Tel. +44 (0)20 7287 4414
Email. info@brugesgroup.com
Tel. +44 (0)20 7287 4414
Email. info@brugesgroup.com
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
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Bruges Group Blog

Spearheading the intellectual battle against the EU. And for new thinking in international affairs.
sheep-983137_128_20241127-112058_1 Fourteen Years BaaaBaaaBaaa

Fourteen Years

Pantomime has come early, every day we are treated to Labour MPs, advisors and commentators shrieking 'Fourteen Years'. Like a demented Animal Farm chorus line the phrase is repeated to answer everything from cigarettes to army numbers. Seemingly, the only talent required to become a senior minister in our new government is an adenoidal vowel destr...

  126 Hits
handshake-36806_1280 More than an agreement.

Explanation of the forthcoming EU-UK Defence and Security Pact 2025,

 1. The Labour Government intends to conclude a 'defence and security pact' ('The Pact') with the EU next year and the likelihood is 'almost certain'. No events which would prevent this pact are currently anticipated. The only factors which might delay or even prevent would be UK public outrage which would require public awareness and/or US Go...

  267 Hits
earth-237956_1280 It's a Madhouse!

INSANE

 Yet another COP event and yet more insanity and hypocrisy, not least from our Prime Minister who, by promising his eco pals at the COP 29 event which, after most of the delegates flying in from all over the globe in their private jets, with tables groaning under the weight of expensive food and drinks, as well as all the hot air, these events...

  321 Hits
liberty-1988107_1280 An Unlikely Saviour?

Common Sense?

Arguably the history of Britain, indeed the world has been damaged by 'religious fervour'. Experts and those claiming an elite right to rule have, through the ages, clung to beliefs that damaged society. When Robert Peel split the Tory party on free trade and led many, including Gladstone into opposition he espoused a sensible solution to the probl...

  392 Hits
alarm-3410065_1280 The only wat to get help?

Burn the Alarm

In the summer we had relatives visiting from Kyrgyzstan They wanted to see England, but also the Continent. We took them to Germany and Belgium. In Germany we stayed in a four star hotel I had enjoyed when I lived there. It's old and has a wonderful kitchen. It did not have a phone in the room. "Everyone uses mobiles these days", I was told. Even i...

  410 Hits
Taiwan Independence and Freedom

Taiwan Must Reject 'One China' Policy, Declare Independence

Many waves of world revolution find their common beginning in the "shot heard 'round the world" on the April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. An intellectual contagion would sweep through France (1789), Haiti (1804), and the rest of the American Hemisphere carrying the good news of the rights of man, modernity, and rationalism as opposed to obscu...

  392 Hits
Light-Bulb Stop the Boats

Stopping The Boats

                              "The Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is."  Winston S. Churchill, The Truth is Incontrovertible, (International Churchill Society; https://winstonchrchill.org/resou...

  445 Hits
ai-generated-8983837_128_20241008-110641_1 Work of the Future!

160% Tax?

A lasting regret of my time travelling in the ex Soviet Union is not having bought a postcard. In my mind I can still see the object of my regret. It was titled 'Sofia by Night'. The photo was of the main square in Sofia, Bulgaria. Brightly lit at night. No traffic, no people, not a dog, cat or owl, just an empty square. I never enjoyed my business...

  459 Hits
UK_US Reset Needed

US Foreign Policy and the US-UK Relationship Desperately Need a Reset from Biden and Harris

On October 3, Boris Johnson shared with The Telegraph his assessment that Donald Trump would have stopped Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine—a striking indictment of the current leadership vacuum in Washington under Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Johnson's claim should be a clarion call to any American voters who care about the West's geopolitical ...

  783 Hits
hol House of Lords

Constitutional Vandalism

We are in the second stage of Blair reforms. The dark shadow of the former PM hangs over the new Labour administration. This Blairite legacy was always about 'constitutional reform', Supreme Court, devolved powers and field sports were their aspiration. It was something to excite the Labour membership's turgid mentality. Now in 2024 with a big Comm...

  901 Hits
refugees-7046365_1280 Get Out While You Still Can

Flee Now

 When I wrote the article: 'How to destroy a country' for this esteemed blog, I meant it to be seen as a warning. Sadly, from their actions, it appears our Labour Government have used it as an instruction manual, they have taken the art of wrecking this nation to frightening new heights. During the run up to the July 4th general election Sir K...

  550 Hits
usa-1779925_1280

We need a referendum on Starmer's 'Change'

Starmer's government has saddled up for a full Parliamentary session but the question of Labour's legitimation remains. This is not merely a new administration but one with a comprehensive socialist plan it wishes to implement. The potential impact of 'Golden' Brown's grand strategy on our constitutional arrangements is arguably far greater than th...

