Statements

 Brexit - we need to talk about it seriously. Contrary to the accusations of Brexiteers, membership of the EU did not cause deprivation in areas of Britain. It is equivalent to blaming the police for the rubbish left on the streets, when fly-tipping is really caused by people who live there. It is the policies of the UK central government which have made some parts of UK less successful than others. Driven by incomplete and inaccurate information, Brexit has brought prolonged injury to the UK economy and society. People of all walks of life, sometimes without realising it, became poorer financially and more restricted in choices and opportunities after separation from the EU. Brexit aimed to free the UK people and the UK economy from the “chains” of the single market and freedom of movement, but instead created a version of a concentration camp inside British isles. Many people, including politicians and journalists, don’t understand the difference between ‘free trade’ and ‘frictionless trade’. E.g., local authorities in the UK lend some of their Sovereignty to the National UK government simply because it makes all the economics run smoother and faster instead of creating trade barriers between counties. Rejoin EU is the only party which targets to repair this damage by uniting all Pro-EU voters irrespective of their political preferences. Recent opinion polls suggest that 65%+ of the UK population regret leaving EU (in some parts like Scotland, 80% of the population see rejoining the EU as beneficial). Many of these people have lost hope and despite their desires to be part of the Union again, they talk about the 30-35 years it would take to rejoin the EU. Our party objective is to bring hope to their hearts and to unite all these people in a consistent, coherent impulse to start practical negotiations with the EU about rejoining this institution which passed the test of stability repeatedly during the last 70 years. All serious UK issues like immigration, the economy, education, health, defence, will become less of a puzzle after joining EU (who is awaiting us patiently). Make the right choice. Vote Rejoin EU! Victor Silkin 

