madam president it comes as no surprise to hear baroness ludford of the euro-fanatic liberal democrat party wanting to harmonise yet another area of what should be sovereign national policy
why on earth would any eu member state want a common system for the application and processing of visas for third-party nationals
deciding who can and cannot enter a nation state should be the sole concern of the nation state except that in the minds of the euro-fanatics european nation states no longer exist having been replaced by the great eu borderless state
since nineteen ninety-seven about six million migrants have entered the uk
about four million have left leaving a net population increase of over two million
the current immigration rate to britain now results in a net population gain of over two hundred zero people per year or a net population gain of over one million people every five years
this is equivalent to a new city the size of birmingham
most of these migrants enter legally because they are eu citizens
in addition to that we probably have one million illegal immigrants
england is one of the most densely populated countries in the world more densely populated than india china or japan
on current trends our population of sixty-one million is set to rise to seventy-five million by twenty fifty-one and is projected to rise to eighty-five million by twenty eighty-one
what we need is to leave the european union and regain control of our borders
having done that we need to decide which countries citizens we allow in with or without a visa
there are many member states in the eu whose citizens should not be allowed into britain without a visa
what britain needs is a strict visa system so that we can decide who we allow into our country and who we do not
what we do not need is a system devised by the european union
i expect that its advocates would justify it as merely introducing common criteria and processes to make everything run more smoothly
however it might have some unintended consequences
look at another example of eu legislation championed by the liberal democrats
the european arrest warrant means that british citizens accused of a crime by other eu member states cannot now be protected by british courts or even the home secretary even when it is obvious that a grave injustice is being done
any corrupt legal system may now demand the surrender of a british citizen and we have to comply
we have surrendered the right to protect our own citizens
soon we will have trials and the common recognition of fines and confiscation orders
all this was voted for and welcomed by the liberal democrats
these measures overturn the most basic freedoms enjoyed by the english for centuries as enshrined in magna carta and the sixteen eighty-nine bill of rights
this afternoon graham watson leader of the liberal democrats urged gordon brown to take britain into the european single currency which is something that anyone in touch with the real world would know is economic suicide
now the liberal democrat fanatics want us to embrace a common system for the application of visas
when the london voters become aware of baroness ludford's position on these issues hopefully they will grant her a one-way visa out of the european parliament in the european elections on four june two thousand and nine