  708 Hits
customs-douane-5230447_1280 Too Open?

Schengen's Reality Check

 I know the dangers of forming political opinions with a barman over a cold beer. I was in France's Perigord, normally a tourist hotspot. The mill-leat outside was busy with gushing water in stark contrast to bar trade. The barman told me that the season was catastrophic after such a wet early summer, then the French elections, European footba...

  566 Hits
tri-delta-651443_128_20240906-094835_1 Can Someone Match the Requirements

Leader of the Pack

The Conservative Party has not had much luck in choosing leaders. The first to be elected by ballot, rather than appointed, was Edward Heath and we can debate how successful that choice was for national sovereignty or otherwise another time. The most recent term of Conservative government contains the stream of ineffective leaders the Party did not...

  579 Hits
cartoon-5279643_1280 This was not in the Manifesto

The People Have Spoke

Very few people would have heard of the obscure American politician, Dick Tuck, but many may remember his famous quote after he lost the 1962 Senate Primary election, he said: "The people have spoke - the ba….d's". Those who follow political history will know that all Labour Governments are bad, they tax and regulate far too much and always end up ...

  519 Hits
alarm-clock-6125745_1280 Asleep to long!

The wars from the roses

"I beg your pardon," they never promised us a rose garden, but they did. The new Labour government is unravelling and blaming it on everyone but themselves, but mostly on the last government, the members of which seem strangely silent for an Opposition whose job it is to oppose. 'Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party'. Th...

  653 Hits
communism-157634_1280 Do we want this future?

SCUM !

When Angela Raynor, deputy Prime Minister, called Conservative voters Scum she was using a Socialist tactic. So too was David Lammy, now Foreign Secretary, when he described Conservative MP members of the ERG (a group that supports Brexit and Democracy) Nazis. When challenged he said the label was "not strong enough". Socialism has always been nurt...

  819 Hits
ai-generated-8974296_128_20240821-110200_1 All Lives Matter

All Lives Matter

Just a week before Christmas in 1947 I came into the world by cesarean operation in the long gone Loveday Street hospital in Birmingham. My home with my parents, Bert and Rose, was at the bottom of a yard where I then spent the next seven years of my life until my parents managed to organise a mortgage to buy their first house. Like many places aro...

  774 Hits
leader-2206099_1280 Follow Me

Conservative Leadership and Policy

The candidates for the Conservative leadership have been announced and are each hoping to be in the final two to be voted on by the membership. Why the Parliamentary Party ultimately get to restrict that choice is neither here nor there. It was in comparatively recent history that they themselves were not given that choice, but the leader was appoi...

  944 Hits
Flag-Collage Toward the Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Thugs?

During the reign of Tony Blair a slow fuse was lit under the values the vast majority of British people value as normal. Simply, democracy and fair play were the norm. Immigrants who happily integrated were welcome. Of course there were roughs who hate everybody, but by and large Britain was a success. Compared to most other countries with diverse ...

  1334 Hits
wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-2577813_1280 Which One Do You Believe?

The Friendly One

 There are three certainties that come with every Labour Government, these are: Labour always raise and find new ways to tax the population, they are hypocrites and every Labour Government has left office leaving the country in one hell of a mess. Sadly, nothing will deviate from this statement regarding our newly elected Socialist masters. As...

  1028 Hits
ai-generated-8629744_128_20240731-105916_1 Downward Trajectory?

The Downward Trajectory of American Politics

Not since the assassination attempt of the late US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., has there been an attempt on the life of a president or presidential nominee prior to last week. A 20-year-old male with no criminal history borrowed his father's rifle, made his way onto the roof of a warehouse 150 yards from where former President Dona...

  880 Hits
takebackcontrol

Reform-ing the UK Conservative Party

With ‘Constituency Strategy’

Reform and Trump have similar objectives. These have generally been mischaracterised as far right, but this new wave of populism is more about nationalism vs globalism than it is about left vs right. It is primarily concerned with what is seen as the theft of our national democracy in pursuant of global goals by international bodies that include th...

  1469 Hits
laundry Off to the Laundry!

Why the UAE is Becoming a Liability

The United Arab Emirates is causing increasing concern in democratic capitals. Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted western nations to impose sanctions on them. The purpose was to constrain Russia's ability to wage an illegal war through economic sanctions. Although a bullies appetite is never sated this has not deterred the UAE and to a lesser ex...

  775 Hits
surrender-4296604_1280 They Did Not Even Try

SURRENDER

We have just witnessed a six week long surrender culminating in a humiliating defeat that the vanquished have greeted with joy. The glad handing between Starmer and Sunak might lead people to imagine that England's footballers had triumphed, not that Sunak had failed. After the Conservative triumph in 2019, it quickly became obvious that the so cal...

