Britain should regain its national independence from the European Union, according to former United Nations ambassador John Bolton and former UK cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith.
Bolton made the remarks at an event on economic reform held at the American Enterprise Institute with the United Kingdom’s former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and leading advocate of Britain’s exit from the EU Iain Duncan Smith. (RELATED: What is Brexit? Everything You Need To Know About Britain’s EU Referendum)
President Barack Obama will visit the UK on April 21 where he will voice support for Prime Minister David Cameron and the campaign to keep Britain in the EU, before heading to Germany for meetings with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But Mayor of London and pro-Brexit supporter Boris Johnson had tough words for the president April 16 accusing him of hypocrisy. Americans “wouldn’t dream of sharing [their] sovereignty” in the same the UK has with the EU, Johnson argued.
Speaking at AEI April 18, Duncan Smith agreed and was bewildered by the president’s double standard. “It’s inconceivable that the President of the United States would be asking exactly the same for the USA,” said Duncan Smith.
“On June 23rd, I think the British people will be advised to vote to get Britain to be a little bit more like the United States and a lot less like it does at the moment with regards to the power of the European Union.
“I don’t quite understand why the American president would want Britain to be any other way. Unless of course they want the United States to join the European Union,” he added.
Responding to a question from the Daily Caller News Foundation, Bolton said he had voiced his support for Brexit in the pages of The Daily Telegraph. “I said you should try independence, we have, its good for you,” he said.
The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage slammed Obama April 15 as the “most anti-British president” in US history.
“Mercifully, this American president, who is the most anti-British American president there has ever been, won’t be in office for much longer, and I hope will be replaced by somebody rather more sensible when it comes to trading relationships with this country,” Farage said, according to Sky News.
More than 100 members of parliament signed a letter to London’s U.S. ambassador in March warning Obama to avoid intervening in the UK’s referendum.
The letter, which was organized by the former secretary of state for defense — a prominent supporter of Britain exiting the EU Liam Fox — said Obama’s open support for the “Remain campaign” would be “highly damaging” and would erode the “validity of the result.”
“It has long been the established practice not to interfere in the domestic political affairs of our allies and we hope that this will continue,” the letter states.
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