Speeches and letters

Here you will find a selection of my speeches and published letters.

Letters and correspondence

Daily Telegraph
Sir,
Graham Watson, the Liberal Democrat MEP and “Godfather” of the European Arrest Warrant, consistently states that: “It has brought justice to the perpetrators of murder, rape and terrorism.”
It is a pity for the innocent victims of the European Arrest Warrant that nobody seems to have told Mr Watson – or Nick Clegg – that the primary purpose of legal systems is to protect people from random arrest – not to have them locked up without trial on flimsy evidence.
William Dartmouth MEP

Daily Mail.
Dear Sir,
Just when will David Cameron and the Conservative Party begin to stand up to the European Union and defend British citizens and British interests?
Britain is today (July 27) expected to opt in to the European Investigation Order ( EIO) which allows any member state of the European Union to demand details of DNA, fingerprints and the monitoring of mail and bank accounts on any UK citizen SUSPECTED of being guilty of a crime - no matter how minor.
The EIO also gives the police forces of EU Member states the right to demand surveillance and investigations on UK citizens. Moreover this system can only be used by the prosecution and not by those seeking to prove their innocence.
This measure is not even being debated by Parliament. How can this be? When in opposition the Conservatives were strongly against the EIO. They condemned it as "showing a relish for surveillance and a disdain for civil liberties". But the Conservatives have a long record of making euro-sceptic noises before elections.
The EIO works alongside the European Arrest Warrant which permits British citizens to be carted off to foreign prisons for months. Again this is something the British courts are powerless to prevent.
Lurking on the horizon is the Stockholm Programme; yet another EU programme that seeks to impose a common European law on all member states even though it will lead to a much lower standard of Law and individual protection than UK citizens currently enjoy.
William Dartmouth MEP

Independent 27 June.
Dear Sir,
Prime Minister Cameron is guilty of empty rhetoric even before the G20 talks begin in Toronto.
He tells the Canadian press that he wishes the UK to break free from the trading restrictions of the Single European Market of which we are part and set up bilateral agreements with other parties.
(The Independent June 25, 2010)
This is a laudable aim. The UK is one of the great trading nations of the world. However Mr Cameron should know that so long as the UK remains in the European Union this is impossible.
We are trapped by Treaty in a system where the European Commissioner handles all international trade agreements for the 27 member states- whatever their conflicting interests. The UK cannot represent itself on the World Trade Organisation (WTO). By contrast the former British colony of Hong Kong is able to do so.
In the new era of austerity Britain needs - more than ever - to export its goods and its skill throughout the world in order to boost the economy and pay our way.
The best solution would be for the UK to leave the EU and enter then into a free trade agreement following the EFTA model. As a bigger economy than the EFTA nations, our agreement would be more favourable.
William Dartmouth MEP

Sunday Times 21st March.
Sir, Sunday's profile of (Baroness) Catherine Ashton describes the lady as having had "...a career as an administrator for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)....".
It went a great deal further than that. Having been one of just 4 paid CND employees, Ashton subsequently became Treasurer and then Vice Chairman of CND.
The point is that the lady's judgement has been proved palpably and demonstrably wrong. Moreover at the European Parliament Hearings on the new Commission, it was clear (as was said of the Bourbons) "she has forgotten nothing: she has learnt nothing".
If the views of Ashton and her CND pals had prevailed, the Berlin Wall would still be there and Eastern Europe would not now be free.

Financial Times 19th March.
Sir, David Gardner describes the UK Independence party as “openly xenophobic” (March 17). Not so, we strongly favour friendship and free trade.
Mr Gardner goes on to say Europe (he actually means the European Union) “is ... an opportunity not a threat”. And this on the same day that the Financial Times leads with “Brown wins delay on hedge fund vote”. The article goes on to say “London’s hedge funds and private equity industry won a last-minute reprieve”.
The UK’s continued membership of the EU subjects British business and commerce to waves of destructive regulation which, in the FT’s example – hedge funds, threatens their very existence within the UK.

"Disclosure"
Dear Baroness Ashton,
Re: Your Disclosure to the Foreign Affairs Committee
I am writing to you in the matter of your response to me at your hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament on January the 11th.
I pointed out that you had been one of 4 paid employees of CND and then Treasurer of CND and this had NOT been "...disclosed on your Personal Details...." circulated to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
You answered "...My employment record is a matter of public record. It has been published all the way through my career.... you can look, I think, probably in Debrett's...."
I have looked at Debrett's and although it does state you were "an administrator for CND 1977-79", Debrett's does NOT mention your tenure as Treasurer of CND which ended only in July 1983. You were then elected Vice-Chairman of CND. I would point out that the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.
May I ask you to disclose properly your past involvement with CND?
Yours sincerely,
William (The Earl of) Dartmouth MEP

UKIP conference speech Southport 2009

My name is William Dartmouth and I have the honour to have been elected as a UK Independence Party MEP for the South West Counties.

With respect to Lancashire, which is where we are now, the South West is a beautiful part of the world with a significant tourist industry. It should be hugely encouraging to the South West Tourist Board that no less a person than Godfrey Bloom took a week’s holiday in Devon in August!

I should add that Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, which are not normally thought of as being in the South West, are also in the Electoral Area. This is yet another example that in the Never-Never Land of the European Union, nothing is ever quite the way you think it is.

In the European Election in the South West Counties, the UK Independence Party got just over 340,000 votes – 15,000 more than previously and coming 2nd overall. We also came first in, amongst other places, Torbay, North Devon, Torridge and the city of Plymouth. But none of the 6 people standing on the UKIP list, not Trevor Colman, not myself, not Gawain Towler, not Dr. Julia Reid, not Councillor Alan Wood, not Stephanie McWilliam – would attribute this success to anything intrinsic in ourselves. We would attribute it to 2 factors.

Firstly, Nigel Farage’s inspirational leadership – and one aspect of that in particular – his brilliant and compelling expositions of the arguments on the media. So along with every other candidate; thank you Nigel.

Secondly, I would attribute our success to something else. The UK Independence Party may or may not be a small political party, but we do have a Big Message - in fact the Biggest Message in British Politics. That Britain would be Better Off outside the European Union. Not only better off, we would be safer because by leaving the EU we would regain control of our borders.

Now let me say something about our future. For the UK Independence Party I have always thought that and have said before; our party would be the beneficiary of what may be called “the Tomato Ketchup Syndrome” – first NOTHING, then NOTHING, then the LOT – that is what will happen for the UKIP.

And when people ask me, will Britain really leave the European Union, I respond with just 3 words. YES, we WILL. And not only will we leave the EU – it is inevitable.