  876 Hits
35 Bruges Group Coral Anniversary Reception

Bruges and the Future of Conservatism Coral Anniversary Reception

I'm just going to say a very few brief words to mark this occasion and to mark some of the very significant problems that the conservative party faces going forward. And frankly, it now has to decide whether it really wants to be the Conservative Party. Firstly, a little good news there's not much of it about I'm afraid but over the last few months...

  1051 Hits
break-2025036_1280 How Many More Times?

The 7th Brexit in History

 On 23rd June 2016 (St George's Day) the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union. This was an historic moment. We could say this was the 7th Brexit in history. And it is not complete yet, as we shall see. In effect, this was not the first Brexit, not the first time that Britannia separated her destiny from that of Europe. In 43 AD ...

  817 Hits
businesswoman-617134_128_20240629-171625_1 We are all Waiting

Keynesian Inspired Nightmare

Some years ago, at a Cambridge University event, I talked to a young lady PhD student. She explained that she was hoping for a career in HMRC or the Treasury. To boost her opportunity she was preparing her thesis on the subject 'Flat tax inefficiency and economic damage'. It was a social event and I did not engage her starry eyed subservience to or...

  875 Hits
ai-generated-8842232_1280 Great if you are Wealthy!

SOCIALISM FOR THE WEALTHY

The Labour Party of today came into being as we know it around 1900. Its roots lie in the trade union movement of the 19th century and thanks to such people as Keir Hardy the Labour Party was formed. However, there is an irony in the fact that over a hundred years later, the only people who can afford to vote for the party that was formed to repres...

  914 Hits
EU-Door A Door Not Worth Opening

Get Brexit undone?

Sir Keir Starmer's plans relating to the UK's future relationship with the EU are unclear, but then again, his ever-shifting image and (apparent) political position (embracing Corbynism and Blairism), in an attempt to appeal to both Left and Right, Middle and Working class, the old red wall and staunchly pro-EU constituencies, does rather confuse e...

  999 Hits
Starme_20240628-131731_1 A Future Nightmare?

Opaque not Transparent” or “How to Fool the Electorate Without Lying”

As we move ever closer to the 4th of July, we deserve to hear the plans of those parties most likely to form the next government – the detail, and how any 'wish-list' would be costed. Until detail is supplied, then any manifesto promise, or gimmicky card 'pledge' is meaningless, as there is nothing specific against which to hold a newly-elected gov...

  1147 Hits
think-1704831_128_20240627-075840_1 Steady!

Steady As You Go

Back in 1997 I walked the streets locally and knocked on doors with the Conservative candidate in what was regarded as a safe constituency. It was a thankless task, but a worthy one and in spite of a cold response and some derision he was elected with a respectable majority. I remember standing outside a polling station as a Labour van went by blar...

  972 Hits
chest-1293748_128_20240621-154655_1 Treasure for Some

Maxing-Out. The Recklessness of Local Authorities.

Multiple credit cards and a carefree attitude to paying-off bills was at one time the preserve of the more feckless section of society. These days it seems to be a universal ill of local finances and it is a trend that central government has fostered. As local authorities teeter on the brink of insolvency – indeed by any 'normal' accounting assessm...

  867 Hits
middle-finger-149667_128_20240618-072533_1 A Message from your Rulers

Where is the Centre?

Ask a child to tell you where their centre is and they'll point at their belly button. It's obvious. It's in the middle. Politicians of the legacy parties bleat incessantly about the 'Centre'. Apparently, no one ever won an election to anything unless they were precariously perched on a fence. Where has that got us? In reality the 'Centre' is the e...

  954 Hits
people-1602495_128_20240613-100605_1 Just to Many

Immigration a Conversation

ONS projections show a UK population increase of 6.6 million by 2036, of which 6.1 million will be due to immigration. Annual net migration of 315,000 will lead to a projected population increase of nine million people by 2046. That's eight cities the size of Birmingham. According to Migration Watch, "a child born today to an indigenous British cou...

  979 Hits
Sir-Christopher-Chop_20240529-155622_1 Sir Christopher Chope MP

A Conversation with Sir Christopher Chope MP

Transcript of the conversation: the Italicized script is Sir Christopher Chope's responses We are in conversation with Sir Christopher Chope, Conservative Member of Parliament for Southampton, Itchen from 1983 to 1992 and then Christchurch from 1997 onwards. Early in his career he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environmen...

  1284 Hits
ai-generated-8411998_128_20240528-153032_1 Five Minutes to Midnight

Success that Can Not Speak. Success Denied.

Words can define eras. Harold Wilson's government was full of people who, like their union paymasters, 'Acquiesced' so they could keep their jobs. Today, all of a sudden, all sorts of politicians, journalists and business people have discovered their contemporaries are guilty of egregious behaviour (not themselves of course). Are they all guilty of...

