DOCSLIB.ORG

Richard Tice

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Richard Tice Richard Tice Chairman of the Brexit Party November 2018 – January 2021 MEP for East of England July 2019 – January 2020 Founder of Leave Means Leave July 2016 – January 2020 Co-founder of Leave.EU July 2015 – June 2016 11 September 2020 Euroscepticism UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE): What first made you a Eurosceptic? Richard Tice (RT): When the big debate was happening really in the 1990s about whether or not the UK should join the euro, I looked at it. I am a business- person, but my degree was quantity surveying, construction economics, and did economics at A Level. It just struck me, that I thought the whole project was completely flawed in that if you take away the right to set your own interest rate according to your own economy’s needs, then essentially it is like taking away a leg of a chair. You are making the chair substantially less stable and you are reducing your own flexibility. So I was very anxious about that. I wrote a three-page letter to Gordon Brown and I knew Nick Herbert, who you know was an MP. He was an old mate, and he was with Rodney Leach. He was the first director of Business for Sterling. So I got involved, gave them some money, ended up becoming a director of it, and it went from there. UKICE: Lots of people objected to the Euro but didn’t want to see the UK leave the EU. At that stage, would you have put yourself in that camp? Page 1/22 RT: I was very sceptical of the EU at that time, but in a sense, I was more focused on trying to make sure we didn’t join the Euro. That was immediate, it was tangible, and so that was my focus. But then the more I started to look at the whole European Union, its objectives, our membership, what I perceived as the benefits and the costs and the obligations and the restrictions, my preference was to say well, it either needs fundamental reform or we should leave. So I started to write articles in the property world’s main magazines, their weekly rag, about actually why it would be okay and if we left we would do fine. UKICE: I really want to ask you if Gordon Brown wrote back agreeing with you. RT: What do you think? I didn’t even get an acknowledgement. UKICE: Was he at the Treasury then or was he in Opposition? RT: Yes, he was. He was Chancellor. UKICE: Richard, can we ask you, did you have a party affiliation at that time? Were you a member of any of them? RT: Yes, I was a member of and a donor of the Conservative Party. UKICE: And you never thought of switching to UKIP or getting involved in UKIP at all? RT: Not really, no. I mean they weren’t really a credible thing then, so no. UKICE: And what about when Nigel Farage took over? Was there any thought on your part of doing it at that point, when they began to attract more support? RT: Yes. I first met Nigel in about 2012, so some time afterwards, but I had known for a fair while, through Business for Sterling days, Stuart Wheeler, the late, much beloved Stuart. So I just rang him up and said, ‘Look, I might want to try and help out with a bit of cash.’ So I never actually joined UKIP, but I have actually donated to three different political parties, if not four, so you can donate without being a member. Page 2/22 UKICE: Were you not tempted to go into front-line politics back then? RT: Yes, I was. Bluntly and candidly, I just knew that we were raising a family, the price of it in that sense, and my wife wasn’t keen and I was still trying to make some money, but I always mentally said to myself, ‘Maybe I should do 20, 25 years in business and then try and help out somewhere in public life.’ That was always part of my life plan. UKICE: And so we get to 2010 and the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. Although you might still have been donating to the Conservatives at that point, had you drifted away from the Conservatives ideologically by that point or were you still very much on board? RT: I tore up my card. I used to give them a fair bit of money, and I said to Mathew Chattey one of the fundraisers, in, I think, 2012, ‘I am leaving the party and I will re-join it when (David) Cameron is no longer its leader.’ I was very upset at the Strategic Defence Review, the way they rushed that through. I felt that was basically completely misguided. So, yes, I think they had gone down the wrong path, and, yes, there were just some other things about what they were doing where I didn’t really feel they had a mandate from their membership and the electorate. UKICE: It wasn’t all about Europe, as far as you were concerned, in terms of the drift away? RT: No, it wasn’t. It was some other big stuff. I felt the way they decimated the defence forces was rushed, it lacked credible thought, so I was pretty upset at the time and I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ Leave.EU and the referendum UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE): So what was your route into Leave.EU? Richard Tice (RT): I gave some money to UKIP, quite a big chunk actually, £20,000. In, I think, 2013 or early 2014 for the 2014 European elections. I felt they had a cracking chance of doing really well, and history proved that to be the case. By then, of course, Cameron was petrified at UKIP’s rise and so he had given the referendum pledge. I felt really something big was going to Page 3/22 happen. So that was what I did for the 2014 election. Was delighted that UKIP won those European elections, and then it was obvious that there would be a referendum post the 2015 general election. UKICE: Cameron making that pledge wasn’t enough to bring you back into the fold then? RT: No. I was a bit torn, to be honest, because I liked the fact that he had given the pledge, but bearing in mind that he had broken many previous pledges I didn’t trust him. I mean he pledged, for example, to have a referendum on the (EU) constitution. Cast-iron pledge, and then, when he came into Government, he could have carried out that pledge, but he reneged on it. He said it was already done, and so, no, I didn’t trust him and I just trusted my instinct. But as we were moving towards the 2015 election, I had a meeting with Matthew Elliott in about February 2015, ahead of the May election, and I said to Matthew, ‘What is the strategy, what is the game plan?’ He said, ‘Well, we are just going to carry on as Business for Britain until after Cameron finishes his negotiation, and then we will have a short no campaign.’ I said, ‘That is ridiculous. That is way too late, you will have missed the boat, and you will lose. Literally the day after the election, we need to come out, we have raised a bunch of money, and we are looking for a chief executive, and bang, basically put the Government on the back foot and say, “We are ready, we are raising money, we are doing up the team, we are off.” Matthew said, ‘No, that is wrong.’ So I was frustrated by that, and I was literally sitting on a train commuting with a pal of mine, and he said his brother knew Arron Banks. So within a week I met Arron, met Andy Wigmore, and we both said, ‘Right, we will pledge X thousand pounds.’ I think initially I said I would pledge 50, and we met a creative team and off we went. Yes, and then very quickly after the election, obviously Cameron won it, didn’t need the Lib Dems, and within a week or so we briefed The Telegraph and they did a story on it, the fact that we were off and we were starting to raise money. So that was it. Page 4/22 You see, I always had the view that Cameron never expected to win a majority in 2015. I think the truth is UKIP actually helped him win a majority. Bizarrely, I think when they were lining up their expected negotiating strategy with the Lib Dems, the first thing Cameron was going to concede was that he couldn’t have a referendum because he hadn’t won a majority. I think the Lib Dems thought that was the one thing they wouldn’t be able to ask because it was cast-iron. Anyway, that didn’t come to pass, and then Cameron rushed it. So, yes, we got going with Leave.EU. I met (Dominic) Cummings and Owen Paterson and Bernard Jenkin and co. in early July and said, ‘Look, we could try and get together.’ I organised a big meeting, we made a presentation with some of our early thoughts and creative work. We had this big meeting in the Corinthia Hotel in about late July 2015. At the end of it, somewhat patronisingly, some of the Tory MPs just basically patted Arron and me on the back and said, ‘There, there, dear boys.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Report of an Investigation in Respect Of
    Report of an investigation in respect of - Vote Leave Limited - Mr Darren Grimes - BeLeave - Veterans for Britain Concerning campaign funding and spending for the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU 17 July 2018 1 Other formats For information on obtaining this publication in a large-print or Braille version, please contact the Electoral Commission. Tel: 020 7271 0500 Email: [email protected] The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. We work to promote public confidence in the democratic process and ensure its integrity. 2 Contents 1 Introduction..................................................................................................... 4 2 The decision to investigate ............................................................................. 9 3 The investigation .......................................................................................... 12 4 The investigation findings ............................................................................. 16 Joint spending by Vote Leave and BeLeave ................................................... 16 Vote Leave’s spending limit ............................................................................. 21 Other issues with Vote Leave’s spending return ............................................. 24 BeLeave’s spending ........................................................................................ 25 Mr Grimes’ spending return ............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 17 July 2018 - - Page 1 of 38 - (I) Causing Or Permitting a Derogatory Article to Be Written in Brexit Central; And
    IN THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL CASE NUMBER: [TBC] B E T W E E N: SHAHMIR SANNI (Claimant) -and- THE TAX PAYERS ALLIANCE LIMITED (Respondent) PARTICULARS OF CLAIM Parties (1) The Claimant was employed by the Respondent from 13 March 2017 to 13 April 2018. He was employed as a Digital Campaign Manager. His responsibilities included running the Respondent’s social media accounts, YouTube channel, and producing website content and video content. (2) The Respondent is a self-declared “grassroots campaigning group dedicated to reforming taxes, cutting spending and protecting taxpayers”. It is a lobbying group pursuing a right-wing political ideology. It operates from 55 Tufton Street, Westminster, an office block where seven other similar right-wing political organisations are based. (3) The Claimant was summarily dismissed by the Respondent on 13 April 2018. Legal Claims (4) The Claimant advances claims of: (a) Automatically Unfair Dismissal by reason of having made a protected disclosure (s.103A Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA”)); (b) Directly discriminatory dismissal (s.13 and s.39(2)(c) Equality Act 2010 (“EqA 2010”) because of his belief that protecting the integrity and sanctity of British democracy from taint and corruption was paramount, which is a philosophical belief protected by s.10 EqA 2010 and in accordance with the characteristics set out in Grainger v Nicholson [2010] ICR 360; (c) Protected Disclosure detriment (s.47B ERA), namely:- _________________________ - Particulars of Claim - - 17 July 2018 - - Page 1 of 38 - (i) Causing or permitting a derogatory article to be written in Brexit Central; and (ii) Instructing Wilsons LLP to write the letter wrongly threatening defamation proceedings; and (iii) Permitting or causing the making of derogatory statements in public and the media on 4 July 2018.
