Tony Benn Quotes

For me, Europe consists of three things: sovereignty, unity and democracy.

Any people has a right to self-determination, and now in Europe the process of diluting national sovereignty in the framework of a united Europe is more accepted.

We need to remind our core supporters that we have not forgotten their concern with the way our democracy is being replaced by European bureaucracy in so many areas.

I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic.

Before, Europe was about treaties, laws and our sovereign right to govern ourselves. Now, it's about everyday lives.

I know this isn't a widespread view in the Anglo Saxon world, but I believe that much of the reconciliation between more centralized governance and the scope for democracy - democratic control - will be resolved through an even stronger role of the European Parliament.

There were many reasons why people voted to leave the European Union in 2016. But my impression, having campaigned to remain in the E.U., is that above all else, people throughout this country sought to regain a feeling of control - not just of our laws, but over our lives too, and the people we elect into office.

We have more and more rules coming out of Europe telling us what to do, and I think people are getting a bit fed up with it. This was supposed to be a common market. I don't remember them ever saying we would be governed by Brussels and become a satellite of Europe.

The euro is a great achievement. It's a symbolic achievement. But, the European constitution was a missed opportunity.

Our task is nothing less than the creation of a new constitutional order for a new united Europe.

'Populism' is a compliment to me. We envision a different Europe where every E.U. country should have the freedom to decide its own economic policies.

Northern Ireland must, in future, be absorbed into the Irish republic. Wales and Scotland must advance from devolution to full independent status. The four nations of these islands must commit themselves absolutely to the project of a United Europe.

If we want to change a law, we can do that in Parliament. That is a democratic right that has often been taken from the E.U.

Brexit was, at its heart, about democracy and sovereignty.

I'd say that I'm a pro-European.

We cannot let Brussels put itself above the law.

Anybody who respects democracy has to keep in mind that never in this country was a separate state carved out without a resolution being passed in the assembly.

I campaigned for the UK to stay in the European Union but the country chose a different path.

The British people have the right to decide - have the right to decide whether or not they want to be part of the E.U. And I shouldn't interfere in this.

All we want is to carry out the greatest expression of a free democracy and vote on Catalonia's future. This is not about independence: it is about fundamental civil rights and the universal right of self-determination.

In the long run, Europe will certainly move toward unification. But it will be a process of push and pull, and there will be resistance.

We are European citizens, as we are European citizens it means what we want to do is exactly like Scotland or Quebec. The difference is that the United Kingdom and Canada they are democratic countries. Spain today is not a democracy and this is the main problem.

I believe that the E.U. should be the union of nation states and that all deepening of ties between the member states cannot go beyond the limits of democracy.

Because the referendum in 2016 wasn't just about our relationship with the E.U., it was about millions of people and their relationship with politics as a whole.

If the E.U. is to survive... it is based on the fact that for every community that belongs in Europe, there is a place in Europe.