  976 Hits
ballot-1294935_128_20240524-164618_1 Democracy?

Of Our Hard Won Sovereignty

"Finished", "stuffed", "toast" . These have been the words and worse that many otherwise loyal Conservatives used about their own party recently. However, now that the election has been called in spite of such pessimism, there is hope for the beleaguered Tories.:  A week is a long time in politics, said Harold Wilson, so how much longer a...

  1056 Hits
vaccine-6649559_128_20240523-100335_1 Inject the World?

Who's Supporting the WHO?

 The World Health Organisation, with the support of governments, public-private agencies, profit-seeking multinational corporations, academic institutions, charities and foundations, has been allowed to become a medium for the international marketisation of medical tech and vaccines, and, if we are not careful, the use of these may become mand...

  1156 Hits
justice-7304992_128_20240509-125538_1 Skewed Justice is not Justice

European Convention & Court of Human Rights

Other reasons for getting out  I have put together some material which I think should help to get the UK out of the ECHR completely and thus, also, enable us to stop the small boats. The failure to achieve this has been given as a major reason for the Tories' forthcoming debacle. There are plenty of people, even in Parliament, who are upset ab...

  1477 Hits
ai-generated-8189191_128_20240422-125030_1 You will all do as you are told!

How To Destroy A Country

How to destroy a country may not be an everyday item on the minds of many as they go about their daily lives. Most people living in this country have other things to to think about such as their jobs or juggling the household finances, a big question may be, if they lash out on a treat will they have enough money left to pay the rent or the mortgag...

  1868 Hits
to-learn-2387228_128_20240419-134452_1 Simple Arithmetic

Simple Arithmetic

According to the experts, Kier Starmer will be Prime Minister by March next year at the latest. On one level it makes little difference. The Conservative Party is indistinguishable from the Liberal Democrats, they are indistinguishable from Labour. Starmer pretends that Labour has moved right, to the centre ground. The reality is that while Cameron...

  1271 Hits
ghost-ship-8306430_1280 Democracy Heading for the Rocks

Democracy on the Rocks?

The Tory party having abandoned Conservatism is now drifting like a metaphorical Marie Celeste. From the Heroic 80 seats to a potential near zero. An updated story of "From Hero to Zero". Rishi Sunak having usurped the leadership plays Captain Ahab uninterested in the calamity he has unleashed. The plan is working he cries while the Tempest rages. ...

  1559 Hits
wizard-4417511_128_20240310-133716_1 Fakery not Alchemy

AN IMPOSSIBLE FANTASY

Going back centuries alchemists were convinced they could turn base metals into gold, despite none of them being able achieve this, these days we laugh at them for their obvious foolishness and ignorance. Going forward in time, as machinery and technology advanced, a new breed of people were convinced they could invent a perpetual motion machine, l...

  1616 Hits
lenin-155794_1280 Socialist Nightmare!

It's the Hard Left, Stupid.

 Friday March 1st Rishi Sunak stood at a podium outside ten Downing Street. Like a trainee teacher lacking any form of sanction, he confronted a rebellious class. He did not quite say, "You are all very naughty", but it wasn't far-off. Lots of words, a threat to back the Police if they ever get off their knees. He had harsh words for two group...

  1390 Hits
niqab Is this our future?

Another Glorious Revolution, or a Caliphate?

We are in trouble. It started when Ted Heath told lies about the Common Market and its true intention. Since then, a certain type of self-serving politician has lied about everything from expenses to democracy. According to Nick Robinson, Lindsay Hoyle can be forgiven for caving into Starmer because, "he's only human and wants to keep his job". The...

  1523 Hits
rescue-phone-98582_128_20240207-105546_1 Forget Emergency Contacts

Digital Persecution

We live in a small village in Kent. Our 'Medical Centre' in the next large village has gone digital. Repeat prescriptions are only accepted if one uses the NHS Ap. It has a box where you can write a message. Oddly it has a notice stating "You can add a note about your prescription here. Your note may not be seen or replied to, so if you have an imp...

  1332 Hits
big-broth_20240202-140605_1 Is 1984 here?

War on Freedom: War on the Poor

Straws in the wind   The NHS The NHS is crumbling and cannot continue for much longer in its current form. Free healthcare for all at the point of need was possible in the late 1940s and early 1950s but with ever more costly and complex interventions this is no longer the case. None of the modern imaging equipment had been invented when t...

  1288 Hits

Reform or Revolution?

Reform or Revolution? This is the question. One way or another there will be no more "status quo" on our current course because: if Labour wins, we will have socialism; if things do not change, history shows there will be violence (a revolution). The parallels between the present and the French Revolution (as well as the fall of Rome) are self-evid...