    [Show full text]
  • Brexit: Where Is the EU–UK Relationship Heading?
    Simon Hix Brexit: where is the EU–UK relationship heading? Article (Accepted version) (Refereed) Original citation: Hix, Simon (2018) Brexit: where is the EU–UK relationship heading? Journal of Common Market Studies. ISSN 0021-9886 (In Press) DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12766 © 2018 University Association for Contemporary European Studies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/89976/ Available in LSE Research Online: August 2018 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. This document is the author’s final accepted version of the journal article. There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. The JCMS Annual Review Lecture 2018 Brexit: Where is the EU-UK Relationship Heading?1 Simon Hix London School of Economics and Political Science 1 I would like to thank Angus Armstrong, Catherine Barnard, Theofanis Exadaktylos, Anand Menon, Jonathan Portes, Brendan O’Leary and Simon Usherwood for their helpful comments on an earlier version.
    [Show full text]
  • Solidity Or Wind?": What's on the Menu in the Bill of Rights Debate?
    Francesca Klug "Solidity or wind?": what's on the menu in the bill of rights debate? Article (Accepted version) (Refereed) Original citation: Klug, Francesca (2009) "Solidity or wind?": what's on the menu in the bill of rights debate? Political Quarterly, 80 (3). pp. 420-426. ISSN 0032-3179 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-923X.2009.01997.x © 2009 The Author © The Political Quarterly Publishing Co. Ltd. This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/25118/ Available in LSE Research Online: April 2015 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. This document is the author’s final accepted version of the journal article. There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. “Solidity or Wind?” What’s on the menu in the bill of rights debate? [This article was written before the government published the Green Paper Rights and Responsibilities: developing our constitutional framework in March 2009 and provides a political context to it.] Many of us in the UK will have felt a twinge of envy when Barack Obama, in his Inaugural speech, affirmed “the ideals of our forbears” and the need to stay “true to our founding documents.” These American forbears had, of course, fought ‘our’ British forbears to gain their freedom and, with no written constitution, we have precious few founding documents to turn to.
    [Show full text]
  • Cost of the Cops
    Policy Exchange Police staffing and resources are at unprecedented levels. On any basis England and Wales have never been more policed, and police forces have never been so rich in technology or staff support. But budget reduc)ons for the police in England and Wales Cost of the Cops over the next four years and the need for improved produc)vity will focus a*en)on on the costs of policing, the pay and condi)ons of staff and the way in which those resources are deployed. Manpower and deployment in policing Edward Boyd, Rory Geoghegan and Blair Gibbs Eighty per cent of police funding is spent on personnel, so the impera)ve to ensure Cost of the Cops efficient staffing arrangements has never been greater. Unfortunately the debate about police funding con)nues to be played out in line with a damaging two decade-long obsession with officer numbers, and a lack of understanding about how police manpower is presently deployed. Cost of the Cops examines the cost base of policing over the period 2001-2010 and explores whether current resources of staff and uniformed officers are being used effec)vely. This report examines in detail manpower and deployment issues affec)ng the police – including civilianisa)on, deployment and frontline visibility. This report finds that low rates of civilianisa)on s)ll persist in the police, which prevents the right people from being in the right jobs, resul)ng in inefficiency and a poorer service to the public as warranted officers perform civilian roles far away from the frontline.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to the EU Referendum Debate
