The following presentation by Alistair McConnachie was published in the August 1999 issue of Sovereignty.

Our message is to get out of the EU, get into the world, keep the pound forever, keep democratic control of the economy, and by our own good example, show the way to a new Europe built upon democracy, diversity and self-determination for all.

If elected, we will take into mainstream political debate the message that all policies and laws, whether at Holyrood or Westminster, are either decided by the EU, or have to be framed within the limits allowed by the EU.

The aim of the European Union is to act in the supposed interests of the EU as a whole, and not in the interests of any specific member. It puts the supposed interests of the Community as a whole first, and overrides the specific national interest of any member. It is against the ethos of the Community for any member to attempt to promote a specific national interest.

As a result, member countries are often compelled to follow policies which are against their own interests.

This is bad for democracy, bad for the diversity of a Europe of distinct nation-states, and is especially bad for industry and jobs.

It is not possible for Britain to be "in the EU, but not run by the EU" as the Conservative Party would have us believe, nor is it possible for Scotland to be "independent in Europe" as the SNP would have us believe.

We are either part of this process or we leave. There is no middle way.

THE EU : A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY
We argue that the maintenance of effective democratic representation can best be guaranteed at the level of the nation-state, rather than at the level of the EU.

We could not have got rid of the poll tax if Brussels had imposed it.

THE EU : A THREAT TO DIVERSITY
In the EU, a rigid conformity prevails where "harmonisation" of policy, laws and economies destroys the diversity of a Europe of distinct nation-states.

Harmonisation means that Britain will end up looking like France which will look like Germany which will look like Italy which will look like ... everywhere else.

Those who encourage this process are the real "anti-Europeans".

THE EU : A THREAT TO INDUSTRY AND JOBS
The recent threat to the Borders cashmere industry shows the danger local industry is in when we allow the EU to control trading arrangements for 15 different member countries.

Elected politicians are relatively powerless when a trade war breaks out between the EU, and the USA.

The EU prevents us from responding to our own economic needs, and blocks the road forward to rebuilding industry and creating jobs.

We call for Britain to leave the EU, and build on our links with the entire world.

We are against the single currency on principle and for all time.

The creation of a single currency under the control of a single bank is political treason. It will mean interest rates, taxes and levels of national spending being set in Frankfurt.

We stand for national control over the national economy. We want to keep the pound, and keep democratic control over the economy.

Domestic issues cannot be properly addressed while most UK law originates in Brussels, and while the government is determined to give away control of the economy by joining the single currency.

We must leave the EU. There is no middle way.

LEAVING THE EU WILL :

• Save Britain £9billion a year which can be spent on hospitals, schools, transport, agriculture, industry and jobs right here;

• Allow more to be spent on public services. The EU dictates that public spending must be cut back to 3% of each country's GDP. That is the reason for the PFI, which attempts to raise money on the open money markets rather than through government borrowing.

• Lower the rate of VAT, and prevent the EU imposing VAT on food, children's clothes and housing;

• Remove the dead-hand of bureaucracy and over-regulation which stifles free enterprise and initiative;

• Open trading links with the world. Our economy is the fourth largest in the world. It will prosper outside the EU where opportunities abound when we base a programme upon trade with the world, instead of only 15 countries in Europe;

• Enable a new system of support for the farming industry to be developed, and targeted towards a sustainable programme which aims for national self-sufficiency, encourages small farms, young farmers and organic production, and which protects the environment;

• Free Britain to re-establish control of its 200-mile exclusive fishing zone, so that we may achieve the policy objectives of rebuilding fishing communities and ensuring proper environmental management of fish stocks.

WE MUST SHOW THE WAY TO A NEW EUROPE :
We need new structures within Europe that will facilitate dialogue and co-operation between members, but which will not enforce political, legal and economic policy, or compel the nation-states of Europe to follow policies which are against their own interests.

We want to see a structure where sovereign nations will agree to co-operate but do not have to give up the political, economic and legal sovereignty that allows them to respond to their own particular needs and shape their own unique identities.

The European Union is heading towards a giant United States of Europe that enforces a rigid conformity upon all.

This is bad for democracy, and bad for the diversity of a Europe of distinct nation-states.

We must reverse this trend and show the way to a new Europe, built upon the principles of democracy, diversity and sovereign self-determination for all.

A vote for us is a vote to start the process of positive, progressive change towards this new Europe.

A Europe which believes in sovereign self-determination for all.

A Europe where countries co-operate in areas of mutual interest, and are free to develop their own policies, make their own laws, keep their own currencies and control their own economies, in response to their own needs.

A Europe where countries are not compelled to follow policies against their own interests.

A Europe of sovereign states, which value democracy and diversity, rather than a United States of Europe, that enforces a rigid conformity.

A Europe where a thousand flowers, and many sovereignties, bloom.

Our message is to get out of the EU, get into the world, keep the pound forever, keep democratic control of the economy, and by our own good example, show the way to a new Europe built upon democracy, diversity and self-determination for all.