  143 Hits
BA__20231214-115148_1 Brexit is Working

Brexit is Working

Reproduced with permission of Blue Anchor In this blog I'm going to run through the main economic consequences of Brexit. After the vote to leave The Guardian started a regular tracker to chart its impact on the economy. But as the Remainer predictions relentlessly turned to dust and the good news kept piling up, they quietly dropped this feature. ...

  1595 Hits
Shuttle Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

A year ago, I wrote suggesting that many of the current Conservative MPs would rue the day they ditched Boris. The blog was published in October 2022, and identified three key reasons why people had voted Conservative in the 2019 election: (1) Boris's call to 'get Brexit done' – this reflected the national mood when 'leave' won the referendum in 20...

  1421 Hits
technology-3762546_1280 A.I Part 2

A.I. Part 2 - Hidden threats: digital reputation and resilience by Frank Millard

 AI is a direct threat to formerly trustworthy and secure sources of information, image and data. In a recent open letter, AI-expert signatories of which included Elon Musk urged a pause in AI training to reflect and take stock. "AI research and development should be refocused on making today's powerful, state-of-the-art systems more accurate,...

  1936 Hits
technology-3762546_1280 Artificial Intelligence

A.I Part I -A dark cloud over tech by Frank Millard

 Far from being located in the sky, cloud data centres are very large and earthbound with real effects on energy security There are differing statistics on the amount of electricity drained by data centres globally, but it is substantial and as cloud expands to and within developing nations, it will increase. There were already around 3.6 bill...

  1273 Hits
tin-2535070_1280 The Government is Constipated

Cameron is Not the Tories Suppository

The conservative party is constipated. Bringing back Cameron makes it worse, not better. The One Nation group of MPs led by Damien Green are Europhile. Despite the failing performance of the EU's major economies they still worship the 'project'. It's hard not to believe that their shenanigans are not deliberate sabotage. They have no hope of rejoin...

  1178 Hits
Berlin Lessons Learned?

Has Germany Learned from its Past?

Germany is a relatively young country. Created as a 'Customs Union' it quickly became an Empire as Bismark consolidated power through a war with France. In 1871 all members of the Zoll Union became provinces of the Empire, with the exception of Luxembourg whose ruling Duke opted out. Bismarck introduced reforms such as health insurance, but mainly ...

  1149 Hits
unhappy-389944_192_20231206-110708_1 What does the future hold?

Fearing the Future

Kids can be very cruel, when I was at the start of my teenage years at school in 1961 the banter we used was often quite cutting. If anyone wanted to wind another lad up they would often use an insult using the abbreviation of a word which inferred the other lad's sexual leaning were not quite what was expected from a member of the male species. Th...

  1475 Hits
Bruges-Conference.jpg Bruges-Conference 25th November 2023

Barney Reynolds, Bruges Group Speech
25th November 2023

The UK's national governance is being corroded by a failure to identify and take the steps necessary to re-emerge as a sovereign country after leaving the EU. This is causing lower economic growth and an ungoverned clash of cultures which threatens the credibility of our system itself. The problem is that we are seeking to maintain large elements o...

  2567 Hits
pressure-3026568_128_20231114-115315_1 Contempt for the people

The Blob Triumphant

I have no idea whether Rishi Sunak worships Kali among his pantheon of Hindu Gods. His betrayal of Johnson and coup against Truss and the membership of the Conservative party certainly bear they hallmarks of the Thuggee sect that worshipped her. The word 'Thug' comes from the Hindu word 'Thag' which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Certainly it seem...

  1343 Hits
Suella

The straight forward response from Suella Braverman

The termination of Home Secretary Suella Braverman by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is evidently a calculated maneuver aimed at bolstering the stability of the Conservative Party and fortifying its electoral prospects in the imminent election. Braverman's successor, none other than David Cameron, the former leader of the Conservative Party, ousted in ...

  784 Hits
UK-Pictorial Where Has My Country Gone?

Where Has My Country Gone?

By  Dr Jonathan S. Swift On Saturday 14 October, I took my daughter to the Open Day at Manchester University. It is some five years since I have spent any length of time in Manchester, and I was shocked by what had happened to a once-vibrant and beautiful city. The most disturbing part of the whole experience was the seeming acceptance - dare ...

  2989 Hits
businessman-2798560_1280 Five Minutes to Midnight

A Moment so Brief it Never Happened

Women seem to provide us with consistently better common sense leadership than men. Leadership that reflects the values of the majority rather than a self-indulgent minority. Elizabeth 1, Queen Anne, Victoria, Margaret Thatcher all reflected the hopes and wishes of the people. All were proud of their country and their pride was matched by the ...

