concern of the entire humanity. From the perspective of the Syrian crisis, the International Community is bound by a higher moral norm because most of the Developed Nations are involved in the Syrian crisis in some form or other.

Another Fundamental Principle of Refugee law is the Principle of Non-Refoulment. According to this Principle, the states cannot return foreign nationals to their home territory where they are subjected to torture, inhuman treatment or where their lives and freedom might be at risk. Also, The Principle is reflected in the following international instruments Geneva convention relating to the status of refugees, United Nations Convention on

Torture and other cruel, Inhuman or degrading treatment or Punishment which possess the prohibition of refoulment.

The principles of Refugee protection and the Right to Asylum have in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Article 14(1) of the universal declaration of Human Rights, it has been stated that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. In terms of the International Institutions, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the main body responsible for providing international protection to the refugees. The Key Function of the UNHCR in the Syrian Crisis is to assist the refugees of Syria in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey. According to its mandate, its primary function is to promote the conclusion and ratification of international conventions for the protection of refugees, supervising their application and proposing amendments thereto[5]

Some of the key provisions of the International Law about Refugees Include the following:

The International refugee law is derived from two main sources

The 1951 refugee convention and its 1967 optional protocol has the following obligations to the state parties under the convention like Recognising those fleeing from war zones as refugees,

The major European countries where the Syrians have applied for asylums include Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Belgium etc. As of 2011, nearly 112,000 Syrians are living in the regions of the EU. It is believed that these Syrians are helping the refugees from Syria to reside in Eu without applying for asylum status. The Refugees from Syria reach the Eu through the land, sea and air routes. There has been a wide discrepancy between the

number of people fleeing and crossing Syria to the number of people being registered as asylum seekers or migrants in Europe. Hence it brings to the notice that many Syrians reach Europe unnoticed, which can be a huge challenge for the International Organizations like UNHCR to target and provide help to the Refugees who flee the conflict zone.

The approach of the European Union to the Syrian crisis can be grouped under the following actions, namely external and internal. The External responses include assisting the Syrian people by humanitarian assistance and, implementing a Regional protection programme in which a resettlement programme for the refugees within the EU region is envisaged. At the same time, the internal response mechanism includes increasing border security, granting asylum to several Syrians and, refraining from forcibly returning the Syrians to their homeland by rejecting asylum status.

The European Union countries also provide monetary support to the Refugees fleeing for their lives from Syria. According to European commission justice and home affairs council, the member states of the European Union has approximately provided 230 million in humanitarian assistance to the Syrian crisis. The European Commission claims that this comes around 53% of the international response making it the leading international donor in the Syrian crisis. Moreover, because the fundamental problem in the Syrian crisis is a political issue the EU has tried to bring about political change in the situation Syrian Region by bringing about the political change reflecting the pluralistic character the Syrian community.

Providing food, water, shelter and medicine to the displaced persons forms the core of the humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees. Through the channels of the Red Cross and other Ngo, the EU makes sure that Humanitarian Assistance reaches the Syrian refugees. However, some of the other actions by the European Union to the Syrian crisis has not conformed with the object and purpose of the International Refugee law and other Human Rights Convention.

The EU is taking external actions about the Syrian crisis by trying to bring political change in the Syrian Region and providing humanitarian assistance to the Victims. The ways

of political measures include imposing economic sanctions on the ruling Syrian government and by also terminating EU-Syrian bilateral cooperation.

Furthermore, the EU is taking several measures like condemning the Ruling regimes action through UN resolutions and calling for investigations about the rights abuses perpetrated by the regime.[6]

As the means of Internal action, the Eu states are taking strong measures by increasing security along their Border to prevent the Influx of refugees from these areas. For Example, Greece, which is an Eu nation that has been receiving Syrian refugees, has deployed additional forces in its Border, and this has significantly reduced the inflow of the refugees. This response mechanism is in complete violation of the Principle of Non-Refoulment Discussed. According to this Principle, the states which are party to the Refugee convention of 1951 and its optional protocol cannot return persons seeking asylum to their state of origin or prevent them from fleeing the war zone.

Thus, the Internal response mechanism adopted by the EU Countries is in Completely violation of its obligation under the International refugee law and its Core principles.

In conclusion, the action taken by the European Union nations has not in spirit satisfied the objective and purpose of the International Refugee Law. Some of the action taken by the European Union in form internal actions may jeopardise the wellbeing of the refugees and violate the Principle of the Non-Refoulment. Also, the European Union in addition to the Principle of the Burden sharing has special responsibilities towards Syrian refugees because it has actively engaged in armed combat operations in the Syrian Region by offering indirect help to armed militias which wage war against the authoritarian government. The European Union should be more welcoming of the Refugees from the Syrian Region and offer them full Refugee status under the Principles of the Refugee convention 1951. Granting Refugee status and providing them with asylum status is Vital to preserve the peace and stability of the Middle East and the Eastern European Regions like Greece, Turkey, Italy.