    ‘What country, friends, is this?’ A guide to the EU referendum debate ‘What country, friends, is this?’ A guide to the EU referendum debate Foreword 4 Professor Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute for Policy Research Public attitudes and political 6 discourses on the EU in the Brexit referendum 7 ‘To be or not to be?’ ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ and other clichés: the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership Dr Nicholas Startin, Deputy Head of the Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies 16 The same, but different: Wales and the debate over EU membership Dr David Moon, Lecturer, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies 21 The EU debate in Northern Ireland Dr Sophie Whiting, Lecturer, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies 24 Will women decide the outcome of the EU referendum? Dr Susan Milner, Reader, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies 28 Policy debates 29 Brexit and the City of London: a clear and present danger Professor Chris Martin, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics 33 The economics of the UK outside the Eurozone: what does it mean for the UK if/when Eurozone integration deepens? Implications of Eurozone failures for the UK Dr Bruce Morley, Lecturer in Economics, Department of Economics 38 Security in, secure out: Brexit’s impact on security and defence policy Professor David Galbreath, Professor of International Security, Associate Dean (Research) 42 Migration and EU membership Dr Emma Carmel, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social & Policy Sciences 2 ‘What country, friends, is this?’ A guide to the EU referendum debate 45 Country perspectives 46 Debating the future of Europe is essential, but when will we start? The perspective from France Dr Aurelien Mondon, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies 52 Germany versus Brexit – the reluctant hegemon is not amused Dr Alim Baluch, Teaching Fellow, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies 57 The Brexit referendum is not only a British affair.
    [Show full text]
  • Danny Kruger Selected As Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Devizes
    Press Release t (Press) 020 7984 8121 t (Broadcast) 020 7984 8180 f 020 7222 1135 Saturday 9 November 2019 Danny Kruger selected as Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Devizes A close aide of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Devizes. Danny Kruger was chosen at a selection meeting at the Corn Exchange in Devizes this afternoon (Saturday), which was attended by over 300 (CHECK) local Conservative members. Danny has been political secretary to the Prime Minister since July 2019 and has previously worked as chief speechwriter to David Cameron when he was Leader of the Opposition and an adviser to former Conservative Party leaders Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. He helped to develop Mr Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ agenda and is keen to promote the same ethos in Devizes, empowering volunteers, businesses and community groups to tackle local issues and challenges. Danny is keen to boost local NHS services, support the police to tackle rural crime, ensure schools get their fair share of increased funding, push for greater infrastructure investment, enhance the rail and bus network and help businesses be more productive. He is a strong supporter of the Armed Forces and wants to ensure the relocation of service families to Wiltshire is a success for everyone. Danny supports Mr Johnson’s determination to get Brexit done as soon as possible and forge a positive new relationship with the EU. “I’m proud and excited to be selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Devizes and I’m looking forward to knocking on doors, meeting local people and addressing their concerns,” said Danny.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservative Party Strategy, 1997-2001: Nation and National Identity
    Conservative Party Strategy, 1997-2001: Nation and National Identity A dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy , Claire Elizabeth Harris Department of Politics, University of Sheffield September 2005 Acknowledgements There are so many people I'd like to thank for helping me through the roller-coaster experience of academic research and thesis submission. Firstly, without funding from the ESRC, this research would not have taken place. I'd like to say thank you to them for placing their faith in my research proposal. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Andrew Taylor. Without his good humour, sound advice and constant support and encouragement I would not have reached the point of completion. Having a supervisor who is always ready and willing to offer advice or just chat about the progression of the thesis is such a source of support. Thank you too, to Andrew Gamble, whose comments on the final draft proved invaluable. I'd also like to thank Pat Seyd, whose supervision in the first half of the research process ensured I continued to the second half, his advice, experience and support guided me through the challenges of research. I'd like to say thank you to all three of the above who made the change of supervisors as smooth as it could have been. I cannot easily put into words the huge effect Sarah Cooke had on my experience of academic research. From the beginnings of ESRC application to the final frantic submission process, Sarah was always there for me to pester for help and advice.
