RESPONDING

Now nearly 15,000 supporters. I note a number of objections have been raised, but would point out to the dissenters that such concerns were raised in the Defence Select Committee, this morning. It was plainly stated that the Permanent Statutory Co-operation on Defence (PESCO) in which the EU is anxious to include the UK (as one of the strongest defence forces in Europe), seriously threatens our national sovereignty, because our forces would be at the behest of the EU. PESCO was described as a spider's web... from which there was no escape. There is no intention whatsoever to demean any other European nation since, with bilateral agreements, we would undoubtedly have occasion to arrange joint defence co-operations - particularly with the likes of France and Germany - under the direction and control of our own Nation state, and not the direction and control of politicians in Brussels.