  1377 Hits
celebrating-1297377_1920 Thanks for the € Subsidy!

Danegeld and Cult Crash

The chief executive of Deutsche Bank Christian Sewing told a meeting in Frankfurt "We are not the sick man of Europe. But, it is also true that there are structural weaknesses that hold back our economy and prevent it from developing its great potential. And we will become the sick man of Europe if we do not address these structural issues now." Ac...

  1454 Hits
flag-1040565_1280 The Commonwealth of Nations

North and South in a new geopolitical dichotomy

.What used to be East and West is now the global North and South in a new geopolitical dichotomy. While not strictly ideologically divided, the ascendancy of (southern) BRICS members being largely economic, they and the whole Global South are increasingly defined politically according to their perceived history. Much is spoken about multipolarity b...

  1400 Hits
map-1019896_1280 UK - Great Britain & Northern Ireland

Our Nation State its Past, Present and Future. By Bob Lomas

The intellect of mankind has developed down through millennia which has facilitated his progression of understanding. Unfortunately the level of understanding is not, and has never been, universal due to group isolation and environmental limitations. On a world scale it has been and remains a long and very slow learning curve, its progression ...

  1622 Hits
G12 Is Freedom Under Threat?

The Elites: Myth or Reality?

The word 'elites' has come to mean a shorthand for 'the powers that be', which may include or be separate from and above one's elected representatives including international regulators that dictate to and restrict governments. This comprising an embryonic world government for whom and for which no one voted. According to various conspiracy theorie...

  1556 Hits
Derek-Bennett-1960s-passport-photo Off on an adventure!

Stealing Freedom of Movement

 The photo of me is from 1968 when I was young, beardless and fresh faced, it was one taken for my very first passport. In those days our British passports were wonderful things, they were dark blue with a hard cover and inside were the instructions from our Monarch to let the holder of the passport pass without let or hinderance. As I used th...

  1483 Hits
thumb-440352_1920-1 84 Wasted Years

Were all our tomorrows yesterday?

'Thirteen Wasted Years' is the war cry of Starmer's Labour party. To those who remember, it simply demonstrates that they have not got a new idea - on anything. The slogan was used by Wilson for the 1964 General Election. I suggest that the truth is that, apart from Thatcher, we have had 84 wasted years, well 79 if one deducts WW2. Neville Chamberl...

  1328 Hits
china-3303411_1280

Censorship is deadly

The danger of suppressing information and alternative views in matters of public interest is that it will likely lead to costly and lethal policy errors. Alastair Campbell says it is a shame that the UK does not jail politicians for misleading Parliament. Can he have forgotten that Blair assured the Commons that he knew - rather than was personally...

  1441 Hits
RO-Book World War II The First Culture War

World War II The First Culture War

Robert Oulds new book, 'World War II The First Culture War', is a remarkable literary accomplishment. This is history of a different sort. It looks in detail at nations, cultures and people and examines the reasons for events. Rather than a catalogue, with endless references, of events, it examines the reason for the event(s). When the events thems...

  1714 Hits
person-41402_1920 Panic

Predictable Panic and Populism

The by-election results have had a predictable effect on MPs of the two main parties. The real story is that because there is not a Conservative party to vote for, Tories stayed at home. With the exception of a minority of democrats still fighting to implement Brexit, the conservative party is now Labour-lite. The real Labour party in full throated...

  1420 Hits
world A World of Opportunity

Brexit is Working - Part TWO

We are pleased to publish this analysis by Sebastian James based on his blog at The Blue Anchor. PART TWO In part two we look at GDP growth. The dataset is here. Here is the graph:  Below is the section from 1956 when records began up to the 1975 referendum vote to remain:  I see a line going up from bottom left to top right. GDP grew fro...

  1602 Hits
Noose Strangled to Death

Inquisition Resurgent

As Cayetano Ripoll slowly choked to death on the Spanish scaffold, he would have been unaware that he was the last to suffer that fate at the hands of the Inquisition. They had demanded he be burned at the stake. As a compromise he was hanged, a slow death compared with the recently mandated garrote. Ripoll's crime was to have taught Deism, that th...

  1231 Hits
world A World of Opportunity

Brexit is Working

We are pleased to publish this analysis by Sebastian James based on his blog at The Blue Anchor.  PART ONE After the vote to leave The Guardian started a regular tracker to chart its impact on the economy. But as the Remainer predictions turned to dust and the good news kept piling up the Guardian quietly dropped this feature. So I'm reviving ...

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crying EU Loser Tantrum

The Seven Year Tantrum

Two weeks ago I wrote an article about the show trial of Boris Johnson. It attracted attention and comment on twitter. I have never looked at comments on the Bruges Twitter feed and it was a revelation. The level of spite and childish name calling was staggering. Since the removal of Boris the antics of EU acolytes and their rejoiner friends has be...

