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Verbatim report of proceedings
Wednesday, 1 February 2006 - Brussels OJ edition

Common foreign policy perspectives for 2006 – Common foreign and security policy – 2004
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  Gerard Batten (IND/DEM). – Mr President, yesterday marked the death of the 100th British serviceman killed in Iraq. These brave men made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives for their country. But they were betrayed. They were sent to war on the basis of the lies and fantasies of Prime Minister Tony Blair. This happened for one simple reason: Mr Blair and the Labour government have no conception of what constitutes the British national interest.

Now Mr Blair wants to embroil the British nation in yet another lie and fantasy. That lie is that Britain’s national interest lies in something called a European common foreign policy.

Yesterday also marked another significant event. In London, Mr Javier Solana spoke on the Palestinian issue on behalf of the European Union. He did so in the de facto role of the European Foreign Minister. This is despite the fact that the European common foreign policy should be dead and buried because of the rejection of the European constitution. This is a clear signal that the Labour government is surrendering control of foreign policy to the European Union.

Chancellor Bismarck once famously remarked that the whole of the Balkans were not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier. Well, the whole of the European common foreign policy and the planned European army is not worth the bones of one single British serviceman or woman.

 
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