ALT BBC News on 10 June inaccurately described how the EU functions. Senior BBC journalist, Christian Fraser – who usually presents the BBC’s Context news programme – got the context of the European Commission completely wrong. Reporting from Brussels for the European Parliament elections, Mr Fraser said, “There are two things to say about this [European] Parliament, it doesn’t work like a conventional Parliament. “Legislation is reserved for the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU. “They don’t like interference from the Parliament. They don’t like interference from the European leaders...” The impression given was that it’s the Commission that has all the power in the EU, above that of the elected European Parliament and the elected Presidents and Prime Ministers of EU member states. In truth, it’s the other way around. The Commission is the servant of the EU and not its master.

ALT Compare what former Prime Minister, Sir John Major, said about Brexit, with what the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and likely next month’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said in the Sky News leaders’ debate last night (Wednesday). Well, Sunak and Starmer said nothing about Brexit. That’s right, nothing. But Sir John has a lot to say about Brexit. He thinks it’s a “colossal mistake”. We should be back in the EU to keep Britain safe, Sir John told a Parliamentary committee in February last year.

ALT It’s our duty to speak up and break the silence by our political leaders. Going ahead with Brexit, with the support of a mere 37% of the electorate and with half the nations of the UK voting strongly against it, was an abomination. In other democracies with more experience of running referendums properly, Brexit could never have proceeded based on such minority support. There are NO benefits to Brexit; none whatsoever. Only severe downsides, that are hurting Britain now and will increasingly hurt us in the years ahead. We need our politicians to offer us a democratic route out of Brexit, not an undemocratic road deeper into it. But neither Labour nor the Tories will even discuss Brexit. If the two main parties cannot be honest with us about the reality of Brexit, then we, the people, must be honest with the country and with ourselves. It is our duty to speak up.

ALT On D-Day we remember how brave men and women from many allied countries fought the final battles against the Nazis to bring the most brutal world war to an end in Europe. Peace came at last as a direct result of their enduring efforts. Tens of thousands of lives were tragically and horribly lost in the pursuit of that aim. But how was lasting peace achieved between European countries that, for centuries, had been more used to resolving their differences through violence, war, and subjugation? The European Community, established during the post-war years and now called the European Union, played a key role. Yes, NATO helped to protect us from external threats. But it was the European Union that brought sustained security and peace between its members. By collaborating and cooperating, in peace and democratically, to decide on the running and future direction of our continent, European countries found and agreed solutions to common problems.