Good morning, Brentwood. I’ve been here before, not just to the Sugar Hut, but as a candidate in European elections. Can anybody believe this is the sixth time I’ve stood in European Parliament elections? I genuinely thought this wouldn’t happen again, and it shouldn’t have happened again, should it? Because we voted in a referendum, we then supported political parties in a general election who told us they’d deliver Brexit.
We then saw 500 MPs vote for Article 50, and it was there in law. We were leaving on March the 29th. There was no doubt about it. In fact, our brilliant Prime Minister… It’s all right; she won’t be there long… told us over a hundred times, we were leaving on March the 29th. The Labour Party told us they would honor the result of the referendum. What we have seen is the most extraordinary political stitch up. It’s the only way I can describe it. Our Parliament, our government, are determined not to give us a clean break Brexit.
Now, I spent 25 years campaigning for us to be free of European Union. I didn’t want unelected bureaucrats in Brussels to have the say over how we should live our lives. Having seen the behavior of Tusk and Barnier and Juncker in these negotiations, I think I was right for all that time. Frankly, given their arrogance and their bullying, the sooner we’re free of this the better as far as I’m concerned. But we’re here, and we have an election to fight.
I made a decision towards the end of last year. I thought, “I haven’t spent 25 years fighting against the establishment, fighting for us to be a free, independent country, to be rolled over by a group of dishonest career politicians.” That was where the inspiration came from. I said, “Right, I am going to found the Brexit Party.” Five weeks ago tomorrow, we launched. Within five weeks, we’ve managed to get over 100,000 people in this country to pay £25 to become registered supporters. It’s not a bad effort.
I have to say, we have spoken at a variety of places. We did one meeting in an airport hanger. We’ve done others in theaters. Last night, we were in a carpark in the valleys of Merthyr Tydfil, and today we’re in a nightclub. So, you can’t say we don’t get around a bit because we do. Tonight we’ll be speaking at a hall up in Wolverhampton, and what we’ve found is tremendous energy and enthusiasm.
People really want this, and what they want now is what I want. I got this wrong. I thought if we won the Brexit battle, our politicians would simply have to deliver it. I’ve now learnt that this battle is about far more than Brexit. This battle actually, is about democracy. It’s about whether we are a democratic nation. It’s about whether we have a bond of trust between us and those that govern us. It’s about how the rest of the world looks at us.
Do you know, we used to be an admired country. This Prime Minister and our Parliament have turned us into a laughing stock. So, what we need to do is not just next Thursday send a message back to Westminster, telling them, “We still believe in Brexit. Perhaps even more strongly than we ever did.” What we have to do next Thursday is to begin a process whereby we break the existing two-party system.
These two parties now serve nothing but themselves. They don’t serve the national interest. Parliament does not reflect the will of the people of this country, and what we’re doing is nothing less than we’re launching a peaceful political revolution in British politics. Things have got to change fundamentally. We are utterly determined as a team to do that.
I think we’ve got the most impressive and most diverse range of candidates that any party has ever put up for public office in this country. I’m proud to be leading the team, to be leading the charge. I want us to win next week, but not just to win, but to win big. I want it to give a seismic shock to Westminster, and then to go on to Peterborough on the 6th of June and try and win our first seat in Westminster.
We will keep this campaign going until we get a Parliament that actually keeps faith and keeps its promises with the British people. But we can’t do it on our own. We need some support. We need some helpers. So, let me ask you, the good people of Brentwood, “Are you with us?”
Yes.
Will you go out there, over the next week, and tell everyone you know to go out next Thursday and vote for the Brexit Party?
Yes.
And here, in Essex of all places, give them the message, “The only way is Brexit.”
Thank you.
All right. Pretty good. [inaudible 00:05:43]. All right, lead on guys.
Nigel. Nigel.