LE BETRAYAL! How Charles De Gaulle KNEW EU would CRUSH British economy
CHARLES DE GAULLE predicted that Britain joining the EEC – the precursor to the EU – would never end well because Westminster would struggle to “merge into a community with set dimensions and set rules”, unearthed documents reveal.
By TOM EVANS
Express.co.uk
Sat, Apr 6, 2019
Brexit uncertainty has gripped the nation as Theresa May faces the wrath of her own party by looking to secure the support of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in her bid to rule out no deal. Leavers across the nation fear that the historic result of the 2016 referendum could be betrayed, as Nigel Farage looks to be on a collision course with the establishment once more through the emerging Brexit Party. However, euroscepticism in the UK is nothing new and several campaigners, not least the late Tony Benn, devoted their lives to securing Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc.
Now, unearthed documents reveal that none other than Charles De Gaulle – a key player within the European Economic Community in its formative years – doubted whether the bloc would be beneficial for Britain and made a series of points that may appear profoundly prophetic to Brexiteers today.
The EEC was formed at the Treaty of Rome on March 24, 1957, with Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands making up the original six signatures.
Britain, of course, was notable by its absence.
However, General De Gaulle – who served as President of France from 1959 to 1969 – not only understood why politicians in Westminster were not involved in proceedings but he also sympathised with their reasons.
A statement issued on behalf of the French government in May 1967 concludes that Britain is “not continental”, “tied to the United States” and suggests that the UK’s reasons for not joining the bloc were “understandable”.
It reads: “Compared with the motives that led the six [founder nations] to organise their unit, we understand for what reasons, why Britain – who is not continental, who remains, because of the Commonwealth and because she is an island, committed far beyond the seas, who is tied to the United States by all kinds of special agreements – did not merge into a Community with set dimensions and set rules.”
It did not stop there, though.
General De Gaulle echoed the sentiments expressed by Tony Benn decades later, in pointing out that Britain benefitted from inexpensive imports from the Commonwealth and, conversely, would be “forced to raise the price of her food” if the country “submitted to the rules of the six” EEC member states at the time.
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