The Story of the Rich Man and the Barrow Boys
by Rob Doust

Imagine a large town full of the usual houses, shops, offices, and streets. One of the streets is full of barrow boys, 14 in all, trying to sell their goods to the public. Into the street strolls the 4th richest man in town. He gathers all 14 around him, and offers them a deal.

The deal goes like this. "I will guarantee to buy something from you every day, at a price higher than normal, and you can take the extra amount, and share it out amongst yourselves. If you want, you can buy stuff from me, but as my prices are higher than yours, then you probably won't."

"It's part of the deal that I give you control of the whole of my wealth, savings, and pension fund. This can be shared out equally amongst all of us, and you can even bring in those 10 shoe-shine boys over there, to share in the wealth, plus anyone else you like, at any time."

The barrow boys couldn't believe their luck, and every time the 4th richest man in town's back is turned, they are laughing and making extremely rude hand gestures at him.

"Furthermore", says the 4th richest man in town, "If I buy anything from anywhere else in town, then I will buy it through you, and you can make a profit on it."

The barrow boys, who can spot a mug a mile away, know that the 4th richest man in town comes from a long line of wealthy ancestors, and that he has a lot of land with rivers flowing through it.

In no time at all, they secure fishing rights for themselves, the shoe-shine boys, and anyone else who joins in the future, while virtually excluding the 4th richest man and all his relations from fishing altogether.

By this time, the barrow boys are having to hang on to each other to stop themselves falling over, they are laughing so much.

"There is more to come," says the 4th richest man in town. "I will give you very large sums of money on a regular basis, and, at your discretion, you can give me back half of it anytime you like, provided I spend it on what you tell me to, and also provided that I match it with an equal amount."

"You mean that every time we tell you to spend a thousand pounds on something you might not even want, you will give us 500 pounds?" said the barrow boys, who by this time were rolling around on the floor, laughing helplessly.

"What do you know about gardening?" asked the 4th richest man in town. "Bugger all!" chorused the barrow boys. "Marvellous," said the 4th richest man in town. "You can tell my gardener what to plant, when to plant it, and even if he can plant it at all."

"What about your wife and kids?" cried one of the barrow boys, wiping the tears from his eyes, "won't they give you a hard time when they realise you are giving everything away?"

The 4th richest man in town said arrogantly, "Don't worry about them, I never tell them anything, except lies."

Then, in a fit of spite, he declared that the barrow boys could make up as many petty rules as they liked, and his wife and kids would be obliged to follow them all to the letter.

He also said that the boys could call his wife and kids anything they liked, or nothing at all.

"Just one more thing", said the 4th richest man in town, "I don't want the Press reporting what I've done." "No problem", said the barrow boys, "We'll take some of that money you're giving us, and bung our mate, the Reporter, a fistful. That'll take care of that."

"Good idea," said the 4th richest man in town, "and I'll give money from my wife's bank account to one of my chums to give a talk in my kid's school, telling them what a jolly good idea I've come up with."

"Shouldn't we all sign a binding contract?" said one of the barrow boys, who still didn't believe this was really happening to them.

"Of course," said the 4th richest man in town, "but we'll have to do it quick before the wife finds out."

Believe it, or not, that is precisely the deal that British politicians have spent the last 30 years hammering out with the European Union…. Except that it's worse. Much, much worse.

TEN FACTS

1) Britain's trade is divided up as follows: 60% internally, amongst ourselves. 34% with the rest of the world. 6% with the Eurozone. Only around 10% of British companies actually trade with Europe.

2) The 6% with the Eurozone is virtually a one-way street, as we buy cars, electronics, alcohol and cigarettes from them, but they buy little from us, as the Euro is always low against the Pound.

3) On two previous occasions, when we linked up with the Euro currency, (the 'snake' and the 'ERM'), we had to leave after a very short time because our economy went into a nosedive, only to pick up when we un-linked. This time round, joining the EU constitution or Euro, we won't ever have the option to leave.

4) The UK foolishly observes all of the petty rules coming out of Brussels, while the Europeans please themselves whether they follow the rules or not.

5) Britain is the fourth largest trading nation in the world. To hand over our wealth, (gold and foreign currency reserves, pension funds, oil, etc.), to be doled out among 24 other Euro-states is the height of stupidity.

6) Scotland and Wales are Euro-regions, thus keeping their names, while England has been divided up into 9 Euro-regions, and the name 'England' is seen nowhere on the new EU maps.

7) The BBC is funded by the licence fee to provide a Public Service. Its charter states quite clearly that it will give 'impartial coverage of news and current affairs to support fair and informed debate.' For some time now, the BBC has been receiving millions of Pounds of Euro money, and is very observably Pro-Euro biased.

8) The Government uses taxpayers' money to send teams into the schools to indoctrinate children into believing that 'being in Europe' is a good thing for us.

9) Britain gives Europe approximately £1.3 million every hour. If Brussels feels like it, the UK receives half back, provided we spend this 'rebate' on we're told to.

10) A significant amount of the tax increases, the infamous VAT and local government hikes such as Council Tax (recently raised from 10% to 18% in most areas), go towards paying for new roads, shopping centres and drainages schemes in other EU countries such as Poland, Ireland and Latvia. The British, as one of the few 'net contributors' into the EU coffers, are bearing the brunt of the costs for this modernising. The British people have never been given the option of voting on whether they wish to pay for the upkeep of other nations.

If British politicians sign and ratify the EU Constitution in whatever form, they will yield Britain's vital and final powers of control and self-governance to Brussels. The EU is then entitled to form any policy in the future to which Britain must adhere, no matter how damaging and grievous. There will be nothing any 'democratically elected' UK parliament will be able to do about any of it.

Fed up with the EU? Need to know more?

Further Resources

Spread the word to friends with The Real Face of the European Union by Phillip Day, a video documentary (PAL format only) which lays out the EU problem and what you can do about it.
Ten Minutes to Midnight by Phillip Day
Vigilance by Ashley Mote
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