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The United Kingdom is the most successful nation-state in history. Her reach - About us
cultural, linguistic, military, diplomatic, scientific, political, economic - is global.
What is the point of
She has global interests to promote and defend. The security, prosperity and the European Union?
well-being of her people increasingly depend on the success of her engagement
Briefing Notes
with the wider world beyond Europe.
BBC
Global Britain, like three quarters of the British population, does not accept Europhile bias
that British membership of the European Union is self-evidently in British Publications by
interests, nor, in the words of Tony Blair, that "Britain's destiny is Europe". Global Britain authors
Parliamentary
Britain's destiny ceased to be European centuries ago when English settlers Activities
began their transatlantic odyssey. Within the next fifty years the USA and China
between them will account for half of the world economy; quite possibly, India Links
will account for another quarter. According to the EU Commission, Continental Archive
Europe, even after enlargement, will be lucky to muster ten per cent. For the
next century the world will be dominated by the USA, China and India.
Continental Europe will be increasingly irrelevant.

The European Union is a failing regional bloc, built on assumptions that seemed
immutable in the 1960s but are now archaic. It is in crisis. Its economy
underperforms the rest of the developed world. It is increasingly unpopular with
its citizens - and not just in the UK. Its leaders are determined to ignore the "no"
votes in the French and Dutch referendums on the EU Constitution and impose it
regardless. It is far from axiomatic that British interests are best-served by
belonging to such an organisation.

Against that background, Global Britain conducts meticulously objective

research and analysis into the key aspects of, on the one hand, the UK's
relationship with the EU, and, on the other, the UK's relationships with the rest
of the world. At the same time, Global Britain examines the feasibility of the
UK's withdrawing from the EU, resuming her role as an independent self-
governing democratic nation-state, making her own decisions, choosing her own
alliances and sitting, speaking and voting on her own behalf in multilateral bodies
such as the World Trade Organisation.

Who we are
Global Britain was founded in 1997 by Lord Pearson of Rannoch, Lord
Stoddart of Swindon and Lord Harris of High Cross (who died in 2006).

Lord Harris of High Cross ( - 2006) gained a first in economics at Cambridge

and lectured in political economy at the University of St Andrews from 1949 to
1956. He was appointed General Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs
(IEA) on its foundation by Anthony Fisher in 1956; subsequently, he became the
IEA’s Chairman in 1987 and its Founder-President in 1990. He was a director
of Times Newspaper Holdings Ltd between 1988 and 2001. Prime Minister
Thatcher made him a Life Peer in 1979 in her first honours list; he sat as a cross-
bencher until his death in 2006. The IEA under Ralph’s direction has had an
enormous influence on public policy and on the views of leading politicians,
notably Keith Joseph, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch spent his business career as an international

insurance broker. Between 1983 and 1992 he represented UK commerce on
the country's largest degree-awarding body, the Council for National Academic
Awards. In 1984 he founded the Rannoch Charitable Trust, which has funded,
inter alia, refugees from Communism in Europe, research for improvement in
British state education and for environmental improvement of the Scottish
Highlands. He was made a Life Peer in 1990 by Prime Minister Thatcher, and
sat on the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities
between 1992 and 1996. A leading exponent of the case for the UK to
withdraw from the EU, he left the Conservative Party in 2007 to join the United
Kingdom Independence Party.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon worked for the Central Electricity Generating

Board between 1951 and 1972. He joined the Labour Party in 1947 and
served on the Reading County Borough Council between 1954 and 1972,
successively as Chairman of the Housing, Transport and Finance Committees
and, between 1967 and 1972, as Leader of the Council. He was MP for
Swindon between 1970 and 1983, serving as PPS to the Minister for Housing
and Construction in 1974/5 and Assistant Government Whip in 1975. He
became a Life Peer in 1983, serving as Opposition Spokesman on energy until
1988. He was Chairman of the Campaign for an Independent Britain from 1985
to 2008. He now sits in the House of Lords as Independent Labour.

Lord Willoughby de Broke was Chairman of St Martins Magazines plc 1992-

2008, President, Heart of England Tourist Board 1996-2005, Patron,
Warwickshire Association of Boys’ Clubs 1991-2004, and Member of the
Anglo-Hong Kong Trust 1996-2006. He was a member of the House of Lords
Select Committee on the European Communities 1996-2001. He was elected to
the House of Lords in 1999. He left the Conservative Party in 2007 to join the
United Kingdom Independence Party.

Global Britain's Director, since 1999, is Ian Milne. He is chairman of

companies involved in publishing and book distribution. He graduated in
engineering from Cambridge University and has a forty-year career in industry
and merchant banking in the UK, France and Belgium. He was the founder-
editor (in 1993) of The European Journal, and the founder (in 1995) and first
editor of eurofacts. His most recent publications, A Cost Too Far? (Civitas, July
2004), an analysis of the net economic costs and benefits for the UK of EU
membership, and Backing the Wrong Horse (Centre for Policy Studies,
December 2004), a review of the UK's trading arrangements and options for the
future, can be viewed here at the "Publications by Global Britain authors" page.

Global Britain's Manager, since 1999, is Maxine Thomas (née Nesbitt). 

What we do
l Publish original research in the form of concise Briefing Notes
l Provide material to national & regional TV, radio & press
l Brief Peers, MPs & MEPs for their debates and Select Committee work
l Participate in seminars, conferences & debates at home & abroad
l Alert Washington & US business to the dangers the EU poses for them
l Sponsor independent monitoring of Europhile bias on BBC News & Current
Affairs programmes; lobby the BBC to remove such bias

How you can help

We rely entirely on private donations for our funding. If you would like to
contribute, please contact Lord Pearson at the House of Lords, London SW1A
OPA. Telephone 0207 219 3000.

 
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