In order to fulfil the obligations under the Principle of Burden sharing, the European Union nations could initiate measures like providing proper educational opportunities in schools colleges and further following it with the adequate employment opportunities for the Syrians. Additionally, the European Union countries need to diffuse any misconceptions about these refugees as an internal security threat. The research has time and again proved

that refugees do not constitute a threat to inner peace and in most cases, they lead a peaceful life helping the host countries economically.

Also, refugees must be allowed to practise their religion peacefully in asylum countries without any discrimination and fear. In this regard, the government may facilitate access to religious sites and provide adequate security to the refugees when practising their religion. The most important step the European Union countries could take is to refrain from taking harsh measures in their border region against the incoming refugees because this endangers the lives of the refugees. The European Union is obligated both by international law and through high moral norm to respond to this crisis in a humane manner. The Positive Response by the European Union to the Refugee Crisis will contribute immensely to the Global and Regional Stability of the Middle East Region.

References:

[1] The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Refugees, Conflict, and International Law. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.democraticprogress.orginfo@democraticprogress.org+44

[3]Why is there a war in Syria? BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved December 30, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229

[4] Who Are the Kurds, and Why Is Turkey Attacking Them in Syria? The New York Times. (n.d.). Retrieved December 30, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/world/middleeast/the-kurds-facts-history.html

[5] The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Refugees, Conflict, and International Law. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.democraticprogress.orginfo@democraticprogress.org+44

[6] Fargues, P., & Fandrich, C. (2012). MPC-Migration Policy Centre The European Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis What Next?

By, MrBlessan M, LLB In IP Law, IIT KharagpurPresently pursuing LLM in Human Rights Law from National Law School India, Bangalore

Summary

Article Name

Syrian Refugee Crisis and The Response of the European Union

Description

The Syrian crisis started with the peaceful uprising against the president as a pro-democratic movement during the Arab spring in 2011. Even before the crisis began, there has been massive disenchantment with Syrian people against its president due to massive unemployment, corruption, and oppression.

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Syrian Refugee Crisis and The Response of the European Union - thepolicytimes.com

BRITAIN took its first innocent step into the quicksands of Europe on January 1, 1973, led through the nose by devious Tory PM Ted Heath.

On Friday, exactly 17,197 days later, we will be out.

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We cheerfully joined the six original member states in what the Prime Minister promised was no more than a Common Market of trading nations.

In those optimistic early years even The Sun was an enthusiastic supporter.

As was new Tory leader Margaret Thatcher, who paraded in a garish pullover featuring the flags of nine member states at the referendum in 1975.

Today we can claim to have been a major force in the long-running campaign to leave.

In the 1980s we waved the British flag and stormed the battlements of Brussels.

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We were repulsed in more ways than one. But we never abandoned the fight to run our own country.

Today, with foreign cash flooding into the UK economy, new jobs and rising prosperity, we can claim we did our bit.

By the time we finally break free at 11pm on Friday, in a blaze of celebratory fireworks, we will have spent nearly half a century at the heart of Europe.

Most of us will be glad to wave goodbye.

We will retake command of our borders. Germany can invite as many unvetted migrants as it likes. We will not be bound by the European Court of Justice.

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The Queen, privately believed to be a staunch Brexiteer, has signed our release. Her consent to the Withdrawal Act delivers Boris Johnsons 2016 Brexit pledge: Take Back Control.

The EU anthem, Beethovens Ode To Joy, struck a sour note for many British voters especially our fishermen, who saw their billion pound industry gobbled up by marauding foreign fleets.

For all Ted Heaths sly denials, his goal from the outset was to bind the whole continent into a federal superstate a country called Europe. Then, in 1990, a bombshell document revealed how he sold us down the river.

Lord Chancellor Lord Kilmuir, the Governments most senior law officer, had warned him of serious surrenders of sovereignty which ought to be brought out into the open.

Heath ignored the warning, kept it under wraps and pressed on into Europe. The Sun was among the first to spot the covert and hotly denied plot to build a superstate.

We became the siren voice of disillusioned voters against Brussels meddling in what Europhile Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd called every nook and cranny of public life.

We made life hell for faceless bureaucrats and dud EU politicians. We were denounced as scaremongers. Other countries struggled in vain against power-grabbing regulation and slippery treaty changes.

Brussels own EuroStat polls revealed deep misgivings among its 500million citizens over the drive to centralise power over currencies and borders.

During the 2016 Brexit campaign, the anti-EU mood was even stronger in France. President Emmanuel Macron admitted he would not dare risk a referendum there.

He remembered the 1990s, when France, Ireland and Denmark balked at a pan-European Constitution turning them into EU colonies. They voted No only to be told to keep voting until they got it right.

Eventually the Constitution was imposed by stealth as the Lisbon Treaty and the EU decided never to risk consulting the people about anything ever again.

In the 1980s, the Commission launched an experiment, aptly known as The Snake, to abolish national currencies.

We raised the alarm, but in 1990 the European Commission president Jacques Delors pressed ahead with plans for the ill-fated euro.

Our stunning Page One headline, Up Yours Delors, published that year on November 1, has echoed down the decades.