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Boot Treading on Justice

An Attack on Law and Democracy

The hatred of Brexit is so great that it seems its opponents are happy to destroy not just the rule of law, but democracy itself in their quest for vengeance. Those who deny this, should read the Guardian newspaper Opinion piece 13th June 2023 Titled "Brexit was Johnson and Johnson was Brexit. Now that he has gone, Britain must think again" Its sub...

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wolves-924358_1920 The Wolves (now Blooded) Circle…

Call to arms

The Conservative Party killed the golden goose and got a lame duck. The wolves (now blooded) circle… A former prime minister has not only been pushed from office, but chased out of Parliament as well. Did that happen to Neville Chamberlain? Did it happen to Edward Heath? These days, however, former leaders need to be extinguished as well as removed...

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Ukraine_and_Great_Britain_will_continue_to_strengthen_anti-war_coalition_-_Volodymyr_Zelenskyy_after_meeting_with_Boris_Johnson_in_Kyiv._51994994336 Like the Terminator he will be back

Boris is playing 8D Chess

'It is very sad to be leaving parliament - at least for now - but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias.' This resignation of Bojo first starting point was the kangaroo court that was image  of the modern po...

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Boris and the divided house

Boris Johnson's letter of resignation wonders how Harriet Harman's panel could have come to its conclusion: I have received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear - much to my amazement - that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament. That sense of injustice is reminiscent of Sir Thomas Mor...

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propaganda-3543257_1920 Ignore Facts

Answer the Question

Seven years after the Brexit referendum and three years since we actually left the EU project fear has intensified. Those who could never, and still cannot, explain why they want to be ruled by an unelected and democratically unaccountable president and 27 person commission, daily attack democracy. According to Osborne, Soros, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP...

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Tories: The Party's Over

It's time to call it a day. I'm not the only one saying it - ask Dominic Cummings, for another. The Party is moribund and we need to put it out of our misery. As for the Labour Party, that died a long time ago. New Labour gave a new meaning to the word 'New': 'Not.' Now it is a soft-handed version of revolutionary Communism, dedicated to the overth...

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The Persistence Of Memory

The Jewish Museum in Thessaloniki is carefully guarded. The man who let us in the outer door asked where we were from; it may have been more than polite interest. The inner door was electronically operated by another watchman in a shadowy cubbyhole. The first room held stone fragments from the centuries-old 80-acre Jewish cemetery outside the city'...

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Greece's Vampire Squid Rings

In 2010 journalist Matt Taibbi shot to a new level of prominence with his 'vampire squid' label for Goldman Sachs '… relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.' Greece's Establishment has chosen to use that as a model. In a moment, we will look at the official scam known as 'Hercules'. As with the concentration of p...

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face-4908263_1280 See Behind the Mask

The Conservative Party is Mr. Hyde

The Conservative party is in trouble. The problem is that most of its supporters and a few of its MPs don't understand its ethos. During most of the last century, fear of a rabid socialist party (Atlee's 1945 party was really communist) has conspired to keep the wool pulled over most voter's eyes. If Brexit had never happened this situation may hav...

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Greece's New Democracy

From Our Man In Thessaloniki Greeks go to the polls on Sunday to elect their national legislature. Voting is compulsory, even for Greeks abroad (as so many are, since the economy crashed), but the obligation is not enforced and the turnout in 2019 was less than 58%. Foreigners who are permanently resident may also take part (something that our Sir ...

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Sir-John-Redwood Rt Hon Sir John Redwood PC MP

The great western inflation should lead to changes at the Central Banks

John Redwood's Lecture, All Souls College, Oxford  Rt Hon Sir John Redwood will be giving a lecture on the great western inflation of the last two years. He will examine the role of the Central banks, explain how they could have avoided the general price rises, and ask how the Bank of Japan, the Swiss Central Bank and the People's Bank of Chin...

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Ten The Government are Not Listening

European Scrutiny Committee Letter To Rishi Sunak

European Scrutiny CommitteeHouse of Commons London SW1A 0AATel (020) 7219 3292 Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.parliament.uk/escom From: Sir William Cash MP 15 May 2023 Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak MP Prime Minister10 Downing StreetLondon SW1A 2AA Change in Government policy on Retained EU Law and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill Dear P...

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change-671376_1920 Change is Overdue

Reforming the House Of Lords

It was often said about the anatomy of a bumble bee, when looked at its shape and size of wings, that they should not be able to fly, but do. There are lots of things like bumble bees that should not work but do, the House of Lords in the days before Tony Blair got his meddling mitts on it worked reasonably well. In those days the majority of membe...