Victor's statement for General Elections 2024

 I am Victor Silkin, your candidate for Rejoin EU party. I am a local resident living in Leavesden (not far from Parmiter’s school, the Crematorium, YMCA, etc) Educated as space research engineer, I had lost interest in the subject by the age 23, decided to come back to Earth and instead learn finance. In 1994 I quit from a Physics PHD programme and Joined Price Waterhouse (no Coopers those days yet) as an auditor. Since then, I have worked in different companies: PepsiCo, United Technologies, Apple (8 years), Reckitt Benckiser, Euronet (US-based electronic trading giant) and currently I am working as a Group Financial Controller of Global Cloud Xchange (undersea cabling telecommunication company). At the turn of millennium between 1999-2000 I studied MBA and lived in France for more than a year acquiring taste for local wines and cheeses. I must admit that I fell in love with continental lifestyle. After living now in the UK for more than 20 years my feeling is that there are not really any differences between Continentals and Islanders-let’s call UK people which can challenge our cohabitation. Both believe in supremacy of law, both value security of the private property and both pay highest respect to the human dignity and rights of personal freedom. By the way, 50% of the English language comes from French, another 30% from German, and the last 20% from Scandinavian (Swedish, etc). I am quite amused when people use the terms WE and THEY to describe UK and Continentals. Differences are only visible in cuisine and on the football pitch, but the way they talk about it, you’d think the EU citizens are aliens! I was born in Russia and, so for the first 29 years of my life I lived, studied and worked in Russia, before moving to France and then moving to the UK following a job offer in finance, which I could not resist. Somehow people of the UK appeared to be very kind, understanding and accommodating, so my wife and I got stuck here to our mutual pleasure. So, what do I stand for: Both my wife and I, along with a large proportion of the UK population, have been devastated by the outcome of the 2016 referendum - where the population was misled, misinformed and potentially lied to about the benefits of leaving the EU. More than half (53%) of leave voters now think that Brexit has been bad for the UK’s ability to control immigration, with asylum backlogs still at soaring numbers. Didn’t the government promise to lower immigration levels? The bait that SO MANY Brexiteers took and a factor that was a driving influence on the outcome of the referendum. By the way – the referendum was not binding…. It was consultative. Let me also remind you of the time when the lie of a slogan “We send the EU £350 million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead. Vote Leave” was printed on a bus. This figure failed to factor in weekly revenue brought to the UK from the EU, and the true number should’ve been closer to £136 million a week, LESS THAN HALF. And even that number should be adjusted for the export benefits of the UK which would make the balancing number in favour of Britain. Post referendum, around 40% of leave voters still think that £350million per week to be true. Boris Johnson did not face prosecution as the case was thrown out by the Court in 2019, proving that these people repeatedly take advantage of the naïve British public without facing the consequences. Especially strong disappointment was caused by the readiness of politicians of all the major parties of the UK to surrender the benefits of the EU membership for the sole purpose of self-preservation, just to stay in Westminster. And those against Brexit were silenced, forced to comply by the party whip system or forced to resign – is this really democracy? These politicians pushed for separation from EU even though the referendum vote was not binding, and I think we can all agree that a mere 2% majority for Brexit is far below reasonable for any serious alteration of national policy. Let’s not forget that the majority of parliament those days were Remainers. This was a betrayal of the interest of the British people on a probably unknown scale in the history for the reason of main political parties self-preservation. I have good examples of the people who sacrificed their welfare, stability, social status and openly declared their disagreement with the decision of their party, so they quit their membership and came to the 2019 elections as independents David Gauke being one of them. Deep respect to such people. So long story short. I was looking for an organisation which can unite all the pro-EU people irrespective of their political preferences. For quite a while these searches were unsuccessful. There are multiple groups in the UK, such as the European Movement, Stay European, etc. who provide useful content describing criminality of Brexit and benefits of rejoining EU, but when it comes to practicality, they enforced almost no political pressure. Then somewhere in February 2024 a small group of insurgents called The Rejoin EU Party sprang into light. This time their cause was not called “movement”, or “initiative”, but PARTY. I paid £20 for a membership and the balls started rolling. This was the very first organisation, which was not only looking for money but for participation: can I do graphics? communications? social media? public speaking? Most importantly they held REAL meetings for the members – online and or in some cases in person in London, real people spending their own time and their own money to drive their cause. All of them – enthusiasts – no paid politicians. Very surprisingly when Rishi recklessly called for a General Election in May, the Party suggested I become a candidate in South West Hertfordshire. I hated the idea because I am not an experienced politician, I love my job and enjoy enormously what I do in my professional life. But this case looked different: there was nobody else to stand in South West Hertfordshire from the Party, nobody to represent this omnipresent issue which the main parties fail to address. This is a classic case in life where you simply CANNOT BUY YOUR WAY, you need to stand yourself. So, I enlisted as a soldier into that campaign. Buy the way I have paid MYSELF £500 of the deposit which I will lose if I get less than 2.5% of the votes. And I paid £800 for the leaflets which (I hope) each of you have received by now (please let me know if you did not – I will need to check with Royal mail). I did it not because I am very well off, but because sometimes you need to make sacrifices to promote the ideas which you believe. Please ask your candidates from Labour, LibDems, Conservatives, who of them has paid themselves for the deposit and for the leaflets? Now (knowing that your opinion is divided about Brexit) I address my words to those who are pro-EU re-joining: we are 65% (according to latest opinion polls), and a mere 1 in 5 people oppose it. If you believe in the basic principles of democracy, you will agree that such high results in favour of change need to be responded to. We cannot ignore the elephant in the room (or should I say, the UK), and we need to advocate for change. Vote for me and you will have a representative in parliament who will push this matter further and further until the party leaders start talking and the UK re-joins. There is no point in voting for those who have betrayed you twice already in pre 2019 election debates (Labour, Torries) all the years after 2019. Those who currently have no coherent plan and make empty promises, knowing their Brexit plan is failing but refusing to acknowledge it. All serious UK issues like immigration, the economy, education, health, defence, will become less of a puzzle after rejoining the EU (which is awaiting us patiently). Vote for Rejoin EU! ***