Leave voters feel insulted and ignored — my Brexit Party will act for the people
James Glancy, who is standing for the Brexit Party, says it's vital we stand up to the EU super-state
I AM proud to be British and have been willing to risk my life to defend our values of tolerance, diversity and the rule of law.
But our greatest asset — our free and tolerant democracy — is under threat.
The failure of our politicians to listen to the people — and their complete lack of leadership — has compelled me to take a stand.
I am standing for the Brexit Party on the single issue of democracy. We have assembled a diverse group of candidates from across the political spectrum, from former Tory Ann Widdecombe to left-wing grandee Claire Fox.
We are all unified in our desire to pressure Westminster to deliver what the people instructed.
It is vital we restore parliamentary democracy. Through my service with the Royal Marines and the Special Boat Service, I witnessed the Arab Spring first-hand and saw the horrors suffered by a people with no representation in their political system.
I never thought our political class would deliberately undermine the people.
But they have done so by failing to deliver on the 2016 referendum. This after the 2018 General Election manifestos of the Conservative and Labour parties clearly pledged to honour the result.
Voters on all sides have been betrayed. The final straw for me was seeing the men who sent me to a questionable war in Afghanistan — Tony Blair, Lord Adonis and Alastair Campbell — conspiring to undermine the people.
STAND UP TO AN EU SUPER-STATE
They have been colluding with other governments in Europe to stop Brexit.
It is vital we stand up against the damage this hardcore group who want to create an EU super-state are inflicting on British democracy.
It is deeply saddening to see the divisions across our country. People voted to Remain and Leave for a range of legitimate reasons.
We are in this position due to John Major and Tony Blair’s arrogance in not consulting the
people on the treaties that embedded us in the EU — Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon.
The public should have been consulted on these major transfers of power from Parliament towards the supranational structures of the EU.
We are now left with this political mess as their legacy.
One of the greatest testaments to Britain is that so many people are willing to take huge risks to come and live here, to be free and prosperous.
My ancestors came to the UK from Ireland in the 19th century to escape famine and persecution. They settled in Greenock in the Scottish Lowlands.
I am deeply disturbed that Brexit has now come to focus on identity and immigration, instead of on democracy and who runs our country.
A vote for the Brexit Party will send shockwaves across Westminster, reminding them that the people are in charge.
James Glancy
We should celebrate immigrants as the heroes who want to be British and part of the national success story. Brexit is not a right-wing project. Five million Labour voters and a third of ethnic-minority voters backed Leave.
Yet from some of the rhetoric spouted, you would think that Brexit voters are all ignorant racists. The result is that the Leave voters feel patronised, insulted and ignored. Look at the 203 Labour MPs — many of whom represent Leave-voting constituencies — who voted for a second referendum to overturn the first.
The contempt they show for the ordinary people who put their faith in the democratic process is breathtaking.
If politicians fail to deliver the result of the referendum, they will be guilty of selling out the people and undermining Britain’s international credibility as a stable and free liberal democracy.
The backlash from the public would be unthinkable.
Beyond Brexit, I see an opportunity to implement the strongest animal welfare and environmental legislation in the world. It is a chance to reset our relationship with nature, away from the Common Agricultural Policy.
MOST READ IN OPINION
I strongly disagree with those who want to weaken environmental policy.
Yet the beauty of an accountable liberal democracy is that those decisions can be made in our own Parliament.
A vote for the Brexit Party will send shockwaves across Westminster, reminding them that the people are in charge.
- James Glancy was a captain in the Royal Marines.