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What did we learn about the Conservative Democratic Organisation and Moggmentum Refreshing and something we needed to hear

What did we learn about the Conservative Democratic Organisation and Moggmentum

This Saturday, grassroot conservatives across the nation nestled in the city of Bournemouth to enlighten themselves with the refreshing back to basic Tory rhetoric. While enemies of Traditional Conservatives tried to thwart this event  as 4D Chess moves from Johnsonites (although repeatedly stated not a Pro-Johnson movement from the ...

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broken Broken Promises

Broken Promises

Rishi Sunak's government is consistent in one thing. It makes promises to implement policies clearly aimed at public support, only to, within a short period, to unfailing announce that it will not after all go ahead, or that oi might, but only at some indeterminate point in the future. Far from providing a reason to vote Conservative it is generati...

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The Woke Triumvirate Prime Minister: Keir Starmer (Left) Deputy Prime Minister: Ed Davey (Right)

The Woke Triumvirate

  He [Caesar] declared in Greek with a loud voice to those who were present 'Let a die be cast' and led the army across. — Plutarch, Life of Pompey, 60.2.9 The meaning of this quote from Plutarch describes the start of the Roman Civil War, Julius Caesar articularly describes that things have happened that can't be changed back. This was s...

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Out pops the cloven hoof

Yesterday (Thursday 11 May) was a wonderful demonstration of why we are blessed to have a sovereign Parliament. The Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch had informed the Press before telling Parliament about the decision to remove the deadline for abolishing hampering EU legislation. Coming to the House to explain, she began with an unfortunate turn of...

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Voting: the numbers game

The requirement for ID in Thursday's local elections has caused upset - Richard Murphy calls it 'a reversal of the right to vote.' At least he (correctly) thinks it's important. So does the EU, which is why it is post-democratic by design: its Parliament is nothing more than a talking shop. Moreover, the individual's ballot is swamped by sheer numb...

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Fatal Traction: How Bad Ideas Gain Currency In Government

Three years ago today (2nd May) my MP wanted to demonstrate her responsivity to her constituents, which makes a welcome difference from the types that have allegedly represented me in the past. Unfortunately, we have locally an equivalent to Theodore Roosevelt's 'hyphenated Americans': some people who wish to embroil us in foreign matters beca...

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What democracy?

We're still cutting the Lilliputian threads, but if we can prevent Remainer sabotage we shall be able to say that we're fully out of the EU. But then, so is North Korea. Rather than define our destiny negatively as against the puppet-empire in Europe, what positive vision should we have of Britain and our future? We talk of ourselves as a democracy...

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What is the EU for?

The EU has never quite decided on its mission statement and this has caused difficulties for itself and for us, even after our withdrawal. Its deepest roots lie in the desire to prevent a repeat of World War One. At the fateful Versailles peace conference in 1919 the French minister of commerce and industry, assisted by Jean Monnet, was seeking Eur...

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The Struggle for Liberty

As we approach the Coronation we can expect much malign and ill-informed comment from people who do not understand our political system. One reason for their ignorance will be the deplatforming of speakers who could put them right, such as the redoubtable David Starkey, shunned by the woke for their misrepresentation of an impatient and infelicitou...

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DS Civil Service Replace Elected Government

An Anonymous Tyranny

Adam Tolley's report on the behaviour of Dominic Raab is flawed. The accusations were plainly coordinated between departments and were 'afterthought' accusations that would have been dismissed by an employment tribunal. Of the accusers "Only some of those individuals had any direct experience of the DPM (Deputy Prime Minister - Raab); some had neve...

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face-5478733_1920 Tyranny

The Tyrants of the Future

Cecil Rhodes once said: "to be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life". As a baby boomer growing up and going to school in the 1950's and early sixties, being taught to be proud of my country, our history, empire and its development into the Commonwealth, I always felt extremely privileged to be born British and fully agreed with...

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2474152_1920 A Divided Country

The Windsor Framework is dangerous

The delicate balance of the Good Friday Agreement should be protected  By Derrick Berthelsen Reprinted by permission of the Critic Magazine There are many reasons to vote against the Windsor Framework changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Several excellent articles have been published outlining why — in this and other periodicals — but tod...

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rejected-5250678_1920__20230330-144103_1 The Blob Rejects Democracy

The EU Lobby’s Repudiation of UK Independence

The repudiation of the sovereignty of the UK's people by a pro EU elite has always been a puzzle. It is a puzzle because not one of them was able to explain their reason. In the absence of a cogent argument, independence opponents resorted to 'Project Fear' during the referendum campaign on leaving the EU. Blood curdling threats were rolled out exp...

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Chairman: Barry Legg
 
The Bruges Group
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Vice-President : The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick,
Chairman: Barry Legg
Director : Robert Oulds MA, FRSA
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Head of Media: Jack Soames