‘Too much EU in UK’ – British MP
On Monday the British Parliament is to vote on whether to stage a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU. The UK Conservative Party MP says Union involvement harms Britain's sovereignty.
Patrick Mercer is a widely known Euro-skeptic and he does not hide his negative opinion about Britain’s membership of the EU, arguing “Britain has surrendered far too many powers to the EU.”“EU membership damages the UK. We are a sovereign nation, but I sometimes wonder how much sovereignty we still show with European laws and structures imposed upon us,” he warns.“We do need to have a referendum on our continued presence inside the EU,” he says.“The concept of Europe is constantly evolving and changing, which is a healthy thing,” notes Mercer, “but I hope that Britain will be very sensibly staying out of the euro membership, I hope that we continue to be skeptical about our further involvement in the EU.”
‘Britain is high on terrorist agenda’
Foreign nations’ attitude towards London is that of towards a “Londonistan” for the ease with which jihadists can live and prosper, not only in the British capital, but in all of the UK, bemoans the British MP.“We’re being seen as a ‘soft touch’ for insurgents or malcontents of one type or another,” admits UK Conservative Party MP Patrick Mercer, a former shadow minister for homeland security.He says foreign criminals exploit British law to stay in the UK, noting that up to 40 per cent of America’s external intelligence efforts are “directed at the UK – because the actions of Islamic fundamentalists settled in the UK are directed against the US.”Mercer notes that Great Britain has been labeled as “little Satan” on Islamists websites, so he predicts that Britain is going to be targeted at the time of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.“Of course we are very high on the list of terrorists’ projects,” acknowledges the MP.
Britain to stay in Afghanistan
At the same time, speaking about the British contingent in Afghanistan, the British MP proclaims that “Human rights are crucially important, and that is one of the reasons why our servicemen are dying abroad at the moment.”Patrick Mercer advocates a British military presence in Afghanistan because the territory of this regional war “stretches from the borders of Iran to the borders of Russia and encompasses nuclear-armed country Pakistan.”“Presence of our troops on Afghanistan-Pakistan border is much about maintaining the relative stability of Pakistan and its nuclear arsenal as it is about establishing Afghanistan as a relatively civilized country.”There will be British presence in Afghanistan in the foreseeable future, he predicts.
Violent protestors to be dealt with appropriate measures
Commenting on the recent riots in London and other British cities, Patrick Mercer insists that Britain is a civilized democracy in which everyone has the right to live the way he wants and publicly protest if needed, but without violence. In case a minority uses violence as a tool to force its opinion on the society – police must treat such rioters with everything at their disposal, from rubber bullets to water cannons.