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Thousands of Sun readers heeded our call to face East at noon, and bawl at Gaul.

In a pincer movement, we invaded Brussels with an armoured car full of Page 3 girls.

Our offensive was greeted with thin smiles...of panic. The Sun and its coverage of EU twists and turns became compulsory reading in the chancellories of Europe.

I was told our stories and editorials dominated Foreign Office cables to embassies across the EU.

In the battle to save the Pound, it really was The Sun what won it.

It was this newspaper that stopped Tony Blair, then all-powerful after two election triumphs, from scrapping Sterling and signing up to the single currency without a referendum.

With The Sun in opposition, he had no chance of winning.

Today, our stand is vindicated.

Despite Project Fears darkest predictions, the UK economy as we prepare to leave is growing faster than any other country in Europe.

Our jobless tally has plunged to 3.8 per cent the nearest thing to full employment and the envy of the blighted eurozone.

Millions of jobless young Europeans have flocked here in search of work they cannot find at home. Foreign firms are lining up to invest in UKplc.

The number of French people living in London is enough to make it Frances sixth-biggest city.

Brussels deepest fear is a Pied Piper effect as other member states watch the UK break free from an undemocratic political bloc and follow suit.

As The Suns Political Editor for 23 years, I enjoyed a ringside seat at summits and conferences around Europe, alongside Prime Ministers from Thatcher to Blair.

The power of nation states, leached away to Brussels, was the issue at every gathering.

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In the end, it brought down arguably Britains greatest peace-time Prime Minister.

Margaret Thatchers final blazing act of defiance before she was kicked out of office is seared in my memory.

She told a cheering House of Commons: What is the point of trying to get elected to Parliament only to hand over your Sterling and hand over the powers of this House to Brussels?

She accused Jacques Delors of diverting Parliaments power to tame MEPs, an unelected Commission and an unaccountable Council of Ministers.

No. No. No! she stormed.

Days later, she was out of office. But her words became a rallying cry to the Conservative Partys army of Eurosceptics.

These were the Tory bastards who made life hell for John Major as he signed the Maastricht Treaty, clearing the way for political and economic union.

They were the swivel-eyed lunatics who eight years later fought the euro, which was the greatest act of economic self-harm in peacetime Europe.

Britain thankfully kept its own currency. They were Sun readers who flocked to Nigel Farages Ukip and, later, his lethally effective Brexit Party.

From the very start, Brussels has been besieged by allegations of cheating and corruption.

In 1999, the entire European Commission including Transport Commissioner and ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock were forced to quit amid damning claims of fraud and nepotism.

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Ironically, Kinnock had started political life, along with Tony Benn and pet parrot Jeremy Corbyn, as ardent anti-marketeers only to jump aboard the EU gravy train as a well-paid Commissioner, together with his wife, Glenys, and son, Stephen, now a Labour MP.

Even Kinnock could not match scheming svengali Peter Mandelson, whose road to riches began as EU Trade Commissioner with controversial links to Russian aluminium oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

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It was this twisted relationship with Brussels and Labours chaotic stance on Brexit which among other things cost them the last election.

How will it end?

Britain will thrive and prosper. Without us, and our 14billion a year, the European Union will struggle to survive.

The Key Rows

June 5 1975 FIRST REFERENDUM

BARELY two years after joining, a referendum was held on whether to stay in. Labour PM Harold Wilson backed Remain against a majority in his own party. He failed to persuade his wife Mary to vote in favour but two-thirds of voters took his advice and voted to stay in the bloc.

Nov 1 1990 Up Yours, Delors

OUR legendary front page headline was in response to European Commission president Jacques Delors efforts to force us into a European superstate. Margaret Thatcher was fiercely opposed and his plans melted away.

Feb 7 1992 Maastricht Treaty

PM John Major signed away much of Britains sovereignty in the treaty that formed the newly named European Union. The UK did win some opt-outs from the single currency and social chapter but critics say it still undermined the supremacy of our Parliament.

May 1 2004 EU Enlargement

LABOUR PM Tony Blair opened the door to migrants from ten new member states including seven from the ex-Soviet bloc without the restrictions imposed by Germany, France and Italy. Estimates of 13,000 migrants a year were wildy off the peak figure of 252,000 in 2010 alone.

June 23 Second Referrendum

AFTER being elected Ukip leader in 2006, Nigel Farage drove the campaign for an in-out referendum, something that had often been promised but never delivered. With support for Ukip threatening to deprive David Cameron of victory in the 2015 General Election, the Tories pledged to hold a referendum if they won. The historic vote came on June 23 the next year.

Dec 12 2019 General Election

FOLLOWING a bitter three years of Brexit wrangling on top of five decades of disputes over the EU the question is finally settled by a General Election. The public give Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority, enabling him to break the deadlock and finally deliver on the referendum result. It was a big swing on the indecisive 2017 election that saw then-PM Theresa May lose her majority.

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Original post:
The 17,197 days of Britain being throttled by Europeans as we break free on Friday - The Sun