"What sort of people do they think we are?"

Acting Officers: Pres. Hugh Jones , Vice Pres. Idris Francis, Treas. Estelle Evans, Memb. Sec. Chris Knowles

"There are times in the affairs of men ...."

WHY A new European Union constitution is before Parliament now this ends the sovereignty of this country completely. That constitution would destroy democracy as we know it, take away our rights to self-determination and put us totally under the control of European Union laws.

Collective action by a small number of individuals can keep Britain free for the benefit of its people, returning to this country full control of our laws and policies, by reaffirming the Queen in Parliament as the unchallenged source of our laws. Our history is one of evolving government, tested, refined and improved by long experience. We invented parliaments of barons to control the powers of kings, then knights and burgesses to control the powers of barons, then piece by piece, universal suffrage to control all of them. We had a Parliamentary Democracy, with a hereditary House of Lords and an elected House of Commons. Over centuries we kept the best and discarded what failed or became useless. No government could commit us irrevocably as the next could undo whatever they did..

It was different elsewhere in Europe. In France, for instance, between the two World Wars, there was a new administration almost every year – and in Italy, usually without elections. Each incoming French government scrapped the old constitution completely and wrote another. That was not restricted to France - others on the Continent did likewise. That is why they have no in-built means of improvement, why they think that each new government or President may write their own rules. They have the same approach to their laws: no Common Law for them.

Our story has enabled us to beat off challenges from within - and without. It kept our ways of government and law abreast of the times and our wishes. They became the model for others, leading, for example, with timely change, to the Constitution of the USA. They spawned the Commonwealth system, a tried and tested way for differing peoples to work together when they need one another. Our system does not confuse; it does not equate democracy with freedom. It leaves peoples to work together, or apart. It does not assert that one method of government is the only one for all people, for all times, all stages, all climes, forever. The word ‘forever’ has no place in a free country, if each succeeding generation is to be free.. Each country in that Commonwealth has its own laws, its traditions, its language, its institutions, its government, its art, its cookery, its dress, etc. - and especially, its currency. The aim must remain government of the people, for the people, by the people, providing dignity to all and protection against those who usurp power. The ultimate aim is Freedom.

What We, the people, are not informed, not allowed to discuss or to choose. Worse, we are fed a constant diet of obfuscation and are deliberately misled, by the Government,, Parliament, endlessly multiplying self-seeking quangos and by the Press and television. There is only one way to resolve this issue and recover our freedom - a properly conducted referendum, scrupulously fair and transparent asking a clear direct and honest question. It is a choice between:

Choosing freedom would not imply or demand hostility towards our brother and sister nations in Europe, but indicate only that we prefer our own form of government and laws. We can continue our long history of cooperation with other nations but we must rule ourselves in our own way.

WHO. We are forming an organization to use our experience & energies to carry out the "What"

HOW. Each member of "A Few" will donate £100 so that we will have a fund of £2,000,000. This we shall use to make the referendum possible. We will require, of at least 1000 of our members, about four weeks full time unpaid work in validating and counting votes. A shorter time commitment from the majority of the rest will be required for operating polling booths.Consequently there are two classes of membership:

We, as an organization, shall be dedicated to the task of conducting the referendum. During this task we will not be deflected or influenced by considerations other than dispassionate objective and scrupulous fairness and honesty for the purpose of providing the opportunity for the electorate to express their opinion. We will then present the results to the nation.

We know that it is the intention of the government to ratify the EU Constitution by Act of Parliament in 2004, and that they have refused us a referendum. Even if they change their minds, we doubt they would ask a fair and honest question. We were deliberately misled last time, in 1975 when we were told that the issue was our trading relations with European nations. It was not. The voters should have been told that the Treaty of Rome meant transferring Parliaments powers in part or in whole to foreign administration. Never again. Whatever happens, we shall provide the people with the chance to decide on the basis of the real issue – freedom or submersion into the coming EU State.

This is not a new political party - once "A Few" has served the purposes set out in this statement we shall disband. It may be symbiotic with the purposes of others. It is not exclusive - we hope that our membership we include those from across the political spectrum. We believe in our form of democracy, we believe in the sovereignty of the individual, we believe in the rule of law and the protection of the individual against excesses of the state, we believe in evolution not any form of revolution, be it by force or bureaucratic edict. We believe power resides with the people and they are the ultimate arbiters.We believe we shall prevail. You are invited to participate. by contacting "A Few" as below.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them."

When we succeed in our aims you will on future occasions be able to compare your participation with that of other small groups who changed the course of history by their efforts. We will hold a national referendum before Parliament ratifies the proposed EU constitution. This action will be independent of the government and will ask a simple, fair and non-ambiguous question. It will concerns itself with the preservation of our law, form of democratic representation and the limitation of the powers of Parliament as set out in Magna Carta, The Bill of Rights and related Acts along with the subsequent precedents which have long been established under common law. It would seek to re-establish the sovereignty and dignity of the individual. It would concern itself with the meaning of the oath of allegiance politicians swear prior to sitting in Parliament. In short, it would require that our elected representatives represent us, the people, not other interests and take all such actions necessary to preserve our ancient freedoms and liberty. It would return to us the power to be masters of our fate – rather than give control of our lives to an unelected and malign Brussels oligarchy.

You should be clear that the outcome of this referendum cannot be set aside by British or European authorities. Legal advice is that recognition of the validity of such an act of national self - determination will be a matter for a supranational organization, and would take precedence over any action by Parliament to ratify the new European Constitution. It will also confirm the Constitutional Principle that all acts of parliament establishing our subservience to the EU are "repugnant". This means we can invoke Coke’s precedent which says that all such acts are thereby null and void and of no effect.