Taff, my father was one of the lucky ones he survived being torpedoed twice in the Atlantic convoys while serving in the MN. My dad was not around long as sadly he died at the age of 46. I proudly have his medals here at home.
I note your comment about Fascist Germany, well let's face it they learnt from past masters then re - Concentration camps as first used by the British during the Boer war.
Below are quotes from the greatest Prime minister that the UK has ever had.
After all, it was Prime Minister Churchill who announced in June 1940 the ‘Declaration of Union’ between Great Britain and France. With the full backing of his Cabinet, Churchill stated, ‘The two governments declare that France and Great Britain shall no longer be two nations, but one Franco-British Union… Every citizen of France will enjoy immediately citizenship of Great Britain; every British subject will become a citizen of France.’
Anglo-Franco stamp
An Anglo-French stamp was even designed to commemorate the proposed Anglo-Franco union, but the Nazi invasion of France scuppered those plans. The proposals did demonstrate, however, that Churchill was in favour of political union between European countries.
After the first British victory of the Second World War at El Alamein, Churchill wrote to his foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, on 21 October 1942:
‘Hard as it is to say now.. I look forward to a United States of Europe, in which the barriers between the nations will be greatly minimised and unrestricted travel will be possible.’
We cannot aim at anything less than the Union of Europe as a whole, and we look forward with confidence to the day when that Union will be achieved.’
In his famous Zurich speech of 1946, Churchill said, ‘We must build a kind of United States of Europe.. The structure of the United States of Europe, if well and truly built, will be such as to make the material strength of a single state less important.. If at first all the States of Europe are not willing or able to join the Union, we must nevertheless proceed to assemble and combine those who will and those who can.’
At London’s Albert Hall, in May 1947, just a few months after his Zurich speech, Churchill spoke as Chairman and Founder of he United Europe Movement to ‘present the idea of a United Europe in which our country will play a decisive part..’
Churchill argued that Britain and France should be the, `founder-partners in this movement’ and concluded, *`Britain will have to play her full part as a member of the European family’.
In May 1948 Churchill*said in the*opening speech to the Congress of Europe in Holland, that the drive towards a United Europe,*’should be a movement of the people, not parties’. *(See also*The Sydney Morning Herald*and British Pathe news report).
Churchill, who also proposed a European ‘Charter’ and ‘Court’ of Human Rights, continued, ‘We aim at the eventual participation of all the peoples throughout the continent whose society and way of life are in accord with the Charter of Human Rights.’
The EU is not perfect but by the UK voting to leave the EU was in my opinion wrong. It surely would have been better to remain and fight from within for change. Sadly I can see this decision to leave will eventually lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom, Scotland will continue to seek independence and my own little country will also in the not to distant future be forced into a United Ireland if it is to survive economically to enable it to stay in the EU.
Okay this thread started with Tony Blair and his anti Brexit speech on Sky News, him as a person I do not really have a lot of time for.
Brexit has been brought about by the Civil war that has been going on within the Conservative party for years. A party of 150,000 or so members forced the Mis guided David Cameron to promise a referendum, he honestly thought we would vote remain and that is why when he lost the vote he could not get out the door quick enough.
We have left the playing field of Europe to the Germans to dictate to the whole of Europe something they failed to do 1939 to 1945, Churchill will be spinning in his grave WELL DONE LITTLE BRITAIN