    [Show full text]
  • Lord-Pearsons-Letter-Of-Complaint-To
    COMPLAINT: COVERAGE BY “TODAY”, SINCE THE WILSON REPORT, OF THE CASE FOR THE UK TO WITHDRAW FROM THE EU. BACKGROUND The 2005 Wilson Report into the BBC’s coverage of EU affairs was the Corporation’s first published independent analysis of its output. Its committee of inquiry was chaired by Lord Wilson of Dinton, formerly Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. This complaint is that the BBC has not delivered the improvements it promised in its response to that report, of its coverage of EU affairs. This applies particularly to the debate about the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The Wilson Report was published in January 2005. It was critical of parts of the relevant output. It said: …we do think there is a serious problem. Although the BBC wishes to be impartial in its news coverage of the EU it is not succeeding. Whatever the intention, nobody thinks the outcome is impartial. There is strong disagreement about the net balance but all parties show remarkable unity in identifying the elements of the problem. Sometimes being attacked from all sides is a sign that an organisation is getting it right. That is not so here. It is a sign that the BBC is getting it wrong, and our main conclusion is that urgent action is required to put this right. The problem can be summarised under a number of headings which we analyse below.1 Institutional mindset. Giving the audience the information it needs to make up its own mind is a proper and important role for the BBC and one which it must carry out.
    [Show full text]
  • Brexit: Initial Reflections
    Brexit: initial reflections ANAND MENON AND JOHN-PAUL SALTER* At around four-thirty on the morning of 24 June 2016, the media began to announce that the British people had voted to leave the European Union. As the final results came in, it emerged that the pro-Brexit campaign had garnered 51.9 per cent of the votes cast and prevailed by a margin of 1,269,501 votes. For the first time in its history, a member state had voted to quit the EU. The outcome of the referendum reflected the confluence of several long- term and more contingent factors. In part, it represented the culmination of a longstanding tension in British politics between, on the one hand, London’s relative effectiveness in shaping European integration to match its own prefer- ences and, on the other, political diffidence when it came to trumpeting such success. This paradox, in turn, resulted from longstanding intraparty divisions over Britain’s relationship with the EU, which have hamstrung such attempts as there have been to make a positive case for British EU membership. The media found it more worthwhile to pour a stream of anti-EU invective into the resulting vacuum rather than critically engage with the issue, let alone highlight the benefits of membership. Consequently, public opinion remained lukewarm at best, treated to a diet of more or less combative and Eurosceptic political rhetoric, much of which disguised a far different reality. The result was also a consequence of the referendum campaign itself. The strategy pursued by Prime Minister David Cameron—of adopting a critical stance towards the EU, promising a referendum, and ultimately campaigning for continued membership—failed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conservative Agenda for Constitutional Reform
    UCL DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE The Constitution Unit Department of Political Science UniversityThe Constitution College London Unit 29–30 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9QU phone: 020 7679 4977 fax: 020 7679 4978 The Conservative email: [email protected] www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit A genda for Constitutional The Constitution Unit at UCL is the UK’s foremost independent research body on constitutional change. It is part of the UCL School of Public Policy. THE CONSERVATIVE Robert Hazell founded the Constitution Unit in 1995 to do detailed research and planning on constitutional reform in the UK. The Unit has done work on every aspect AGENDA of the UK’s constitutional reform programme: devolution in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions, reform of the House of Lords, electoral reform, R parliamentary reform, the new Supreme Court, the conduct of referendums, freedom eform Prof FOR CONSTITUTIONAL of information, the Human Rights Act. The Unit is the only body in the UK to cover the whole of the constitutional reform agenda. REFORM The Unit conducts academic research on current or future policy issues, often in collaboration with other universities and partners from overseas. We organise regular R programmes of seminars and conferences. We do consultancy work for government obert and other public bodies. We act as special advisers to government departments and H parliamentary committees. We work closely with government, parliament and the azell judiciary. All our work has a sharply practical focus, is concise and clearly written, timely and relevant to policy makers and practitioners. The Unit has always been multi disciplinary, with academic researchers drawn mainly from politics and law.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflections on Brexit and Its Implications for Ireland John Bruton
    No 2017/16, May 2017 Reflections on Brexit and its Implications for Ireland John Bruton Summary This paper presents the testimony delivered by John Bruton, former Prime Minister of Ireland, on 27 April 2017, before the Seanad Special Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The Special Committee was established by the Seanad on February 27th to consider the implications of Brexit for Ireland. Mr Bruton began his testimony by commending the committee for its work and also the government for ensuring, through effective diplomacy, that the particular problems of Ireland have been publicly recognised in the negotiating positions of both the EU 27 and the UK. Contents What is the alternative to a hard Brexit? ............................................................................................................ 1 How will the EU respond to Mrs May’s letter?.................................................................................................... 1 Should the EU offer UK voters another option? .................................................................................................. 2 The EU negotiating position ............................................................................................................................... 4 The state of British knowledge of the EU and its impact on the negotiations ....................................................... 5 Some of the practical problems of Brexit...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]