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Former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom points the finger at ‘egotistical’ Eurosceptic leaders

The ‘foghorn diplomacy from Eurosceptic leaders sniping at each other’ has to end if the continent is ever to return to ‘a Europe of sovereign nations’ – writes controversial MEP Godfrey Bloom in his first major article since leaving UKIP

I was elected in 2004, a year when Euroscepticism was only beginning to emerge as a political force in the United Kingdom and, indeed, across the European political spectrum. There was no serious coordination between parties but a loose arrangement of groups within the European Parliament. It was and is a pragmatic arrangement, which facilitates committee placements and speaking time. It is invaluable to the leaders and indeed to backbench MEPs with more than average speaking ability and sense of purpose.

The tide of Euroscepticism is now sweeping Europe, particularly strong in the southern states where membership of the eurozone has all but destroyed economies and youth unemployment hovers at around 50 per cent. With the exception of Germany, youth unemployment is rising steadily elsewhere and industry is suffocated by regulation and a suicidal energy policy that far eastern competitors observe in bewildered disbelief. Look to the political, bureaucratic and big business elite fed by political and intellectually corrupt public service broadcasting in all the European Union member states – the BBC allegedly being a prime example – and the ordinary voter is completely disillusioned.

Major empires throughout history have been secured and maintained on the divide and rule principle. Even the enlightened British were masters of this arrangement, ruling the world’s greatest ever empire which a handful of civil servants. The EU is intellectually corrupt in my view. The main complaint by voters is the waste and cost. The accounts have not received audit approval for nearly 20 years. A criminal offence in the world of commerce.

However the real, much bigger, scandal is the political dishonesty. The great lie that somehow the EU infrastructure is democratic. This is laughable to countries whose parliamentary democracies; constitutional monarchies and republics go back centuries. Many though are new to democracy, not just the recently joined ex-Warsaw Pact but Spain and Portugal as well as major players like Germany and Italy are new countries by historical standards; conceived in the 19th century, younger in fact than the United States of America.

Economic prosperity papers over the cracks of democratic failure. No one goes to the barricades with a full stomach, two cars and several holidays a year. The people are now clamouring for explanations. Where did it all go so wrong? Even in Germany, debt is 80 per cent of gross domestic product and living standards for ordinary Germans have not improved since 2005. Incidentally, when they realise they are owed €700bn by the shadow banking system – which can never be repaid – look out for serious trouble reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s.

Yet major block groupings in the parliament are Europhile. They stick together like glue. The sceptics are split. Dotted about the chamber with no coherent voice. In 2011 I started a Eurosceptic party group, the European Alliance for Freedom. The objectives were simple. A loose federation of elected MEPs who wanted a Europe of sovereign nations. That was and is the mission statement. It would be absurd to expect members to agree on domestic policy.

This seems to be a pre-nuptial style agreement requirement for some party leaders. What would I care about the domestic policy of another member? Abortion, nationalisation, immigration and public spending. It is nothing to me. I want to ally with fellow patriots who believe in cooperation and friendship with bilateral agreements between self-governing countries. This is what most people want.

Yet we get foghorn diplomacy from Eurosceptic leaders sniping at each other. Sooner or later we are going to have to work together for the common good. Leaders will have to park their parochial attitudes and mature. In the Second World War, the free world had to ally with the Soviet Union to save civilisation in the West. As legendary British wartime leader Winston Churchill himself said: “I would make a pact with the devil himself to save the country.” At the July 2014 European Parliament elections, Eurosceptic MEPs will be returned in huge numbers. They must unite to build a Europe of cooperation and friendship. It might start with a bonfire of the egos.

Godfrey Bloom is an independent MEP having recently resigned from UKIP

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